Sioux Falls, SD - University of Sioux Falls President Mark Benedetto announced today that the institution is discontinuing its sponsorship of two team sports: men’s tennis and wrestling. For the 2011-12 academic year, USF will offer 7 men’s sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and track and field; and USF will offer 8 women’s sports: basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

“The athletic landscape has recently experienced two major changes at USF; first, men’s tennis is not offered as a sponsored sport within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Second, when USF started wrestling five years ago, we did so with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) competition in mind,” Benedetto said. At the end of this year, USF is no longer a member of either organization. 

In recent months, University administration, in conjunction with USF athletic leadership, had considered various scenarios aligned with potential conference affiliation or the possibility of entering the NCAA as an independent. When the University learned of its acceptance into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in January, administrative discussions continued, leading to the decision to suspend sponsorship of men's wrestling and tennis. Coaches of the affected sports just recently learned of these final decisions. USF Athletic Director, Willie Sanchez, commented that, "both sports had represented the University well and had exceeded all of the various measures used to determine success of co-curricular experiences for students at the University." Sanchez further commented that, "the exceptional work and success of the coaches for these sports made the decision even more difficult. However, it represented the right decision for the University at this time in its history." 

Currently, only 3 of the 16 NSIC institutions offer men’s tennis. USF men’s and women’s tennis coach Kevin Grebin said, “While no coach wants to see his program dropped, the simple truth is that without a conference, it was going to be challenging to find competition for our men’s tennis players next year.” Wrestling, on the other hand, is not only a sanctioned sport within the NSIC, but a sport that some people consider to be one of the strongest offered by the conference. Last month’s NCAA Division II wrestling national poll listed four NSIC teams in the top 10 including Augustana (2), St. Cloud State (3), Minnesota State (8) and Upper Iowa (10). Minnesota State Moorhead was also listed in the ‘others receiving votes’ category. 

Another contributing factor leading to the decision involved the University’s need to replace current wrestling coach Tim Homan. Homan, who has served as both wrestling coach and instructor of education recently notified USF Provost Brett Bradfield of his decision to resign at the end of the academic year. 

“Coach Homan has done an exceptional job in the classroom and in his role as our head wrestling coach. The University will miss his service to students and the institution overall,” Bradfield said. 

Homan stated that, “needless to say, I am disappointed with the decision. I love the sport of wrestling and was honored to help develop the program over the past five years,” Homan said. 

Although USF’s decision to drop wrestling appears to be permanent, Sanchez was reluctant to close the door on men’s tennis. “USF would be open to re-starting men’s tennis if, at some point in the future, it becomes a sanctioned sport within the NSIC,” Sanchez said. 

USF will continue to sponsor women’s tennis and be one of 13 of the 16 institutions within the NSIC who sponsor women’s tennis. Grebin will continue as USF’s women’s tennis coach. 

The decision to drop wrestling and men’s tennis will go into effect at the end of the spring semester, but University officials have met with students to inform them and also to encourage them to remain at USF. Officials have made a commitment to honor all men’s tennis and wrestling athletic scholarships for students who remain at USF until the time of their graduation.