Read it for yourself. They will be D2, however.
https://rockathletics.com/
https://rockathletics.com/
Wrestling Returns to Slippery Rock
- Thread starter AgSurfer
- Start date
Was there when it left, what a joke that it had to go.
Happy to see it returning.
Happy to see it returning.
From the website announcement:
"The Rock will compete at the NCAA Division II level as NCAA rules have changed since the last time SRU fielded a wrestling team and a return to the Division I level is no longer possible. There are currently 70 NCAA Division II wrestling programs competing across the nation in 2025-26."
Why? I'm not saying they would want to go D1 with the resources they have at hand....but this makes it sound like they can't go D1 even if they wanted to.
"The Rock will compete at the NCAA Division II level as NCAA rules have changed since the last time SRU fielded a wrestling team and a return to the Division I level is no longer possible. There are currently 70 NCAA Division II wrestling programs competing across the nation in 2025-26."
Why? I'm not saying they would want to go D1 with the resources they have at hand....but this makes it sound like they can't go D1 even if they wanted to.
I think they could be D1, but only if every sport in the school is D1. There was a rule that allowed schools to selectively compete at the D1 level for individual sports. F&M still does that with wrestling. This rule is grandfathered in for schools that continued to participate in the sport at the D1 level. But once the school discontinued the sport, the individual D1 participation was no longer permitted. It’s now either all sports or none.
This makes sense to keep schools from adding D1 basketball. That would be a easy money grab.
Personally, I think it was smart they went DII regardless. There are several small DI schools that aren’t even remotely on the radar of relevance that could be much more relevant at the DII level. Mercyhurst also just bumped up to DI which leaves room in the region for SRU.