"After careful thought and consideration, I am pleased to announce the re-introduction of wrestling as our 21st varsity sport program," Stewart said. "We are thrilled to provide this athletic experience to a new group of student-athletes. More than 11,000 high-school students participate in wrestling within the state of Ohio and, to those student-athletes who choose Otterbein, the Athletics program will continue to provide a supportive academic environment and highly-competitive experience."
Otterbein, competing within NCAA Division III and as part of the 10-member Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), is expected to hire a coach this coming fall and then begin varsity competition during the 2016-17 academic year. Wrestling competes as a winter sport.
The Cardinals become the seventh member of the OAC to offer wrestling, joining Mount Union, Baldwin Wallace, Ohio Northern, Heidelberg, John Carroll and Muskingum. Otterbein had previously offered the sport from 1961-69 before the program was cut.
"We are very excited to reestablish the wrestling program," said Bob Gatti, vice president for student affairs. "There has been a lot of enthusiasm from our students. This addition will enhance our athletic program and the recruitment of additional students will support our strategic enrollment plan."
There were 11,309 wrestlers, across 585 high schools, in the state of Ohio during the 2014-15 year of competition. Over 54,000 fans supported the OHSAA State Wrestling Individual Tournament in Columbus, the third-highest attendance for any sport behind only basketball and football.
"Many factors were considered when adding this program," Stewart said. "Prospective and current Otterbein students were surveyed about their sport interest and the results continually showed strong support for wrestling. In addition, the OAC provides an immediate competitive avenue for this program and we are looking forward to furthering the conference's tradition of excellence within this sport."
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