Per the article linked below, Lawrence University has announced that 2008-2009 will be the last season for Lawrence Wrestling. Low participation was given as the main reason for the cut. Lawrence placed 10th in the 2001 NCAA championships, and Andy Kazik was their first NCAA champion in 2002.
what a shame…hopefully other coaches could write letters to lawrence to try to keep wrestling around…something needs to happen…we can’t afford to lose more wrestling programs
If anyone is going to write a letter that is going to have an affect on the program, it must come from the alumni who support wrestling. This sounds like a case of too little, too late.
Recruiting is the name of the game. Looks like with only 8 guys on the roster there was a lack of recruiting. At small institutions like Lawrence it is essential for the schools budget for athletic teams to have 30+ students on a roster. It looks like the head coach may have been a part time head coach as well, which would be the schools fault for not making an investment into the program and hiring a full time head coach.
Weazel is right. Its on the shoulders of the alumni to keep the program going. Its a real shame.
I first would like to say thanks to all who have called me about the wrestling program.and i would welcome calls about why lawrence dropped the program.my number is 920-832-6763.
Yes, the head coach was part-time, however I know from personal experience that he put in full-time hours. Recruiting was the #1 priority for Coach Novickis during his time at LU (16 years). I remember personally spending hours with Coach Novickis on the phone calling countless high school wrestlers who said “Lawrence Who?”. So for him to build the program to what it became is a testament to Coach Novickis’ hard work (and for a mere $6000 a year, I don’t think many of us would have done what he did).
The real problem is it’s damn hard to get accepted to Lawrence University. Coach Novickis had a great run through the 90’s and early 00’s with getting quality students AND quality athletes. Speaking from experience, LU is not your “typical” college. If you wanna party, cut class, and play sports LU is not the place. And I am sure this turned off a lot of athletes who were looking for the “college experience”. So LU had a good run and I’m proud to call myself an alum and former wrestler of Dave Novickis. And congrats to him and his well-deserved honor of being inducted into the D3 H.O.F. He took a team that had 4 wrestlers and built it into a Nationally recognized power. Dave Novickis would have built a National Champion team at any other school that only requires a 13 ACT to get in.
It is a sad day in the wrestling world when another program is cut from the budget. It is especially a sad day at Lawrence University for myself and other alumni. I personally have been part of the program for over 10 years. I wrestled for coach Novickis from 98-2002 and have been the part-time assistant wrestling coach for the past 7 years.
During my wrestling years, LU wrestling program was at it pinnacle years where we achieved National Rankings and was recognized as a power in the country. We were ranked as high 10th in the country, had multiply all-American in one year, and a national champion. During this time, Lawrence was able to recruit ‘SEVERAL’ quality wrestlers that were able to afford the private school price. Now the recruiting at Lawrence has become much tougher.
The academic standards have changed. This past year for an example: we were recruiting a student athlete that had a 27 ACT and a 3.2 from another college (75% of the Students at LU have 31 ACT score or better). This wrestler was denied! I’d like to know how many other programs would be able to survive with that kind of problems bringing in student athletes.
Not only do we have a problem getting students admitted into the university but once they have been admitted it is hard to swallow the price tag. Lawrence is getting more and more expensive every year. The yearly cost to go to school has been driven up well over $30K/yr. That is $120K for 4 years!! Financially, it is a lot of money to stomach when you can go to a state school for under $30K for 4 years.
There are several reason the program has been suspended but it wasn’t for lack of recruiting. Even as a part-time coaches (Dave and I) we would live wrestling for 5 plus months of the year. I’d work from 7AM-5PM (full time job) than head to the gym for wrestling practice 5:30-7:30PM. After that we would go to area high school matches or make phone call until 9 or 10 at night.
The main problem is that Lawrence University does not embrace the student-“ATHLETE”. I have a bad feeling that this won’t be the last athletic program to go!
I do thank everyone that has wrestled, supported, and given to the Lawrence wrestling program. Lawrence had a good run, it just sad that it is over.
Feel free to continue to show your support on February 13th… Lawrence’s last home match vs UW-Oshkosh!
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