Just a few short years ago athletic departments were ready to stick a fork in college wrestling. NCAA programs were being cut and words like Title IX and demise were being used a lot more than words like growth and vibrancy when people talked about college wrestling. But as the DI programs were cut, schools in the NAIA and NCAA DII and DIII levels found ways to expand. At one time the NAIA had just 18 programs and many were thinking the sport might be dropped as a nationally sponsored sport.

Fast forward to 2009 and the NAIA has nearly doubled as 32 of the NAIA's 35 teams qualified wrestlers for the national tournament. Judging from the excitement and crowd at Abe Lemons Arena, wrestling has never been more alive than it is right now in the NAIA.