For the last 15 years, the wrestling program at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Virginia has competed in relative obscurity. While a competitive program in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA), the Knights athletic program was looking for an identity. The school, which was in the NAIA, kept wrestling on its listing of sports, but it was still a club program. SVU was also affiliated with the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association, which was formerly known as the U.S. Small College Athletic Association. The team would show up at open tournaments and have sporadic duals, but the role of the program in the varsity landscape was still uncertain.

On July 8, Southern Virginia University elevated its club wrestling program to varsity status. Logan Davis, a 2009 graduate of SVU, took over the program two years ago after the previous coach was fired and the then Athletic Director was ready to axe the sport from the school's club offerings. Davis stepped up to keep the program alive.

Southern Virginia cleared a few more hurdles and applied for NCAA membership and they were granted provisional membership. That set the stage for a new AD to come in and bring the program to a fully-supported athletic option at the varsity level.

On Episode 77 of the Short Time Wrestling Podcast, we talk with Logan Davis, who is now taking a job that was once a role to keep a club sport alive, to coaching at the NCAA Division III ranks.

Some of the topics Davis talks about with Southern Virginia University's program in this episode of Short Time are:

  • Saving the wrestling club.
  • The impact Ferrum College's program had on Southern Virginia elevating the program.
  • Thoughts on potential new programs in Virginia at the Division III level.
  • The school's theology, which embraces the LDS (Mormon) values.
  • Recruiting kids at a small, private, niche school.
  • Timeline for postseason competition and scheduling.
  • What he and his program developed by competing with the NCWA and fledgling wrestling support from the USCAA.

Short Time is sponsored by FlipsWrestling. Share your attitude and be heard at Flipswrestling.com

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