President Jennifer Braaten, noted that Ferrum will be one of the first institutions on the east coast to provide collegiate wrestling as an option for women.
"We have a long tradition of strong, award-winning athletic programs," said Braaten. "Through the additional opportunities provided to our student-athletes through these new offerings, Ferrum will continue to distinguish itself in athletics."
Ferrum's women will compete under the Women's College Wrestling Association (WCWA), while the men's club program will compete under the National Collegiate Wrestling Association as a sanctioned club program. The WCWA holds a national championship tournament, contested annually in February with over 200 competitors.
Both programs will have strong competition nearby. The King University (Bristol, Va.) women won their second straight WCWA national championship this year, while Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.) won the 2015 NWCA club program national title.
Ferrum announced that it would begin a wrestling program for men in the summer of 2012. Yetzer was hired to begin recruiting and in a span of six weeks, brought 15 wrestlers to campus before the beginning of the school year. The Panthers competed as a club program during the 2012-13 school year, then made the jump to a varsity, NCAA Division III program.
The 2013-14 inaugural varsity season produced three place-winners at the NCAA East Regional, including the College's first-ever NCAA national championship qualifier. Yetzer's team placed third at the prestigious Virginia Duals, one of the oldest collegiate wrestling tournaments in the country. Ferrum finished with a 9-6 dual meet record.
Ferrum was selected to host the 2015 NCAA East Regional, held at the Berglund Center in nearby Roanoke, an event which included 19 schools from along the east coast. The Panthers placed seventh in a field of 18 teams that competed in the regional, and once again had three place-winners. Yetzer beefed up Ferrum's schedule this, competing against four nationally-ranked NCAA Div. III programs, and NCWA national champion Liberty.
"The addition of these two new programs will help to elevate our wrestling program here at Ferrum," said Yetzer. "I'm excited to continue to bring quality student-athletes that want to continue to wrestle at the next level. Our goal is to build all three of our programs into championship teams."
Mike Moyer, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, expressed his appreciation to Ferrum for establishing a women's wrestling program.
"On behalf of the NWCA Board of Directors and our President, Coach Mark Cody at University of Oklahoma, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Ferrum College President Jennifer Braaten for her extraordinary leadership in establishing an intercollegiate women's wrestling team," said Moyer. "This is a region where our sport is so underserved at the college level. Wrestling prides itself on the fact that virtually anyone can participate regardless of size, weight, gender and even most disabilities. This will undoubtedly inspire many other college administrations in the region to establish intercollegiate women's wrestling teams in an effort to accommodate the exploding number of aspiring young female wrestlers in our sport."
There are currently 24 college women's wrestling programs that hold WCWA membership. Women's collegiate wrestling follows International Freestyle Rules, as used in the Olympic Games. Women's wrestling has been an Olympic sport since 2004.
Since 1994, the number of women who wrestle in high school in the United States has grown from 804 to over 9904. States that sponsor a high school wrestling championship include California, Oregon, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.
Anyone interested in wrestling at Ferrum should contact Coach Yetzer at nyetzer@ferrum.edu
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