Last year, Eastern made the decision to cut the wrestling program.
Stance:
Even though there is no longer an Eastern wrestling team, former members still wrestle and hope the decision is reversed.
The decision to cut Eastern's wrestling program last summer was met with heated debate and overwhelming public support on both sides.
'Save EIU Wrestling' signs were posted in front yards all over town. Forums were held on campus to save wrestling, but in the end, it was no match for strict NCAA rules.
The official explanation for cutting the wrestling program was a failure for the team to make grades; the team didn't meet established rules to stay sanctioned.
Fortunately for those on the team, the scholarships were not yanked for the following year and many stayed in school. Former wrestling coach, Ralph McCausland, was offered reassignment.
For former team members, wrestling wasn't just a sport; it was a way of life. It was something that perhaps only wrestlers understood, which is why the campus was teeming with adamant supporters who tried to band together to get their voices heard and the ruling to cut wrestling overturned. Most were former wrestlers.
The dedication that wrestlers have to their sport is nothing short of spectacular. Waking up early to train, facing strict diets and throwing caution to the wind to make weight is something that most outsiders just don't understand, but it isn't hard to see why so many former wrestlers banded together- they know what it takes to be good at the sport. That camaraderie isn't something that goes away when the season is finished.
But while the wrestlers were sticking to their training regimen, most neglected their grades. The NCAA uses the APR, or academic progress rate, to determine if student-athletes are making the grade. Eastern wrestlers weren't.
The NCAA says that a perfect APR is 1000, and the cutoff rate is 925. Wrestling's 26 athletes scored an 851.
Wrestling at Eastern came with scholarships, and these athletes were students. It may be hard to hold much sympathy when a team fails, repeatedly, to make grades. The purpose of attending college isn't to play sports; it's to get an education.
Eastern wrestling faced problems with the NCAA repeatedly and the entire athletics department was placed in jeopardy.
This might seem a little harsh, but it turns out that if Eastern athletics would not have been able to rectify the situation on their own, the entire athletics program would have been placed on correspondent membership and the whole athletics program could have lost all NCAA membership privileges.
Former Athletics Director Rich Duffie said he made the decision to cut the wrestling program after the NCAA released a three-year report and spring '07 grades were released.
Former EIU wrestler Adam Beeler graduated from Eastern before the program was cut, but remembers the wrestlers were "really bummed out."
Beeler still trains regularly in Hillsboro, Ill. and still wrestles. He trades options for a company in which he invested money.
Anthony Genovese graduated from Eastern this past spring and will start a job at Addison Trail High School, where he will coach wrestling.
"It's my way of life," Genovese said about wrestling. "It's my bread and butter."
Genovese said that Duffie did not give wrestling a fair shake.
"He was not a friend," Genovese said. "He hated wrestling." That the wrestling program was cut "was the worst thing that could happen."
According to Genovese, Eastern did not adhere to the NCAA's rules for academic probation. Wrestlers were not given the requisite time to get grades up, the team was only given one year, then suddenly cut.
Thomas Johnson, another former Eastern wrestler, is also now a wrestling coach. He coaches at Warren Central High School, in Indianapolis.
These three former wrestlers say the same thing; that wrestling is a sport that diehards will compete in whether or not they are part of an official program. You can take wrestling out of a school, but you can't take wrestling from the athlete.
Genovese puts it best, "with wrestling, you just want to share it. That's the way of life. That's what happens. I just want to share everything I know."