{"id":68980,"date":"2022-11-02T14:14:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T19:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=68980"},"modified":"2022-11-02T14:14:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T19:14:13","slug":"fhsu-announces-womens-wrestling-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=68980","title":{"rendered":"FHSU announces women’s wrestling program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STORY BY CAYDEN SANDERS
PHOTO COURTESY FHSU ATHLETICS<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Hays State University announced the addition of the first women’s collegiate wrestling team in the state of Kansas and the MIAA at a press conference on Wednesday morning. With the news, Fort Hays joins 63 other colleges in America that offer the sport, including just 25 NCAA DII schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently the athletics department was looking for a new Men\u2019s Wrestling coach, and current head coach <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FHSU Head Men\u2019s Wrestling Coach, Erik Wince, said he pushed the idea in his hiring process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I got hired, we started talking about the addition of women wrestling at Fort Hays State Wrestling, as I pushed the idea of adding it,\u201d Wince said to Tiger Media Network. \u201cThe administration wanted to add the sport but didn’t have everything set up to proceed with until now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FHSU Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke said the next step the FHSU Administration needs to take in this process would be to find the right coach for Fort Hays to draw in athletes for the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Hays not only has to find a new coach, but the administration will also need to look at adding a new locker room in Gross Memorial Collusiem. The team does not have a locker room at the moment, but the athletic department is willing to make the renovation request for the new sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the addition of the complex renovations out by Lewis field, we plan to move outdoor coaches and their offices out to that building, and with that, it will free up some room to rearrange and put some renovations into the program,\u201d Hammeke said to Tiger Media Network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The athletics administration hopes to have more student-athletes join in the next school year as they expect to start recruiting right after finding their first head coach for the program. Wince spoke up about having new student-athletes coming to Fort Hays State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will be looking at athletes within the state of Kansas because the high school and middle school levels are going, but also look at having athletes from a regional level with our regional tuition will help us recruit regionally as well,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that, the Fort Hays administration said there would be scholarships awarded to athletes who come to Fort Hays State University. Currently, the NCAA allows a school to offer nine scholarships to men\u2019s wrestlers, while the women\u2019s programs are allowed to have ten. At this moment, Fort Hays does not have a number of scholarships that will be awarded in the first inaugural season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to building a new women\u2019s program, Wince thinks the addition will be an excellent opportunity for the men’s team as they will both be competing together not only for All-Americans on the mat but also in the classroom. Wince said he also hopes to get Tiger wrestlers to try and be a part of the American Wrestling team, as that has been his goal since joining the FHSU staff in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MIAA Commissioner Mike Racey was also present at the press conference and spoke on behalf of the MIAA regarding FHSU creating a women\u2019s wrestling program – which will be the first in the league. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe [The MIAA] are excited to have Fort Hays be the first to offer women\u2019s wrestling; we feel that having Fort Hays having a program here soon, other schools within the MIAA will have women wrestling as well,\u201d Racy said to TMN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racy said he hopes to have other institutions within the MIAA follow suit by adding women\u2019s wrestling. He also hopes MIAA schools that don\u2019t have men\u2019s wrestling to consider adding the program within the next couple of years. Currently, the MIAA only has five wrestling teams in its conference on the men\u2019s side: Central Missouri, Central Oklahoma, Nebraska Kearney, Newman, and Fort Hays State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe MIAA is excited that we are starting to see Women\u2019s Wrestling start becoming a popular sport throughout the country; we want to be one of the conferences to lead in this historic moment,\u201d Racy said. \u201cIf other schools follow up with what Fort Hays is leading in, I expect to see others coming within the next couple of months, and in the next few short years, we will have a conference schedule of teams, with a championship on the line within the 2025 or 2026 seasons at the latest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until then, the FHSU women\u2019s wrestling program will see a mixed competition schedule for the first couple of years, similar to what was done with men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer when they were added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the first couple of years of soccer being around, we had NAIA schools and some other teams; I expect the same thing with women\u2019s wrestling,\u201d Hammeke said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wince thinks there will still be opportunities for great competition as he believes the program will see other DII teams in Chadron State and Colorado Mesa when the program starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot only that, but I could see Fort Hays taking on a big and new program of Iowa Universities Women\u2019s wrestling program, as the Hawkeyes are one of four division I programs with women\u2019s wrestling in the nation,\u201d Wince said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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