Women's wrestling new focus at LHU - 04/02/07 09:31 AM
Women's wrestling new focus at LHU
He's attending tournaments in central Pennsylvania.
He's visiting national tournaments in Michigan.
He's calling high school athletes nightly.
Yet there's one difference between Terry Fike and Pennsylvania's other college wrestling coaches.
Fike, who had a two-year stint as Penns Valley's coach during the 1990s, is looking for females willing to spend long hours in a practice room.
Fike has been selected as the coach for a newly created female wrestling club at Lock Haven University. Lock Haven represents the first Pennsylvania college to launch a female wrestling program.
The club will share training facilities with the Lock Haven men's program which uses Fike as its strength and conditioning coach.
Like any new coach, Fike has grand plans.
He eventually wants Lock Haven to offer women's wrestling as a varsity sport. Fourteen schools sent wrestlers to last month's National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships. The top four teams -- Cumberlands (Ky.), Missouri Valley, Pacific (Ore.) and Menlo (Calif.) -- have varsity programs.
"We need to be a club sport because we are starting from zero," Fike said. "But we have every intention that once we put everything into place that we can become a varsity sport at Lock Haven."
Fike already has secured the support of some key Lock Haven figures. He said wrestling coach Rocky Bonomo and athletic director Sharon Taylor are supportive of the project, and the school will host a women's camp this summer.
Fike said he hopes Lock Haven's location will expedite the club's growth.
"The reception has been extremely positive," he said. "Most girls I have met in the East are excited to have a program close to home at a wrestling school like Lock Haven. It's kind of exciting for girls to think they have an opportunity to wrestle at a place with a long tradition and history in wrestling."
Lock Haven has already developed a women's wrestling tradition. Sara McMann, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, and Jenny Wong, who earned a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships, have trained at Thomas Field House.
But finding experienced wrestlers could be Fike's biggest challenge.
Female wrestling had 4,975 participants at 1,081 schools last year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
By comparison, 251,534 boys wrestled at 9,744 high schools last year.
The PIAA doesn't sponsor girls wrestling so participation numbers for Pennsylvania are difficult to determine. Only one school located within 50 miles of Lock Haven -- District 4 Jersey Shore -- has a formal girls wrestling club.
Lock Haven's club will begin competing next season. Fike, a two-time District 6 champion at Altoona High School, said he wants the club to attend between six and nine events during 2007-08.
Fike is still in the process of securing funding for the club. But he can envision a women's wrestling boom at Lock Haven.
"It's my personal view -- and it's shared by others -- that we can become a varsity program that is fully funded," Fike said. "We want to one day be competing for a national title and producing women who can compete in the Olympics."
He's attending tournaments in central Pennsylvania.
He's visiting national tournaments in Michigan.
He's calling high school athletes nightly.
Yet there's one difference between Terry Fike and Pennsylvania's other college wrestling coaches.
Fike, who had a two-year stint as Penns Valley's coach during the 1990s, is looking for females willing to spend long hours in a practice room.
Fike has been selected as the coach for a newly created female wrestling club at Lock Haven University. Lock Haven represents the first Pennsylvania college to launch a female wrestling program.
The club will share training facilities with the Lock Haven men's program which uses Fike as its strength and conditioning coach.
Like any new coach, Fike has grand plans.
He eventually wants Lock Haven to offer women's wrestling as a varsity sport. Fourteen schools sent wrestlers to last month's National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships. The top four teams -- Cumberlands (Ky.), Missouri Valley, Pacific (Ore.) and Menlo (Calif.) -- have varsity programs.
"We need to be a club sport because we are starting from zero," Fike said. "But we have every intention that once we put everything into place that we can become a varsity sport at Lock Haven."
Fike already has secured the support of some key Lock Haven figures. He said wrestling coach Rocky Bonomo and athletic director Sharon Taylor are supportive of the project, and the school will host a women's camp this summer.
Fike said he hopes Lock Haven's location will expedite the club's growth.
"The reception has been extremely positive," he said. "Most girls I have met in the East are excited to have a program close to home at a wrestling school like Lock Haven. It's kind of exciting for girls to think they have an opportunity to wrestle at a place with a long tradition and history in wrestling."
Lock Haven has already developed a women's wrestling tradition. Sara McMann, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, and Jenny Wong, who earned a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships, have trained at Thomas Field House.
But finding experienced wrestlers could be Fike's biggest challenge.
Female wrestling had 4,975 participants at 1,081 schools last year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
By comparison, 251,534 boys wrestled at 9,744 high schools last year.
The PIAA doesn't sponsor girls wrestling so participation numbers for Pennsylvania are difficult to determine. Only one school located within 50 miles of Lock Haven -- District 4 Jersey Shore -- has a formal girls wrestling club.
Lock Haven's club will begin competing next season. Fike, a two-time District 6 champion at Altoona High School, said he wants the club to attend between six and nine events during 2007-08.
Fike is still in the process of securing funding for the club. But he can envision a women's wrestling boom at Lock Haven.
"It's my personal view -- and it's shared by others -- that we can become a varsity program that is fully funded," Fike said. "We want to one day be competing for a national title and producing women who can compete in the Olympics."