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This week's announcement that Penn State Altoona was bringing back men's wrestling and also implementing a women's program, both for the 2024-25 season, was tremendous news for the sport in our area.
Think about college wrestling in our area past the high school level. We have the best collegiate wrestling dynasty, maybe in the history of NCAA wrestling, just down the road from us at Penn State. Lock Haven and UPJ also aren't too far away, and Pitt, Clarion and Edinboro are all a nice day trip. The problem is these are all NCAA Division I schools in wrestling, with the exception of UPJ that wrestles at the Division II level.
Just like any other sport, not everyone that goes on to compete in college is a Division I talent. If you aren't a Division I prospect, your opportunities to wrestle beyond college have been pretty limited if a prospective athlete wants to stay in the area.
And that is why Penn State Altoona will not only compete again for the first time since the 1980s, but it also has a chance to be a very successful program at the Division III level. The PSU Altoona men will compete in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference with Alfred State, Hiram, Penn State-Behrend and Pitt-Bradford.
It's also fair to wonder if the PSU Altoona wrestling program could be a feeder system for the Penn State program, creating a de facto minor league team. It may be a big jump in competition, but it wouldn't be the first time Penn State has got an athlete from one of its branch campuses later in their career. How many people start their studies in Altoona and finish in State College right now? I don't know the number, but it's a lot.
It's particularly exciting that wrestling is coming back to PSU Altoona because it has already enjoyed success. The Lions won the Penn State Commonwealth Championship in the 1972-73 season, and that team was inducted into the Penn State Altoona Athletics Hall of Fame this year.
It will also be interesting to see what the women's program will look like when the program starts. The PIAA approved girls wrestling for this winter back in May, but a high school girls dual meet schedule probably won't be possible so soon. One would think that it would be tough for PSU Altoona to get a women's dual meet schedule put together by next year. Currently, the only colleges that provide women's wrestling at the Division III level in Pennsylvania are Alvernia, Cedar Crest, Delaware Valley and York College. East Stroudsburg and Gannon also provide women's wrestling at Division II, and Lackawanna College also offers it in junior college.
It will also be fascinating to see the interest that Penn State Altoona draws from a coaching standpoint. It would be understandable if they hired somebody from within the area, maybe even a high school coach that wants to make the jump to college. The university plans to have a coach in place by the beginning of 2024.
Many of Penn State's branch campuses have already offered wrestling, and now it will happen in the state-of-the-art Adler Arena.
This week's news can only grow the sport, and will offer a badly-needed post-high school opportunity in this area.
Andy Stine can be reached at astine@altoonamirror.com.