Wesleyan Battling Bishops
Institution	Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
Colors	Red Crimson and Black
Mascot	Battling Bishop
Fight Song	Oh we're from dear old Wesleyan
Director of Athletics	Roger Ingles

The Battling Bishops is the name of the sports and other competitive teams at Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...

. The men's and women's Bishops teams are NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Division III teams that compete in the North Coast Athletic Conference

North Coast Athletic Conference

The North Coast Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. When founded in 1984, the NCAC was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecedented ten women's sports...

. The university sponsors 22 varsity

Varsity team

In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...

 sports, as well as several intramural

Intramural sports

Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...

 and club teams.

History

The first athletic teams of the college date back to 1875, the year of the first organized football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team, although fifteen years passed before official colors were selected and the football team started playing its intercollegiate contest. That year the team played three games with Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

, losing all three.

In 1902, the Ohio Wesleyan team joined Case Tech, Kenyon

Kenyon

Kenyon is a surname of English origin. It is said to be Celtic for "Blonde", among other meanings it also means "The White Haired Norseman", the origins of the name are fairly well known. The name first appears in English heraldry in the late thirteenth century when Jordan de Kenyon first took the...

, Oberlin

Oberlin

Oberlin may refer to:Places in the United States* Oberlin, Kansas* Oberlin, Louisiana* Oberlin, Ohio** Oberlin College** Oberlin ConservatoryPeople*Oberlin...

, Ohio State, and Western Reserve University in forming the Ohio Athletic Conference. The first gym of the college, Edwards Gymnasium, was dedicated in February 1906. Ohio Wesleyan's first varsity men's basketball team played its games in the facility the same year.

The Ohio Wesleyan teams adopted their official nickname in 1925. During the same year, Wesleyan's official mascot became a grumpy-looking bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 dressed in a red robe.

Ohio Wesleyan's colors, crimson red and black, date back to 1875, the year when the university organized its first official football game.

Ohio Wesleyan's lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

 team has a historic rivalry

Sports rivalry

A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans. The intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the...

 with Denison University

Denison University

Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...

.

Sports

Fall Sports: Cross Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...  (M & W) Field Hockey Field hockey Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks... , (M) Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...  (M), Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....  (M & W) Soccer (M & W) Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...  (W) Cheerleading Cheerleading Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...  (M & W) (club sport)

Winter Sports: Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...  (M & W) Indoor Track (M & W) Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... /Diving Diving Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...  (M & W) Cheerleading Cheerleading Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...  (M & W) (club sport)

Spring Sports : Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...  (M) Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....  (M) Lacrosse Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...  (M & W) Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...  (W) Track and Field Track and field Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...  (M & W) Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...  (M & W)

Facilities

The football, lacrosse and field hockey teams play in Selby Field

Selby Field

Selby Field, usually referred to simply as Selby, is the football, field hockey, track & field and men's lacrosse field at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where the Bishop's teams play....

, which has a capacity of 9,100. Other campus facilities include a Dornoch Golf Club the Ohio Wesleyan golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

. Branch Rickey Arena

Branch Rickey Arena

Branch Rickey Arena is a 2,300-seat multi-purpose arena at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, located centrally on campus and adjacent to Edwards Gymnasium. It is home to the Wesleyan Battling Bishops basketball and volleyball teams. It opened in June of 1976, replacing Edwards Gymnasium,...

 houses volleyball and basketball. Baseball & softball teams play at Littick Field

Littick Field

Littick Field, usually referred to simply as Littick, is a baseball field at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where the Battling Bishops' baseball team plays. The field—named after the Clay Littick, Class of 1915....

. Tennis teams play at the Tennis Center, and the soccer teams play at Roy Rike soccer stadium.

Championship wins

• Men's Basketball
  • NCAA Division III 1988

• Men's Soccer
  • NCAA Division III 1998

• Women's Soccer
  • NCAA Division III 2001, 2002

Other teams

• Baseball (men
• Basketball (men, women)
• Cross country (men, women)
• Field hockey (women)
• Football (men)
• Golf (men)
• Lacrosse (men, women)
• Soccer (men, women)
• Swimming (men, women)
• Tennis (men, women)
• Track (men, women)
• Volleyball (women)

See also

• List of Ohio Wesleyan University people

External links

• OWU Sports Official Site
• History of OWU Athletics