How can a school the size of the University of Dayton offer walleyball and Brazilian Ju Jitsu as a part of student recreation, but not a sport as popular and rich in tradition as wrestling?

Simple. Not nearly enough students have shown an interest.

It has been over a decade since UD student-athletes have entered the old wrestling room in the PAC with the intent to compete.

Struggling to appeal to Title IX'the act of Congress which called for an increase in college scholarships given to women to achieve equality with male athletes'the university disbanded its lagging varsity wrestling program after the 1993-94 season.

'The program really suffered from a lack of interest,' UD Associate Director of Campus Recreation Dave Ostrander said. 'There were only eight or nine guys on the roster most of the time, and they had to forfeit a lot of matches as a result.'

Enter first-year student Scott Kelly some 12 years later. Kelly is the founder and president of the newly established UD Wrestling Club, whose first season will conclude at the end of the term.

Kelly has been wrestling since first grade, growing up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Gibsonia. After competing for four years in high school, he nearly attended Duquesne University to wrestle at the Division I level. But because of UD's business program and attractive campus, Kelly decided that picking the right school was more important than continuing his wrestling career somewhere else.

So, upon arriving on campus, he decided to test the waters. After meeting with Ostrander three weeks after classes began, Kelly realized he had some work to do if he wanted to establish a club program.

'A lot of kids really gained an interest through word of mouth and the Student Activities e-mails,' he said. 'We then registered the club with UD Student Leadership and Involvement and created a constitution, basically a set of rules and guidelines. But the hardest part was getting the mats ordered and shipped.'

About eight to 10 people typically showed up to the club's outdoor preseason running sessions during the second half of first semester, Kelly said.

'I figured if we all worked out together we could get to know each other before we even started actually wrestling,' sophomore Ravi Ramasamy said.

Ostrander finally acquired three brand-new mats in mid-February as part of the recently opened RecPlex athletic facility. With the red mats gracing the wooden floors of the main gym, 20 students showed up to the club's first practice and participated in both drilling and live wrestling.

'The first open mat brought back a lot of fond memories and everyone there snapped into a routine just natural to wrestlers,' UD senior Eric Gasper said. 'We all knew what to do and how to act, it was very enjoyable.'

Kelly still finds time to run each of the club's practices, held in the MAC gymnasium at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 3 p.m. on either Saturdays or Sundays. All of the sessions are open to anyone interested.

'I really enjoy the workout, and there are some great wrestlers that come out, but it's definitely the coach that keeps me coming back,' said first-year student Kyle Cantrell.

Not only does the club appeal to experienced wrestlers such as Gasper who capitalize on the opportunity to compete again, but allows for students willing to try things they may have been intrigued by in the past but never actually acted on.

Ramasamy had never wrestled before this year, but came to preseason conditioning and practices to broaden his horizons.

'College is all about trying new things, so I decided I would try it out and see how it went,' he said. 'The guys that I met at the meetings were pretty cool, so I stuck with it. They have been pretty good about trying to teach me some fundamentals. So far I like it a lot.'

Kelly has big plans for next year. He is focused on joining a regional division within the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, competing against schools such as Miami, Wright State, Bowling Green and Ohio State next winter. Kelly would also like to send a member of his team to wrestle at Nationals at the end of the season.

But until then, the club is focused on spreading the word of its existence through campus and revitalizing a sport which has spent over a decade in the shadows.

'I think getting the word out that the club exists is a big thing,' Gasper said. 'I know it's hard to do sometimes and that flyers aren't the best way, but I know there is a big interest in wrestling around campus.'