The reality of the Tarleton State wrestling program becoming a bona fide product got even closer on Aug. 27.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the $1.2 wrestling room in Stephenville, located two miles off campus. The 10,000-square-foot facility is the seventh largest mat space among Division I programs.
That is the goal for head coach Grant Leeth and the Texans — be the first Division I program in the Lone Star State.
More than 300 people came out to the event, including UFC fighter Kamara Usman, administrators from Tarleton State and Mike Moyer, the Executive Director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
“It was fantastic, to be honest,” said Leeth, who was an assistant coach at Stanford before coming to Tarleton State last year. “It’s been a very roller coaster ride. There were days when I wasn’t sure how we were going to make certain things happen. And, you know, the end goal seems to be further away than when we started. But last this Tuesday, our grand opening, changed any sort of doubt that I personally had. It was such an inspiring and reinvigorating night, I know, for me and the people that have been involved.”
The program features 58 wrestlers at the start of the 2024-25 season — 40 men and 18 women.
The new property also includes a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house that will be rented to our athletes.
Leeth said the space is big enough to fit all of the wrestlers on the mat at once without any issues. Other features include a weight room, seven weightlifting racks with more than 10,000 pounds of weights, two treadmills and a back extension machine. Bikes and cold tubs are coming in the future.
There are locker rooms for both teams and a 65-inch TV in a study room for students to collaborate on school work and two coaches’ offices.
“It’s really, really exciting,” Leeth said.
Leeth has been involved in fundraising efforts to get the program off the ground and build interest around not only the state but other states as well. He is now painting a picture of what the future of the program will look like not only this year but for years to come.
In early September, he will meet with the administration to finalize a business model for the program that will make sure the Texans wrestling program is along for a long time.
He said the administration wants to be the first to launch a Division I program, but they also don’t want to be the first to cut a Division I program — something that has happened at numerous schools in recent years.
“We always need more financial support and will continue to need it, but we are in a very good situation,” he said.
The initial fundraising goal was $2 million.
The model used by Tarleton State has been noticed by other schools.
Leeth said what he and former assistant coach Jimmy Overhiser did caught the attention of New Orleans University, which is trying to jumpstart its program with hopes of starting in 2028-29. A club wrestling program for the Privateers started this school year.
“I think what we’re doing here could change wrestling across the country,” Leeth said. “We’re hoping that the model we used to jumpstart this program is going to be taken across the country as schools adopt our blueprint. There’s a very solid chance this is something that can change and grow the sport for years to come and getting to be a small piece of that is really exciting.”
