Cutting Wrestling Not Enough, More Men’s Athletic Cuts to Come at Liberty

While the wrestling community can’t help but be upset at the news that Liberty University decided to eliminate its wrestling program in order to help with Title IX compliance, you have to at least credit AD Jeff Barber for being honest about what he’s up to.

The math at Liberty is pretty simple. The student body is 52/48 in favor of female students. But when we look at the athletic department, the ratio is almost 2/1 in favor of the men.

Once you look at the numbers, you’ll see that it’s going to take another 100 roster spots, either in terms of eliminating men or adding women, to get anywhere near proportionality. Here’s Barber on what’s coming next at Liberty:

There were 39 wrestlers on Liberty’s roster. Barber said that the school still has a ways to go to reach the 52-48 female-male ration, and that Liberty hopes to reach that number in the next five years. That means that every men’s program in the athletics department will have participation cuts at some point.

“We’ve got to continue to manage the men’s rosters and add to the women’s rosters to get to that 52-48,” Barber said. “Losing 39 as of June 30, it’s a big step on the right direction, but we’ve got a long way to go. Everybody is going to be affected at some point, and at some level.