Old School Likes New Look
Veteran coaches accept two-piece uniforms
Jack Childs has spent nearly 40 years coaching wrestling. But that doesn’t mean the Drexel mentor isn’t ready to accept new changes to the sport.
That was the case this year when Childs became one of a growing number of coaches to have his wrestlers take on a new look by having his Dragons adorned in a new two-piece uniform, which was showcased to many coaches at this past fall’s National Wrestling Coaches Association annual convention in Buffalo.
“It’s something innovative and different for the sport,” said Childs, who is in his 33rd year at Drexel after first coaching on the high school and junior college level. “The NCAA okayed it so anything we can do to show a new look or add a different look to our sport, then I think it is worthwhile to indoctrinate that.”
“Jack has been around for a long, long time and I thought he would never go for it,” said Mario Mercado, the owner of Do
uble Sport, which is one of the producers of the uniform. “But his team was one of my first orders.”Mercado, a former Syracuse wrestler who later worked for the YES television network in New York, said he designed the two-piece uniform in 2004 when he was trying to promote a dual meet that was scheduled for the New York Athletic Club.
“I was looking at a way to give the match more pomp and circumstance and have the match televised,” Mercado said. “At that time, I was working for the YES network and we always had soccer as part of our programming. I thought it would be cool if we could incorporate a soccer or football jersey into a wrestling uniform.”
The NCAA has approved the design and Mercado said that Missouri, The Citadel, East Stroudsburg, Cornell, Drexel, Waubash, Princeton, Hofstra and Harvard will be wearing the two-piece uniforms this year.
Brute and Cliff Keen are two other companies in the wrestling market which are producing two-piece uniforms. Long-time Lehigh coach Greg Strobel said his wrestlers really like the alternative uniform.
“Brute has taken their expertise in the singlet business and produced an awesome new two-piece uniform. My wrestlers love the fit and performance qualities of these new uniforms,” Strobel said.
College of New Jersey coach Dave Icenhower said the new uniforms give his team versatility.
“It is a great alternative to the traditional singlet. It gives us an opportunity to have home and away tops,” Icenhower said.
Mercado added that the two-piece uniform “gives the sport a more professional look when you conceive having a guy’s name and weight class on the back of his uniform,” he said. “If you look at what the guys practice in, it’s always shorts and a t-shirt. So wrestlers are already used to having sleeves when they compete.
“It will also initiate more action,” he said. “Say a guy’s favorite move is the fireman’s carry
| The Citadel wrestling team is among nine college programs utilizing the two-piece uniform. |
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