ODAC to again sponsor wrestling
For the first time since 1980, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference will sponsor a championship in men’s wrestling. Full members Averett, Ferrum, Roanoke, Shenandoah, and Washington & Lee will be joined by associate members Southern Virginia and Greensboro to contest a seven team championship. The teams will complete a full dual schedule and conference championship tournament in the 2022-2023 season. Most of the teams in the conference, save Washington & Lee, are recent additions to the DIII wrestling landscape, so an ODAC championship is only possible due to the recent growth of college wrestling in the the Southeast.
ODAC Announces Men’s Wrestling as 25th Sponsored Sport
FOREST, Va. — Men’s wrestling is returning to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, per an announcement by the league on Wednesday afternoon. Competition will begin during the 2022-23 season and feature seven participating members including five full-time institutions and two associate partnerships.
Greensboro College and Southern Virginia University have been approved as associate members for men’s wrestling, joining all-sport competitors Averett University, Ferrum College, Roanoke College, Shenandoah University, and Washington and Lee University.
The ODAC offered 10 sports to its inaugural member institutions. Men’s wrestling was one of those options, but the sport featured for only four seasons with its final campaign in 1980. Washington and Lee University won the first three team titles with Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, claiming the final trophy.