Cal Baptist wrestlers raise over $1 million to try saving program after it was cut by school
By Zach Boetto, Dean Fioresi
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LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — The Cal Baptist University men’s wrestling team has raised more than $1 million in an effort to reinstate its program after school officials announced it would be one of three major sporting programs getting cut by the school in the coming months.
In January, the university announced that wrestling, men’s golf and men’s swimming and diving would be discontinued due to the “evolving intercollegiate landscape,” which has CBU joining the Big West Conference starting in July.
“We have closely monitored the shifting landscape of intercollegiate athletics that has affected institutions across the nation,” said a statement from Micah Parker, CBU’s vice president of athletics. “While we had hoped to continue offering our full slate of athletic programs in this new environment, it has become clear that changes are required to realize the university’s goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands.”
The school cited student-athlete experience, changes to NCAA rules and investments required to fund athletic scholarships in their decision. They also said that a number of other factors played a role, including Title IX, which requires a school to provide equal opportunities to men’s and women’s sports teams, the House v. NCAA settlement and available resources and facilities for the programs.
Parker said that the decision was not made lightly, but wrestlers told CBS LA that they weren’t given a voice before finding out that the verdict was already finalized.
“They basically walked in and said, ‘Hey guys, it was an executive decision, and now we’re cutting your guys’ program. We’re sorry, we prayed about this,’ and just walked out,” said Adonis Bonar II.
They said that they were told everything would be concluded by the end of the season and that the team would no longer be a part of their athletic program, despite their protest.
“They weren’t being collaborative at all. They were really being, like, dictators in the sense of, ‘We’re cutting the program, you guys are washed up. It’s over, we’re wrapping it up at the end of the season. There’s nothing you can do about it. Bye,'” said Jesse Vasquez.
In the weeks since, they’ve started an online fundraising page to try raising enough money to keep the team alive, which they say would provide a valuable Division I collegiate opportunity for Southern California wrestling. Organizers said that donations under $1,000 would be used to help their reinstatement efforts, and if their goal is not met, the funds will be redirected to a local training center. They noted that donations over $1,000 would not be collected until after the program’s potential reinstatement.
Nolan Kistler, a CBU wrestling alum, said that the wrestlers were disappointed by how abruptly everything happened.
“One of the young men said, ‘We just want a voice. that’s what we’re asking for,'” Kistler said. “Unfortunately, they haven’t been given a voice.”
Video that has recently gone viral on social media shows what appears to be the school’s deputy athletic director telling the team that they wouldn’t be allowed to wear gear protesting the decision on their senior night.
“You’re gonna wear what we have issued and paid for,” the school administrator can be heard saying.
Despite the decision, the team says that they’ll fight until the very end.
“We step and walk in our faith and we decide to fight back,” Bonar said. “To be here, at a Christian university of head administrators that wanna flee from us, trying to be bold in what we believe in? We can’t really respect that enough to try and not put a voice out there and fight for what we believe in, and trying to keep this program alive.”
The team has been met with the support of their community, including from mixed martial arts legends like Urijah Faber, Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping and Randy Couture, in recent weeks as their battle continues.
When the regular season ended last weekend, with a 29-12 victory over rivals in Cal State Bakersfield, both teams met at center mat to join in prayer. Days later, dozens of people flocked to the Riverside City Council meeting to ask city leaders to step in and help the program.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin also shared a statement on the university’s decision on social media.
“District Attorney Mike Hestrin is urging us all to stand alongside parents, athletes, and local leaders advocating for the program’s reinstatement, emphasizing the positive role that wrestling plays in developing character and creating opportunities for young people,” Hestrin’s statement said. “Preserving this program means preserving pathways for mentorship and personal growth for current and future student-athletes.”
In a frequently asked questions page on their website, CBU officials said that “while financial implications were among the reasons for this change, other impacts have made it increasingly challenging for CBU to remain competitive under its current structure,” and that fundraising efforts would not be a viable way to reverse course. They also noted that the impacted teams would not be eligible to become club sports.
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