East Stroudsburg reclassifying to Division II level

fanforlife · 07-16-2008, 10:15 AM

Not sure if you all saw this yet or not. At least they decided to reclassify instead of drop the program.

East Stroudsburg University will restructure the varsity athletics status of its wrestling and men's volleyball programs effective with the start of the 2009-10 academic year.

The wrestling program will be reclassified to compete at the NCAA Division II level, and the men's volleyball program will compete at the club level.

The Warriors' wrestling program has competed at the Division I level as a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) since 1977 and previously was a member of the NCAA's College Division (currently Division II) since it was founded in 1963. ESU will join four other Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) institutions at the Division II level - Kutztown University and Shippensburg University, along with Gannon University and Mercyhurst College, which will join the PSAC as full members in 2008-09.

The men's volleyball program, which has competed in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) as a varsity sport since 1977, will play at the club level effective with the 2009-10 academic year. While ESU is a member of Division II, the Warriors have competed for a berth in the Division I tournament, the only men's volleyball championship recognized by the NCAA since it was introduced as a championship sport in 1970. ESU is currently the only PSAC institution with a men's volleyball program.

A recent assessment of the university's athletic department, which included an outside consultant and participation from the entire athletic division, resulted in a series of recommendations that have an impact on varsity athletics at ESU, explained Dr. Tom Gioglio, Director of Athletics. University President Dr. Robert Dillman and Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Doreen Tobin were in agreement to enact several of the recommendations resulting from the athletic division's assessment.

"We are moving forward with several recommendations to strengthen our athletic department, which include restructuring the wrestling and men's volleyball programs," said Gioglio. "The assessment also included recommendations on facilities, staffing and other facets of our department, and we look forward to implementing those as we strive to provide a top-notch competitive experience for our student-athletes at ESU."

This marks the first restructuring of ESU's athletic department since 1990, when the men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming and men's golf programs were discontinued at the varsity level. Women's swimming returned as a varsity sport in 1995. ESU announced the addition of women's golf in January and will begin intercollegiate competition this fall.

ESU will sponsor 22 varsity sports in 2008-09, the third-most in the PSAC, trailing only West Chester and Millersville, which offer 27 and 23 sports, respectively

Ground&Pound · 07-16-2008, 11:13 AM

Great move!

Shippensburg did the same thing awhile back and their program made huge strides.

I'd like to see Duquesne drop to D2 as well.

ezra · 07-16-2008, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by Ground&Pound

Great move!

Shippensburg did the same thing awhile back and their program made huge strides.

I'd like to see Duquesne drop to D2 as well.

Duquesne can't drop wrestling to Division II because the rest of their programs are Division I.

Dart Shark · 07-16-2008, 03:37 PM

The only teams left that "could" possibly do this are Edinboro, Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Clarion, Millersville, and F&M. Cal State-Bakersfield is now full-fledged Division I, too.

I believe Wilkes was the last school to drop a classification. They went from D1 back to D3 and have done well since.

RD149-2 · 07-16-2008, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by Dart Shark

The only teams left that "could" possibly do this are Edinboro, Bloomsburg, Clarion, Millersville, and F&M. Cal State-Bakersfield is now full-fledged Division I, too.

I believe Wilkes was the last school to drop a classification. They went from D1 back to D3 and have done well since.

All those teams mentioned above minus Edinboro and Bakersfield should drop. All top 15 D-2 schools would defeat those teams

Dart Shark · 07-16-2008, 04:33 PM

That's not the point ... I'd rather see more teams wrestle Division I than less ... if there were, say 330 wrestling programs in Division I like there are in roundball, I'd say you might have a point.

Dropping a classification because teams could get beat by Division II teams isn't the point, it's if you drop because of resources. Bloomsburg, Clarion, Lock Haven, Edinboro and Cal State-Bakersfield have all had All-Americans recently. It's been a while for Millersville, if ever.

Some sports find the individual glory of placing at the D1 nationals higher than winning titles in D2 or D3. Gregor Gillespie? Stephen Neal?

MOJO · 07-16-2008, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Dart Shark

That's not the point ... I'd rather see more teams wrestle Division I than less ... if there were, say 330 wrestling programs in Division I like there are in roundball, I'd say you might have a point.

Dropping a classification because teams could get beat by Division II teams isn't the point, it's if you drop because of resources. Bloomsburg, Clarion, Lock Haven, Edinboro and Cal State-Bakersfield have all had All-Americans recently. It's been a while for Millersville, if ever.

Some sports find the individual glory of placing at the D1 nationals higher than winning titles in D2 or D3. Gregor Gillespie? Stephen Neal?

Brother Dart Shark,
I hear what you are saying regarding better to have more D1 programs than less, but I think the bigger picture question is more WRESTLING PROGRAMS, regardless of division, than no programs at all. My worry is that programs that have jumped up to D1 for wrestling, don't do as well as they did in their lower division, then drop the sport all together. This is what happened to SIU Edwardsville, San Diego St., Eastern Illinois, SUNY-Binghamton (before their miraculous return) Slippery Rock, and Cal State Sacramento. My great fear is that this is the potential fate of programs like Portland St. and Clarion, even UC Davis and Cal-Bakersfield if they don't return to former glory. Additional sadness is derived from the fact that (with the exception of Sacramento) all of these schools were former d2 or d3 powers, with some of the very best individuals in D2 & D3 wrestling history. I would MUCH rather see programs go the route of East Stroudsbourg, if it means that they have a better chance of maintaining the wrestling programs.

Besides, you can take it from me, the NCAA plaque and team trophy for D2 National Championship individuals and teams looks nearly the EXACT same as the D1 plaque and trophy, with the exception of one little "l"

!

Trusty · 07-16-2008, 05:16 PM

I think it's a great move. I also think more programs should do the same.

ODH · 07-16-2008, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by MOJO

Brother Dart Shark,
I hear what you are saying regarding better to have more D1 programs than less, but I think the bigger picture question is more WRESTLING PROGRAMS, regardless of division, than no programs at all. My worry is that programs that have jumped up to D1 for wrestling, don't do as well as they did in their lower division, then drop the sport all together. This is what happened to SIU Edwardsville, San Diego St., Eastern Illinois, SUNY-Binghamton (before their miraculous return) Slippery Rock, and Cal State Sacramento. My great fear is that this is the potential fate of programs like Portland St. and Clarion, even UC Davis and Cal-Bakersfield if they don't return to former glory. Additional sadness is derived from the fact that (with the exception of Sacramento) all of these schools were former d2 or d3 powers, with some of the very best individuals in D2 & D3 wrestling history. I would MUCH rather see programs go the route of East Stroudsbourg, if it means that they have a better chance of maintaining the wrestling programs.

Besides, you can take it from me, the NCAA plaque and team trophy for D2 National Championship individuals and teams looks nearly the EXACT same as the D1 plaque and trophy, with the exception of one little "l" !

Good post. They also should let the DII & DIII champs wrestle at the DI championships again.

RYou · 07-16-2008, 08:18 PM

Good post. They also should let the DII & DIII champs wrestle at the DI championships again.

You know the scholly schools will never let DIII in the show again and if the won't let DIII in, they can't let DII in. The coaches a re protective of the division reputation. They can excuse away a DIII winning a championship in the DI scholarship world.

DII is great for ESU. They can't compete with DI recruiting and DII allow them to offer something special here in the east that will appeal to the 2nd tier recruits. I don't think there are any DII's here on the east coast.

East Stroudsburg reclassifying to Division II level

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