The Case for Wrestling at Drury University Prepared

The Case for Wrestling at Drury University Prepared by the National Wrestling Coaches Association

Historical Background of Wrestling • Anyone can wrestle. Wrestling is one of the few sports that provides opportunities for the blind and physically handicapped, as well as men and women of all sizes, weights, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Wrestling is one of the top three NCAA sports with respect to attracting 1 st generation college bound students. Wrestling also ranks among the top 6 with respect to minority participation. • • Intercollegiate wrestling has been in existence over 100 years. • Wrestling was included in the ancient Olympic Games, and was one of the select sports included in the first modern Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. • Wrestling ranks in the top three medal winning sports for U. S. in the Olympic games. • 13 United States Presidents wrestled.

Wrestling Embraces Diversity 2011 NCAA Champion Anthony Robles Arizona State University 2012 Olympian Helen Mourulis Simon Fraser University

Why Wrestling Belongs on Your Campus I. The Need II. Supports the Educational Mission of Drury University III. Opportunity For Nationally Competitive Program IV. Increase Enrollment/Revenue Through Tuition/Fees to Campus V. Modest Cost/Minimum Needs VI. Scheduling VII. National Participation Trends VIII. High School Participation vs College Opportunities IX. Academic Achievement X. NWCA’s Help XI. Wrestling’s Outstanding Americans

The Need Drury University is located in a region where wrestling is very underserved despite huge high school wrestler participation numbers. • • • For the most part, male high school wrestlers have about ½ of the opportunity to participate in college as compared to athletes in most other sports. In Missouri and bordering states, there are over 49, 791 high school wrestlers. • There are plenty of four-year wrestling teams in the region to compete against. • There is a huge shortage of high school teachers and coaches in the midwest and a varsity wrestling program at Drury will help to replenish the depleted pool.

Wrestling Supports the Educational Mission • NCAA statistics indicate that wrestling (all three college divisions combined) has the 3 rd largest percentage of 1 st generation college bound students. • Many of our top NCAA Division I wrestling teams are at elite academic institutions (i. e. Cornell, Stanford, Lehigh, etc. ). • Many of our nation’s top corporate, political, military, and community leaders have wrestling backgrounds. • There is no professional level for amateur wrestling so our sport does not attract student-athletes who are simply trying to use college as a stepping stone to the professional level.

Ability to be Competitive on A National Level In recent history § At the past three men’s NCAA Division II Championships, over 70% of the schools competing at the Division II level where represented at the National Championships § 25 Schools on the Division II level had at least one NCAA All-American at the past three men’s NCAA Championships. This is over 65% of all DII programs. § Ouachita Baptist finished 4 th in the nation after being in existence for only 4 years. § Maryville recently won the National Dual Meet Championship after being established only 4 years ago. § With 13, 400 scholastic female wrestlers and only 31 intercollegiate teams in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association, there is significant parity at the national level.

Increase Enrollment/Revenue • Despite the fact that high school wrestling is the 6 th most popular high school boys sport in America with over 260, 000 participants, there are only 60 DII wrestling programs. Your team will have a healthy roster size of 3040 solid student-athletes. • A fully funded NCAA DII wrestling program only has 9. 9 scholarships so with a roster of 30 -40 wrestlers, most will be paying their own tuition, room, and board (this is consistent with most of the wrestling programs at elite academic institutions). You can be nationally competitive with 4 scholarships. • With so many high school wrestlers in the midwest and so few four year wrestling programs, there is a significant opportunity to generate considerable revenue through camps and clinics each year. • Nearby Texas has the 2 nd largest population of high school female wrestlers (2776) in the nation despite having only one in-state collegiate team. Your college women’s wrestling roster would minimally include 30 participants. • By NCAA standards, wrestling has a low cost per student athlete.

Modest Cost / Minimum Needs The cost of NAIA wrestling programs are among the lowest of all collegiate sports. A sample budget based on other “similar” NCAA DII wrestling programs: a. Operating Budget (travel, equipment, recruiting, etc. ) -$45, 000 b. Coaches Salary (recommend combining with another campus duty such as admissions, financial aid $40, 000 - 45, 000 c. Costs may vary depending geographic region. Initial start up costs: a. Two wrestling mats (last 12 – 15 years) - $20, 000 b. Practice Facility – minimally should be 42 ft by 84 ft c. Uniforms & Practice Gear - $10, 000

NCAA DII Conference Men’s Teams GLVC Teams Regional DII Teams 1. Maryville University 2. University of Indianapolis 3. Mckendree 4. Truman State 5. UW Parkside 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Central Oklahoma Ouachita Baptist Ft Hayes State Central Missouri Lindenwood Upper Iowa Nebraska Kearney

Women’s Intercollegiate Teams Compete in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) Campbellsville University (KY) Eastern Michigan University (MI) Jamestown University (ND) King College (TN) Life University (GA) Lindenwood University (MO) Lindenwood Belleville (IL) Lyon College (AR) Menlo College (CA) Mc. Kendree University (IL) Midland Lutheran College (NE) Emmanuel College (GA) Southern Oregon St Catharine College (KY) NAIA NCAA DII NAIA NCAA DII NAIA Missouri Baptist University (MO) Missouri Valley College (MO) Ottawa University (KS) Oklahoma City University (OK) Pacific University (OR) Simon Fraser University (BC) Southwest Oregon C. C. (OR Waldorf College (IA) Warner Pacific College (OR) Wayland Baptist University (TX) University of Cumberland’s (KY) NAIA NCAA DIII NCAA DII NJCAA NAIA

National Trends to Support Adding Wrestling • The National High School participation rate for wrestling has shown an increase the last ten years. (since 1999, scholastic boys wrestling has grown by nearly 30, 000 participants). • Since 1994, the number of high schools that sponsor wrestling has grown from 8559 to 10, 000/boys. • Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing high school sports with 11, 000 participants. • As reported by National Federation of State High School Associations, scholastic wrestling state championships are among the top five sports in terms of revenue production. This mirrors revenue production of the NCAA Championships. • 131 new college wrestling programs have been established since 2001 at all collegiate levels.

Scholastic Men’s Wrestling Participation vs College Opportunities Source: National Federation of High School Associations report

Scholastic Women’s Wrestling Programs vs College Opportunities

Wrestlers Perform on and off the Mat Below is some “Academic Profile” research data on 434 freshman wrestlers for the 2012/13 year. This data was provided by the NCAA Research Department (they mentioned that this data does not change much from year to year): l Average high school GPA of wrestlers in core academic courses = 3. 255. This is within. 05 points of men’s lacrosse, men’s tennis, and men’s ice hockey. Wrestling is near the average for male student-athletes. Average GPA across all male general student body = 3. 24. l Average SAT for wrestlers = 1084; average ACT for wrestlers (sum score) = 93. Averages for all male general student body = 1052 and 90 respectively. Many of Division I’s most thriving intercollegiate wrestling programs are at elite academic institutions such as Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, Lehigh, etc.

How the NWCA Can Help !

About Us • NWCA is a 501 C-3 non-profit organization established in 1928. The mission is to increase the number of coaches, programs, and wrestlers at all levels. • The three core competencies of the NWCA are coaching development, studentwrestler welfare, and promotion. • National headquarters in Manheim, PA • Eight full time staff members and 34 Board of Directors • The NWCA has educational programs that serve 230, 000 annually. • Membership includes nearly 10, 000 coaches, wrestlers, officials, fans, affiliated organizations, college/high school institutions. All head high school coaches in Arkansas and neighboring states are NWCA members.

Affiliated Members on NWCA Board • • National Collegiate Athletic Association National High School Federation National Junior College Association California Junior College Association National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics USA Wrestling Amateur Athletic Union National Wrestling Hall of Fame

The NWCA Can Provide the Following: • The NWCA will petition the U. S. Wrestling Foundation and other benefactors to raise startup funds to help get your program off of the ground. • Provide grass roots support for the Drury University wrestling program. Every head high school coach in MO and bordering states is a member of the NWCA. • Provide assistance in hiring a coach. • Provide FREE leadership training for coaching staff.

Wrestling’s Outstanding Americans Partial List Joseph Allen- Astronaut Hiraoki “Rocky” Aoki-President/CEO, Benihana of Tokyo Restaurants James Biggar -Chairman & CEO, Nestle USA, Inc. Frank Carlucci III-Ambassador, Secretary of Defense Michael Collins-Command Pilot, Apollo 11 Mission Dan Dierdorf-Sports Broadcaster Dr. Kenneth J. Faust-Medicine Robert W. Hannan-President & CEO, Eckerd Corporation Admiral James L. Holloway, III-Military Henry Kravis-Partner, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. James A. Leach-U. S. Congressman from Iowa Abraham Lincoln-16 th President of the USA David S. Pottruck- Former President/CEO, Charles Schwab & Co. , Inc. Philip Rauch-Business Edward B. Rust-President/CEO, State Farm Insurance Norman Schwarzkopf-Commander in Chief, Desert Storm Howard Taft-27 th President of the USA Joe Galli-CEO of TTI John Mc. Cain- US Senator Carl Albert- Speaker of the House Roone Arledge-President, ABC-TV News & Sports Norman E. Borlaug-Nobel Peace Prize Laureate John Chafee-U. S. Senator from Rhode Island Pat Day-Jockey Kirk Douglas -Actor-Author, Diplomat Stephen Friedman-CEO, Goldman, Sachs & Co. Dennis Hastert-Speaker of the House, Ret. John W. Irving-Author of Novels and Films General Charles Krulak-Commandant of the USMC Peter W. Likins-Past President, Lehigh University Ronald Magruder-Past CEO, Cracker Barrel Theodore Roosevelt-26 th President of the USA Donald H. Rumsfeld-US Secretary of Defense, Ret. Arthur C. Rutzen-Past President, The Pacific Bank Tom Sullivan-Author, Singer, Actor, Sportsman Billy Baldwin- Actor Greg Lanteris-Astronaut Dan Cathy- President Chik-fil-A

Your Wrestling Support Staff THE NATIONAL WRESTLING COACHES ASSOCIATION For More Information, Contact: Mike Moyer – Executive Director P. O. Box 254 Manheim, PA 17544 717 -653 -8009 mmoyer@nwca. cc www. nwcaonline. com