{"id":365,"date":"2023-05-16T19:22:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/?p=365"},"modified":"2023-05-16T19:22:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:22:10","slug":"mma-hits-the-mat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/campus-currents\/mma-hits-the-mat\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA Hits the Mat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sports<\/span><\/p>\n

MMA Hits the Mat<\/h1>\n

Club Wrestling Elevated to Varsity Status in Both Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Programs<\/h2>\n

MEN’S and WOMEN’S WRESTLING are moving to the roster of varsity sport offerings. Both teams are currently club sports at the Academy, competing in the National Club Wrestling Association (NCWA). The program will continue in the NCWA for one more year before moving to NCAA competition for the 2024\u20132025 season.<\/p>\n

Last season, the club fielded eighteen wrestlers, including the Academy\u2019s first female wrestler, Jenna Willard. In the 2021\u20132022 campaign, the team competed in five regular season invitationals before qualifying for the NCWA Northeast Conference Championship. At the tournament, six wrestlers qualified for the NCWA National Championship held in Texas, and Willard was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the Women\u2019s Division.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jenna Willard was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the Women\u2019s Division at the NCWA National Championship in Texas. Willard is a junior majoring in International Business & Logistics<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

President Jerry Paul is enthusiastic about this change. \u201cAs a former wrestler, I know the unique aspects of this sport and the special athletes who call it their own,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are particularly proud to restore this varsity tradition for young men at the Academy while becoming the first institution in the state to offer a women\u2019s wrestling program, creating opportunities for the athletes competing in America\u2019s fastest growing sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Peed, Director of Athletics, agreed. \u201cThis is a great day for Maine Maritime Athletics as we not only restore, but expand, one of the Academy\u2019s athletic traditions with the world\u2019s oldest sport,\u201d said Peed. \u201cWrestling has always been a natural fit with our student body and the sport celebrates the no-excuses, get-it-done mentality that has defined Maine Maritime graduates for more than eight decades. I am incredibly grateful to Prof. Don McCann and Peter Stewart, Director of Campus Safety and Facilities, for growing and maintaining the club and interest in the sport over the past several years. <\/p>\n

Tricia Carver, Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator, sees this addition of women\u2019s wrestling as particularly timely. Carver said, \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more excited to add another opportunity for women to compete in collegiate athletics. To announce the addition of wrestling\u2014women\u2019s AND men\u2019s\u2014in 2023 as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX is perhaps the greatest honor we can give the legislation that changed everything for women in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports<\/p>\n

MMA Hits the Mat
\nClub Wrestling Elevated to Varsity Status in Both Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Programs<\/p>\n

MEN’S and WOMEN’S WRESTLING are moving to the roster of varsity sport offerings. Both teams are currently club sports at the Academy, competing in the National Club Wrestling Association (NCWA). The program will continue in the NCWA for one more year before moving to NCAA competition for the 2024\u20132025 season.<\/p>\n

Last season, the club fielded eighteen wrestlers, including the Academy\u2019s first female wrestler, Jenna Willard. In the 2021\u20132022 campaign, the team competed in five regular season invitationals before qualifying for the NCWA Northeast Conference Championship. At the tournament, six wrestlers qualified for the NCWA National Championship held in Texas, and Willard was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the Women\u2019s Division.<\/p>\n

President Jerry Paul is enthusiastic about this change. \u201cAs a former wrestler, I know the unique aspects of this sport and the special athletes who call it their own,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are particularly proud to restore this varsity tradition for young men at the Academy while becoming the first institution in the state to offer a women\u2019s wrestling program, creating opportunities for the athletes competing in America\u2019s fastest growing sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Peed, Director of Athletics, agreed. \u201cThis is a great day for Maine Maritime Athletics as we not only restore, but expand, one of the Academy\u2019s athletic traditions with the world\u2019s oldest sport,\u201d said Peed. \u201cWrestling has always been a natural fit with our student body and the sport celebrates the no-excuses, get-it-done mentality that has defined Maine Maritime graduates for more than eight decades. I am incredibly grateful to Prof.<\/p>\n

…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}