Hey guys, just got off the phone with Marcus Bowman. Seems Pitt State is preparing to start up an "intramural", for lack of a better word, wrestling club. Something like K-States. It's still a way's off, as supplies and a used mat still need to be located and funds allocated, but still I thought it was a pretty big deal for Southeast Kansas and wrestling as a whole. Any thoughts or ideas???

A few years ago, Pitt State looked to add varsity wrestling to their programs. Perhaps this will be a way to get that done!

All these college guys(KU, KSU & Pitt) putting forth the effort to put a club together really shows a need for more college wrestling in Kansas. As we all know there are few distractions on a college campus and still these guys put forth the effort to organize a club, raise funds, work out and compete. Way to go!!!

hey bailey, tell bowman I said congrats on gettin this gig started

finley

will these intramural prgrams get to compete with other colleges

Yes, they will be able to compete against other colleges if they join the NCWA. North West Missouri State just joined this year also. Regionals for the SW Conference take place at TCU and Nationals are at Grand Valley State (Mich). Check out the NCWA site for more information. The NCWA has been a launching pad for many of the new varsity programs lately. Good stuff...

As far as know so far we will compete at all local opens, the last I heard is we were waiting on fund allocations for Student Gov., and that Bowman might've possibly found a mat to use. I'll have to ask about the NCWA, but I'm almost positive thats the way they will want to go.
Also if there were any high schools or colleges, for that matter, that want to donate equip., etc.. to help out feel free to email myself or get in touch with someone at PSU. I'll get in touch with Bowman in a day or so to see where we're at getting this going. I'll also be at Labettes Takedown tourney..

NCWA power Newberry is moving to DII this year after a top 5 finish last year. They will however still maintain a club team as well for those that don't want to wrestle the DII schedule and such because of time constraints or finances.

There are so many things that has to be done to get a club like this going. But we are really close to getting there! We presented in front of the student government on monday to try and get some funding. I am pretty sure we will get atleast $300 or so, hopefully more. Finding mats and a place to practice has been the toughest. I was informed the other day about a local high school that might be generous enough to sell us one of their old mats for a reasonably low price. I will know for sure hopefully within a few days on their decision. Yes we are planning to be part of the NCWA. We will use the money from the student gov. to pay th fee so the club can be a member. We are currently discussing fundraisers and seeing about donations to help with the mat and also some team singlets. The one big problem we are trying to figure out is where to practice. There is a room at the Weede (PSU gym) that could possibly be used, but we would have to roll the mats out and roll them back up after every practice. There are also many other classes, practices, etc. that use the room for their own purposes. I am trying to locate a place in pittsburg, some type of building that has a room that isnt being used. This would be nice because we would have our own practice room. If anybody knows of a place let me know. Like Bailey said, anybody who would like to donate or help out in anyway, it would be greatly appreciated. We are close to getting this going and I and the rest of the people in the club can't wait to get back on the mats!

Hey bowman send me an email.. Bailey_119@hotmail.com.. I've gotten some emails from other universities wanting to schedule stuff and wanting info in general.. If you email me I'll pass it on to you.. If you know of anyone that attended the meeting that might want to do the takedown tourney I've been working out and will be going... Let me see O ya do we need to get an email just for the club or should we just use one of ours??

How's things progressing at Pittsburg State? What assistance do you guys need to get sanctioned by the NCWA?

Well we had 6 wrestle at the labette takedown tourney. 3 went 0-2, 2 went 1-2 and Mr. Bowman took Second place losing to Prater in the finals.
All in all we were pretty pleased as all of our matches were pretty closely contested and we haven't had much in the way of practices yet. I'll get in touch with Lee and Bowman to see what else we need to get rolling in the way of the NCWA. I do know our funds are being allocated within the next week or so to pay our dues. We had problems finding a place to practice as PSU seems to remain anti wrestling, but the Pittsburg Junior High came through in a big way and gave us a place to practice. I'll pass on more info as it makes itself available.

How's everything progressing with your club? I do not see Pittsburgh listed on the NCWA roll of teams. Have you guys ran into a road block of some sort?

I need to get in touch with the president or coach of the Pitt State Wrestling Club. I tried sending you an e-mail last weekend but have not yet heard back from you. The KU Wrestling Club is interested in arranging a dual with your club. We were looking at January 15th potentially for the dual after a Kids tournament at a location between Pittsburg and Lawrence. Please contact me at vlnowak@everestkc.net so we can determine if you have an interest in a dual this season with KU. Thank you.

What's up w/ Pitt St. wrestling club? Will you be up and running for next year's NCWA season?

I think Pitt State would be one of the best targets in the state for starting a 4 year program up...look at how much closer to Neosho and Labette it is, and all the KC and Topeka guys you'd get to a 4 year from there.

4 to 2 is the ratio of Juco to 4 year colleges with wrestling in our state...lets even it regardless whether it's NAIA, DII, DIII, or DI!