CS Fullerton Wrestling Gets a Reprieve

Last week we passed along news that despite a furious fund raising campaign, the wresting team at CS Fullerton was going to be eliminated at the end of the 2010-11 academic year. But earlier this week, the team got another reprieve:

Cal State Fullerton wrestling has hope for a future.

The sport, designated last week for termination at the end of the 2010-11 season, has been given a reprieve to continue fund-raising efforts to keep the program competing. A combination of positive reaction to the “finality” of last week’s announcement and some accounting adjustments renewed hope that approximately $450,000 can be raised by next Spring to fund the program for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

“The university will allow the wrestling program to use existing pledges toward future seasons to cover the shortfall that was created when the program missed its August goal of approximately $196,000 in the bank to fund the 2010-11 season,” said Director of Athletics Brian Quinn. “All new money coming in must first go to covering this year’s shortfall.”

Fullerton competes in the hybrid Pac-10 for wrestling against Arizona State, Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Oregon State and Stanford. The season begins on Nov. 19 with a home meet vs. Stanford.

Click here for some more thoughts from The Open Mat. While it’s good to see that the program is going to get another chance to raise the dollars it need to survive, we hope that these drives aren’t starting another trend: that of requiring men’s teams to fully fund their operations in order to keep playing.