NDSU wrestling coach accuses Mankato of “poaching”
FARGO, N.D. (AP) ” North Dakota State head wrestling coach Bucky Maughan is accusing Minnesota State, Mankato of “poaching “athletes from his team, a charge the Minnesota school rejects.
Four Bison starters have transferred to Mankato in the last two years, and Maughan said another NDSU wrestler intends to transfer next semester.
“I’m very upset with Mankato, “Maughan said. “They’re poaching on us. I’ve had open talks with their coach. This is ridiculous.”
Mankato head coach Jim Makovsky denied he is violating NCAA rules by actively recruiting athletes from another school. He said the decision of the NDSU wrestlers revolves around NDSU’s move to NCAA Division I, and that all five Bison wrestlers contacted him first.
“I would aggressively deny they were aggressively recruited, “Makovsky said.
The Mankato athletic department faxed a release for each wrestler to NDSU, and all five were signed by an administrator from the North Dakota school, Makovsky said. The process gives another school permission to talk to a student-athlete.
“I did as little as I could to facilitate the transfer when they came down here, “Makovsky said. “If NDSU is not Division I, we’re not sitting here having this conversation.”
NDSU has moved from NCAA Division II to Division I but is not eligible for Division I championship competition until next year. Four of the five wrestlers who have left or plan to leave the school for Division II Mankato are seniors.
“They wanted to compete for a national championship, “Makovsky said.
Mankato finished third in the NCAA Division II Championships last season.
Maughan, who is in his 42nd year at NDSU, discounted Makovsky’s explanation.
“In 40 years, nobody has transferred to Mankato, “he said. “All of a sudden there are five of them.”
The departures leave NDSU with junior Matt Hermann as the only experienced wrestler. The Bison are expected to field a lineup of true freshmen and redshirt freshmen.
“Kids will have to grow up in a hurry and find out the intensity level is different at Division I, “Maughan said. “It will be a different year.”
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