Matthew Blumberg USA Wrestling

What was the next step after the University of Oregon announced its plans to drop its Div. I wrestling team in July 2007?

There was no debate for retired University of Oregon head wrestling coach Ron Finley. Something needed to be done, and quick.

“Within four days (of being informed of the decision to end the wrestling program), we had the site, SaveOregonWrestling.org, up and running,” said Finley, who continues to serve as the director of Save Oregon Wrestling.

After all, without a website or some other way to inform the wrestling community, how were they going to get their message out?

“From the very start we knew we needed to do something, we needed a way to easily communicate throughout the entire country,” said Finley, adding, “We needed to get our message out.”

Oregon competed one final wrestling season, running out the string during the 2007-08 year. In spite of strong public support for retaining the program, the university and its athletic director at the time, Pat Kilkenny, allowed the Duck wrestling program to join the list of programs which have been dropped.

In the past few weeks, the college wrestling world has been abuzz about head coaching changes at major programs such Iowa State, Penn State, Arizona State and University of Illinois… to the point where many wrestlers, coaches and fans may not realize that at least three college wrestling programs have been axed in April alone.

Earlier last month, Carson-Newman and MIT reported that they were cutting their intercollegiate wrestling programs. Just this week, Delaware State announced it was eliminating wrestling, reducing its roster of intercollegiate sports from 18 down to 17.

“Dropping the wrestling program was a very difficult decision influenced by several factors,” said acting DSU President Claibourne D. Smith. “Like a number of programs around the nation being discontinued in these economic times, it is with regret that the University can no longer field a wrestling program adequate to University and NCAA expectations.”

During the 2008-2009 season, other college wrestling programs getting the ax have included Lawrence College, Norwich University, Portland State, Rose-Hulman, and Wagner College.

In light of these cuts, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has announced an action plan, working directly with these programs and affiliated groups to see what might be done at each individual school… with an ultimate goal of reinstating programs.

As a number of athletic departments prepare to cut some men’s teams to trim budgets, NCAA president Myles Brand has put out a call for schools to leave Title IX out of it. He has pre-emptively asked schools with shrinking athletic programs to blame the economic downturn for their problems—and not the federal law that bans sex discrimination at schools and requires institutions to maintain a commitment to women’s sports, USA Today reports.

“My expectation is that over the next year or two we are going to see more” cuts of men’s teams, Brand said this week in a telephone interview, “and so I am trying, frankly, to pre-empt the argument against Title IX, an unfair argument, I believe, and dissuade universities from going public with this approach.”

Brand mentioned James Madison and Rutgers , schools that cut teams in 2006-07, and Delaware , where cuts have been discussed, as examples.

“I think they need to be honest about it. Any cuts at this point in sports are certainly going to be tied to financial pressures,” said Brand, who urged schools not to drop any teams, men’s or women’s.

Head Wrestling Coach- Penn State DuBois

Penn State DuBois seeks an energetic and experienced Wrestling Coach to direct the reintroduction of wrestling on the PSU DuBois Campus. The Head Coach will direct and coordinate the planning, organizing, and coaching of the wrestling program. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: recruitment of student-athletes in accordance with college policy, supervise coaching staff, game coaching, conduct practices, organize team travel, monitor student-athletes academic and social progress, equipment maintenance and purchases, budget management, fundraising, camp and clinic development and implementation, and administrative duties required to develop a competitive wrestling program. Candidates must have coaching and wrestling experience with preference given to those who have demonstrated those abilities at the College Level. Candidate must also show a strong foundation of recruiting and fundraising. All interested applicants need to send a cover letter, resume, and a list of at least three references to PSU DuBois Athletics, Multipurpose Building, Penn State DuBois, DuBois, PA 15801 or email items to sdf14@psu.edu. Search will begin immediately and will continue to be open until position is filled.

By PAT KINNEY, Courier News Editor
WATERLOO — A $400,000 repair and renovation of the flood-damaged Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum began today.

Museum officials have received word the Federal Emergency Management Agency has obligated the bulk of funding necessary for the renovation work to begin.

It’s hoped the museum, which has been closed since the June 10 downtown flood, will reopen in time for the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals wrestling tournament at the UNI-Dome Jan. 9-11, said Mike Chapman, the museum’s founder and executive director.

Chapman, accompanied by Gable, the Waterloo-born wrestling legend for whom the museum is named, made the announcement as U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley and other officials surveyed museum damage as part of a tour today of flood damage in eastern Iowa.

“FEMA has obligated enough money that we feel confident in proceeding,” Chapman said. “We’ll be back in business, we hope, by the National Duals. We’re convinced if we get construction started this week we can make it.

“We’ve had tremendous support from both senators, from Congressman Braley,” Chapman said. He said state Rep. Tami Wiencek lent her support on a state level and that Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley wrote a letter of support to FEMA.

SAVE THE MUSEUM!

“Wrestling teaches you how to get off your back. Old Man River put us on our back, but we’re on our feet and fighting to survive.”
- Mike Chapman

The massive water damage in the Midwest has affected countless homes and businesses in Iowa. Unfortunately the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute & Museum was included.

$250 annual gift for 5 years, $1,250 total.
Donors will receive:
Free lifetime admission to the museum
Save The Museum t-shirt
Dan Gable Asics Gold Poster
Abraham Lincoln or Lou Thesz print

$250 annual gift for 10 years, $2,500 total.
Donors will receive:
Free lifetime admission to the museum
Save The Museum t-shirt Waterloo was one of the many victims of the flooding. We are asking for donations to help restore our fantastic facility. Your assistance is appreciated.

$250 annual gift for 3 years, $750 total.
Donors will receive:
Free lifetime admission to the museum
Save The Museum t-shirt
Dan Gable Asics Gold Poster
Abraham Lincoln or Lou Thesz print
“Match of the Century” print – Gotch/Hackenschmidt

The Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute & Museum is a not-for-profit organization, 501 3(c). Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. All monies will go to the restoration and preservation of the wrestling museum.

Arizona State University Sports Information

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State University Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love announced Friday that the athletic department is fully reinstating the sport of varsity wrestling, effective immediately, due to financial support from local civic leadership. The reinstatement of wrestling gives ASU 21 sports in its varsity athletic program.

“It is with great pleasure that I announce the reinstatement of the varsity sport of wrestling at ASU,” says Love. “The wrestling community, both locally and nationally, accepted this as a challenge to do something wonderful for the sport. ASU is forever grateful for that passion and unwavering support. Something special is happening on our campus thanks to civic leadership that cares deeply about ASU wrestling.”

ASU had announced on May 13, 2008 that it was discontinuing the sport of wrestling due to the rising cost of operating a 22-sport varsity program. It was determined at that time that sponsoring a 20-sport program would better fit ASU¹s athletic financial profile. Love indicated at the time that if the wrestling community were able to raise enough financial support the sport could be reinstated. That commitment is there and the sport will continue at Arizona State.

With over 4,000 fans in attendance at Monday’s NWCA All-Star Classic, Oregon wrestling leaders are showing they are serious about saving a Ducks program that is scheduled to be eliminated at the end of this season. It won’t be easy, but with many hardworking, dedicated and passionate people involved, they just might have a chance

By Kip Carlson – For The Wrestling Mall
Comment on this article at info@thewrestlingmall.com

EUGENE, Ore. – Of all the wrestlers who gathered for Monday night’s National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, Wade Sauer knew best just what was at stake.

Sauer, the Cal State-Fullerton heavyweight, was at Fresno State when that school cut its wresting program in 2005. So it hit home when the 2007 NWCA All-Star Classic was awarded to Oregon – whose program is on the chopping block and set to be dropped at the end of this season – to serve as a rallying point in the “Save Oregon Wrestling” effort.

By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com

The clouds hanging over the State Capital building in Harrisburg, Pa., on Wednesday morning shrouded the city skyline and blanketed it with a damp chill.

There’s also been a damp chill shrouding college wrestling, not specifically in Pennsylvania, but nationwide. But the 34 college wrestling programs in Pennsylvania have not been devoid of being cut, as witnessed by Slippery Rock cutting its historic program two years ago.

Initially, Slippery Rock was to drop eight sports as a cost-cutting move, five men’s sports and three women’s sports, but after a Title IX complaint was filed, the school was forced to keep the three women’s sports while the men’s sports were left with nothing – including wrestling.

Joined by former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R) and former Iowa wrestling Coach Dan Gable, the National Wrestling Coaches Association met with the Pennsylvania General Assembly to discuss options for legislation to solidify the athletic opportunities that currently exist in the state.

Hastert, Gable, NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer and a host of representatives met in the Majority Caucus Room in a meeting headed up by Rep. Todd Eachus (D), Chairman of the House Policy Committee.

By: Paul Steinbach

It’s a homecoming that many are celebrating. On July 13, first-year athletic director Pat Kilkenny announced that Ducks baseball will return to the University of Oregon after a 26-year hiatus. But the news ruffled more than a few feathers in Eugene and beyond. That’s because Kilkenny also revealed that the upcoming wrestling season would be the school’s last. “My second-favorite sport is baseball, so I think adding baseball is a magnificent thing for the University of Oregon to do,” says former UO wrestling All-American and current head coach Chuck Kearney, who has dedicated more than two decades of his life to the program. “We’re struggling to understand why it has to come at the cost of wrestling.”

And so a bittersweet saga has unfolded, complete with the subplot surrounding women’s competitive cheer, which like baseball will assume varsity sport status in 2008-09. Kilkenny, a former business leader and high-ranking UO donor, says the shakeup makes sense for an athletic department that — despite its position among fewer than two dozen in the nation that sustain themselves financially — remains “fragile.”