Just a few short years ago athletic departments were ready to stick a fork in college wrestling.  NCAA programs were being cut and words like Title IX and demise were being used a lot more than words like growth and vibrancy when people talked about college wrestling.   But as the DI programs were cut, schools in the NAIA and NCAA DII and DIII levels found ways to expand.  At one time the NAIA had just 18 programs and many were thinking the sport might be dropped as a nationally sponsored sport.

Fast forward to 2009 and the NAIA has nearly doubled as 32 of the NAIA's 35 teams qualified wrestlers for the national tournament.  Judging from the excitement and crowd at Abe Lemons Arena, wrestling has never been more alive than it is right now in the NAIA.

So as I sit in Oklahoma City and watch the Stars athletic department volunteers clean up after three days of wrestling, I wonder who it is we have to thank for the current state of wrestling?

Obviously the first round of thanks needs to go to the presidents and athletic directors of these small colleges that chose to expand their athletic departments by adding wrestling.  From a growth perspective wrestling makes perfect sense.  There is little cost to the sport and you can recruit anywhere from 15 to 60 males to a team which boosts enrollments instantly.  Wrestling is also one of those sports where it typically will not take 2-3 years to establish the program before you can compete.  Essentially once a school decides to add wrestling, they could start the program as early as the next season. 

The next round of thanks needs to go to the wrestlers who have sacrificed more than anyone can understand to be a part of this sport.  It is easily the toughest sport in college athletics to train for.  Not only must you constantly beat your body through practices but you also have to keep your conditioning up year round.   All while maintaining weights that my body has not seen in years. 

I'm a football guy and I love the sport with a passion that is indescribable.  But wrestlers just have a grittier mentality than football players.  Just think it you told a football player they had to go through two-a-days and not eat or keep a weight certain weight while trying to get through their toughest training.

In fact it used to be that the NAIA held their champions banquet for wrestling the night before weigh-ins.  Just think going to the nicest meal you've seen all year and having to sit there and only drink water.  Wrestlers have a different mentality than most athletes because no other sport has that mano y mano competition that wrestling does.

Some may laugh at this, but the other person that needs to be thanked is Dana White of the UFC.   As the UFC has expanded and grown so has the youth interest in wrestling.  With big name college wrestling champions like Brock Lesnar gaining more national attention and lesser known champions from the NAIA like Bobby Lashley or Matt Hamill from DIII wrestlers now see a future in their sport after college.  Wrestling is just one of many skill-sets that help to make the complete fighter whether it's the UFC, WEC or EliteXC.  At the end of the day there are a lot of wrestlers that have futures in some style of mixed martial arts (MMA).  It might not be in one of the big leagues, but regionally much like we see with the smaller indoor football teams and basketball leagues.

Oklahoma City did a wonderful job as the new host for this event and I think a lot of people are looking forward to this event being back here.  The atmosphere inside Abe Lemons Arena was fantastic and the crowds seemed to be fairly steady the entire tournament.  I'd say on average each session saw between 1500 and 2000 people depending on how many people were coming and going.  I'd give the Stars athletic department an "A" their first time around.

Lindenwood was dominant as usual winning the 2009 National Title.  Their wrestlers are very skilled and seldom make mistakes.  What makes them so dangerous is the amount of depth on their team.  In the semifinals on Friday night they had two weight classes where teammates were wrestling for a shot at the NAIA championship.  Overall they had five wrestlers fighting for championships with three taking home NAIA gold.  The Lions won their fifth NAIA Championship with 167 total points just 26 short of the all-time record set by Dana College in 2006.

Southern Oregon had a quality meet as well finishing second with 125.5 points.  The Raiders had four wrestlers in the lower places with three in the championship round finishing with one national champion.  McKendree finished third with two national champions.

Here are my thoughts on the NAIA Championship matches.

125: Corey Borges MSU-Northern def. Mitchell Lofstedt, Southern Oregon; 11-2

Borges just seemed to be a little bit better due to being the more seasoned wrestler.  Lofstedt will be back and could be a three time champion.  Borges mowed through his weight class with little resistance.

133: Ray Stephens, Lindenwood def. Trevor Lofstedt, Southern Oregon; 19-9

Stephens was more athletic and scored his points from every aspect of the game; near falls, takedowns and reversals - if you can score it, he did it. 

141: Adam Koballa Notre Dame College def. Zach Flake, Campbellsville; 4-2 SV1

This was an absolute battle.  Koballa and Flake both attacked very well with Koballa barely getting the best of Flake by catching his ankle in the closing moments of sudden victory to get the two points and the victory.

149:  Matt Burns, Grand View def. Sam Schmitz, Lindenwood; 9-1

This might have been the biggest upset of the night.  Schmidtz was #2 while Burns was #5.  Burns caught Schmitz twice with near falls and never allowed him to get an offensive edge.

157: Jeremy Powell, Lindenwood def. Joe Cornejo, Mo. Valley; 5-2

#5 Powell defeated the NAIA's #1 rated wrestler in this weight class, but you could tell these two were pretty evenly matched.  One of the better technical matches of the night.

165: Aaron Winning McKendree  def. John Murra, Lindenwood; 1:32

Winning had the most dominant victory of the night.  Murra got caught twice before getting pinned.  Had he not gotten pinned he was probably on his way to a tech fall.  Winning was the most impressive wrestler in the finals in my opinion.

174: Matt Cauley, Lindenwood def. Alex McKinney, Mo. Valley; 2:50

Cauley was named NAIA Wrestler of the Year after the national championship concluded and he proved why in his championship match.  Cauley finished the tournament with 3 pins and a 19-9 victory on his way to the championship. 

184: Christopher Platt Southern Oregon def. Evan Hinebauch, MSU-Northern; 6-2

Platt proved to be a little more advantages in this match.  It was really a great battle but these two wrestlers were pretty evenly matched and neither could really catch the other making too big of a mistake.

197: Andrew Sanchez, McKendree def. Frank Morgan, King College; 4-2 SV3

Two evenly matched competitors with one just finding a way to win.  It they wrestled ten times they'd likely split them evenly. 

285: Arjan Bhullar, Simon Fraser def.  Jake Kallestad, Dickinson State; 4-2

Bhullar scored the match's only take down on his way to the victory.

Continue to check the College Fanz website this week as we will continue to post photos from championship weekend in Oklahoma City.  I'd like to thank the staff and helpers from Oklahoma City University for putting on a wonderful event this week.  There are so many things that have to happen behind the scenes that go unnoticed and I just want them to know that I and the rest of the of the media truly appreciate everything that you have done to make this event such a success.