Women’s wrestling
- Thread starter biocowboy
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If you are involved with wrestling at any level youth through high school you are already completely used to it
There are some excellent female wrestlers in OK that are entertaining to watch
There are some excellent female wrestlers in OK that are entertaining to watch
I have seen a lot of posts calling for OSU to add this. I have even heard John Smith speak favorably of it. I think it is an awful idea. I love wrestling, but would have absolutely zero interest in women's wrestling. Same with basketball. Almost no one will admit this, but it is an obvious truth when you look at the sports that people actually spend time/money paying attention to.
A women's program could also help with recruiting. Many brothers & sisters wrestle (like the Rollers) and they would probably like to attend the same school. Nic Bouzakis said that in an interview once about his younger sister.
Also, it could lead to more freestyle coaches. How about this... name Jacarra Winchester head coach, move Derek Fix & Zo over as assistant coaches, then backfill them with JO as head RTC coach & Ringer as assistant RTC coach.
Also, it could lead to more freestyle coaches. How about this... name Jacarra Winchester head coach, move Derek Fix & Zo over as assistant coaches, then backfill them with JO as head RTC coach & Ringer as assistant RTC coach.
I understand what you are saying about cost and viewership but you do realize that we are an agricultural school and equestrian fits that image. We also have one of the top programs too.
The other thing to consider, those young ladies that compete didn’t just start riding and competing when they arrived they have competed for years. That would indicate they probably come from some families that have some money that allowed them to compete prior to coming to OSU. It’s never a bad thing to have life long wealthy families with daughters who are alum and letterman.
Yeah, I really could not care less about either women's wrestling or equestrian. I am strongly opposed to adding new sports that no one cares about without subtracting one. I would also be cool with bumping women's cross country, tennis, or track. Equestrian is just the one that "jumped" into my head first because I still think its weird that it is actually a sport.
I used to feel that way, but not anymore. I went to the world championships in NYC in 2003 and the Japanese women were phenomenal… first time I appreciated women’s wrestling. Americans have caught up in the last 20 years. I’ve really enjoyed watching the US women the last 2 Olympic cycles. Their matches are more exciting than the mens. They open up and score more points. I’ll say for both men and women our athletes are also very well spoken and great role models.
There is always that random guy who tries to convince everyone that women's basketball is more fun to watch because they actually play fundamental basketball instead of show-boating. Same guy that pays $50 for season tickets and sits by himself in the third row all season.
There is no denying the substantial rise in womens wrestling, with sanctioning at the high school level now in 30+ states and the ability for these girls to continue into college at 100+ different institutions it should be a no brainer for some type of program to emerge. But the elite recruits are already going other places who got out in front of the sport and are blazing trails for these athletes, ASU and Iowa are going to be hard to beat with the effort and resources they are putting into their teams. ASU isn’t even sanctioned but the Blades sisters are going there to work with Perry and the Sunkist RTC. Ohio State just started a club team, seems like a reasonable easy way to gauge interest while working on freestyle in the spring and summer months.
This is one of those things we will wish we had done sooner rather than later. A strong women’s program is good for our men’s program. Like with the RTC, we will find ourselves playing catch-up if we don’t jump on board.
Some misogynist in here...
If we did away with Football, we could have a Womens team and the finest Wrestling budget in the country/world.
If we did away with Football, we could have a Womens team and the finest Wrestling budget in the country/world.
I believe adding women's wrestling is a must and it will help men's wrestling. We should already have it. No downside at all in my opinion and it will help promote wrestling in general to new fans.
I'd definitely watch the OSU women's team compete. I'm also all for adding whatever sports regional high school participation indicates would bring more students to OSU.
Well, there is that whole Title 9 thing...but I am not sure about any rules.
My limited idea on Title 9 is that we cannot have more mens than womens sports and money has to be a certain way. So, adding womens would either eliminate another program or add a mens program...so logistcs could get tricky?
To maintain FBS eligibility we have to sponsor at least 16 sports, at least 8 of those have to be women's.
Title IX requirements are a little murkier than they used to be, but basically amount to providing athletic opportunities in sports that make sense for the sex that has fewer scholarships than the makeup of the student body overall. Women's wrestling being an Oklahoma High School sanctioned sport means that it would by far make the most sense for us to add to aid in Title IX compliance.
Full Title IX rules here: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/l...1972 (20 U.S.C.,therefore covered by this law.
Thanks @Mr. Blonde
I fear that sometimes it's easier to just not deal with things that can severely injure you, especially when its murky water.
BUT, we should 100% do this for women and the sport!
I fear that sometimes it's easier to just not deal with things that can severely injure you, especially when its murky water.
BUT, we should 100% do this for women and the sport!
No. Although it looks like if all of our programs have fully funded scholarships, we offer 140 male scholarships and 88 female for a student body that's 50/50 from what I've been able to find.
I don't mean for this to sound arrogant or condescending or anything of that sort...
But this thread is embarrassing. Women's wrestling is literally the fastest growing youth sport in the country. It is growing the sport of wrestling to new audiences, and as women become more in tune with the sport, it will help with attendance and fan support. Who are the biggest fans of college wrestling? People that wrestled growing up themselves.
Look at the markets where it's the most popular. Texas, California, Georgia, Florida, Virginia... places that wrestling has had a notoriously hard time penetrating. The sport was sanctioned on the high school level in these places long before it was added in Pennsylvania and Iowa. As popularity grows, and as the sport gains NCAA sanctioning, D1 college programs will be added in these places. If they've got a women's program with 20 scholarships, it will be easy for them to add a men's program as well.
If Oklahoma State embraces women's wrestling, it will be great for Oklahoma State. Fortunately, John Smith, Hardell Moore, and the other people involved in the sport on a high level in Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State are supporters of the sport and getting women involved.
But this thread is embarrassing. Women's wrestling is literally the fastest growing youth sport in the country. It is growing the sport of wrestling to new audiences, and as women become more in tune with the sport, it will help with attendance and fan support. Who are the biggest fans of college wrestling? People that wrestled growing up themselves.
Look at the markets where it's the most popular. Texas, California, Georgia, Florida, Virginia... places that wrestling has had a notoriously hard time penetrating. The sport was sanctioned on the high school level in these places long before it was added in Pennsylvania and Iowa. As popularity grows, and as the sport gains NCAA sanctioning, D1 college programs will be added in these places. If they've got a women's program with 20 scholarships, it will be easy for them to add a men's program as well.
If Oklahoma State embraces women's wrestling, it will be great for Oklahoma State. Fortunately, John Smith, Hardell Moore, and the other people involved in the sport on a high level in Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State are supporters of the sport and getting women involved.
Get some hammers on the team and I'll follow OSU women's wrestling for sure.
OSU does not even embrace men's wrestling the way it should. And it has never supported a women's program in any sport at a sustained level.
Is anyone suggesting that we just add it without subtracting a different non-revenue sport? As long as we can swap it in for some other sport that costs roughly the same amount, I really do not have a dog in the fight.
The ins and outs of compliance aren't something I keep up with. It's certainly possible we can say that we're adequately meeting the needs of our student body with our current mix of sports. My original post was just to say we would have zero Title IX problems from adding women's wrestling.
YES. Add every sport you can think of. Sports are great.
And how would you know that we would have zero Title IX problems from adding a sport if, by your own admission, you do not understand how compliance works? FYI, it was painfully obvious that you had no clue what you were talking about when you said that you assume all of our programs have fully funded scholarships.
Every dollar that you spend on a sport that hundreds of people care about is a dollar that you cannot spend on a sport that thousands of people care about. There is no endless pot of money.
I said I don't know the ins and outs of it. The basic fact is you will have no problems adding sports for the underrepresented sex. Unless you can provide specific information instead of nit picking a general statement, it is most certainly women who are underrepresented at OSU. Again, if you have specific information you can provide that will enlighten this conversation besides having no use for women's sports, I'd love to read it.
I recognize that there is not an unlimited pot of money. Still, again as a general rule, we should add sports where we can. Women's wrestling is one that currently makes sense and as it hopefully continues to grow at the high school level will make more and more sense for providing further educational opportunities for young Oklahomans.
This is an argument used to justify getting rid of men's wrestling programs as well.
Think of the benefits wrestling offers young people. They learn perseverance, self discipline and toughness. Do those things only benefit our sons and grandsons. I think not. I want our daughters and granddaughters to have the same opportunities.
Oklahoma has some outstanding girls wrestling leaders, like Ashley Pagonis, blazing the trail. Let's give them our support.
Oklahoma has some outstanding girls wrestling leaders, like Ashley Pagonis, blazing the trail. Let's give them our support.
You obviously have not watched women's wrestling. In freestyle even if someone is getting pounded they will throw everything they have and sometimes make a comeback. They do not have egos.
John loves coaching them as he did in the Olympics in 2016. If we move quickly we should have a competitive program. The money is there!
You have this all wrong. Frankly the interest in women's wrestling as already brought money to the men's program. This would be a complementary program. I know this from experience!
Can’t come soon enough. Coach Smith has been asking for this for years. He knows how important this is for the future of college wrestling.
We had this conversation a few years ago on this board. Judging from the content of those two threads, I’d say the level of support for a women’s program has grown significantly and I’m glad to hear it. If you’re a fan of wrestling or OSU, this is a no brainer. Just hearsay, but the word in Detroit was that we were making some real progress on this front and will hopefully have good news soon.
