Nearly 35 years ago, the landmark Title IX federal legislation came into existence and changed the course of college athletics across the country.
In a day and age when legislation and everything else in government is voluminous in nature, Title IX made its mark with just 35 simple words: “No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid.”
Those words opened the door for female athletes, with colleges being forced to provide them equal opportunities. Women?s lacrosse, for instance, went from 39 Division I programs in 1981 to 80 programs in 2004, according to NCAA participation records.
Unfortunately, many colleges nationally used Title IX as an excuse to cut non-revenue men?s sports instead of adding female programs, and wrestling is usually one of the first to go. According to the NCAA, 146 Division I wrestling programs existed in 1981, compared to 86 in 2004.
Luckily, Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow doesn?t view Title IX in that fashion. Yow went with the proactive approach of adding women?s softball, golf, water polo and competitive cheerleading over the last decade. Maryland now boasts 27 varsity programs, including wrestling. Maryland and Navy are the only two Division I schools in the state that offer wrestling on a varsity level.
“Debbie Yow understands that Title IX was designed to offer more opportunities for student-athletes, not to cut programs and take those opportunities away,” said Kathleen Worthington, Maryland?s executive senior associate athletic director.
Maryland?s wrestling program has been one of the prime benefactors of Yow?sTitle IX approach. Thanks to the “Fear the Turtle” campaign launched in 2003, Maryland raised $1.2 million for the wrestling team, and seven other Maryland men?s programs now have the maximum number of scholarships allowed by the NCAA. For the wrestling team, this meant having 9.9 scholarships to divide among its roster.
That, along with the top-notch facilities that came with the construction of the Comcast Center in 2002, has led to vast improvements in Maryland?s wrestling team under fourth-year coach Pat Santoro. The Terps went from 3-13-1 two years ago to 11-5 going into today?s Atlantic Coast Conference dual meet at Virginia Tech. The Terps also are the defending ACC dual meet champion for the first time since 1974.
One of Maryland?s top wrestlers is freshman 133-pounder Jon Kohler. The Mount St. Joseph graduate, a starter, is currently 9-13. He chose Maryland over Virginia, Harvard and Navy.
“I heard a lot of great things about the coaching staff,” Kohler said. “You?re also motivated to work even harder when you see the commitment the school has supporting wrestling.”
Ron Snyder is a staff writer with The Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected].
