By Aleksei Pavloff, Sports Editor
The Ohio Wesleyan University coaching staff adds one more to the family, with the hiring of experienced head wrestling coach Paul Reid.
Reid’s first day on the job was Nov. 1 and the administration is excited to see wrestling back after being absent from OWU athletics since the mid-80s.
“I am pleased that OWU will once again offer men’s wrestling as one of our varsity athletics programs,” said OWU President Rock Jones. “Many alumni who competed on the wrestling team in previous decades now are leaders in business, industry, medicine and academic life.”
Jones also said this will help attract more students to the university and is also confident that Reid is a good fit for the new program with his wealth of experience as a coach and a recruiter.
“Coach Reid is ideally suited to lead the program as it returns to OWU,” Jones said. “He has good experience, will be an effective recruiter and will quickly build a competitive program that attracts student athletes who reflect OWU’s values.”
Reid said one of the reasons he came to OWU was “the opportunity to reinstate” the new program.
“It is a very rewarding experience,” said Reid.
This is not the first time Reid has helped a program get on its feet. Before coming to the university, Reid helped build a wrestling program at Alfred State College where he served as the head coach.
Reid’s experience with wrestling extends way back to his childhood days. From wrestling at a young age through high school, Reid competed at Coe College, which is a division III private school located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
After completing his undergraduate degree, Reid went to the University of North Carolina Pembroke, a division II program, where he studied his master’s as a graduate assistant.
He then was an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and was the head recruiting coordinator for two years.
After his time at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Reid took the position as head assistant coach at Iowa Western Community College for three years. There, he helped start a new wrestling program. The program is now in the top 10 for junior colleges according to theopenmat.com.
His most recent job was at Alfred State College where he was the head wrestling coach for three years and help the program through an “extensive rebuild.”
Reid was first contacted by OWU in late September and said that the mix of academics and athletics was something that he admires about the university.
“That is what division III is all about,” Reid said. “You want a good, well-rounded education but you want a well-rounded experience also.”
Now, Reid is the head wrestling coach at OWU and said he is ready to get to start recruiting and build the program from the ground up.
Reid is planning to “get after it” with recruiting for the 2018-19 wrestling season. He said that Ohio has a “rich talent pool,” but hopes that OWU national reputation will assist him in going to tournaments outside of the state of Ohio.