NAIA wrestling continues to grow and that is a great thing. We have some new programs starting up in the 2022-2023 season & hopefully there will be more announcements for new/reinstated programs as the year progresses. It's hard to know exactly what to say about a new program because they haven't competed yet. All you can do is hope the best for them and that they have success in their inauguration.
The University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy St. Louis. I'm really anxious to see what becomes of Eutectic wrestling. This is a college of such specified degrees that I imagine recruiting will be a challenge, but I also suspect that it won't be as difficult as I initially make it out to be. Anxious to see if the roster reflects the St Louis area or if it'll be a wide range of wrestlers from all over. It's fun to see wrestling grow in a big city like St Louis. Gives me hope that maybe Washington University St. Louis might restore their program one day soon.
Collegiate wrestling continues to grow in the south as the Pikeville Bears will be starting up both men & women's wrestling programs this season. Absolutely love it when we get a new wrestling program in a state like Kentucky. The more and more wrestling grows in the south, the more and more I think eventually it'll bleed into Mississippi. I was told for years and years that I would never see collegiate wrestling at the varsity level in Mississippi. I'm 37 now. I'm beginning to wonder if I might even get to see it before I turn 40. Programs like Pikeville adding make me optimistic about that possibility.
Even more so to the sentiment of the growth of wrestling in the south and what it could mean for southern wrestling is the addition of the Jarvis Christian Bulldogs. Located in Texas, Jarvis Christian is also an historically black college, which Mike Moyer and the NWCA have done a tremendous job of trying to restore wrestling programs to. Texas high school wrestling is growing exponentially and it is rewarding to see another program pop up that gives these wrestlers a chance to compete in their home state.
Warner Pacific is not a new program. Matter of fact, The Knights have been around for nearly a decade. The issue is that COVID-19 has kept them off the mat for such a long time that I'm not sure what I can write about them at the moment other than I hope to see them back on the mat this upcoming season. The west coast in general is starving for collegiate wrestling programs & Warner Pacific provides one. Anxious to see the Columbia blue & black back on the mat.
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