Obviously, I am huge fan of both the Jayhawks and wrestling. I have to say though, i think you got lucky with the OSU fan. I had the opportunity to tour the OSU athletics facilities a few years ago. My tour guide happened to be a huge wrestling fan, and her & I discussed wrestling at OSU (and the lack of at KU). She had been involved with the program for several years, and said they were lucky to get the lower concourse of Gallagher-Iba full for the Bedlam duels. I went to the student union in the hope of picking up some OSU wrestling gear, and when I asked the girl behind the counter where I could find some, she stared blankly back at me. In conclusion, I was disappointed in the lack of overall support for the program at OSU. Sure, they have a dedicated fan base, but that base is a minority.
I know several wrestlers who attended KU. I can tell you that if Title IX would allow for it, I believe KU would have a wrestling program. Until the rules change I do not anticipate many Division I schools adding wrestling programs.
jayhawk pride, we would like to see the same type of overall campus enthusiam for college wrestling as they show for football at all colleges even at wrestling giants like Iowa University and Oklahoma State University. I do think that Iowa might get better attendance at duals than what she described for OSU. Everyone may not agree with me but I think college wrestling could make some small changes that would help build a greater amount of fan interest. I posted some ideas that Cael Sanderson had on that on his website a few years ago. I may go back and find that article and post it on this topic. Was the sales lady just unaware of where the wrestling gear items were in the store or did the store not have any at all? It would be surprising to me if a OSU student union shop did not have any OSU wrestling T-shirts, sweaters or something.
Also your comment on KU and Title IX. I would not count on that. In my opinion KU's athletic department if they had their way would concentrate all their resources on two programs if they could get away with it. Those two programs are men's basketball and football. KU already fields one of the smallest number of NCAA Division I competitive athletic teams for an institution that brings in the money it does. Compare the number of programs at KU to Ohio State. You will see what talking about. I really do not think we can blame Title IX on KU's lack of a wrestling program. In this post it has been shown that KU did not have a college wrestling program from 1935 to 1963 and dropped their final college wrestling program in 1967. Title IX was not in force during most of those just mentioned years that KU did not field a NCAA college wrestling program. In my opinion KU like most colleges without college wrestling program just uses Title IX as an excuse not to have a college wrestling program and other non revenue sports. I think it is all about money generating sports at KU and other colleges as far as what teams they are willing to include in their athletic program and budget. That is why I believe the wrestling communities in Kansas and across the nation have to do more financially to support college wrestling or we will lose it.
