<p>My son's best friend will be the first in his family to attend college. It is very sad, but he has absolutely zero help from home....I mean zip!(No advice, no $$) I know his gpa and sat scores. He is also an excellent wrestler ( Varsity 3 or 4 yrs) played varsity football as well. I would like to help him find the information he needs....where to apply, how to get a wrestling scholarship, financial aid , as he will need 100% tuition, room , board.<br>
He will be looking at completely different schools from my son, and has a drastically different financial situation, so I am starting from scratch. So advice if you have it would be so welcome. He is a GREAT kid! I am so proud of him !</p>
<p>ncmom- do not count on a wrestling scholarship- even the very best may not get them. My brother is a coach and tells me that a kid he had that placed 2nd in the State twice and was a national freestyle place winner only received partial aid. The AD at his Big Ten school said to the coach- why should we offer him money he never won a State Championship. This is a kid who only lost 8 times in 4 years in high school. You have to be better than excellent - is he a State place winner from an excellent wrestling State?
I see you are from NC- which I do not believe is one of the top wrestling States- has he placed in the NC state championships?</p>
<p>I agree with Tom1944. He will be highly desirable for a Division III school with wrestling, but any FA he gets will probably be for other reasons. The wrestling coach at his top choices should be able to help him get accepted (assuming he's in the ballpark for grades and scores).</p>
<p>Unfortunately College wrestling programs have been shut down all over the country. The reason scholarships are hard to come by is that there are not many programs left out there in comparison to the other sports. </p>
<p>Wrestling Supports blame Title IX. With no new money for athletics, Universities have chosen to shut down wrestling to increase women's scholarships over the last few years.</p>
<p>I would look to smaller schools that still try to compete at the D1 level. Hard to tell just how good he is from your post but these are hard scholarships to get with programs being dropped all over the country.</p>
<p>If he can live at home rent free or for little rent, it may be best for him to start at the local community college, and then transfer after he gets his AA degree. That's the way tat many low income students start. If he has high grades, he also may be able to get a good scholarship there.</p>
<p>Most kids that have the potential to be recruited by colleges for athletics have been contacted by college scouts by their H.S. Junior Year. Division III colleges can't recruit and don't offer athletic scholarships.</p>
<p>How are his grades and SAT/ACT scores? Find a college where his academic stats are a bit above the average the freshman profile. It all comes down to merit and financial aid. If his parents are willing to share their financial information, perhaps you can help him fill out financial aid paperwork. Community college while living at home and working part time is also a good option for the first two years.</p>
<p>As the parent of a son who wrestled in HS, I would also recommend reading the fine print about what might happen should the young man get injured seriously enough to prevent him from competing in the future. Will the scholarship continue?</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>junior colleges may be an option to consider as some of the athletes do go on to 4 year schools from them. this can be a very affordable option and position him to go on to a 4 year school down the road.</p>
<p>is football an option too? there are more $$$'s available.</p>
<p>i think it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact coaches in both sports. </p>
<p>google search "recruiting realities".........there's a dvd and a book available that could be of some help.</p>
<p>I agree with the above. My son wrestled varsity all four years. Placed at the state meet three of them. Was offered a partial scholarship at a Div I school. Was offered full tuition with a Merit scholarship at same school.</p>
<p>His best bet would be to attend cc for two years living at home and then transfer. Hopefully to a four year school close to home. Some school may have a wrestling team he could join but chances of getting an athletic scholarship for wrestling are almost none. It might help him get into the school if they need him.</p>
<p>Agree that wrestling money is tough to come by, and perhaps not worth it unless he wants to wrestle in college with all his heart and soul. Due to the cutbacks D1 is insanely competitive. Those who don't have at least one state title by end of junior year, are unlikely to get even passing interest from the D1 programs, the are just not good enough. Exceptions would be nationally-ranked Greco Roman or freestyle kids and nationally-ranked runners up to superstars from the top wrestling states.</p>
<p>The D2 and D3 places are much better alternatives. They do not get the future NCAA qualifiers, so there is room for merely good (as opposed to All American) wrestlers. They also permit the students to be students rather than professional athletes. If he is in the academic ballpark for some D3 colleges his wrestling may get him admitted and his financial situation may get him a full scholarship-which would be better than an athletic scholarship since he does not have to participate in the sport to keep it.</p>
<p>I assume he is a junior? If he is a senior and has not had the phone ringing off the hook from college coaches then he is not getting recruited, and definitely not getting an athletic scholarship. If he is a junior, then colleges are not supposed to contact him until the start of recruiting season this summer, but they do cheat.</p>
<p>His wrestling and football coaches should be able to give him a good idea of where he should stand for college playing, recruiting, and money.</p>
<p>The free parts of the intermatwrestle site will give you a good idea of the level of accomplishment needed to get recruited in wrestling.</p>
<p>I don't know about football recruiting, but there are certainly many more teams at the college level.</p>
<p>I checked into wrestling scholarships for my nephew 4 years ago and this is what I remember: Most coaches recommended some type of regional summer wrestling meets, which tend to draw many coaches. If that isn't possible, they'd accept films from past competitions. My sister sent out films for her son and some of the schools flew him in for tours of their schools. He ended up getting some scholarship/aid packages that covered everything, but I'm not sure what percentage was loans and what was scholarship. Now the bad news.....Once he got to college, he couldn't handle it. He ended up getting in trouble and got kicked out. It was such a shame. If this kid gets in somewhere with a scholarship, make sure he gets some support to help him STAY in school.</p>
<p>I know several people in Ohio who went full ride to Ohio State over the last 15 or so years. Ohio is a wrestling state and the kids I know were being looked at and recruited by their sophomore years or even earlier if they had a connection. Usually summer participation in high level camps in Iowa or Ohio can get you attention from coaches if you are young but if you are not on their radar screens by Sophmore year with appearances and wins at the State wrestling tournment, I would say your chances are slim for any place that would offer a significant athletic scholarship.</p>
<p>I know this isn't a popular recommendation on this board, but this kid is ideally suited for the military. Since the kid is athletic, I would have him look at ROTC or National Guard to pay for his college. He can still get a full ride that way and the military affiliation is a great way to stay in shape and have your athleticism appreciated. He may have opportunities to wrestle for the military if he wanted to continue it.</p>
<p>All branches of the military are looking for kids just like you describe. Smart, athletic, hardworking. He could come out of college debt free with a career path despite his unsupportive family situation. If you truly want to help him, encourage him to look at all of his options.</p>
<p>Consider Texas A&M ROTC program if the military path sounds appealing.</p>
<p>MamaDrama- for the right kid the military is an excellent option.</p>
<p>i know a kid who, i think, got a wrestling scholarship. i do not know his stats (in school or in wrestling.) he ended up at york college of pennsylvania.</p>
<p>i am assuming he got a scholarship because i know that was his goal and he ended up where he did. i know the family has $$ troubles (due to divorce) so getting a scholarship was crucial.</p>
<p>i just checked the york college website and he is on the wrestling team ... </p>
<p>so, maybe check into something there.</p>
<p>hope this helps!</p>
<p>A note on ROTC programs...ROTC pays for tution,fees and books plus a monthly stipend. It does not pay for room and board. Some colleges throw in the room and board for scholarship recipients but they are very few in number.</p>
<p>Not one of you knows how to go about this correctly. I will give you the run down on what you will have to do.
1-D1 schools only offer the absolute best full scholarships. Illinois or Mizzou for example have 9.9 scholarships to give out. These will divided between a variety of wrestlers.
2-D2 have fewer scholarships to offer. Truman State for example has only one scholarship to offer in a particular year. It is highly unlikely you will get any part of that. Not to mention Truman State cost 14,000 a year to go there, with room and board.
3-D3 Do not have athletics scholarships at all period! However if you are an athlete, say a star football quarterback, they may offer you an academic scholarship. This will quietly be based on your athletic ability. D3 schools are usually 30,000 a year or more to go there. You better have a great ACT or SAT score. Knox college in Illinois cost around
41,000 a year to go there.
So what are you to do? Use your brain, and form a strategy and here it is.
1-when making a dvd of your wrestlers matches, do not make it a highlight reel. Just put matches on it in their entirety, win or lose. If from a tournament, put the whole tournament on there. (that is footage of your wrestler only) point out any matches in which you defeated a much better opponent. Coaches need to see what you do both right and wrong.
2-You will need to demonstrate a growth in skills over the time your wrestler was in high school. A wrestler that has a parallel record each year, even if they placed two or more years, will not mean as much to a coach as a kid who’s record improved each year.
3-Your wrestler will have to know how to workout. Being in great shape is ultra important.
4-Not all coaches want you to wrestle freestyle or greco your senior year. Being a great Freestyle wrestler does not mean jack. The coaches all know Freestyle has too much cheap scoring. In freestyle you do not have to out wrestle your opponent to win. Just have to out point them. While Freestyle is more popular in the USA than Greco, it is more important to some college coaches meaning the coach your son wants to wrestle for.
Why Greco it teaches Hand control, head and also hip positioning and the use of all of these.
5-Most smaller school coaches are your target of interest, meaning NAIA colleges. They are not part of the NCAA and do what they want for scholarships. Avoid if possible NJCAA as you will likely have an issue when you transfer with credits. JR college credits do not all transfer, regardless of what useless highs school counselors tell you.
6-High School counselors are useless and void of value. You will have to do your own work in scouting out colleges that match your interest. The only thing they are good for is sending transcripts out and even then they will undoubtedly screw that up.
7-Rely on strategy, play an NAIA school against a D2 school. Remember if they do not think you will sign, they will not waste their time making an offer.
8-The ACT test is prefered in the midwest, where the vast majority of college wrestling programs are. The SAT test is a waste of your time, unless you plan not to wrestle in college, if thats the case you would not be reading this forum.
9-NAIA,repeat NAIA, repeat NAIA, say it with me now NAIA go back and read 6
10- read 9 again
11-Smaller NAIA offer a more personalized education. They have much smaller student to teacher ratio. The cost of an NAIA school is between a D2 school and a D3 school.
20,000-30,000 a year. Remember what i said earlier NAIA schools are not part of the NCAA, they can offer much better scholarships!
12-FASFA-federal student financial aid application needs to be filled out. This is based on the families income. After it is processed it will tell you about how much federal or state money you will get.
13-Not that you know FASFA numbers, you also have your ACT scores, minimum of 18.
The higher the score the more money you will get from schools that offer an ACT incentive. Remember what i said about the midwest and college wrestling programs, guess who offers ACT incentives… many midwest colleges, whom happen to have wrestling teams. Remember the midwest is where most college wrestling teams are.
Texas and Arkansas now have one college wrestling team each.
14-Your kids education is most important. Wrestling is a means to help get that education.
15-Look at some schools you may have over looked. NAIA schools like Waldorf in Iowa, or Briar Cliff in Iowa. They offer better educations than party school D1 colleges. If you are reading this forum and therefor have ignorance in knowing how to go about getting a scholarship for your kid, then back to realism here, your kid is a second tier recruit. You need to think smaller college.
16-Fill out your FASFA, beat it in to your kids brain, get as high a score as possible on the ACT, and look for colleges with ACT incentive, add these two things up and thirdly whatever you get from Wrestling and at least half of your kids education will be paid for, maybe even most. Pay attention to what i have told you here, put the whole package together.
17-When you find colleges your kid is interested in online, fill out the wrestling team questionnaire. If you go visit a school, even if the kid is not recruited yet, send the wrestling coach a simple to the point email. Tell him your kid wants to go to that school and would like to meet the coach. You might get to meet him. Keep it simple, when sending a coach an email. Wait a few weeks, send another simple email. Once you have established a connection, keep in touch. Get your kids high school coach to call the college wrestling coach and put in a good word. It will go a long way.</p>
<p>^Umm… welcome!</p>
<p>superdave…This question was asked over a year and a half ago! Please don’t dig up old threads.
Actually, there is now a separate section for athletes, isn’t there? You may want to see if anyone has any current questions.</p>