Lake Erie Colllege of Ohio to add wrestling for 2010-2011

November 14, 4:42 PMCollege Wrestling ExaminerMark Palmer

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the College Wrestling Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Lake Erie College is adding intercollegiate wrestling to its roster of sports for the 2010-2011 season.

The four-year college, located northeast of Cleveland in Painesville, Ohio, will also be adding men’s and women’s swimming and diving. That brings the total of NCAA Division II-sponsored sport offerings at Lake Erie College to 23. The school has added 13 varsity athletic programs since the spring of 2007.

The addition of the new sports coincides with Lake Erie joining the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) next fall. Presently, the Storm athletic teams currently compete as an NCAA Division II independent. However, wrestling, a sport not sponsored by the conference, will compete as an independent.

“The additions of wrestling and men’s and women’s swimming and diving are great fits to the stable of sports at Lake Erie,” said Director of Athletics Griz Zimmermann. “There is a real desire on the part of all those involved with these sports to compete at the college level. We will now be able to attract talented student-athletes, almost all of whom we may otherwise not have been able to attract, that have a lot to offer Lake Erie College, not just athletically, but to the entire campus community as well.”

“These new programs will aid our initiative to build a diverse and driven student body,” said President Michael T. Victor. “Our region has a strong tradition of outstanding high school wrestling and swimming and diving programs and we can now attract those students to Lake Erie College with opportunities in areas they are passionate about, both in sports and their academic pursuits.”

The wrestling program will be housed on campus, including a dedicated practice space, and will compete in the arena at the Jerome T. Osborne Family Athletic & Wellness Center.

Founded in 1856, Lake Erie College is one of the oldest four-year colleges in the Western Reserve.

Lake Erie College is just the latest four-year institution to add varsity wrestling. In the past month, Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia, and Wayland Baptist in Wayland, Texas announced they are adding wrestling.

Follow College Wrestling Examiner Mark Palmer on Twitter