Wrestling shaken by cut program | hawkcentral.com | Hawk Central Wrestling shaken by cut program
ASU's demise hits home for Iowa's wrestling community
Andy Hamilton • Iowa City Press-Citizen • May 14, 2008
The bombshell that blindsided Arizona State wrestling and rocked the sport Tuesday left ripples that reached Iowa.
ASU officials announced that the school will immediately cut three men's sports -- wrestling, tennis and swimming -- in order to save more than $1 million annually in operating costs.
The Sun Devils were scheduled to wrestle at Iowa in November, but the greater concern for those connected to the Hawkeyes is the long-term health of the sport that is being whittled away in the Pac-10.
"To me, there's no program that's totally safe," former Iowa coach
Dan Gable said. "Even though I know we're in good shape (at Iowa), it's just a matter of who comes in as an administrator, it's a matter of what emphasis is put on it, it's a matter of who the coach is in the program, it's a matter of how much success you have in the program, it's a matter of a lot of things.
"No program is safe in about any non-revenue sport. I'm concerned about wrestling, but I don't like tennis or swimming getting dropped, either, especially with no notice or time to rally a little bit."
The Sun Devils learned of the decision Tuesday morning.
"There was really no warning," Arizona State 125-pounder
Anthony Robles said. "Everybody was shocked. We were all taken by surprise by it, and I'm still in shock. I really don't know what to do for next year."
Robles said Arizona State Athletics Director Lisa Love informed coach
Thom Ortiz and his team that the school could reinstate wrestling "if we raise enough money for us to be self-sufficient" as a program. Robles said Love told the team Tuesday morning that she didn't know how much money it would take for reinstatement, but The Arizona Republic reported ASU officials said it would cost $8 million to endow the wrestling program.
The Sun Devils were set to make a trip to Iowa in November for the inaugural Iowa City Duals, a one-day event that will showcase the defending NCAA champion Hawkeyes and three other teams at the Fieldhouse. Iowa was scheduled to wrap up the night with a meet against Arizona State in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"I was really excited to go to (Iowa City) and see a packed house and wrestle in front of those fans," said Robles, who was born without a right leg and became a fan favorite this year at the NCAA Championships when he came one victory from earning All-America honors. "I was really excited for that. (The Iowa fans) might not like us very much, but still, it's fun to wrestle in front of them. I've heard stories."
"I think it could still happen," Iowa coach
Tom Brands said. "I heard (about ASU's willingness to keep the program if it raises the money) and I've got life in my blood again. I'm not going to say it's easy to raise $8 million -- the problem is whether that's true or not -- but if that's true then you feel pretty good about it. At least there's a chance. You get hit with something that's pretty hard and then all of a sudden there's a way out ... let's rally."
Tuesday's announcement certainly hit the wrestling community hard. It comes on the heels of Oregon's decision to eliminate wrestling at the end of this past season, leaving Oregon State and Stanford as the only two true Pac-10 Conference schools that still offer the sport and 87 programs at the Division I level.
"I'm really frightened for wrestling," said former Iowa State coach Bobby Douglas, who left Arizona State in 1991 to lead the Cyclones. "We don't have that many friends. Wrestling is not a favorite sport of many athletic directors -- probably about three that I have known in the many years that I have been involved. There's only been a handful of athletic directors who have really cared about wrestling, and I think you know who those are; the wrestling budgets of the schools reflect that and the reputation of the schools reflect it. It's unfortunate what happened. I'm deeply saddened by it."
Douglas guided the Sun Devils in 1988 when they became the first team west of the Rocky Mountains to win the NCAA title. Iowa, Oklahoma State and Minnesota have claimed all 20 of the national championships since then.
The Sun Devils have had some recent success, too. They finished in the top 10 three of the last eight years, winding up sixth as recently as 2006. Earlier that season, Arizona State moved into a new practice room that was largely funded by Sunkist Kids Wrestling. Douglas said his craving for better practice facilities was a reason he left the Sun Devils to take over at Iowa State, and he thought the new digs would help Arizona State turn the corner as a program.
Instead, a move that occurred 600 miles northwest of Tempe may have shaped the future for the Sun Devils. Fresno State dropped its wrestling program in 2006, a decision Gable believes tipped the scales in the wrong direction for wrestling on the West Coast.
"The Pac-10 was already on the bubble, so it could go either way," he said. "We needed a break and we didn't get that break. It went the other way, so now it's kind of a domino effect and it's easy to pick on us."
Wrestling shaken by cut program 
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