NCCC Wrestling, that picture of Max is hilarious. I had not looked at that roster pictures before your comment. I am surprised they let him get away with that or maybe you are right that his dad might have been the Blue Devil.

On your serious second paragraph, I agree from your description that yes certainly maintenance of the wrestling room and even a better facility for the wrestling room along with scholarships could only help Duke become more competitive in their conference and at the NCAA's. But in light of the article that Richard posted here concerning college athletic departments not really being the profit makers that many of us think they are with Duke in particular being used as the example, do you really think Duke can award to give a lot of wrestling scholarships at this time?

Did you read what Sean Meakim, Friends of Duke Wrestling President, stated as the financial goals of the $100,000 capital drive?

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Understanding that financial support is critical to achieving our stated goals; the team will require an increase in capital in order to finance a second full-time assistant coach, increased recruiting efforts, travel expenditures and additional off-season competitions. By raising this capital, we are not only showing the Athletic Department that Duke Wrestling is an important institution to a large body of alumni and university donors, but more importantly that our team can be a nationally competitive program if only given the proper tools to compete (and without scholarships). For the 2007-2008 fiscal year, we have established two goals:
1. Donor Participation: 200 total donors
2. Total Donations: $100,000

While this is ambitious, we have not lost sight of those in the Duke Wrestling community who have given so generously in the past. The Friends of Duke Wrestling, the coaching staff, and, most importantly, the current wrestlers appreciate such tremendous generosity, especially as we recognize the team is ever more dependent on this support to achieve its pursuit of excellence.

Sincerely,

Sean Meakim, '01
President, Friends of Duke Wrestling


Those are all pretty basic operational goals which to me supports the idea of the article that Richard posted that many universities are having difficulty meeting their athletic budgets.

Also as far as scholarships goes for Duke it doesn't even appear to be a goal of Duke wrestling. At the bottom of Mr. Meakim's President Message you can download the newsletter and in the newsletter there is a Coach's Corner message from Duke Head Coach Clar Anderson entitled "Big Dreams". Coach Anderson says that they can achieve their goals without scholarships.

Did you notice how Sean Meakim stated that one of the purposes of the need for this funding drive was to show the Duke Athletic Department that wrestling is an important institution to a large body of alumni and donors? I think that is so important for all colleges with wrestling programs to show that the wrestling community is willing to step up and take more direct responsibility for the ongoing support of the wrestling program at their schools. I think it is the biggest issue that college wrestling faces today. It is about taking financial control of our destiny. Wrestling has to do it or we will continue to see more programs drop. This article Richard posted and what almost happened at Arizona State this year has to be an eye opener and call for the wrestling community to attack this problem of college wrestling programs in a different way. The wrestling community absolutely must increase its endowing of these programs if we expect college wrestling to survive in this country.


Vince Nowak
Kansas College Wrestling Fund Supporter
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