Tuesday, June 26, 2007 2:06 AM CDT
BOT hears wrestling appeal
By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON —Hearing impassioned pleas to save an embattled wrestling program, Eastern Illinois University’s Board of Trustees clarified little about its next move, if any, in front of a packed University Union Ballroom Monday afternoon.
After allowing a public forum to discuss last month’s administrative decision to discontinue the sport, Chairman Robert Webb read a statement on behalf of the BOT that merely reiterated the university’s emphasis on its academic mission. Wrestling was dropped, according to EIU’s athletics office, because of its failure to meet Academic Performance Rating standards set by the NCAA.
“We didn’t anticipate some type of decision in this vicinity,” said Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and one of two individuals speaking in defense of EIU’s wrestling program. “What we wanted to accomplish here, especially the administrative part, (is) we want to work with them.
“This is the first step in bringing that program back. I can assure you that it won’t end with what happened here.”
Despite the following the meeting generated – two charter buses transported several individuals to the campus from Southern Illinois – the atmosphere was mainly subdued. Members of the board sat quietly through presentations made by Moyer and EIU alum Michael Layne. Supporters of the program only once erupted in applause, at the mention of Mike Polz, a former EIU wrestler and National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year who was in attendance from Sandburg High School in Orland Park.
Moyer spoke first, outlining a plan to work with the university administration on implementing “cost-effective strategies” to enhance the program’s APR rating. He pointed to the NCAA’s willingness to consider requests for APR adjustments from institutions that have poor marks for reasons other than academic difficulties. He also appealed to the fact that an underachieving APR, which measures eligibility, retention and graduate rates, wouldn’t result in restrictions surrounding membership status until 2009, offering time to make positive changes.
“We really have a two-year window where we could work together, where we could make this program a model that all other schools across the country would want to emulate,” Moyer said.
He also focused on the popularity of the sport in Illinois compared to the relatively few intercollegiate opportunities available statewide, the number of teacher education degrees bestowed upon wrestlers and the storied history of the program.
Layne, on the other hand, used most of his time to offer personal witness. A former Murphysboro coach speaking on behalf of Eastern’s wrestling alumni, Layne transferred to EIU after winning a national title at Lincoln College and said that wrestling provided his only path to higher education.
“There are other avenues we can take without using the chopping block and beheading the program,” he said, eventually concluding that “whatever decision you come upon, make sure that you can look your face in the mirror.”
Webb’s prepared statement was the lone response offered by the Board. It noted that the BOT had long been aware of the problems facing the wrestling program and that its staff had been given opportunities to make amends, but offered little else to suggest whether it would consider further action in the future.
“We are obliged to remind ourselves when considering decisions of this kind that Eastern Illinois University is an academic institution,” Webb said. “At this institution, academics are accorded first priority in all matters pertaining to the programs in all departments, including the athletic department.”
By any measure, it’s not likely to be the final gesture offered by the program’s supporters. Coaches from across the state, including University of Illinois head coach Mark Johnson, made the trip to Charleston Monday, joined by a group of wrestlers and parents – including Linda Trinka, Jim O’Toole and Lenny Grodoski – that has organized the opposition.
Renny Garshelis, long associated with EIU and Charleston High School wrestling, thinks the next battle lines could be drawn in July. Members of the Alumni Association still haven’t presented their case to incoming President William Perry, a top item on their agenda.
“We’re not going to give up,” Garshelis said. “We’re going to wait for the new President to come in and we’re going to present this in a new form and be very positive when we do it.”
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
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Kyle wrote on Jun 26, 2007 6:50 AM: