TitleIX is ripe for reform

Ithaca, NY has a population of around 31,000. Charlottesville, Va. has one of around 45,000. Both have significant NCAA D1 presences though. Texans are hungry for college wrestling programs. Schreiner U.'s roster is quite healthy for an NCAA D3 program that's less than a decade old. Kerrville, TX has a population of around 25,000. Meanwhile Wayland Baptist U. up in Plainville, TX does well for an NAIA program. Plainview's population is around 24,000.

Here's an interesting resource on that topic: https://johnnythompsonnum1.blogspot.com/2022/09/gone-lost-forgotten-collegiate-teams-of.html

Here's a list of NCWA, NAIA and NCAA programs in Texas: https://www.ncsasports.org/athletic-scholarships/wrestling/texas/tarleton-state-university The list lacks Texas Woman's U., which is new and NCAA D2 (based near Dallas / Ft. Worth / Denton County). It also lacks Richland College (now Dallas Community College). Their program's status, post-pandemic, is uncertain though. Beforehand, however, they were a relatively tough NCWA program.

Additional coaches have recently joined the Sooners' wrestling program: https://soonersports.com/news/2023/6/6/kish-adds-marsden-and-skyora-to-wrestling-staff

What's bringing about that purported change? The growth of women's wrestling and MMA? Cyberspace's enabling folks to see the merits of adding and maintaining wrestling programs? Anything else?

Here's an interesting article that's right on point regarding how the SEC wrestlers performed at the NCAAs during the 1970s and such: http://johnnythompsonnum1.blogspot.com/2017/09/solving-mystery-that-was-sec.html I apologize that the linking above from the same author is focused on Texas. Mistakes happen when one's juggling other tasks while trying to share potentially helpful info.

Perhaps the 1970s were considerably more favorable? Personally I'd prefer to be a Johnny Appleseed-style activist wrestling fan than an entrenched winner's, any day of the week. I prioritize trying to keep the sport alive at the college & Olympics level. I'm not saying that you' don't, admittedly. But I've lived throughout the South (in various different U.S. states) and I see lots of still unrealized potential. Please feel free to join the crusade however you see fit.

The U. of Minnesota won the NCAAs circa 2001 without a single finalist. Meanwhile Arizona State didn't have a single champ when winning it all at the NCAAs in 1988. Were they not powerhouse wrestling programs then, though? My guess is that you are used to backing a conference which has lots of champions. Probably the Big 10, a wrestling conference which we all admittedly admire. But another characteristic to consider when assessing if a conference is or was a wrestling powerhouse involves how far removed it is, geographically, from the mainstream wrestling movement. If we fail to take that into account, wrestling risks becoming even more of a mere regional sport (like men's gymnastics, which has all but died at the NCAA D1 level). Sponsors, school administrators, athletes and even the Olympics committee take mere regional status into account when deciding if and when to back our sport. Isn't it worth asking ourselves which programs' coaches and administrators are the "Johnny Appleseeds" of college wrestling which are particularly worthy of our appreciation and support? My point has been that the SEC had some high ranking teams along the way. I guess our definitions of "powerhouse" are different. I understand your point. At any rate, here's the link from above, for those who are just arriving at this discussion: https://johnnythompsonnum1.blogspot.com/2022/09/gone-lost-forgotten-collegiate-teams-of.html

Do the boosters, alumni and such have a website and / or Facebook page so we can coordinate our supportiveness? University administrations like to be able to point to backers among the general public. It's validating and reassuring, etc.

In their 60s and 70s, yes.

The SEC used to be a college wrestling powerhouse, as recently as the 1980s. Now it's poised to resume being so, having recently added the Oklahoma Sooners subsequent to the Mizzou Tigers. Several existing SEC programs used to be strong in wrestling, as did SEC candidate Clemson: https://johnnythompsonnum1.blogspot.com/2022/09/gone-lost-forgotten-collegiate-teams-of.html

U.T. @ Arlington has a club program, too. There are other programs as well (including in Houston). They had considerable momentum heading into the pandemic. Since then, seemingly not nearly as much. What's your wrestling alma mater? I'm sorry it dropped our sport, regardless.

bnwtwg: Your point about "club" status is well taken. In response I mention that I've been told that Liberty University's transition from NCAA D1(?) to NCWA status has been relatively painless, but I'm not sure how their budget was affected. They even kept the same head coach (Jessie Castro, I seem to recall). Meanwhile, I can't help but learn from ODU wrestling's D1 example. Students were having to foot the bill for a team that few even noticed, other than the student activities fee deduction. Now the Monarchs don't even have a club program left. Maybe clubs are the way to go on the frontier. That said, I wish every school could afford to have a program as fine as the ODU Monarchs traditionally were. I was their fan and I even helped encourage others to go wrestle for 'em. Their program's discontinuation saddened me considerably. But maybe UNT wrestling has already adequately braced itself from a similar fate by being a club. Food for thought.

If one looks for "Texas" at the top of the 3 columns here (the one below is for women), one can see seeds for optimism: http://www.ncwa.net/teams

U. of North Texas (Denton) does have a club: https://ncwa.net/teams/unt Meanwhile: https://www.facebook.com/NorthTexasWrestling Former NCAA champion (U. of Oklahoma) Andrew Metzger has been actively involved with the team, too.

Allen (near Dallas), Texas perhaps? Bo Nickal went to Allen H.S. They're a perennial team champ, too... If only Texas had D1 wrestling again. It's inching its way back in that direction though (knock on wood): http://www.facebook.com/TexasCollegiateWrestling

Of potential interest, this article chronicles the Sooner wrestlers' peaks & valleys over the past several decades: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/college/sooners/2023/04/07/ou-wrestling-fall-isnt-tied-to-now-departed-coach-lou-rosselli/70091662007/

The Sooners won 7 NCAA D1 men's wrestling championships, as recently as the 1970s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_Wrestling_Championships Maybe no A.D. and alumni association would want to shed a program with such a noticeable tradition of excellence, albeit from yesteryear? Besides, maybe the Bedlam competitions with Oklahoma State require that a certain minimum quantity of teams participate... Didn't the Sooners nearly defeat Oklahoma State this past season in wrestling at the first Bedlam? I just checked and it was close: https://soonersports.com/sports/wrestling/schedule On the flipside though, universities have fiscal challenges unlike ever before... This is becoming increasingly impactful for everyone: http://www.USDebtClock.org Hopefully the Sooners will do well with their new coaching staff, then.

¿Can that be done?

What do you think the Sooner wrestling program will have to accomplish in order to continue being a funded NCAA D1 program at the U. of Oklahoma, 5 or 10 years from now?

Mizzou's presence in the SEC could be pivotal if another pair of schools adds wrestling (including newcomers). https://www.secsports.com/school/missouri-tigers

Admittedly the S.E.C. requires member schools to have a quantity of teams that happens to be lower than quantities required by the Big 10, etc. Perhaps they'll add women's wrestling in the S.E.C. though, so they can continue to be a football powerhouse conference even as Title IX: Proportionality remains a (declining?) factor. Having successful wrestling programs such as Mizzou and the Sooners could help the process along in the S.E.C. We can be the change that we want to see...

For more on S.E.C. wrestling history: http://johnnythompsonnum1.blogspot.com/2017/09/solving-mystery-that-was-sec.html

And the U. of Oklahoma's new head coach is: Roger Kish. Can he, the Sooners and Mizzou help inspire the Southeastern Athletic Conference (S.E.C.) to reinstate wrestling as an officially sanctioned sport in that conference? Stay tuned. The S.E.C. used to be a strong wrestling conference as recently as the 1980s... https://nwcaonline.com/news/2023/5/2/national-wrestling-coaches-association-oklahoma-names-roger-kish-head-wrestling-coach.aspx

Coach Mark Cody gave the U. of Oklahoma a try after turning things around so remarkably at American University. Nowadays, it's not clear that he's happy that he did that... Just sayin'....