Takedown Report

Wesley College Wrestling

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Since 2004 we have gathered research and information on the dual meet records of college coaches and teams over history. This on-going project started with a simple question and quest to find out who were the top 20 or 30 coaches with the most all-time dual wins. For over 40 years the top coach was Dale Thomas at Oregon State. In early 2020 Pat Pecora of University of Pittsburgh-Johnston coached his 617th dual meet win to take the top spot. In order to be accurate and complete the project expanded to compiling records of over 1,200 teams, 4,800 individual top coaches and 176,000 matches wrestled.. Until recently we saw include any records stating that Wesley College in Dover, Delaware had a wrestling team.

In a 1961 Amateur Wrestling News reported that Allen Brent left Wesley College, in Dover Delaware, where he was the A.D. and wrestling coach and moved on to The University of Connecticut. After contacting the S.I.D. office at Wesley College about this they looked through their archives and yearbooks and found some information.  They found “records of a wrestling team in 1966, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76.  Limited win, loss records but Coach Jack Fisher was their coach in the first 4 years with a J. Stone joining the coaching staff in 1969.  It appears as though they won 2 matches in 66, were 8-3 and the Tri-State Champions in 1967 but after that records were not reported in the yearbooks.” 

Readers may not be aware of Wesley College which started in 1873 as a preparatory school until It became a two-year college in 1918, and was named the Wesley Collegiate Institute. The school did not confer four-year degrees until 1978 as it became a private liberal arts college.  In July 2020, Delaware State University announced that it was acquiring Wesley College. Thus on June 30th 2021 Wesley College will cease operations and will be acquired by Delaware State University. On July 1, 2021, 277 years of history will be made in Dover, Delaware when Wesley College’s 147-year tradition as a premiere liberal arts college becomes part of the 130-year heritage of Delaware State University. Delaware State was the last Historically Black College/University to have a wrestling team before they dropped the sport in 2009.

We welcome input and information from alumni wrestlers and fans who would share about the wrestlers, coaches and teams at Wesley College.

May 26, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized