FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State University wrestling team is beginning its first season in the Western Wrestling Conference, and athletes say it is giving them extra motivation.

“The level of wrestling has been way up knowing we have something to wrestle for in the end,” Bison redshirt freshman Ryan Adams said. “We want to get into the big stage and show everybody what we’ve been working for.”

The “big stage” is the NCAA Division I championships. To get there, wrestlers have to qualify via the West Regional, which is made up of the Western Wrestling Conference teams and Eastern Illinois, which has chosen to remain a wrestling independent.

NDSU left the NCAA Division II North Central Conference three years ago, and has been a Division I independent the last two seasons. The new WWC consists of former NCC teams NDSU, South Dakota State and Northern Colorado, and former independent wrestling programs Northern Iowa, Air Force and Utah Valley State.

The last time the Bison wrestled a conference match was February 2003, when they defeated St. Cloud State. Their last league loss was against Nebraska-Omaha in 2001.

“It’s been three years since we won a conference title and we hope to do it again,” Bison senior Matt Hermann said.

The importance of WWC matches is seeding. The better a wrestler does in the conference, the higher seed he will get in the regional.

Utah Valley is not eligible for postseason competition until 2010 because the Wolverines are making the transition from junior college to Division I.

Northern Iowa is considered the power of the league.

“They’ve been building a Division I program for 20 years in a great wrestling state,” Bison head coach Bucky Maughan said. “It will take some catching up to do.”