USA Wrestler Photo Contest
Top left: J’Mari Lowman of MarcAurele Wrestling winning his third straight Connecticut State title at Novice 70 pounds. Serinol Lowman photo. Top right: Tucker Figueroa from Kellogg High School works on a throw at the North Idaho CHS Vikings Battle 4 Buckle Tournament in January. Tamira Maciosek photo. Bottom left:10-year-old Braden Lettner of the Park Wrestling Club of Cottage Grove, Minnesota going for a pin in a recent match. T.J. Lettner photo. USA Wrestler is seeking your best wrestling photography for publication in a future issue of the magazine. Other photos may be posted on
TheMat.com or on USA Wrestling Weekly. USA Wrestling reserves the right to publish all materials submitted for the Photo Contest with no restrictions! Mail photos to: Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling, 6155 Lehman Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918. E-mail photos to:
gabbott@usawrestling.org.
Fresno State brings back wrestling, now fundraising for startup cost
It was huge news in college wrestling when Fresno State president Joseph Castro announced this year that the rumors were true and the university would be bringing back its varsity wrestling team.
The program had competed on the national level and pro- duced many outstanding athletes, including three-time NCAA champion and Olympic silver medalist Stephen Abas. In June of 2006, Fresno State dropped its wrestling program as part of cost-reduction measures and a long-range strategic plan for ath- letics. Extensive efforts by alumni, the local community and wrestling leadership was unsuccessful in saving the program at that time.
“(Castro) is a great person and a great leader. He is one of the main reasons I came here. He knows the Valley. He also knows how important wrestling is to the Valley. Once I got here, we sat down and made a plan to bring back wrestling. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here,” said new Athletic Director Jim Bartko.
On February 26, Bartko released a five-point plan for the ath- letic department. Included was point 4.0, entitled “Expand Competitive Opportunity.” It spelled out a game plan for the rein- statement of wrestling, along with the creation of a women’s water polo program. There is a three step process, initial
fundraising, followed by the hiring of a new coach and the cre- ation of the program, then the launch of fully funded Div. I wrestling and water polo teams. This would bring Fresno State's sports total up from 19 to 21. The most recently reinstated programs on the Div. I level came in 2004, with the return of Binghamton and Bucknell as varsity programs. It has been over a decade since wrestling had this kind of great news.
“When I got here, I wasn’t going to take money from any cur- rent programs. I couldn’t see adding two sports by taking away from our other teams. I didn’t want to pressure the wrestling community and say you have to endow this forever. There will be a three year plan for this, no matter what. We have to raise $1 million over three years. A third of it is done already,” said Bartko.
What is key to understand about this fundraising effort is that once it is completed and the program is launched, Fresno State will completely budget the cost of the wrestling program, just like all of its other varsity teams. The wrestling community is being asked to help get this started. Once the team is estab- lished, the budget will be fully covered. The program will not have to continually fundraise for its operations, which is the case for a number of existing teams.
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