Christmas has come early for the University of Providence men's and women's wrestling programs.
On Friday the Montana-based school broke ground on a new wrestling facility for both the Argo and Lady Argo mat programs. It's the first new athletics facility to be built at Providence since the mid-1960s.
When completed in May 2018, the new 8,000 square foot building -- valued at $1 million -- will house a large practice room with two regulation-sized mats, four coaches' offices, a fully functional athletic training room, and men's and women's locker rooms. The mat room will have garage-style doors to allow mats or bleachers to be easily moved in or out of the facility for camps or competitions.
"Having a new building dedicated to wrestling will give both the men's and women's wrestling programs some of the best facilities of any wrestling program in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), and a distinct recruiting advantage over regional and national rivals," according to the statement issued by University of Providence.
The two wrestling coaches are eager to have a new, dedicated facility for the sport right on campus, replacing the off-campus practice facility housed in what had been a bingo hall, which the programs have been forced to use after repeated floods damaged the old wrestling room.
"You can recruit, you can talk to your athletes, you can have workouts, the training room is in there, even laundry facilities," women's coach Tony DeAnda told ABC-TV affiliateKULR. "You don't have to leave the building other than to go home."
Men's coach Caleb Schaeffer, who's been trying to get a facility for more than a decade, also weighed in on the value of the new wrestling building.
"Recruits these days want top-notch facilities," Schaeffer said. "(The new facility is) a stand-alone building for wrestling which shows us how serious we are in the wrestling community and how we're investing our resources into one of the best wrestling teams in the country."
University of Providence President Dr. Anthony Aretz echoed that sentiment, saying, "This is an exciting time for the university. This is the first of hopefully many construction projects over the next 10 to 15 years. This building is important. We want to grow enrollment on this campus. One of the ways we are going to do that is leverage athletics. This is going to be the best wrestling practice facility in this area of the country and in the NAIA."
The new wrestling building will also be a benefit to other athletic programs at Providence, as it will free up locker room space, office space and the athletic training facility to other sports.
While the new building will offer flexibility to host wrestling camps and other events, both the Argos and Lady Argos will continue to use the existing McLaughlin Athletic Center for its home dual meets and tournaments.
Moving both teams into their own facility will also free up much-needed locker room space, office space, and more space in the athletic training room in the McLaughlin Center for other teams.
The University of Providence is a private Roman Catholic university located in Great Falls, Montana. Formerly known as University of Great Falls until this summer, University of Providence has an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students.
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