BISMARCK, N.D. (KXNET) — Bismarck State College has officially announced that its wrestling program will finally be returning to action for the first time since 1998.

BSC Athletic Director Myron Schulz shared that the current plan is for the program to return in the Fall of 2024 where they will compete in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC). For now, BSC will take the following year to begin finding a coach to lead the team, recruit wrestlers, and prepare facilities.

“We’re going to use the year to get things in place, order uniforms, order mats, hire coaches, set schedules, and just get everything in place,” said Shulz.

The last time Bismarck State College had a wrestling program, they also had a national champion Brock Lesnar on the team before his rise to stardom in the UFC and WWE. Lesnar won the 1998 NJCAA championship in the heavyweight division in his sophomore year before transferring to the University of Minnesota.

In total, BSC has had ten national champions in its program’s history. And despite not having a program since 1998, they are ranked 12th all-time in NJCAA History in Top-10 National Tournament Finishes.

BSC has never won the national title as a team however, finishing as a runner-up twice in program history (1974,1986).

“We heard it from the community that they wanted to add wrestling and there’s wrestling people pushing for it,” Shulz stated, “It’s our legacy. It’s who we are, it’s what we do, let’s go back at it.”

BSC will also be looking into possibly starting a women’s wrestling program sometime in the future.

With the local wrestling community by their side, the Mystics will look to continue their historic legacy and perhaps finally claim the National Title the program has been in search of for so many years.