For most of these teams it was as if when they were axed from their college or university, they were not only dropped, but totally erased from existence. There is very little information on these teams, what they accomplished and why they were dropped. I wish that the wrestling community as a whole would have done a better job of keeping information like pictures, articles and memorabilia of these teams and furthermore records of why exactly they were dropped.
I have put together a list of what I have been able to find. It's not much, but it is something.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Dropped in 1981
8 All Americans
1 NCAA National Champion
Dropped because Athletic Director Pat Dye did not like wrestling. Wrestling room was converted into a facility for the football program.
Dropped in 1981
8 All Americans
1 NCAA National Champion
Dropped because Athletic Director Pat Dye did not like wrestling. Wrestling room was converted into a facility for the football program.
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| Conference Championship team |
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| Coach - Tom Milkovich |
Birmingham Southern College
No information
Troy State
No information
Alabama
Lasted from 1969-1979
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| 1969 Alabama Wrestling Team. The first |
Arizona
6 All Americans
1976 NCAA championships were held at Arizona
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| All American - Albert Sye NORTHERN ARIZONA Wrestling Coach was Wes Brown 1961-1969 and from 1976-1979 MMA Fighter Jimmy Dana has been prevalent in trying to start the wrestling program back up ARKANSAS STATE - JONESBORO No information ARKANSAS STATEDr. Harold Nichols coached from 1948-1953 FRESNO STATE 29 All Americans 4 NCAA National Champions Wrestling team dropped in 2006 Team to be Reinstated 2016-2017 season  
NCAA Qualifier/Hollywood Actor Jim Medieros
   LONG BEACH STATE
No information
SACRAMENTO STATE
Dropped in 1984
SAN DIEGO STATE
Dropped in 1989
Jimmy Remmey who wrestled for SDSU donated $120,000 to keep the wrestling program and Bill Cowling who also wrestled for SDSU said he would donate wrestling mats/singlets/equipment. The program was still dropped anyway.
SAN JOSE STATE
Dropped in 1989
8 All Americans  Jim Lucas All American USC No information St Mary's No Information Cal 3 All Americans Home of 1932 Olympic Silver Medalist Edgar Nemir UCLA 13 All Americans 1 NCAA National champion Wrestling program dropped in 1980 by athletic director Robert Fischer, stating that there wasn't enough space on campus for the wrestling program. 
1979 NCAA Champion Fred Bohna
 UC-CHICO
No Information
Cal State-Northridge
No information
UC-Riverside
No information
UC-Santa Barbara
1 All American
UC-San Diego
No information
UC-Davis
1 All American - NCAA Champion
Dropped in 2010 due to financial constraints      Cal State Fullerton
Dropped in 2011 listing financial reasons as to why.
9 All Americans  
NCAA qualifier and MMA star Adin Duenas
Another picture of T.J. Dillashaw
NCAA qualifier Rowdy Lundegreen
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It is a shame to see Universities like Auburn drop their wrestling program because the Athletic Director was not a fan. I understand that wrestling isn't the most popular sport, but I by far have learned the most life lessons from my experiences with wrestling when compared to every other sport I have ever played. I wish that wrestling got the respect it deserves.
ReplyDeleteGreat forum had a coach who wrestled for sanjose
ReplyDeleteGreat piece! One small correction. It is Cal State Northridge, not UC Northridge. And both UCLA and USC have developed excellent club teams. So there is still hope.
ReplyDeleteYes, they do have excellent club teams. I have a friend who lived in Los Angeles from 1973-2005. After UCLA dropped their wrestling program, the wrestling room remained a few years after. My friend, a former Iowa City, City High wrestler and Michigan State wrestler used to go and work out in the old UCLA room. He went in their once with actor Patrick Kilpatrick back in the early 80's.
DeleteProbably in most cases wrestling was dropped due to Title IX, passed in 1972; I know this was the case at SJSU, which added, among other women's sports, water polo -- first it was the smaller schools with less money, then the larger schools like UCLA and Cal.
ReplyDeleteI wrote articles on 427 dropped wrestling programs. Title IX was often the scapegoat, but not the real reasoning for dropping Wrestling. Most cases was due to athletic directors wanting to make $$, resources, & space for other programs, more often than not football. Title IX has taken the blunt of the blame, when the real culprits have been the Charlie Pell's & Dick Rosenthal's of the world.
ReplyDeleteCan You find Krapf from Alabama circa early 70's?
ReplyDelete