page_title: Ohio Wesleyan University
section_title: Athletics
hierarchical_section_title: Ohio Wesleyan University / Athletics
caption_attribution_description: English: Entrance to Selby Field, located along Henry Street on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, United States. Built in 1929, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
context_page_description: Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts university in Delaware, Ohio. 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. Ohio Wesleyan has always admitted students irrespective of religion or race and maintained that the university "is forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles."
  The 200-acre site is 27 miles north of Columbus, Ohio. It includes the main academic and residential campus, the Perkins Observatory, and the Kraus Wilderness Preserve.
  In 2010, Ohio Wesleyan had the eleventh highest percentage of international students among liberal arts colleges for the seventeenth straight year. In its 2015 edition of U.S. college rankings, Niche ranked Ohio Wesleyan the 56th most politically liberal college in the U.S. U.S. News & World Report ranked Ohio Wesleyan 95th among U.S. liberal arts colleges in its 2018 edition.
context_section_description: Ohio Wesleyan participates in the NCAA's Division III as a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Known as the Battling Bishops, Ohio Wesleyan competes in 25 varsity men's and women's sports. The newest sports, men's wrestling and women's rowing, begin competition during the 2018–2019 academic year. The official school colors are red and black.
  Formal athletics at the college date to 1875, when the first football teams were organized to play against other institutions. In the late 1880s, Ohio Wesleyan had perhaps the strongest amateur baseball team in the state of Ohio behind the pitching of Phil "Lefty" Saylor.  The school joined the Ohio Athletic Conference along with Oberlin College, Kenyon College, Ohio State, and Case Western in 1902. In 1983, Ohio Wesleyan joined with nine other colleges in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania to create the North Coast Athletic Conference. The NCAC seeks to bring together a group of liberal arts institutions that value the primacy of the academic mission over the athletic one.
  The men's lacrosse, golf and soccer teams are the most historically successful of the varsity teams, and soccer is the university's most intently followed sport. For seven of the last twelve years, Ohio Wesleyan has won the NCAC conference All-Sports Trophy for excellence in both women's and men's sports. In the Sears Director's Cup standings, OWU is among the top 25 overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. Because of the North Coast Athletic Association athletic agreement, the university is not permitted to offer academic scholarships for athletic recruiting.
  Ohio Wesleyan has won five NCAA Division III Championships, including men's basketball (1988), men's soccer (1998 and 2011), and women's soccer (2001 and 2002). In addition, Ohio Wesleyan's varsity athletic teams have been NCAC champions over 100 times, leading the teams of Denison University and Kenyon College.
  
  The nickname The Battling Bishops dates to 1925. This is also the name of the university's mascot, The Battling Bishop. Due to its ironic name, the mascot has been listed as one of the weirdest college mascots. Due to its red robe, The Battling Bishop looks actually like a Cardinal. Before 1925, Ohio Wesleyan's teams were referred to as "The Red and Black" and "The Methodists". Many schools, including several other Methodist ones, also claimed crimson and black as their colors, so the university decided to change the name. 
  Ohio Wesleyan maintains athletic rivalries with other NCAC institutions. The men's lacrosse team has a historic rivalry with Denison University, the football team with Wittenberg University, the soccer team with Kenyon College, and the field hockey team with Oberlin College. Both Denison and Ohio Wesleyan issued alerts to their fans specifically for the OWU-Denison lacrosse game about unsportsmanlike behavior and profanity.
  In addition to the school's varsity athletics, club sports teams, including ultimate frisbee, chess, hockey, cricket, rugby, ski, and scuba, have been organized as student organizations under the auspices of the Office of Student Activities. Ohio Wesleyan's intramural program includes 16 sports. Sports such as skiing, squash and water polo have been offered, as well as a sports trivia competition.
  "Oh we're from dear old Wesleyan" is Ohio Wesleyan University's primary fight song.  The song's lyrics were written in 1914 by Chass Cupett '1916.
caption: Selby Field, home to football, lacrosse, and field hockey.
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