YSU Athletics to Add Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Lacrosse Teams

[YSUGO]

Lacrosse has over 200 teams in Ohio and it is growing as a sport.  So I can see why we added it.

[southbeach]

Can we just be thankful YSU is adding sports while many schools are eliminating sports. Lacrosse is a growing sports in Ohio and throughout the Midwest while being entrenched on the east coast. There is a wealth of excellent high school players looking to continue playing in college.

[nova75]

Wrestling at YSU would do well and draw crowds. The majority of schools in Ohio are playing club level lacrosse at best. Wresting here could be a legit D1 sport.

[go guins]

Wrestling at YSU would do well and draw crowds. The majority of schools in Ohio are playing club level lacrosse at best. Wresting here could be a legit D1 sport.

Oh nova, you have committed a grave sin here.  You have ignored the key issues with college sports,  MEN'S wrestling, vs WOMEN'S Lacrosse.  Why do you think we have a women's bowling team?  Because it draws crowds or because it helps balance Title IX?  My advise?  Keep your eye on the important issue, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS! 

[ytowngirl]

Wrestling at YSU would do well and draw crowds. The majority of schools in Ohio are playing club level lacrosse at best. Wresting here could be a legit D1 sport.

That's completely wrong.  Lacrosse is pretty big in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.  Of course not in Youngstown where everything is 30 years behind the times. 

[go guins]

Wrestling at YSU would do well and draw crowds. The majority of schools in Ohio are playing club level lacrosse at best. Wresting here could be a legit D1 sport.

That's completely wrong.  Lacrosse is pretty big in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.  Of course not in Youngstown where everything is 30 years behind the times.

Let me see, where is YOUNGSTOWN State University located?  Cleveland? NO  Columbus? NO  Cincinnati? NO.  Let me look it up.......By God, it's located in YOUNGSTOWN!  Amazing.  Maybe we should have a water polo team, I hear it's really big in Southern California!  WOMEN'S lacrosse is all about Title IX with a minimum of expense.  We have a field, we need minimal new equipment, a coach and we can suit up 20 WOMEN for a NCAA sport.  We have women's NCAA bowling, a sport even Ohio State doesn't compete in because you use publicly available bowling alleys. OSU has WOMEN'S archery to get the head count up, which is more expensive for the university than bowling.  This is ALL NCAA Title IX gamesmanship.

[southbeach]

It’s not POLITICAL CORRECTNESS! It’s the law!

[YSUGO]

Lacrosse was a smart move it’s a legitimate growing sport.  As for why we added it Due to government or NCAA requirements are not true.  Aren’t we already at the mandated requirements? I think adding a sport is a good thing.

[ytowngirl]

Wrestling at YSU would do well and draw crowds. The majority of schools in Ohio are playing club level lacrosse at best. Wresting here could be a legit D1 sport.

That's completely wrong.  Lacrosse is pretty big in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.  Of course not in Youngstown where everything is 30 years behind the times.

Let me see, where is YOUNGSTOWN State University located?  Cleveland? NO  Columbus? NO  Cincinnati? NO.  Let me look it up.......By God, it's located in YOUNGSTOWN!  Amazing.  Maybe we should have a water polo team, I hear it's really big in Southern California!  WOMEN'S lacrosse is all about Title IX with a minimum of expense.  We have a field, we need minimal new equipment, a coach and we can suit up 20 WOMEN for a NCAA sport.  We have women's NCAA bowling, a sport even Ohio State doesn't compete in because you use publicly available bowling alleys. OSU has WOMEN'S archery to get the head count up, which is more expensive for the university than bowling.  This is ALL NCAA Title IX gamesmanship.

This is why Youngstown is a sh*thole and going to get worse. 

[go guins]

Wrestling at YSU would do well and draw crowds. The majority of schools in Ohio are playing club level lacrosse at best. Wresting here could be a legit D1 sport.

That's completely wrong.  Lacrosse is pretty big in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.  Of course not in Youngstown where everything is 30 years behind the times.

Let me see, where is YOUNGSTOWN State University located?  Cleveland? NO  Columbus? NO  Cincinnati? NO.  Let me look it up.......By God, it's located in YOUNGSTOWN!  Amazing.  Maybe we should have a water polo team, I hear it's really big in Southern California!  WOMEN'S lacrosse is all about Title IX with a minimum of expense.  We have a field, we need minimal new equipment, a coach and we can suit up 20 WOMEN for a NCAA sport.  We have women's NCAA bowling, a sport even Ohio State doesn't compete in because you use publicly available bowling alleys. OSU has WOMEN'S archery to get the head count up, which is more expensive for the university than bowling.  This is ALL NCAA Title IX gamesmanship.

This is why Youngstown is a sh*thole and going to get worse.

Let me get this straight.  Youngstown is a sh**hole because we don't love women's lacrosse as much as wrestling?  Seriously?
Perhaps you should consider changing your username?  Personally if I though Youngstown was a sh**hole, I wouldn't want ytown in my username! 
Youngstown certainly has it's "issues" and I'll not document any of them here, we all know several.  However, we have historically been pretty good supporters of sporting events we enjoy.  If we don't enjoy lacrosse, then so be it, but it is NOT a blackmark on the entire community of ytown.  Rather your slam of "sh**hole" is a slam against the whole community and by definition all of us her and frankly I don't appreciate you description.
 I was raised by a loving family here, got a great education here, raised a great family of my own here, have had a pretty successful life here, and will always call the valley "home".  If you think of it as a sh**hole, then perhaps a place is what YOU make of it!

[peteonastick]

Stick, 

A few questions for you.  Which universities in Ohio still have wrestling?  How about western Pennsylvania?  Are those wrestling programs in some kind of conference?

I agree that choosing to add swimming over wrestling is ridiculous.  Perhaps the only justification is that swimming would have a ready-made home in the Horizon League while travel costs for wrestling would be prohibitive.

Cleveland State, Ohio State, Kent State, Ohio U,  - D2 - Tiffin (both mens and women's) Findlay, Lake Erie, Ashland, Urbana, PA - Pitt, Edinboro, Clarion, and some Michigan teams and most if not all of the OAC schools.  DII schools include Notre Dame, Wrestling would have traveling issues but why not be a leader in the area in bringing it back.  5 EOWL Teams won sectional titles and there are 45 EOWL wrestlers ranked to place in the state tournament in two weeks.   YSU could join the D2 schools and wrestle mostly Ohio and PA teams besides some out of state tournaments and D2 regionals and nationals.  (11 PA Division 1 schools, 8 D2 PA Schools, 14 D3 PA Schools.)   Travel to these D2 schools in Ohio and PA is the same as the Horizon League.

[Wick250]

Thanks Stick.  My suspicion is that swimming was chosen before the renovations to the pool, and that a sport like wrestling never got any consideration. 

[YSUGO]

There are only 80 schools in Division 1 that have Wrestling programs in the NCAA. Ohio St, Kent St, Cleveland St, and Ohio University are the only D1 colleges in Ohio.  Ohio and Pennsylvania are ranked in the top 4 for HS wrestling.  From what I can find wrestling programs have 9-10 full rides that are split up between 26-35 kids per a team. 

[IAA Fan]

Just settle down here. A said, thank goodness we have an AD the thinks about the future. Consider a few things:

1) Lacrosse is HUGE. Wrestling does not even come close beyond High School.
2) There clearly seems to be a growing movement in Lacrosse in the state of Ohio. This is a university, not a prep school. It makes no difference how big wrestling is at Canfield. We are making a move to join other regional colleges and universities.
3) We have the facilities for both LaCrosse and Men's Swimming ...no added cost for that.
4) Women's collegiate wrestling is growing. So if we add men's wrestling, we will have to add women's. Women's rights groups could care less if we have a men's LaCrosse program and we already have a women's swim team; so they cannot complain to the NCAA.
5) How many DI NCAA-sanctioned men's wrestling programs are there in Ohio? Maybe 4 or 5?

I agree wrestling would be exciting it it was not devastated by title-IX. It is not a viable collegiate sport any more. It makes a great HS sport as it can include boys of any size or background. IN college, that just means more required athletes and scholarship dollars

[go guins]

Just settle down here. A said, thank goodness we have an AD the thinks about the future. Consider a few things:

1) Lacrosse is HUGE. Wrestling does not even come close beyond High School.

C'mon man, 1AA the buzz-kill.  Trying to kill off the vicious battle between men's wrestling and women's lacrosse?!?! 
Lacrosse is HUGE?!?!?  On which planet would that be true?  Certainly not this one.  Tell me the best teams in college lacrosse (without looking it up, we all have google searches) 
Football draws, Men's BB draws, Women's BB draws pretty good, but only about 1/4 of MBB, and EVERY OTHER COLLEGE SPORT draws fans by the dozens.  If it wasn't for parents and personal friends, it would be 1/2 that. 
Arguments about whether lacrosse will outdraw wrestling in really lame. Hasn't ANYBODY been to a spring practice?  How does Waid look?  THAT is the only real sports question for YSU this year!