Wrestling comes back to Utah State
For the first time in a decade and a half, Utah State will have a wrestling team.
Starting next year, the newest club team will compete against other universities from January until March.
A major reason for the formation of the club team was the amount of wrestlers that didn’t move on to wrestle in college, Casey Parry, a wrestler, said.
“The biggest thing is that there are a lot of graduates who didn’t wrestle in college because they didn’t want to leave Utah and go to the Midwest, back East or the Pacific Coast,” Parry said. “The team is a good opportunity to get something more out of wrestling other than high school or junior college experience.”
The process to get the club team approved took a total of 10 months, club president Brandon Ripplinger said. The club had to be approved by Club Sports, Risk Management, and the Policy Board. Club Sports and the Policy Board both approved the formation of the club last spring while Risk Management took until October.
The first official practice and sign-ups are Wednesday, Dec. 8 in the Logan High School wrestling room at 7 p.m. Practices will be held Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m. throughout the season.
Guy Burdett, the former Union High School wrestling coach, will be the coach of the team. Burdett had previously been helping with the wrestling program at Mountain Crest High School, Ripplinger said.
The team will consist of 11 weight classes ranging from 125 to 285 pounds, Ripplinger said.
“We’re looking to build a successful, championship-type program,” he said. “However, we also offer an opportunity for recreation to anyone interested in wrestling.”
The team will compete against teams like Weber State, who also has a new wrestling team, Utah, and some Division II or Junior College teams, Ripplinger said. The team will have three matches between January and March and their home matches will be in the Spectrum, Ripplinger said.
After those matches their will be a Regional Qualifying Tournament in California, where the top three wrestlers in each weight class will move on to Nationals, Ripplinger said.
Ripplinger said because it is a club team, the members are responsible for a lot of their own funding. While no fundraising events are planned, Ripplinger said he is hopeful of getting plenty of local sponsorships.
Ripplinger said Utah, per capita, is a great wrestling state and it is important that those with talent that didn’t want to leave the state continue wrestling.
For more information on the wrestling team or to have any questions answered contact Brandon Ripplinger at aggiewrestling@yahoo.com.
-krn@cc.usu.edu