OH-WAY gives back to Ohio Collegiate Wrestling – Letter from Joey Simcoe Tiffin Univ. Head Coach
It is one thing to put on a wrestling tournament. It is another thing for an organization to follow through with a plan to support wrestling in Ohio. OH-WAY in its first year quietly went to work creating relationships throughout the state to involve colleges with collegiate wrestling. By showing support for Tiffin University and their wrestling program as well as Lake Erie College and The University of Findlay to help those collegiate programs and provide a path for Ohio youth wrestlers. OH-WAY is committed to providing wrestling opportunities form youth on up in order to grow the sport of wrestling. OH-Way also is working hard to build our Girls Divisions and teams. OH-WAY is a grassroots level organization dedicated to providing opportunities to Ohio wrestlers. Please read the letter from Joey Simcoe, Head Wrestling Coach from Tiffin University, where he explains his thoughts and experience with OH-WAY.
Sincerely,
OH-WAY Staff
Click link for PDF version of letter
TIFFIN
UNIVERSITY
To our Wrestling Family:
Please allow me to introduce myself; my name is Joey Simcoe and I am the head wrestling coach at Tiffin University. I am currently in my third year as the head coach of the program and have been coaching at the collegiate level since 2005. Prior to Tiffin University, I served as an assistant at both The University of Findlay and Cumberland University.
I would like to take a moment to let everyone know about OH-WAY and some of the positive contributions they are making in order to grow and support wrestling at all levels of competition. Tiffin University was fortunate enough to hold the inaugural state wrestling tournament for OH-WAY this past season, and were able to bring roughly 5,000 new faces to our campus! This is an incredible accomplishment for our program since we are only heading into our fifth year of existence. In fact, many people were not aware TU had a varsity
wrestling program.
OH-WAY is demonstrating their commitment to keeping our sport growing and thriving in their choice of venue for the biggest tournaments of the year. When the previous organization used the Nutter Center for the
State Tournament, they were not supporting a school that had a collegiate wrestling program. In other words, the funds raised were not going back into the sport. Since OH-WAY has come about not only has my University
benefited from hosting an event, but so have Lake Erie College, and The University of Findlay. All three schools depend on fundraising to help give young men the opportunity to wrestle at the collegiate level.
Through hosting the state tournament, we as a program were able to use the funds raised to purchase many new and necessary items for our wrestling program. Some of these items include new air dyne bikes, battle ropes,
and gear. We will also be receiving a new wrestling mat in the next few weeks. Without OH-WAY and their generosity this would not have been a possibility in such a short time.
The opportunities created by OH-WAY and their parent organization NUWAY, for youth wrestlers will continue to increase the number of participants in our sport. Smaller colleges are on the rise for adding wrestling to their varsity sponsored sports and university presidents use the numbers of High School and youth participants to see whether or not a sport is viable when considering which sports to add and take away. The more participants we can show that are involved with wrestling the better off we are to grow our great sport.
I am very thankful for OH-WAY’s willingness to be involved with the small schools in the state of Ohio that offer collegiate wrestling. I don’t believe the true impact of their efforts to grow wrestling at the grassroots level and promote it through the collegiate ranks is yet fully known or appreciated. Their tireless efforts will again push our sport in the right direction and help us grow the smaller schools and ensure that there will always be a place for young men to follow their dreams.
Sincerely,
Joey Simcoe
Head Wrestling Coach Tiffin University
[email protected]
416-448-3046