Thomas Parsons

The Texas Wesleyan Rams wrestling program has 45 wrestlers across its men’s and women’s teams.

The Texas Wesleyan Rams wrestling program is holding a fundraiser for a new practice facility.

On Sept. 3, the Texas Wesleyan Athletics Department announced the hiring of Rams Head Wrestling Coach Quentin Perez, and the beginning of a new fundraiser that would take the wrestling program to new heights. For the wrestlers, a new practice facility that is bigger and in close proximity to campus brings hope and optimism. 

“I was pretty excited because I have been dealing with the lack of facilities for years,” Senior exercise science major Camden Whitehead said. 

The fundraiser’s goal is to accumulate $100,000 to go towards leasing for the facility. The fundraiser has generated a total of $13,747 in donations from 162 donors as of Dec. 1. Perez said that he expects the funds to reach $20,000 within the next couple of weeks.

The site for the proposed facility sits off East Vickery Boulevard, within walking distance of TxWes campus housing. The new facility will hold up to 100 wrestlers, allowing for full team workouts. Money left over will be spent on renovations such as an extra weight room, locker rooms, and showers. 

“[The new facility] makes us more of a legitimate program overall and competitive in the eyes of like top level recruits,” Perez said.

 The wrestling program currently has practices from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. most mornings. This schedule becomes an obstacle during the recruiting process, Perez says.   

“It’s tough to tell a kid that you got to get up to five in the morning or so and roll on mats and do that five days a week,” Perez said. 

The Sid Richardson Center gymnasium houses six athletic programs. This tight schedule leaves Rams wrestling to train at a time that is less than ideal, Perez says.  

“6 to 8 [a.m.] is the only time we could get in on campus at Wesleyan so it’s just not conducive for running a top tier program,” Perez said. 

Whitehead has been with the team since his freshman year. He voiced the struggles of practicing in the Sid Richardson Gymnasium and the opportunities a new facility will bring.

“I feel like our current situation takes away from increasing the ability of our program along with the attractiveness,” Whitehead said. “I’ve dealt with the headache of constantly putting mats out, up and taking them apart, which ultimately has led us to have the mats that are torn and lead to injuries. A new facility would allow us to have a place to call home.” 

To get around the struggles of early morning practices, the program periodically practices at a facility in North Richland Hills. This, however, raises issues of its own. A 15-minute drive from campus, limited space and no showers mean that training there is less than ideal and infrequent.  

“Fifteen minutes doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up when the kids have tight schedules already,” Perez said. “It’s like, ‘hey now, right after class, speed over to the facility.’ Then the facility doesn’t have a locker room; it doesn’t have a shower. So then, the kids are getting in their cars, all sweaty, then run into safety issues of speeding… other safety issues of skin infections popping up because they’re not able to wash after practice properly.” 

Perez has had no issue finding donors and people to support the fundraiser. Vernon Wright, president of the TxWes Alumni Board, said he was the first to ever contribute to the new endeavor.  He has high hopes for the end results of this project and that a new facility will heighten the team’s prestige.

 “I’m very optimistic and proud of the significant progress the program has achieved both generally and with this project,” Wright said. “I believe the new facility will be an integral part of that process and tradition of winning.” 

To contribute to the fundraiser, donate here.