Photo by: L Conway
Patrick Dooley(Left), a staff writer with the Penn State Altoona Collegiate Review, discusses new additions to Penn State Altoona Athletics with athletic director, Brent Baird(Right), on September 8.
By L Conway and Patrick Dooley
Staff Writers
Starting next fall, Penn State Altoona will be home to 17 division three level sports, including men’s and women’s wrestling and a women’s golf team. Men’s and women’s wrestling will share gym time with the other winter sports teams. Women’s golf will join the men’s team and compete at the Sinking Valley Golf Course, Brent Baird, Penn State Altoona Athletic Director said.
The decision to add these sports to campus was not made due to current student interest, but demographics around the area. Central Pennsylvania is a hotspot for wrestling at the high school level but lacked a collegiate team in the area. Baird said that there was a gap, meaning there were very few wrestling programs between eastern and western Pennsylvania. By creating a program here at Penn State Altoona, many more high school wrestlers will get the chance to play at the division three level. Baird says he has no worries in finding recruitments, saying there are more high schoolers who wrestle than there are collegiate opportunities for them. Penn State Altoona has made it their mission to supply opportunities for athletes of any sex to have an opportunity to play at the collegiate level. Baird also confirmed that the department is hiring qualified and experienced coaches to lead these teams and begin recruitment soon. Future Penn State Altoona wrestlers will be recruited from high schools and private training gyms in the upcoming year.
Women’s wrestling was newly introduced to PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association), just being sanctioned this year. Even though it is a new sport, multiple high school programs are beginning to pop up around the area, including surrounding high schools such as Philipsburg-Osceola, Central Cambria in Ebensburg, and Glendale. Baird said that he is “very excited to see how the program will grow.” Within minutes of announcing the program, the news blew up with support, with people everywhere reaching out and asking how to help. He sees this as an opportunity to be a leader in women’s collegiate sports by offering an upcoming sport.
The response from students has been nothing but positive. Joe Fox, a junior, here at Penn State Altoona, thinks that “it’s a good thing and should bring in more students since the attendance was low since covid.” Austin Muzzey, another junior at Altoona, believes that “this gives an opportunity to grow the school while also providing a Penn State education to students at a smaller school.” Current students who are interested in playing in these programs should submit their information on the Athletics website when the recruitment process begins.