USA wrestling program grappling with Title IX

Tim Graham

Friday, April 30, 1999 | 11 a.m.

Wrestlers don't find anything equitable about it.

The gender equity law known as Title IX continues to ravage the collegiate wrestling scene.

Title IX is the federal mandate that requires schools receiving federal funding to provide equal opportunities for male and female students. But instead of adding more women's sports, colleges have shown a preference to eliminate men's programs that don't make money. At many schools, wrestling falls under that category.

The trend has sent shockwaves throughout the sport. Many fear the ripples eventually will reach wrestling's highest levels.

Title IX certainly has been a topic of conversation at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the 1999 U.S National Wrestling Championships are being held. The event, featuring men's, women's and junior tournaments, runs through 6 p.m. today. It resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. and concludes at 6 p.m.

"It's all going backwards, and (cutting non-revenue sports) is a way for people to justify the decisions they make," former UNLV wrestling coach and athletic director Dennis Finfrock said. "It's a cop-out."

UNLV's program was axed in 1984 because of Title IX and monetary reasons. Many more colleges continue to do the same today.

Brigham Young, for example, dropped wrestling and men's gymnastics on April 1 to comply with Title IX regulations. One day earlier, New Mexico cut its wrestling, men's gymnastics and swimming programs for the same reason. Miami of Ohio and Mansfield (Pa.) also dropped wrestling this month.

According to the Joint Task Force to Protect Wrestling, the number of NCAA wrestling programs has decreased from 374 to 243 in the last 20 years, an average loss of nearly seven a year -- despite the NCAA's member growth during that same span.

But USA Wrestling director of events Rich Bender claims our national team is more talented than ever in spite of the collegiate losses.

"If you ask me if wrestling is declining in the U.S.," Bender said, "I don't think it is."

The U.S. team won the freestyle world championship in 1993 and 1995. It also won the most medals at the 1998 Olympics. Bender also noted participation is up at the junior and high school levels. The JTFPW cited a survey stating there were 8,900 teams and 229,176 athletes competing at the high school level in 1997-98.

But if Title IX keeps erasing collegiate programs, Finfrock said there will be a negative impact.

"I think it'll hurt," Finfrock said. "Look at what's happened to us in Olympic boxing. If they don't think it will happen to them in wrestling they're crazy. I hope the quality remains high for us, but if you don't have wrestling at so many schools, everything starts to slide."

One of the ways wrestling could be saved is the continued popularity of women's wrestling. The National Federation of High School Sports Associations states the number of girls competing at that level has risen from 112 in 1990 to 1,907 last year.

USA Wrestling is negotiating with the NAIA to make women's wrestling a sanctioned collegiate sport. It also could be added to the 2004 Olympic menu.

Local high school wrestling supporters will be pleased to know gender equity already has reached that stage as it would apply to them.

Larry McKay, Clark County School District athletic director, said Title IX does not threaten wrestling or any other boys sport at local high schools.

"If there were some issues that dealt with gender equity," McKay said, "we probably would add a girls program rather than drop a boys one. We're not operating under the same issues the colleges are."

The difference between funding sports on these levels, McKay pointed out, is each college program needs to make money to survive, whereas prep programs operate under one financial umbrella. And that umbrella is rather flexible.

"All college sports have to be self-sufficient within their overall athletic budget," McKay said. "They have to cut sports sometimes because they have only a fixed amount of dollars.

"If we needed to add a girls program the school board would find the money some place. The only way we would drop a sport, aside from huge budget crunch, is a lack of interest."

Bishop Gorman High dropped wrestling this year because of flagging participation. It is the only Class 4A school in Southern Nevada without the sport.

* HEALTHWATCH: Las Vegas' Chris Harris, the Cimarron-Memorial junior who finished 5th in the 132 lbs. division in Wednesday's Greco-Roman competition in the Western Junior Regionals at the Convention Center with a 5-2 record, remains hospitalized under observation for dehydration and possible kidney damage. The injury forced Harris to withdraw from the Junior Freestyle competition.