 "Photo: Juan Blas / The Gamecock")
They are comprised of some of the best athletes at USC. They compete in a well-known Olympic sport that saw Oklahoma State claim the 2005 national championship. They even take on Clemson in a November battle.
Yet they aren't a member of the NCAA, and as a club team, they don't receive any support from the athletics department.
Fourth-year political science student Doug Gainey, president of the USC wrestling club, oversaw the creation of the team in fall 2002. A former state champion at Lugoff-Elgin High School, Gainey continued where another student left off in establishing the club team through Student Government. With support from more than 50 members, he hopes to soon turn the club into an NCAA team.
"One of the reasons I started this club was to bring wrestling to the South," Gainey said. "Title IX has really destroyed a lot of college programs, including Clemson's back in the early nineties. The National Collegiate Wrestling Association provides schools a chance to rebuild their program in hopes it will eventually become a registered NCAA sport."
With the club team established, the next step for Carolina's wrestlers is to become registered with the NCWA, whose mission is "to provide a spawning ground for new wrestling programs at the college level." After three years of contract issues, Gainey expects to be admitted to the Mid-Atlantic Conference of the NCWA soon. Twenty-one teams from Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia make-up the Mid-Atlantic Conference, including what will soon be Carolina's main rival - Clemson.
The Apprentice School (Virginia) won the conference title for two straight seasons, with Newberry College finishing No. 3 in 2005, the highest placement for a South Carolina team. The conference includes Tennessee and Vanderbilt from the SEC and Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia Tech and Clemson from the ACC.
Until the club gains membership, they will be relying on open tournaments for competition. Five tournaments are being considered, including The Citadel Open and the Carolina-Rubbermaid Open in Chapel Hill, N.C. A meeting with Clemson is scheduled for Nov. 9 with the time and location to be announced.
While registration provides a problem, finding people to participate has been fairly easy for the wrestling club. Gainey said that of 50 members on the roster, 20 to 25 of them are interested in competing for the team, while the rest come for personal practice.
"We've got guys that won multiple state championships on the team," Gainey said. "A majority of our wrestlers were very good high school wrestlers. A lot of the wrestlers that come to USC know about the team before they enroll, the rest pick up a flyer or check out the Web site, www.uscwrestling.org."
For members who want to compete and travel with the team, semester dues are $30, but those only interested in practice can do so without payment. As a club team, its only source of income comes from donations and fundraising. The Carolina Grapplettes, a team of females interested in wrestling, also help raise funds and travel with the team for support.
In the "Facebook era," recruitment of wrestlers and support for the team might pick up considerably. There is a Carolina Wrestling group with 67 members that includes officer information and encourages people to visit the wrestling Web site. Students can also find a Carolina Wrestling Club profile that has more than 390 friends. The profiles serve as free advertisement for the club, upcoming matches and practice teams for current and aspiring members.
The club practices from Monday to Thursday from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the basketball courts at the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center. Mondays and Wednesdays are dedicated to conditioning; Tuesdays and Thursdays are when the members take to the mats.
Anticipating NCWA membership hopefully this year, Gainey and the rest of the Carolina's wrestlers are slowly building this program from the ground up and, with time, aspire to become the first SEC-affiliated school with a team in NCAA Division I wrestling.
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