The Concordia University athletic department announced Aug. 21 that wrestling will return as an intercollegiate sport in the fall of 2009. Concordia discontinued its wrestling program in the mid-‘70s. The Concordia Board of Regents approved the addition in their July 2008 meeting. The regents also approved the addition of a female sport to be added, but that sport has yet to be determined.
Concordia's wrestling team will find have a temporary home in the current Concordia athletic building but will have a permanent home once the arena section of the new Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center is completed. The completion date of the arena section is scheduled for mid-2009.
"We are very excited about the addition of wrestling," said Concordia Athletic Director Grant Schmidt. "Wrestling will open up new avenues for awareness and recruitment in the Midwest for Concordia, as well as, allowing us to seriously compete again for the Great Plains Athletic Conference All-Sports trophy, which requires you to participate in wrestling."
The Bulldogs will be the eighth member of the GPAC to add wrestling as a varsity sport. With the addition of wrestling Concordia will carry 19 intercollegiate varsity sports.