Tiger wrestling opens new building, faces early challenges

MT. PLEASANT - It hasn't been the easiest of paths for the Iowa Wesleyan wrestling team in its first year of existence, but the Tigers are pressing on. While the schedule remains on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IW continued to grow its program last week with a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the brand-new Willis Wrestling Facility.

The wrestling facility, which sits just off the IW campus, is good to go after a year of hard work. The facility has everything it needs; a kitchen, bathrooms, offices, conference rooms and, of course, a whole lot of wrestling mats.

'Obviously the wrestling area is my favorite part,” said IW head coach Shawn Contos. 'But I like the kitchen area, because it's being used by our athletes. (Assistant coaches) Cash Wilcke and Steve Holloway are like specimens, and they're anxious to help with our nutrition too.”

It was a rainy day for a ribbon cutting, but IW fans came out in droves. Contos says he sees a lot of excitement surrounding his brand-new program.

'Southeast Iowa is wrestling crazy,” Contos said. 'The reality of it is, this is wrestling country.”

It's been a grind for Contos and his staff, which features Wilcke, Holloway and Jake Kadel, all former NCAA Division 1 wrestlers. The 2020 wrestling season was all set to start on the first week of November, for both the men's and women's programs, but the pandemic forced the season to go on hold and there is no telling when the first meet will take place. Wrestling is a ‘Tier 3' risk out of three tiers according to the NCAA, so the association is being careful when it comes to contact sports.

'They're calling Tier 3 basketball and wrestling, but if there was a Tier 5, it would be us,” Contos said. 'That's the basis of our whole sport.” The Tigers are at a crossroads, as NCAA Division III protocol doesn't allow them to wrestle against any teams that aren't testing for COVID-19. The NAIA teams are not required to test, meaning IW will lose a handful of potential opponents, as the school won't officially rejoin the NAIA until the fall of 2021.

Contos says he's glad the school is returning to NAIA competition, saying the move also will improve the squad's efforts in recruiting.

'Joining the NAIA was the best thing that could have happened to us,” Contos said. 'We can go after that next-caliber athlete.”

Contos says scheduling wise, the team is ready to take on anybody. IW will try and get as many meets as they can in when winter sports action returns.

'Obviously we're going to compete with some colleges in the area that are already established, but that makes it fun for us,” Contos said. 'We love a challenge. We're not going to shy away.”

As a nonconference independent team, IW has to go out and find all its opponents. The Tigers did have eight men's meets and seven women's meets scheduled leading up to the national qualifiers when the schedule originally came out.

Coach Contos says the team will keep pressing on, getting time in their new facility before the season starts. He says he's thankful that his team gets to wrestle at all given everything.

'There has been some adversity thrown at us,” Contos said. 'In typical wrestler fashion, we just go at it as best we can.”