Eastern Michigan Eagles wrestling team was a men's athletic program at Eastern Michigan University. Based in Ypsilanti in the U.S. state of Michigan, the Eastern Michigan Eagles competed in NCAA Division I and were a member of Mid-American Conference.
The program was cut by the University in 2018 along with other sports.Eastern Michigan wrestlers to protest school's decision to cut program by Ryna Zuke on mlive.com
History Eastern Michigan adopted the sport of wrestling in 1956. The wrestling program was part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1957 through 1962. In 1963–1966, EMU wrestling switched conferences to the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Since the exit of the PAC conference, EMU has been a part of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), starting in 1973. In 1996, Eastern won its first Mid-American conference Championship under MAC Coach of the Year Willie Gadson. Eastern put six wrestlers in the finals and placed 8 of 10.
On March 20, 2018, EMU announced the elimination of wrestling and three other sports. Apart from wrestling, EMU eliminated men's swimming and diving, women's tennis, and softball. Other programs cut in the past had been men's gymnastics and women's field hockey (1988), men's tennis and men's soccer (2000).EMU to cut 4 varsity sports by Tony Paul on The Detroit News
Home meets
Home meets were held in 8,824 seat EMU Convocation Center located on Eastern Michigan's campus in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Bowen Field House History Since 1991, the university was an annual host of the EMU Open/EMU Duals with over 500 wrestlers and NCAA schools across all divisions.
Coaches Head coach The EMU wrestling team was coached by David Bolyard. David Bolyard took over the program from Derek DelPorto in 2014. David Bolyard attended Central Michigan University in 2000 and graduated from CMU. David Bolyard was an All-American his junior year, a four-time national qualifier, receive All-American honors, and broke a school record by winning 21 straight matches. David Bolyard was awarded the Chick Sherwood Award, which was presented to CMU's most valuable wrestler. David Bolyard ranked seventh all-time with 109 career wins and is tied for 10th with 22 falls in CMU history. David Bolyard was a 3x runner-up and a 2005 MAC champion at 165 lbs. Davis Bolyard came to EMU in 2007 as an assistant coach, hired by former head coach, Derek DelPorto.
All-Americans
NAIA Eliehue Brunson (1965) 6th, (1965) 6th Bob Ray (1967) 2nd Dale Kestel (1968) 5th Larry Miele (1968) 3rd Mike Weede (1970) 5th Tom Jackson (1970) 6th Doug Willer (1971) 3rd
NCAA Division II Tom Buckalew (1966) 4th Bob Ray (1967) 5th (1966) 2nd Mark Davids (1971) 2nd Doug Willer (1972) 5th
NCAA Division I Jerry Umin (1987) 7th Joel Smith (1989) 5th Lee Pritts (1996) 6th Mike Feeney (1999) 8th Sa'Derian Perry (2018) 8th
Mid-American Conference champions
1972-1990 1972-73 Doug Willer 142 lbs 1975-76 Rick Setzer Hwt 1983-84 Steve Brown 118 lbs 1983-84 Robert Beck 126 lbs 1985-86 Steve Brown 118 lbs 1986-87 Jerry Umin 167 lbs 1987-88 Steve Brown 126 lbs 1987-88 Joel Smith 158 lbs 1987-88 Jerry Umin 167 lbs 1988-89 Doug Harper 118 lbs 1988-89 Brian Schneider 150 lbs 1988-89 Joel Smith 158 lbs 1989-90 Hugh Waddington 142 lbs
1991–present 1990-91 Tony Venturini 118 lbs 1991-92 Tony Venturini 118 lbs 1995-96 Lee Pritts 118 lbs 1995-96 Matt Turnbow 126 lbs 1995-96 Ramico Blackmon 150 lbs 1995-96 Jake Shulaw 158 lbs 1995-96 Nate Miklusak 167 lbs 2006-07 Jermain Thompson 149 lbs 2008-09 John McClure 197 lbs 2017-18 Kayne MacCallum 184 lbs
References
External links
Wrestling story archives at EMU Eagles