Takedown Report

Iowa Wesleyan eager to begin men’s and women’s wrestling programs

MOUNT PLEASANT — “Wrestlers, clear the mats” is a term unfamiliar to Iowa Wesleyan University. Not for much longer. Iowa Wesleyan, which became an NCAA Division III institution for the 2019-20 school year, will begin competing in both men’s and women’s wrestling in the 2020-21 school year. Iowa Wesleyan, which last fall was in financial straits, now is diving head-first into wrestling, a sport which is popular in Iowa and is growing by leaps and bounds at the national level.

“Wrestling is something that we’ve been looking at for about a year and a half now. On the men’s side, how big it is in the region, it just makes sense for us to have it. In terms of the women’s wrestling, it’s one of the fastest-growing high school sports in the country in an area where most other high school participation is declining. That was intriguing to look at,” Iowa Wesleyan athletics director Derek Zander said. “Then when we looked at Iowa Wesleyan is always trying to be a pioneer in women’s rights and men’s rights, so we were looking at the opportunities we could bring to other student-athletes. We saw women’s wrestling as an area where we could be progressive with more opportunities for women. Iowa just held their first non-sanctioned girls wrestling championship this past year, so it just seemed to be the right time for us. We’re looking at the student-athletes who are more attracted to wrestling, from a diversity standpoint, from a demographic, it fits very well with the type of students we get here. It’s really a win-win for us.”

Zander said the plan is to have a coach in place by early September, get the coach on campus and start recruiting student-athletes for the following school year. In the meantime, the Iowa Department of Transportation has been leasing a building three blocks from the Iowa Wesleyan campus. That lease runs out in December 2019. Zander said the plan is to take back ownership of that building and turn it into a state-of-the-art wrestling room, complete with two full-size mats. “Right now our first season will launch in the winter of 2020. So we’re looking to hire one coach, who we hope to have on campus by Sept. 1. Rest of the story at
https://www.thehawkeye.com/sports/20190614/iowa-wesleyan-eager-to-begin-mens-and-womens-wrestling-programs?mc_cid=5bb2b6e434&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

July 25, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized