‘Keep Stanford Wrestling’ aims to save program
The Stanford logo was missing on Shane Griffith’s all-black wrestling singlet when he won an NCAA national title last month. By design. To draw attention. He also celebrated his victory at 165 pounds by donning a black sweatshirt which read: “Keep Stanford Wrestling.”
Griffith’s way — his team’s way — of making a statement after the school announced in July that wrestling, which has been at Stanford since 1916, and 10 other sports would be dropped to save money. The Cardinal wrestling community organized fundraising efforts and has raised about $12.5 million so far.
The program may not be pinned to the mat just yet — or so they’re optimistically hoping.
“We’re still in confusion and kind of in denial of what happened,” said Griffith, who competed on March 20 in what — for now — could be the last match in program history. “Because we don’t have a feasible answer from them to move on with our lives.”
Stanford wrestling is one of at least 85 Division I sports programs to be shuttered since the coronavirus pandemic started a year ago because of financial strains. Olympic and college-sports leaders fear it will only continue as changes in the college system take hold. Congress and the NCAA are considering allowing athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). There are also proposals in Congress that would allow schools to pay players beyond the scholarship and stipends they already receive.
On the line is an Olympic feeder system that buoys Team USA. Nearly 80% of U.S. athletes at the 2016 Rio Games came from an American college program.
Along with wrestling, Stanford announced it would discontinue at the conclusion of the academic year men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming and men’s volleyball.
In an open letter sent to the school community, Stanford leaders announced, “We now face the reality that significant change is needed to create fiscal stability for Stanford Athletics.”
Many in the community questioned the legitimacy of the administration’s arguments.
That includes those involved with the “Keep Stanford Wrestling” efforts.
“There’s no way this is a financial decision. It can’t be,” said Robert Hatta, a former Stanford wrestler who’s co-chair of KSW. “We offered a financial solution that they refused to consider and when we peeled back the numbers we found the savings were minimal and the actual underlining financial issue deficits of the department not only continue but grow after these cuts.”
In a statement to The Associated Press, Stanford disagreed with that assessment: “Discontinuing sports was an extremely painful decision, and it was driven by the financial challenges of supporting twice as many varsity teams as the Division I average at the level we believe is essential for our student-athletes to excel . ... ”