For High School Wrestlers, Florida Colleges Make Up a Barren Landscape

[TomM]

For High School Wrestlers, Florida Colleges Make Up a Barren Landscape
http://www.theledger.com/article/20131223/SPORTS19/131229692/1002/sports?Title=For-High-School-Wrestlers-Florida-Colleges-Make-Up-a-Barren-Landscape

By Ray Beasock
THE LEDGER
Published: Monday, December 23, 2013 at 9:51 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 23, 2013 at 9:51 p.m.


Two years ago, Jacob Moskowitz never thought he'd be where he is now.


He's living at home with his parents. He's got a job at the Vitamin Shoppe. He's not in college. He's not wrestling.

Moskowitz was a state medalist in 2011 for George Jenkins High School. He took second that year, losing only to Clark Glass of wrestling powerhouse Brandon. The 152-pound senior went 49-5 that year and seemingly had the world before him.

He finished his high school academic career with thoughts of going to college and continuing the sport he's loved since he was 6 years old.

Only one thing was stopping him.

He couldn't get a scholarship despite his stellar career on the mat.

"It was a little frustrating," he said. "I wanted to go where the good teams were and wrestle the good kids."

That's because there were no scholarships available for what he wanted. He wasn't going to get a full ride at a Division I school. If he did go to a such a university, he'd have to pay for most of it or rack up outrageous student loan bills at an out-of-state school.

That's because college wrestling at the varsity level is extinct in Florida.

That's despite the fact there are 397 Florida high schools that have wrestling teams.

Considering there are 14 different weight classes, that comes out to 5,558 grapplers who will compete for a state title in Lakeland next year. Add in JV teams and backups and there could be more than 10,000 student athletes that take to the mats.

And how many college wrestling programs are there in Florida?

Zero. It only exists at the club level.

There are no college scholarship opportunities for these 10,000-plus students in the state. Not at Division I, Division II, Division III or even at the NAIA level.

"I think it is a travesty that there are no scholarship opportunities for wrestling in Florida," Lake Gibson High School wrestling coach Danny Walker said. "There are many great wrestlers that come out of Florida every year that, if given the option, would stay in state and wrestle instead of going off to wrestle.

"There are also kids that are great wrestlers, that love to wrestle but don't want to leave home for whatever reason and go to a school with a club program just to stay active in the sport."

Some of the students, the elite ones, will get a chance to wrestle in college at the Division I level. That's because out-of-state schools will come knocking on their doors. Lake Gibson's Brandon Jorge is the most recent example, signing a scholarship to wrestle for North Carolina State after he won three consecutive state titles at three different weight classes for the Braves.

But Division I wrestling is on a severe down slope, much like many other Olympic men's sports. Some have been eliminated in order to comply with Title IX gender-equality rules, and others have been cut because of budget concerns.

There were 363 men's wrestling teams during the 1981-82 season according to NCAA student-athlete participation reports. Today, there are just 220 across all three divisions. There were 146 Division I teams in 1981-82. Now, there are 77.

The number of scholarship opportunities might have fallen in Division I, but in the other divisions, the number is on the rise, especially in the NAIA.

"Sports like wrestling are a good business decision for the smaller schools," said Mike Moyer, the executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches' Association. "They can add revenue from the athletes it brings in, and a wrestling program doesn't cost that much to start."

NOT IN FLORIDA

Moskowitz knows all too well about the lack of college wrestling opportunities in Florida.

He admits he was picky about where he wanted to go. But wouldn't you be when deciding on a college? His selective behavior led him to put off college for a year in the hopes he could improve his position and land a better scholarship.

He left for Colorado Springs, Colo., to study at the Olympic Training Center. It was a no-brainer for him.

"It would be easier to talk to coaches," he said. "I was going to be seen by a lot more coaches in the extra year. I knew I would get much better opportunities there than straight out of high school."

After his application was accepted, Moskowitz was on his way to Colorado. He stayed with family friends. He got assistance when needed from his parents. And he wrestled.

For nearly seven months, he trained as he made progress toward a scholarship.

And that's when his body betrayed him.

He tore his anterior-cruciate and medial-collateral ligaments in his left knee.

College and wrestling would have to wait.

INTEREST

It's not like there isn't a fan base for college wrestling in Florida.

The Lakeland Center has played host to the Florida High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament the past 15 years. Mike LaPan, executive director of the center, estimates more than 10,000 fans come to the two-day event every year.

"We get fans and a lot of coaches from in state, out of state and even professional wrestling folks that come in," LaPan said. "It sells out every year or is at least close to a sell out."

Even at a national level, the fervor is there.

Moyer said the NCAA Wrestling Championships are among the NCAA's top five highest-grossing events.

But locally and statewide, there hasn't been a college wrestling team, outside of club teams, in decades. It's forcing most of these student athletes to make the kind of choice Moskowitz faced.

They can give up their sport and try to pay for college by themselves. Or they can attend an out-of-state school, with hopefully a decent scholarship. That often leaves them homesick and thinking of the Florida sun while enduring a foreign winter.

Walker faces this dilemma every year. Walker, who has been head coach of the Braves for 13 years and has managed to build one of the most successful programs in the state, sits down with his seniors before the season and talks with them about their future. He gets some that would like to continue but don't want to leave the state. Then there are those who leave and contemplate coming back.

"We have had a few kids over the years that might have had the chance to go to a small school in Georgia or in the Midwest but have chosen to stay home and attend school locally or have gone into the military," Walker said.

"We try and sit down before each wrestler's senior year and figure out if they are thinking about wrestling at the next level. If they say they want that opportunity, then we make sure that we contact as many coaches at all levels about them until we find them a suitable school. If they tell us they don't want to continue, then we make sure that they have a plan for after high school, whether it be a local school or the military or a trade school."

Moskowitz's plan was a sound one. If the college coaches weren't coming to him, he took himself to the college coaches.

His twisted knee tweaked those plans.

Before the injury, Moskowitz was ready to sit down with some coaches and discuss his future. Shortly after the injury, Moskowitz found himself driving home to face surgery.

He still had hopes of returning to the mat and starting his collegiate studies.

Moskowitz had surgery in January 2012. He went through a half year of rehabilitation.

When Moskowitz thought he was healthy enough, he went back to Colorado. After all, college wasn't going to pay for itself. However, his knee just wasn't the same.

"Even when I went back out there, I had every intention (of trying to get a scholarship)," he said. "I was talking with a coach out of Colorado State while I was still recovering. Then I just realized I had been having a lot of problems with my knee, and I realized it's not where I wanted to be."

SO FAR AWAY

Out of state and away from everything they know is not where a lot of college students want to be, but it's exactly where they end up.

Take Chase Krutzky for example. He won a state title at Lake Gibson under the tutelage of Walker in 2013. He went on to sign a scholarship at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. The Vikings are a power in the NAIA, and Krutzky will be competing for a top wrestling school. He also went from the frying pan and into the freezer.

If a similar offer had come up in Florida, he said he would've stayed in state.

"If I could've gotten good money, absolutely," said Krutzky, who was back in Florida for Christmas break recently.

Moyer said that's the biggest shame of Florida not having college wrestling.

"We're exporting some of Florida's best commodities," he said. "And some of them aren't coming back. It doesn't make sense."

That's why Moyer is trying to put college wrestling back into the Florida landscape.

He started in Georgia, where there are now five institutions that offer college wrestling scholarships. Moyer also helped bring wrestling back to Alabama, a state that hadn't seen a college program in 30 years.

Moyer's eager to bring a program back to Florida.

"We recently just added our 100th college wrestling program (across all collegiate levels since 2001)," he said. "We're seeing growth like we haven't seen in a long time. The primary reason is few sports are more underserved than college wrestling."

To back that point, Moyer said that on average, 5 percent of high school athletes have a chance to compete in their sport in college. High school wrestlers have a 2.4 percent chance.

Getting programs back in Florida colleges and universities can only raise that number.

Moyer said Ave Maria University in South Florida, which competes in the NAIA with three Polk schools — Southeastern University in Lakeland, Warner University in Lake Wales and Webber International in Babson Park — was close to adding a program two years ago. But a change in administration thwarted those plans.

Currently, Moyer said there are 46 NAIA schools that have or are starting wrestling programs. That number is a bit deceiving because some of the NAIA schools have migrated to the lower NCAA levels, which has kept the numbers even over the past few years, despite Moyer continuing to add programs.

Moyer also said it would be a wise financial decision for schools to add wrestling because the start-up costs are low.

"Wrestling is a fraction of the cost of football," Moyer said, explaining a wrestling mat costs about $15,000 and can last more than 10 years. "And you can easily have 30 to 40 students paying room and board (not counting any scholarship or financial aid)."

Southeastern Athletic Director Drew Watson said adding wrestling is something that could be on the horizon.

"We're looking into it," he said. "It's something that's on our radar. High school wrestling in this area is big. There's a lot of excitement in the area for it, and we feel like it's something we need to look into.

"It'd be great if the kids could get to go to school where they grew up. For wrestlers, if they want to pursue their craft, they have to go 1,000 miles away. They shouldn't have to do that."

Warner Athletic Director Kevin Jones also is hopeful wrestling will make its way to the college level in Florida again. Jones went to Olivet College in Michigan, and he remembers the wrestling program there as being very successful in NCAA D-III.

He sees one immediate problem, and it's one Watson also acknowledged.

"I think the issue is you don't want to be alone," Jones said. "Based on the actual competition, where would you go? I don't think we'd rule anything out."

Watson is hopeful, though, that if one or two schools start a wrestling program, it will take off.

"A lot of people in this area would love to see it happen," he said. "We'd love to see other schools jump on the bandwagon and take a serious look at it."

'A WEIRD FEELING'

Moskowitz would like to see that happen sooner rather than later.

He still has college eligibility and a promise to keep.

"I promised my dad the only way I would keep wrestling is if they did open up a school in Florida," he said.

As the months go by, Moskowitz isn't in wrestling mode. He's not training like he was.

He has no reason to. Not right now, at least. He's concentrating on his job and hopefully going to college in January to study to be an EMT.

"It's kind of hard to adjust your lifestyle without wrestling," he said. "I'm not unhappy with the fact I'm not wrestling anymore, but it's kind of a weird feeling when you're not doing something you've done your whole life."

[ Ray Beasock can be reached at ray.beasock@theledger.com or 863-802-7537. ]

[bigG]

Interesting read, Tom. I didn't know Fla. didn't have rasslin colleges.