The Case for Wrestling William Carey University Prepared by Mike Moyer, National Wrestling Coaches Association

Wrestling’s Demographics Since 1996, 1/3 of the men’s U.S. Olympic team were minorities. Egalitarian Sport - provides opportunities regardless of size due to weight classification competition. Across all three NCAA divisions, wrestling has the highest percentage of first generation college bound students. One of the few sports to provide mainstream opportunity to the visually impaired, deaf and disabled student-athletes. Women’s wrestling is now an Olympic sport (54 countries compete) and over 11,000 young women are wrestling in high schools across America (state championships in 6 states – HI, AK, WA, CA, TX, TN). Helen Maroulis Anthony Robles/Arizona St Olympian 2011 NCAA Champion

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 (There is no reason to believe the NAIA would be much different): 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. 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 nation’s most thriving intercollegiate wrestling programs are at elite academic institutions such as Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, Lehigh, etc.

The Need William Carey University is strategically located in a region where wrestling is greatly underserved at the collegiate level despite being hugely popular at the high school level. In the Mississippi region, there are 8,906 high school wrestlers and only 9 four year college teams. In nearby Texas, there are approximately 11,000 high school male wrestlers and only 1 NAIA men’s four year team (Wayland Baptist/NAIA). On average, high school male wrestlers have about ½ of the opportunity to participate in college as compared to athletes in most other sports. Despite being underserved at the college level in the Mississippi region, there are plenty of men’s wrestling teams in the region to compete against (all within easy driving distance). There are 11,000 high school female wrestlers in the nation and only 31 intercollegiate teams.

Wrestling Supports the Educational Mission NCAA statistics indicate that wrestling (all three college divisions combined) has the largest percentage of first generation college bound students (this is most likely the same for the NAIA). Many of our nation’s top corporate, political, military, and community leaders have wrestling backgrounds. 13 United States Presidents wrestled. 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 With 258,000 high school boys wrestlers and only 280 four year college wrestling teams, your program would be nationally competitive almost immediately (both Ottawa University and Williams Baptist University finished in the Top 25 in their first year). 6 of the top 10 NAIA men’s wrestling programs this year have been established since 2001. 90% of NAIA schools with men’s wrestling qualified wrestlers to the NAIA Championships in 2016. 60% of NAIA schools had an All American at the 2016 NAIA Championships

Increase Enrollment/Revenue Despite the fact that high school wrestling is the 6th most popular high school boys sport in America with over 258,000 participants, there are only 57 men’s wrestling programs. Your men’s team should have a healthy roster size of 30-40 solid student-athletes. A fully funded NAIA men’s wrestling program only has 8 scholarships so with a roster of 30-40 wrestlers, most will be paying their own tuition, room, and board. We recommend providing scholarships based on a sliding scale of roster size. With so many high school wrestlers in the south region, there is a significant opportunity to generate considerable revenue through camps and clinics each year. With over 11,000 high school female wrestlers in the nation and only 31 intercollegiate women’s teams, a healthy roster size of 30 to 35 wrestlers should be attainable by year #3. Wrestling has a low cost per student athlete.

Modest Cost / Minimum Needs Wrestling has one of the lowest cost per student athlete of most sports. Based on budget numbers from a typical NAIA wrestling team, the costs are as follows: a. Salary (head coach overseeing both programs): $45,000 - $50,000 b. Assistant Coach Salary: $30,000 b. Operating Budget (anything other than personnel): $25,000/men & $25,000/women d. Scholarship (8.0 full scholarships max – recommend using sliding scale based on roster size) Start Up Costs 2 Wrestling Mats: $10,000/mat Modest facilities requirements - a wrestling room that is minimally 90’ by 42’ Uniforms & practice gear: $10,000

NAIA Men’s Regional Teams KCAC Teams Williams Baptist (AR) Lyons College (AR) Central Baptist (AR) Cumberland (TN) Life Univ. (GA) Truett McConnell (GA) Brewton Parker (GA) Reinhardt (GA) Other Regional Teams University of Ozarks (AR) Ouachita Baptist (AR) Huntingdon College (AL) Bacone (OK) Oklahoma City (OK) Wayland Baptist (TX)

Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) Participating Teams Campbellsville University (KY) NAIA Becone (OK) NAIA Jamestown University (ND) NAIA King College (TN) NCAA DI Life University (GA) NAIA Lindenwood University (MO) NCAA DII Lindenwood Belleville (IL) NAIA Lyon College (AR) NAIA Menlo College (CA) NAIA McKendree University (IL) NCAA DII Midland Lutheran College (NE) NAIA Missouri Baptist University (MO) NAIA Missouri Valley College (MO) NAIA Ferrum College (VA) NCAA DIII Eastern Oregon NAIA Ottawa University (KS) NAIA Oklahoma City University (OK) NAIA Pacific University (OR) NCAA DIII Simon Fraser University (BC) NCAA DII Southwest Oregon C.C. (OR) NJCAA The Univ. of Cumberland’s (TN) NAIA Waldorf College (IA) NAIA Warner Pacific College (OR) NAIA Wayland Baptist University (TX) NAIAu Emmanuel College (GA) NCAA DII Adrian College (MI) NCAA DIII Southern Oregon C NAIA MacMurray College NCAA DIII

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 20,000 participants). Since 1994, the number of high schools that sponsor boys wrestling has grown from 8559 to 10,000. 150 new college wrestling programs have been established since 2001 at all collegiate levels (mostly at enrollment driven schools). There are 20 new intercollegiate wrestling programs being established for the 2016/17 year. Since 2000, high school girls wrestling has grown from several hundred to 11,000 and state championships are now offered in HI, AK, WA, CA, TX, & TN).

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

Scholastic Women’s Wrestling Programs vs College Opportunities

How the NWCA Can Help !

About Us NWCA is a 501C-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, student- wrestler welfare, and promotion. National headquarters in Manheim, PA Six full time staff members and 34 Board of Directors The NWCA has educational programs that serve 230,000 wrestlers annually. Membership includes nearly 10,000 coaches, wrestlers, officials, fans, affiliated organizations, college/high school institutions. 8,500 of the 10,000 high school wrestling programs in America are members of the NWCA.

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 National Wrestling Hall of Fame

The NWCA Can Provide the Following We can assist with providing a slate of very qualified coaching candidates. Assist with securing start up funds. Outer Circle Sports, the exclusive provider of Adidas wrestling shoes, will donate 18 competition singlets and warm up uniforms as well as provide deep discounts on other wrestling accessories. Provide grass roots promotion for your new program (8,500 of the 10,000 high school wrestling programs in America are NWCA members) Provide FREE CEO leadership training for coaching staff (the NWCA is also partnered with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (Wrestling Ministry) to deliver our curriculum.

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