The University of Iowa tops the list of colleges with biggest-spending wrestling programs, according to a survey by Kaame.com. The Iowa Hawkeyes have spent $1,654,772 in 2010.
The University of Iowa wrestling program is one of the most successful athletic programs in NCAA Division I. It is placed second in NCAA history with 23 national championships. Sports Illustrated recently named Iowa program as one of the top sports dynasties of the 20th century.
Iowa Hawkeyes is then followed by Penn State as the second biggest-spending college wrestling program. The program spent close to $1,268,133 in 2010.
The Nittany Lions have overall won five NCAA National Championships including a four-time winning streak from 2011-2014.
Several talented wrestlers have attended Penn State including Dave Taylor, Ed Ruth, Nico Megaludis, Zain Retherford, Morgan McIntosh & Matt Brown. Taylor, a two-time national individual champion, helped his team to secure four consecutive NCAA team titles, Penn Live reports.
Lehigh is ranked third on the list with $1,195,913 expenditure in 2010. The wrestling program has generated 136 All-Americans and recorded its best finish at the NCAA tournament in 1939 with second place.
Ohio State succeeds Mountain Hawks with $1,101,576 expenses in 2010. The Buckeyes are predicted to one of the strong contenders for their first NCAA championship next season.
"I finally feel like we're there,'' OSU Coach Tom Ryan said."There's so much hype in the wrestling program that, wow, Ohio State can win a national championship. That should be the norm. Ohio is a great wresting state; it's a great institution, and it really should be the norm, like Ohio State football. We're in that position, for sure,'' Cleveland reports.
Oregon State University follows Buckeyes in fifth position with expenditures close to $1,093,822. Several talented wrestlers play for Oregon State including Reed Van Anrooy, a four-time OSAA state finalist and two-time champion for Roseburg.
"It's not always about getting the crème de la crème recruits," Willie Saylor, editor of Flowrestling.org, said. "You get those mid-tier guys that have high character and you make 'em work for it. That's where the success of OSU comes from. It's blue collar and it's character-driven," Oregon Live reports.
School Name Dollars Spent On Wrestling Program
University of Iowa 1,654,772
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 1,268,133
Lehigh University 1,195,913
Ohio State University-Main Campus 1,101,576
Oregon State University 1,093,822
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1,064,161
University of Wisconsin-Madison 1,054,775
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 1,050,959
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus 1,037,815
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus 995,663
