As a wrestling website, our views may be biased (DISCLAIMER). Therefore, we had to address this issue as former wrestlers and current fans. As we all know, wrestling has been under constant attack for the past 30 years in the name of "Equality". This has recently been reinforced by the actions of Fresno State (California), Oregon University, and Arizona State. Only Arizona State Wrestling has been able to gain reinstatement with the help of many supporters. We would like to highlight the injustice at Fresno State University. To quote the school's website:
"Given today's economic environment at the NCAA I-A level as well as the local dynamics, Fresno State Athletics clearly needed to evaluate all its sports programming, significantly reduce the annual operating budget and restructure the program to achieve much-needed efficiency. What was required was a reduction in sports programming." (2006)
"Although some media outlets chose to report this issue in a different manner, it has been stated from the beginning that the decision to discontinue wrestling was not prompted nor driven by Title IX considerations." (2006)
The school lays blame on financial hardship and denies any "equality" influence. The facts were hard to discern at the time (2006), but recent actions by the school tell the true story. This school year, Fresno State will be fielding a women's lacrosse team for the first time ever. A sport that's rules aren't even listed on the California Interscholastic Federation-Central Section website. This tells us that possibly no high school in the center of California (where Fresno is located) participates in Lacrosse. This is evident by the new coach Sue Behme's comments on Fresno's site;
"Anytime you learn a new sport there is a huge learning curve. There is a different kind of running and conditioning, let along you have to learn a new sport on top of it. The most pleasing thing is that they are not giving up. That is a testament to their will." The idea of Fresno State shattering the dreams of an athlete with 10+ years dedicated to a sport is hard to believe. Add to that, the reality that they are now pursuing participants for a sport that they've never participated in, let alone competed in. Lacrosse is relatively new to the west coast and should be introduced at the high school level first. The fact is that some of these new athletes will be given scholarships to play a sport they've never bled or wept for. Central California high schools have produced 5 of the last 7 state championship wrestling teams. Fresno State has lied about its reasons for cutting wrestling and perpetrated an injustice upon former wrestlers and many California high school wrestlers. We thought we would bring this to the attention of all our members and the wrestling world. Colleges must know, wrestlers never quit! Please email the Fresno State Athletic Director with your opinion on this matter at athleticdirector@csufresno.edu
Please research this and other matters of injustice related to Wrestling and Title IX to form your own opinion. Please leave comments on this page, to let us know your opinion. Pass this story and email on to all friends, teammates, and forums.
