WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The University of Central Missouri Board of Governors approved the construction of the new Roger Denker Wrestling Facility at the UCM Multipurpose Building, it was announced Wednesday, March 30.

The board, in its December 10, 2021, meeting, approved naming this state-of-the-art area the "Roger Denker Wrestling Facility," which benefits from substantial gifts from two former UCM wrestlers, Dan Power and Gary Ervin, who competed under Coach Roger Denker's tutelage. The facility will be in memory of Denker, honoring the former coach for his leadership in transforming the lives of UCM wrestlers.

"It's an honor to receive such strong support from our wrestling alumni. We look forward to having this dedicated, premier wrestling facility for our student-athletes to compete and succeed in, particularly given it is named for long-time coach Roger Denker," University of Central Missouri President Dr. Roger Best said.

This project will consist of renovating the natatorium in the Multipurpose Building into a wrestling center by infilling the existing indoor swimming pool with gravel and pouring a new slab on top, and the installation of a new sprung floor system for the extents of the wrestling mat area and leveling the existing pool deck to meet accessibility standards.

"We are extremely excited about the Board of Governors' action to approve a new wrestling facility," Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Jerry Hughes said. "The facility will provide a permanent home for the UCM wrestling program and will help with the recruitment of excellent young men to compete at a high level for Mules wrestling."

The board accepted a contract of $1,054,000 with E&K Construction out of Grandview, Mo., to provide labor, materials, and provisions necessary to construct a new wrestling room in the existing natatorium space in the Multipurpose Building. This will provide the UCM wrestling team with a designated space to practice and host competitions.

Conversion of an office to new wrestling center entry, and conversion of an existing storage room into a new coaches' office, and renovation of an existing office to re-locate the entry and installation of new interior storefront are also planned, along with installation of resilient rubber athletic flooring to cover the center floor.