By Mitch Vingle
Sports Editor
West Virginia University has landed a $1.2 million gift to expand the wrestling room at the school’s Natatorium.
And the expansion could bring more than extra space.
Offers have gone out to members of wrestling’s elite Sunkist Kids club, known for Olympic and World medals, to live in Morgantown and work out at the facility.
On Monday, the Board of Governors approved expanding the wrestling room.
“We received a very generous gift from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust,” said WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong. “When finished, our wrestling room will be nearly three times what it is now. This will enable us to continue to train Olympians for the U.S. wrestling team.”
Pastilong said the room will jut from the Natatorium and toward Jerry West Boulevard.
“It should take from one year to 16 months to complete,” said the AD.
Already the call has gone out for seven wrestlers to train at WVU. In a partnership between the school, Mylan Laboratories, USA Wrestling and the Sunkist Kids, wrestlers will move to Morgantown with jobs guaranteed at Mylan.
According to the Sunkist Kids’ Web site, the athletes “will work part-time for Mylan Laboratories [at a full-time salary], with flexible hours for training and travel, and train under 2004 Olympic coach Zeke Jones in the outstanding facilities” at WVU.
Jones, an assistant to Mountaineer wrestling coach Craig Turnbull, was a World champion and Olympic silver medalist. He was recently elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for these athletes,” Jones said through the Sunkist Web site. “Mylan Laboratories has pledged seven jobs through the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. These wrestlers can work there and train to win World and Olympic medals for the United States.”
The Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club is a non-profit organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz. The club has had 55 Olympic and World medalists.
Pastilong said he hopes the combination of the new facility and Sunkist program will help further strength his school’s wrestling program.
“The timing couldn’t be better,” Pastilong added. “Greg Jones just won his third NCAA championship. We have Zeke Jones, who has trained seven Olympians. Craig Turnbull has one of the nation’s top 10 wrestling programs here.”
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