Ouachita Baptist announced last week that it plans to add wrestling and women’s golf in fall 2010. The additional programs will boost the school’s sport offerings to 16.

“The golf is in response to stated interest from present and potential students,” said Ouachita President Rex M. Horne Jr. “Wrestling meets a need and growing interest.”

Ouachita Baptist will be the first institution in Arkansas to offer collegiate wrestling.

“In fact,” Horne said, “there is only one university in (nearby) Texas that offers the sport at a time when high school wrestling is growing dramatically here in Arkansas. This is another way Ouachita is a recognized leader.”

It is the first time that Ouachita Baptist has expanded its athletics options since 2000 when the university joined the Gulf South Conference and added softball and men’s soccer.

The Ouachita Baptist women’s golf team will compete in the Gulf South Conference, bringing to 10 the total number of GSC schools with women’s golf. Wrestling will compete independently against collegiate teams in Oklahoma, Missouri and other surrounding states.

“To be the first institution in the state to have collegiate wrestling will give us a stronghold on it,” said Athletics Director David Sharp. “For high school wrestlers in the state who want to compete on the collegiate level, we will give them that opportunity.

“I think we will attract quality students who will add to and enhance a group of student-athletes that we already deem as exceptional.”

Greg Hatcher, president of the Arkansas Wrestling Association, has announced the non-profit association will provide wrestling mats, uniforms and other assistance to help the wrestling program get under way. The association also has donated wrestling mats to more than 40 Arkansas high schools to help launch their wrestling programs.