Wrestlers cry foul because Arizona State drops sport
BY DAN McCOOL • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • May 14, 2008
Wrestlers cry foul because Arizona State drops sport | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register
Former Iowa State wrestling coach Bobby Douglas mourned Arizona State's decision Tuesday to drop wrestling as a death blow to the sport in the western United States.
The university also announced it was eliminating men's tennis and men's swimming in moves to save more than $1 million annually in operating costs.
Douglas led Arizona State to the 1988 NCAA Division I championship in Ames. It was the only team west of the Rockies to win the title.
"More than anything, if Arizona State goes, the West goes," said Douglas, who was head coach at Arizona State for 18 seasons before going to Iowa State in 1992. "Stanford's hanging on by a Bowlsby, Oregon dropped it (after last season)."
Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby was formerly athletic director at Iowa. Stanford coach Kerry McCoy recently left for Maryland.
"Would they be next?" former Iowa coach
Dan Gable said about Stanford. "It's pretty much crisis mode in Division I."
The decision by Arizona State reduces the number of NCAA Division I wrestling programs to 87 - 15 of which are west of the state of Iowa.
The Sun Devils' program had several links to the state of Iowa.
- Coach Thom Ortiz was Douglas' assistant at Iowa State for nine seasons. He did not return calls from The Des Moines Register on Tuesday.
Ortiz, a three-time all-America wrestler at Arizona State, compiled a 74-52-1 record in seven seasons. The team was 9-8 in duals last winter, including a 36-3 loss to Iowa and a 32-3 loss to Iowa State. Arizona State tied with Michigan State for 28th place in the NCAA tournament.
- Zach Roberson, a former NCAA champion at Iowa State, was on the staff.
- Former West Des Moines Dowling champions Jeff Theiler and Steve Blackford, and former Iowa Central Community College wrestlers Cain Velasquez and Dana Holland, were all-Americans as Sun Devils.
Iowa State wrestling coach
Cael Sanderson, who grew up in Heber City, Utah, said the Arizona State decision was painful. Ortiz helped recruit Sanderson to Ames and coached him during his 159-0, four-NCAA championship career.
"It's not only knowing the coach, but being from the West," Sanderson said. "There are so few wrestling opportunities for the huge number of high school wrestlers that are out there. Man, it's a shame. It hurts."
Arizona State's athletic department annual operating budget is $38 million to $40 million. The department has been slightly in the black in recent years, but faced mounting costs.
"The profile for our operations budget and donation base does not lend itself to the sponsorship of 22 athletic teams," Arizona State vice president for athletics Lisa Love told the Arizona Republic.
"While our revenue streams are achieving a positive trajectory, they are simply not keeping pace with the current size and scope of the department."
Sanderson countered, "Dropping a program cannot be the right decision, regardless of the circumstances. It's a final solution to a short-term problem. I think that's a poor sign of leadership."
Gable said, "We're only responding after the fact too much," he said. "They still aren't looking out for their own youth.
"I was just in Arizona two weeks ago putting a clinic on, and there are plenty of kids wrestling in Arizona. All they did was rob them of an opportunity, and that just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
"There is an alternative: Go to work and do a little better job and raise more money."
QUOTES
Bobby Douglas, former Iowa State coach
"Wrestling's days were numbered a long, long time ago. Iowa will not be able to keep it alive, the Big Ten will not be able to keep it alive. This snake will swallow its tail."
Dan Gable, former Iowa head coach
"I'm beyond getting sad. I just get mad and say they don't know what they're doing."
Cael Sanderson, Iowa State coach
"The more wrestling programs we lose, the weaker we become as a nation."
Wrestlers cry foul because Arizona State drops sport 
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