The NCAA divisions are divided “mainly” on enrollment figures. That way a small college with less than 2000 kids, and a smaller endowment like Mount Saint Joe, King College or Wartburg, are not trying to compete against an Ohio state with over 40,000 students on the main campus alone and something like a 3.5 billion dollar endowment and literally thousands of rich alumni donating.What’s the difference between a NCAA Division I and Division II champion?
Also, I’m assuming NCAA wrestling is where the best wrestlers from the biggest colleges all compete. Correct?
Hendricks was DI his entire NCAA career.Johnny Hendricks was a Division I and II wrestler.
Ive heard its the opposite but Im sure different people have different experiences. Apparently you slack off in DI with your grades and youre done, you don't wrestle. Usually when grades are an issue a decorated HS wrestler will do the 2 years at JUCO and then go DI. So many well known wrestlers went this route.My buddy was a pretty successful DII wrestler (All American, placed 2nd nationally one year, 3rd another, etc).
He says he picked DII because it was a better balance of academics/athletics than he'd get at a DI program. At the DI programs, you were primarily there to wrestle and school was secondary to that. He said the balance was better at his DII program.
He was pretty successful academically in high school so he went DII (he might have got more money from that scholarship too; not exactly sure on that). He got good grades in college, went on to grad school after, and got an advanced degree in his field. Now he runs his own business successfully and is pretty set up in his 40s now.
He is still very involved in wrestling as well. He has since coached multiple high school state champs, NCAA champs, etc.
So overall I think he was pretty happy with his choice. I know he pushes a lot of the DII programs with his high school wrestlers.
Ive heard its the opposite but Im sure different people have different experiences. Apparently you slack off in DI with your grades and youre done, you don't wrestle. Usually when grades are an issue a decorated HS wrestler will do the 2 years at JUCO and then go DI. So many well known wrestlers went this route.
My buddy was a pretty successful DII wrestler (All American, placed 2nd nationally one year, 3rd another, etc).
He says he picked DII because it was a better balance of academics/athletics than he'd get at a DI program. At the DI programs, you were primarily there to wrestle and school was secondary to that. He said the balance was better at his DII program.
He was pretty successful academically in high school so he went DII (he might have got more money from that scholarship too; not exactly sure on that). He got good grades in college, went on to grad school after, and got an advanced degree in his field. Now he runs his own business successfully and is pretty set up in his 40s now.
He is still very involved in wrestling as well. He has since coached multiple high school state champs, NCAA champs, etc.
So overall I think he was pretty happy with his choice. I know he pushes a lot of the DII programs with his high school wrestlers.
It’s not necessarily that the academics are tougher though they often are. It’s that in DI it’s much more a JOB to be an athlete than a sport.. than what you “typically” see in lower divisions. Also crackdowns on NCAA rules and the threat of being cut has made it most competent DI coaches require kids to be the total package and are much less tolerant of bad grades or behavior (generally.. lol). I actually massively “overachieved” in college based off my high school resume because I was mentally ready for it to be a job whereas more accomplished teammates couldn’t handle it and wanted to party or not go to class even though they worked plenty hard in the room.Ive heard its the opposite but Im sure different people have different experiences. Apparently you slack off in DI with your grades and youre done, you don't wrestle. Usually when grades are an issue a decorated HS wrestler will do the 2 years at JUCO and then go DI. So many well known wrestlers went this route.
Apparently Marcus LeVessuer had a similar situation. He was never totally direct on why he left DI to go DIII but I think academics were important to him and DI just had so many other demands like harder wrestling practices, bigger and more parties, etc. LeVessuer is an interesting case. He was an incredible HS wrestler, received a full ride to DI, went 10-0 in DI competition, left for a powerhouse DIII school, never lost a match, and during his DIII career he beat a ton of DI All Americans and national champs in freestyle tournaments. Over his career he has beat Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Keith Gavin, etc.I'm sure it varies. I mean most (all?) of the Ivy Leagues wrestle DI. I get the feeling they aren't slacking academically.
I have heard not all the programs are like that though. I wouldn't know firsthand (didn't wrestle), but I trust my buddy on it. He was legitimately good in school (made All Academic as well as All American) so I know it was a concern for him.
Yeah id imagine thatd be a huge asset. I knew a kid in HS went to college as a huge prospect but the newfound freedom of college was too much for him and he washed out completely.I actually massively “overachieved” in college based off my high school resume because I was mentally ready for it to be a job whereas more accomplished teammates couldn’t handle it and wanted to party or not go to class even though they worked plenty hard in the room.
Whereas, “generally” inDII or III it’s much more balanced
Yeah I noticed a few MMA guys (Tony ferguson, kevin Lee, jon Jones) wrestled for teams that changed divisions. Also, youre somewhat of a wrestling historian right? What was up with kid yamamoto after High School? Did he ever consider wrestling NCAA? I mean, youd think he was perfectly positioned and had the right support to do big things.The divisions were set years ago. Regardless of size or budget, teams can switch divisions simply by petitioning and showing the ability to compete. Plenty of schools move divisions. The primary reason is distance of competition or being a new school and moving up.
Oh my bad, I didn’t realize any school could petitionThe divisions were set years ago. Regardless of size or budget, teams can switch divisions simply by petitioning and showing the ability to compete. Plenty of schools move divisions. The primary reason is distance of competition or being a new school and moving up.
I don't know man, you must just be really good. Pretty hard to get onto a DI team without very good wrestling. Hard to be a very good wrestler without very good takedowns.On the other side of things, a lot of people incorrectly assume that a Division I wrestler is automatically a world beater, which is not the case. Speaking specifically of takedowns, I've thrown around a good amount of D1 guys I've met having never wrestled a day in my life (and not being particularly adept at standup), and conversely, lighter teammates from the same program have launched me into orbit. Jiu jitsu guys should spend more time seeking out excellent wrestlers and judokas for the experience of how good someone can be.
My buddy was a pretty successful DII wrestler (All American, placed 2nd nationally one year, 3rd another, etc).
He says he picked DII because it was a better balance of academics/athletics than he'd get at a DI program. At the DI programs, you were primarily there to wrestle and school was secondary to that. He said the balance was better at his DII program.
He was pretty successful academically in high school so he went DII (he might have got more money from that scholarship too; not exactly sure on that). He got good grades in college, went on to grad school after, and got an advanced degree in his field. Now he runs his own business successfully and is pretty set up in his 40s now.
He is still very involved in wrestling as well. He has since coached multiple high school state champs, NCAA champs, etc.
So overall I think he was pretty happy with his choice. I know he pushes a lot of the DII programs with his high school wrestlers.
On the other side of things, a lot of people incorrectly assume that a Division I wrestler is automatically a world beater, which is not the case. Speaking specifically of takedowns, I've thrown around a good amount of D1 guys I've met having never wrestled a day in my life (and not being particularly adept at standup), and conversely, lighter teammates from the same program have launched me into orbit. Jiu jitsu guys should spend more time seeking out excellent wrestlers and judokas for the experience of how good someone can be.
Methinks your buddy is full of shit. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Lehigh, and countless other high performing academic colleges have division 1 programs. I can't think of any division 2 program who can be mentioned in the same breath as the above