ESPN College Sports

The juxtaposition is not lost on Oklahoma City University president Tom McDaniel. One of his school's claims to fame is the fact that it has produced three Miss Americas, and to say the world of pageantry is pretty different than the world of women's wrestling -- competitive comparisons aside -- is probably an understatement.

But in making the announcement last week that OCU is adding women's wrestling this fall as a varsity sport, becoming one of just six schools in the country to offer the sport at that level, McDaniel and others at the school sent clear messages: Why limit yourself or give in to skepticism? Why not think differently? And, most of all, why not be a few years ahead of the curve rather than a few years behind it?

"I don't know where it will lead us," McDaniel said, "but I frankly don't think it can be a mistake if you give young women a chance to get a great education."

If early indications are worth anything, the bold move was hardly a mistake. In fact, it could be another major boon for a school that added a rowing program a few years back and turned it into a major selling point by filling a niche few schools around it could match.

Archie Randall, the coach of the men's wrestling team, which was started in 2006, will also lead the women's program. He has been playing hot potato with his phone ever since last week's announcement.

"Phone call after phone call after phone call," Randall said, adding four more "phone calls" after that. "I've had such a response, it's been unreal. Parents. Kids. I've had calls from six of the top girls' wrestlers in the nation."

Therein lies the beauty of the move. There are about 5,000 girls wrestling in high school nationwide -- and somewhere approaching half of them compete on the 180 teams in neighboring Texas. But their college options are seriously limited. So here comes OCU, which will have eight scholarships to offer (same as the men's team) and have an immediate chance to become a national powerhouse and a destination school. Randall said he knows of a handful of other schools thinking about adding women's wrestling.

"We were talking and talking, and finally we decided we might as well get it out there and be ahead of everyone," he said. "I guess you could say I'm just a wrestling advocate. I'm obsessed with all types of wrestling, and this just seemed like a logical step for us. Our school strives for success, for being the best in everything, so why not add a sport that gives us that opportunity?"

That appears to be the basic motive, which is a refreshing notion. Jim Abbott, OCU's athletic director, said the school was already in Title IX compliance before adding women's wrestling.

"Either consciously or subconsciously we try to maintain a balance," said Abbott, who was lauded for starting a men's wrestling program at a time when a lot of schools are cutting the sport. "With women's wrestling, that gives us seven women's sports and six men's sports. It had more to do with the opportunity to begin a sport and immediately be at the forefront. And for me personally, the experience with rowing gives you a lot of courage to do things."

	“	I guess you could say I'm just a wrestling advocate. I'm obsessed with all types of wrestling, and this just seemed like a logical step for us. Our school strives for success, for being the best in everything, so why not add a sport that gives us that opportunity? ”
		— Archie Randall

Abbott brought up rowing a lot during the course of the conversation, and for good reason. The school added men's and women's rowing four years ago, taking advantage of a city plan that turned what was essentially a drainage ditch into a river that flows through Oklahoma City's downtown area.

"They cleaned it up and made a river," Abbott said, "and by accident they created a world-class rowing facility."

This fall, Oklahoma City hosted a regatta that drew more than 30,000 spectators, making it an unlikely center of the rowing world.

"We see rowing very much in the same way we see women's wrestling -- a niche that has proven to be an incredible boon to our university," Abbott said. "I'm not saying that in four years we're going to be hosting a women's wrestling tournament that will draw 30,000 people. But I'm also not saying we can't."

Of equal or greater importance, though, are the opportunities the program's creation will afford female wrestlers. Eventually, the school hopes to have a women's wrestler become an Olympic champion. That's Randall's vision, and he will be plenty busy trying to see it through.

The women's season will run somewhat concurrently with the men's season, though the competitions are often open tournaments instead of duals. Recruiting and coaching two sports full time, however, will certainly be a challenge. When reached on the phone recently on a Sunday evening, Randall sounded like a man who needed to catch his breath -- but also one who's so deeply embedded in what he's passionate about that the amount of work doesn't seem to matter.

"I wouldn't have done it without him," Abbott said. "If there's one person who can do this, it's Archie Randall."

OCU currently competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics -- where it has won 28 national championships in the past 19 years -- but the school has designs on eventually competing in the NCAA at the Division I level. Freddy Sanchez, last year's National League batting champion, played at OCU. The men's wrestling program, in its first season of competition, will have eight wrestlers competing at the NAIA Championships on March 2-3 in Sioux City, Iowa.

That's a track record for success with which it's hard to argue. And hey, don't forget those three Miss Americas. Oklahoma City University hasn't forgotten that part of its past, even as it heads toward the future.

Said Abbott, only half-jokingly: "Why couldn't we be the first school that has an Olympic women's wrestler who's also a Miss America?"

Quick Takedowns
• Minnesota made another convincing statement over the weekend, pounding Iowa 29-13 in a dual at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It might not have even been that close if the Gophers had sent out No. 2-ranked Manny Rivera at 141 pounds instead of giving him the night off. Iowa picked up six of its 13 points at that weight when Alex Tsirtsis pinned Mike Thorn. The Gophers finished the dual season 20-1, including a perfect 8-0 in the Big Ten.

• Missouri has been ravaged by the flu lately, to the point that coach Ben Smith had to forfeit at five weight classes in the Tigers' 40-8 loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga on Sunday. "This sickness has been a nightmare," Smith was quoted as saying on the program's Web site. "We're slowly getting guys healthy, but it's been hard training with so few bodies in the room." Missouri hosts the Big 12 Championships on March 3.

Michael Rand is a staff writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He can be contacted at mrand333@yahoo.com.