In a unanimous vote Wednesday morning, the Breckenridge School Board voted to have the Cowboys’ wrestling program co-op with Wahpeton.

“It was a very tough decision to make,” Breckenridge athletic director Chad Fredericksen said Wednesday. “We’ve had a lot of great wrestlers over the years and it was tough to leave Minnesota. But declining enrollment numbers hasn’t helped us maintain the numbers need for a full program. We are hoping this can be a great thing for both schools. It’s been a great thing for a lot of other activities.”

While some in the community voiced their opposition to the co-op, the school board decided joining with Wahpeton was in the best interest of the Cowboys wrestlers.

The wrestling co-op will compete in North Dakota.

The co-op still needs to be approved by the Wahpeton School Board, but that is expected to be a mere formality.

The school board also approved a nickname for all of the co-op teams between Breckenridge and Wahpeton, excluding the Blades for hockey.

The new nickname will be the Storm and includes cross country in the fall, wrestling and gymnastics in the winter and softball in the spring.