On an April afternoon, everyone in the back of the field house grappled with all five of their senses.<\/p>\n
After a few decades on the shelf, the wrestling program at Maine Maritime is ready for a reboot. The 2017-2018 season has already past, so this first practice was a chance for the newest club sport to dust off some cobwebs and build a bit of excitement for next year.<\/p>\n
The return of the sport to Castine is serendipitous. Director of Athletics, Steve Peed, had the return of wrestling on his radar for a few years down the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my mind, it was the next program to get fully up and running,\u201d said Peed, who wrestled both in high school and college, \u201cbut it would be dependent on the department\u2019s ability to devote time and resources to getting it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enter Don McCann. McCann joined the MMA faculty as an Associate Professor of Engineering in January.<\/p>\n
Prior to his arrival, Professor McCann helped start and coach the wrestling programs at the University of Maine in 2013 and Husson University in 2015.<\/p>\n
The University of Maine team won the 2017 National Club Wrestling Association (NCWA) D-2 National Team Championship.\u00a0McCann helped coach three individual NCWA National Champions, eight individual NCWA All-Americans, and 10 NCWA Academic All-Americans. For his efforts, he was named the 2015-16 NCWA Northeast Conference Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the NCWA National Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the span of a week I received three emails, two from students and one from Don, inquiring about the possibility of getting wrestling going as a club sport,\u201d Peed said. \u201cThe Academy decided to embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With an expert coach in place and largely unused mats idling in the back of the field house, what had been a down-the-line item, was suddenly happening. McCann met with Peed and Peter Stewart, MMA\u2019s Director of Campus Safety, who also has a strong background in the sport. One meeting became two, and then three.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to help restart the MMA wrestling program,\u201d said McCann. \u201cWe have a great group of students who have shown a strong desire to wrestle on the college level, and I am glad Peter Stewart and I have an opportunity to help them do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mission is personal for McCann, who grew up in Bucksport. When he graduated from high school, there were no college wrestling teams in Maine. He has become the Johnny Appleseed of the sport in the Pine Tree State, now, with his third startup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am thrilled that many of Maine\u2019s colleges and the university now have wrestling programs that allow our student athletes to compete on the college level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maine Maritime is the latest. On May 4, the program\u2019s NCWA application was accepted.<\/p>\n
The team will begin rolling<\/em> in an official capacity once the calendar flips<\/em> to October with an expected initial roster of some 20 wrestlers ready to take adversaries to the mat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a winning coach, the wrestling program is ready for a reboot.<\/p>\n On an April afternoon, everyone in the back of the field house grappled with all five of their senses.<\/p>\n After a few decades on the shelf, the wrestling program at Maine Maritime is ready for a reboot. The 2017-2018 season has already past, so this first practice was a chance for the newest club sport to dust off some cobwebs and build a bit of excitement for next year.<\/p>\n The return of the sport to Castine is serendipitous. Director of Athletics, Steve Peed, had the return of wrestling on his radar for a few years down the road.<\/p>\n\n