Friends Athletics
Levi Convirs, Sports Information Director
WICHITA – Friends University Director of Athletics, Dr. Rob Ramseyer, has announced the addition of Men’s and Women’s Wrestling and Men’s Golf to the list of sports the athletic department offers starting in the Fall semester of the 2021 season.
These additions increase the number of sports that Friends University sponsors up to 23 and will raise the level of the overall effectiveness and competitiveness of the department.
“We are excited to announce the addition of these programs,” Ramseyer said. “We believe we are positioned to be competitive quickly and are looking forward to getting them started.”
The local community is already embracing the notion of men’s wrestling in the area, as Visit Wichita is the official host of the 2020 and 2021 NAIA Men’s Wrestling Championship at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan.
According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, women’s wrestling is a growing sport that has seen the number of high school women wrestlers increase from 804 in 1994 to 21,124 (as of 2019).
The KCAC currently has six schools competing in women’s wrestling (Midland University, Missouri Valley Colllege, Ottawa University, York College, the University of Jamestown, University of Saint Mary), with seven schools participating in men’s wrestling (Bethany College, Kansas Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Ottawa University, University of Saint Mary, York College).
Men’s Golf makes its return to campus for the first time since the sport was suspended at the conclusion of the spring 2015 season.
Friends will now offer both men’s and women’s golf, with the women’s golf program forming during fall of 2017.
Men’s Golf is a vibrant sport within the KCAC, with nine member schools currently competing in the 2020-21 season.
Search committees are in the process of hiring a head coach for men’s and women’s wrestling along with a head coach for men’s golf, which will also serve as the overall Director of Golf for the university.
The Director of Golf will work as the administrator for the men’s and women’s golf teams in program support and operations.
Friends University worked closely with Dr. Kurt Patberg and Athletic Staffing & Consultants (ASC) during the process of deciding on new sports and evaluating current offerings. ASC works with numerous enrollment-driven colleges and universities on an array of consulting but specializes in providing -important enrollment and retention expertise and market projections for athletics.