Op-Ed: NUWAY The future of US Wrestling – Working to Save College Wrestling

NUWAY

By Richard Rockwell – Reader Submission

The future of wrestling in the United State could be summed up in one way, NUWAY. Dave Dean, leader of MYWAY in Michigan and the NUWAY National movement, is heading up the charge to save collegiate wrestling in the United States.

It was a year ago, in which I contacted Dean for the first time, in order to find out more about the NUWAY movement. In my home state of Oregon, we had just been dealt the losses of University of Oregon and Portland State. It was then, when I knew I needed to find a way to change things in our state. So, I went on a search and found a video on Flowrestling, interviewing Dean about NUWAY and what it was all about.

Needless to say, I was impressed, so I had had to contact him to get more information. Dean responded right away and we’ve been in touch for the past year. This year, Dean invited me to come out to NUWAY Nationals and see for myself, what they were all about. So, I made the trek to Battlecreek, Michigan to find out for myself, what NUWAY was all about.

My day began with meeting all the NUWAY people from all the other states. Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia were just a handful of the state reps I met. All with a similar story about how they were tired of watching college programs being dropped in their states or simply not having any to begin with and wanted a way to ensure the future of the sport they love so much, or to bring college wrestling eventually to their state.

They all felt, at the National level, the states were being forgotten and if the states didn’t step up and change things, eventually there would be nothing left to save.

This is where MYWAY led the way.

MYWAY was started in Michigan nearly a decade ago, as Dean saw a huge problem with the way collegiate wrestling was being treated at the state and national level. He aimed to fix it. He created an organization that was solely for his state, in which all proceeds stayed in Michigan. As their funds grew, they were able to send check after check to college programs in Michigan to either help fund or save the programs from being dropped. MYWAY sends out numerous national teams to various events around the country at virtually no cost to the wrestlers. It was a very simple concept: Keep the money in your state and use it for your states needs.

What Dean has seen from all of this, is a re-emergence of Michigan wrestling as a power state. He says, the overall quality of wrestling in Michigan has improved dramatically and they’ve also helped to ensure the future of collegiate wrestling in Michigan.

Now, MYWAY has spread into various other states, 12 in all. All of which, have the same vision as Dean does about the sport. MYWAY has gotten so large Dean created NUWAY Nationals, as a way to get all the states together to compete for a national title. One thing that separates this tournament from all the rest is with NUWAY Nationals, all the proceeds earned from this event are given back to all the NUWAY states in the nation.

The movement is catching on quickly as in 3 yrs, this tournament has grown from a couple hundred kids to nearly 800.

While this article doesn’t paint all of the picture that is NUWAY, one thing is for certain, NUWAY is the future of wrestling in the US and Dave Dean is there to help us with the battle.

If you are a state, looking to build a NUWAY organization, contact Dave Dean at DDean@lowell.k12.mi.us