"Obviously, there's a lot that has to be done in order for us to be ready to go by the upcoming year," said Reinhardt athletics director Bill Popp. "We will be looking to hire coaches for the sports and have them in place by the end of February. There has to be a lot done in order for us to improve our facilities to house a wrestling team of 30 members. We have to improve our department infrastructure as well, from compliance to athletic training on down. If everything fell into place, we can start these sports in 2016-17, but if we need to take another year to make sure all of our ducks are in a row, we will launch in 2017-18."
When Popp arrived at Reinhardt in 2004, the university had fewer than 200 student-athletes, the Cherokee Tribune reported Wednesday. Just 12 years later, that number could top 500, placing a premium on space.
"The infrastructure is the biggest thing," he said. "We have to have offices, locker rooms and space to put these guys. We can't just expect the wrestlers to wrestle in the grass. We have to have a space to put them."
Reinhardt sports teams compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Wrestling is has been a championship sport at the NAIA level for many years. "There is a great deal of tradition in the NAIA with the sport of wrestling," Popp said. "We also have a lot of schools that are in the area that also sponsor wrestling, so we will be in great shape for competition there as well."
The addition of the three sports now brings Reinhardt's total athletic offerings to 22. In the last three years, Reinhardt has added football, men's track & field, and women's track & field to the fold. In the 2014-15 season, RU's programs finished with a winning percentage of .614 and had 92 conference all-academic honorees.
Founded in 1883, Reinhardt University is located in Waleska, Ga., straight north of Atlanta. The school, affiliated with the United Methodist Church, has a total enrollment of approximately 1,300 undergraduate students.
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