Frostburg State Adds Men's and Women's Wrestling, Women's Rugby
Aug 22, 2022 1:30 PM
Frostburg State Director of Athletics Troy Dell has announced
the addition of men's and women's wrestling programs, as well
as women’s rugby, which will raise the number of sponsored
sports at FSU to 25 in the Fall of 2023.
The last sport Frostburg State added was acrobatics & tumbling
in 2019. Since adding A&T it has grown from an NCAA
emerging sport with 30 teams competing to having the
46th institution announce the addition of the
sport earlier this year.
The Bobcats originally added a men's wrestling program in the
1962-1963 season. Currently the Mountain East Conference has
seven member institutions with men's wrestling. FSU will join
Alderson Broaddus as the second MEC school to add women's
wrestling. There are currently 23 NCAA Division II schools that
offer women's wrestling.
"We are excited to announce the addition of Men's and Women's Wrestling to our sport offerings," said Dell. "The growth of women's wrestling over the last decade has spurred us to make the decision to offer this sport for both genders on our campus. Women's wrestling provides us the opportunity to continue our sports offering for females, while supporting the NCAA Emerging Sports Program and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Title IX."
"The return of Men's Wrestling to Frostburg State University
after a long absence is very exciting. The sport of wrestling
continues to grow at every level for both men and women. We
receive regular and ongoing inquiries regarding the sport of
wrestling, so we know there is interest throughout Maryland and
the surrounding region for this sport. In addition, adding two
sports that utilize many of the same resources is a sound
financial and enrollment strategy that will help our university
meet the changing landscape of college demographics." - Troy
Dell
FSU has consulted with the National Wrestling Coaches
Association to better understand the current landscape of the
growing sports and how it could be beneficial to add the
programs.
"I know I speak on behalf of our NWCA Board of Directors when I
congratulate the administration at Frostburg State for their
efforts to be the FIRST to add an intercollegiate men's and
women's wrestling program in Maryland. It's pioneering
efforts like this that create so many opportunities for young,
aspiring men and women to pursue their academic and wrestling
careers at the intercollegiate level." Mike Moyer, NWCA
Executive Director
According to the National Intercollegiate Rugby
Association, there are currently 28 schools currently competing
in the sport. Nine of those schools compete at the Division II
level, including Notre Dame (Ohio) and Alderson Broaddus, as
the only current MEC schools that offer women's rugby.
"We are excited to be able to continue the university's commitment to growing opportunities that create greater equity across our department and intercollegiate athletics overall", said Dell. "We have truly enjoyed the process of supporting the NCAA Emerging Sports program through the addition of Acrobatics & Tumbling. Women's Rugby gives us the opportunity to continue our support of female student-athletes on our campus. The alignment of the addition of Women's Rugby with the 50th Anniversary of Title IX makes this announcement even more special for our university."
While designated as an emerging sport, the NIRA oversees
women's rugby programs while awaiting official NCAA status,
similar to the NCATA in acrobatics & tumbling. More information
can be found at the
NIRA web site. The season for women's rugby is played in
the Fall and the primary format is 15-woman rugby.
"The NIRA is thrilled that Frostburg State University has
elected to add women's rugby as its 25th
varsity sport. Bobcat Women's Rugby will mark a
significant milestone as the 30th NCAA varsity program to take
the field in the fall of 2023. We look forward to working with
AD Troy Dell and his staff in the coming months as Frostburg
builds out and staffs their new program and engages in the NIRA
membership process." Amy Rusert, NIRA Commissioner
This will be the third emerging sport FSU has added since
making the transition to Division II. Acrobatics & Tumbling has
recently hit the 46-team mark, while both women's wrestling and
women's rugby continue to grow their number of programs
offered.
Frostburg will immediately begin a national search for coaches to lead each of the new programs.
For more information, visit the FSU Athletics web site.