York College, Brilliant Thinking, Adds Women’s Wrestling Program

Recruited as one of the first students to help a collegiate program attain success has to feel meaningful and incredible.

That seems to describe many of the female student athletes who compete in Nebraska’s York College Women’s Wrestling Program.

It is a new kid on the block. A growing women’s wrestling block with a line growing around the country like they are waiting to get into one of the hottest and dynamic clubs.

York has purchased a ticket to the party.

As reported by Team USA On November 1, 2017, “York College has announced that it is expanding the wrestling program to include collegiate competition for women, starting with the fall 2018 season.

York College men’s wrestling has developed a national reputation as a strong NAIA team with numerous student-athletes finishing as All-Americans and a team that has had a presence in the top 25 of the NAIA. The new program will build on York College’s reputation for excellence in wrestling, while expanding offerings for female representation in the sport.”

That is very good news. York is now part of the club.

A warm welcome.

Let’s take a closer look at this unique college in rural Nebraska.

York College is a private four-year college affiliated with the Churches of Christ located in York, Nebraska, United States (50 miles west of Lincoln). The college was founded in 1890.

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The college’s campus is situated on fifty acres of land and includes seventeen major buildings.

A well-developed park-like setting unifies the campus, providing a great atmosphere for campus activities and learning.

A rapidly changing professional, social, and technological environment dictates that each student is encouraged to apply critical thinking and knowledge integration skills

Well-designed facilities include the Bartholomew Performing Arts Center that serves as home for the music and theater departments; the Holthus Field House (built in 2003), a 35,000 square-foot indoor athletics practice facility; and the Kiplinger Apartments and Gibbs Hall (both built in 2006), apartment-style residence halls for upper classmen.

There is an artist in virtually all of us, so what is their performing arts program all about?

They take a bow, “York College offers numerous performance opportunities for students interested in theatre as a hobby or as a major. There are two mainstage productions each year, typically a comedy in the fall and a drama in the spring. The spring semester also includes traveling children’s theatre: YC students travel to surrounding area elementary schools to perform free programs for children twice a week.

In addition, there are regular student directed productions that give theatre majors the opportunity to see the theatre process from the other side of the stage. If acting isn’t your thing, there are plenty of opportunities for behind-the-scenes work such as running the tech booth, building sets, and managing props and costumes or assisting performers with hair and makeup.”

Well, lights, camera and action.

Speaking of action we can’t wait to see what’s going on with their women’s wrestling program. It is generally best to start at the top. Please meet their coach.

Mr. Jeff Albers is York’s women’s wrestling coach.

Jeff was a high school state champion from Blackwell, Oklahoma. He was also a two-time freestyle state champion in Oklahoma and part of the 1998 and 1999 national freestyle championship team. He was a two year starter at Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas, in 2000 and 2001.

Coach Albers was also an assistant coach at Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh, Kansas, for eight years, from 2007 through 2015, where he coached several state champions and a state runner-up team. Coach Albers had the privilege of coaching several women while at Shawnee Heights; one of them went on to win a state and national title after Albers had left to come to York College.

The York College Panthers compete at the varsity level as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II. The college is a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).

The school’s other varsity sports include basketball, cheer & dance, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball.

We love that they partner with prepsportswear.com to help sell their athletic attire so if you would like to purchase, you could feel like you are a part of the team.

Their sportswear partners share their purpose, “The Prep Sportswear brand is an online marketplace offering personalized products connecting consumers to the institutions, teams, experiences, and events in their life. The Prep Sportswear platform includes stores for High Schools, Colleges, Pro Sports, Vintage Teams, Little Leagues, Golf Courses, Greek, Military, Government, Race Events, National and State Parks, and the ability to build your own Team Store.”

We can certainly identify with that thinking. We are all fans of some high school or college athletic program or team.

Their dynamic and innovative company was built on the simple idea of giving every fan the opportunity to support and share in the spirit and accomplishments of their favorite team and every consumer the ability to connect to the individual experiences in their life.

This is a very important part of what they do as well.

By embracing cutting edge technology, they have implemented an apparel manufacturing process utilizing 100% recycled fabrics made from recycled plastic water bottles.

At present, the traditional water-based apparel dying process used globally contributes to an estimated 20% of the world’s commercial pollution.

We appreciate their concern for our earthly home and the balance they seem to have attained at producing and enticing product while protecting the earth.

That is exciting news. There is more exciting news on York’s campus.

508 students are enrolled for the Fall Semester of 2019, with a 9% increase in the number of students on campus combined with an increase of more than 100% in York College’s online programs.

At york.edu President Steve Eckman said, “The increased numbers mean we have an opportunity to affect the lives of more students this year than at any time in the past decade. The growth of our graduate programs is especially significant for us and represents an important turning point in the development of our online programs and the potential reach of York College.”

Student growth at any college campus is a good sign.