Cleveland State to lose funding in order to fund LaCrosse

[Au165 1]

Another one on the chopping block....

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/cleveland_state_university_will_no_longer_fund_wrestling_but_will_add_lacrosse.html

[TheSquare 1]

So will they still host the NCAA's in Cleveland? 

[Pinnum 670]

So will they still host the NCAA's in Cleveland?

Yes, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) is who is hosting the Cleveland Championship.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Pinnum

[TheSquare 1]

Yes, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) is who is hosting the Cleveland Championship.

Oh okay. That's a shame. Title IX strikes again. 

[cradlewiz 22]

This is disgusting and disrespectful to every wrestler and coach in Northeast Ohio. The administration needs to be looking at boosting the wrestling budget and adding a womens team if they are looking to boost the profile of their broke ass athletic department

[Pinnum 670]

This is disgusting and disrespectful to every wrestler and coach in Northeast Ohio. The administration needs to be looking at boosting the wrestling budget and adding a womens team if they are looking to boost the profile of their broke ass athletic department

This isn't about boosting the profile of the athletic department. They are trying to attract some kids from further east that are willing to pay higher tuition for the chance to play D1 LAX. They want a kids with the academic pedigree that would never have them considering a school like Cleveland State but now give it a thought because they can play Lax.

 

It isn't about serving the communities of Ohio or about raising the profile of the athletic department. The MLax team is not going to be funded well. They will be a sub .500 team and the admin knows it but it may help attract some better students.

[Jaroslav Hasek 1,749]

didn't take long for the title IX excuse to come out. never heard a lacrosse fan mention title IX. i doubt many even know what it is. 

 

it's a battle for limited resources. there's a million reasons why wrestling programs get or dont get funding, we should worry about what we can control, not about what we can't. 

[MSU158 1,291]

Interesting analysis.  High School Lax players from the east are more academic and more willing to pay higher tuition than the high school wrestlers currently attending and projected to attend Cleveland State?  I am interested to see the data that supports this hypothesis.

[stp 485]

 

 

 

 

From another forum- 

 

 

Pretty convenient that the AD played lacrosse in college and coached it and his wife is an assist. lacrosse coach.

Found this on the CSU website-

  

John C. Parry

Title: Director of Athletics Phone: 687-4808 Email: john.parry@csuohio.edu

 

A life-long lover of the sport of lacrosse, Parry served two stints on the NCAA Men's Lacrosse committee. The first from 1980-87 while he was at Brown and then again from 1994-98 while at Butler, becoming one of a handful of people to be selected chair of the committee twice, doing so in both 1986-87 and 1997-98.

Edited March 30, 2015 by stp

[JasonBryant 1,474]

Program looking to raise 800K by March 31, 2016 ... want to raise 5M to endow the program. That's what we're looking at folks. If we want these smaller schools to have wrestling, we're going to have to pay for them and endow them ourselves. 

 

The Arizona State "ransom" is basically being replicated here and if we don't step up, that's one less Division I program in Ohio. 

 

365 days to raise 800K. -- That's just over $2,000 a day that needs to be raised. Anyone got any Cleveland-area friends with a few million laying around unused?

Edited March 30, 2015 by JasonBryant

[SetonHallPirate 636]

If this AD ran a publicly-held corporation, and started a department with no supply chain, he'd be sued by his own shareholders for fiscal mismanagement. This is what the equivalent looks like, people...there is no high school lacrosse in the state of Ohio!

 

Seriously, of all of the ADs dropping wrestling, this may be the second-stupidest decision made by an Athletic Director this decade. Translation: we want out-of-state tuition money.

[1032004 365]

didn't take long for the title IX excuse to come out. never heard a lacrosse fan mention title IX. i doubt many even know what it is. 

 

it's a battle for limited resources. there's a million reasons why wrestling programs get or dont get funding, we should worry about what we can control, not about what we can't. 

 

Maybe not the primary reason but looks like Title IX was a factor.  From the link in the OP:

 

"CSU did not want to drop a sport but cannot afford the additional cost of about $900,000 a year to add two sports, because if it added lacrosse it would have to add a women's sport to meet federal Title IX requirements, officials said Monday."

[Bo134 0]

CSU athletics never supported wrestling as it should have been supported. NE Ohio is a strong wrestling area ( St. Eds) that should have been a great site for a DI program. But the athletic department never fully was behind making the program a national power. Coach Dick Bonacci worked his tail off for over 25 years to keep wrestling at CSU. At one time he was the lowest paid DI wrestling coach in the country. CSU didn't care. If he demanded more money they threatened to drop the program and Bonacci cared to much for the athletes. After he retired CSU wasn't going to spend the money to bring in a top coach like Tom Ryan. There is no reason CSU could not have had a top DI program with a little support. It's not a matter of title 9 this time, it is an AD that wants to watch lacrosse. In a state that does not even have lacrosse in high school. The guy is an embarrassment to athletic AD's. Don't worry CSU you can still use the " we made it to the sweet 16", 30 YEARS ago! Talk about resting on your one and only accomplishment.

[Jaroslav Hasek 1,749]

Maybe not the primary reason but looks like Title IX was a factor.  From the link in the OP:

 

"CSU did not want to drop a sport but cannot afford the additional cost of about $900,000 a year to add two sports, because if it added lacrosse it would have to add a women's sport to meet federal Title IX requirements, officials said Monday."

you can call it a factor but every part of Title IX applies to mens lacrosse as it does wrestling. it's not like Title IX says you can't have a women's wrestling team or that wrestling can't be more popular than lacrosse. 

[Bo134 0]

CSU never supported wrestling as it should have been. Coach Dick Bonacci worked his tail off for over 25 years keeping that program going. At one time he was the lowest DI paid coach in the country. CSU didn't care, they told him too bad, if he didn't like they would drop the program. Bonacci cared to much for his athletes to allow that to happen. There is no reason that CSU could not be a top DI program being located in NE Ohio. That area is a hotbed for wrestling ( St. eds). CSU' s athletic department would never try and bring in a top coach after Bonacci retired ( like Tom Ryan), they just didn't care. This time a wrestling program is being dropped, not because of title 9, but because the current AD like lacrosse. Ohio doesn't have lacrosse in its high schools. The AD is an embarrassment to athletic programs. Don't worry CSU, you can still brag about making it to the " sweet 16".... 30 YEARS AGO. Talk about resting on your one accomplishment.

[MSU158 1,291]

JH,

 

I think you may be splitting hairs a bit.  Title IX definitely isn't what cuts wrestling.  It is, however, what makes it easier to cut wrestling.  If they didn't have to worry about adding a women's sport, do you not think it would be less likely they cut Wrestling to add Lacrosse? 

[quanon 161]

Program looking to raise 800K by March 31, 2016 ... want to raise 5M to endow the program. That's what we're looking at folks. If we want these smaller schools to have wrestling, we're going to have to pay for them and endow them ourselves. 

 

The Arizona State "ransom" is basically being replicated here and if we don't step up, that's one less Division I program in Ohio. 

 

365 days to raise 800K. -- That's just over $2,000 a day that needs to be raised. Anyone got any Cleveland-area friends with a few million laying around unused?

 

Will the $800K/$5M number endow a women's team?  Since the administration made the decision to go forward with lacrosse, that means Title IX imbalance unless wrestling raises the money to fund a women's team that will balance out the athlete number of the men's lacrosse team (45 on the roster).

[SetonHallPirate 636]

Probably will require two large-roster women's teams, actually...by my count, a 39-man lacrosse team (that's what Robert Morris, a fair-to-middling Division I team, has on their roster) combined with a 26-man wrestling squad (CSU's current roster) would leave them roughly 67 women short of being in Title IX compliance.

[MSU158 1,291]

That shouldn't be true SHP.  If they figured they could drop Wrestling and still comply, the max number should be however many roster spots the Wrestling team has.........

[RealAmericanHero 55]

Cleveland State scored 1.5 points in St. Louis in 2015.

Edited March 30, 2015 by RealAmericanHero

[AKHUNTER 216]

sent him a email....... was as NICE as I could be...... but it wasn't very nice......... no cursing or such tho.

 

We need to follow these guys when they are applying for jobs in the future and send recommendations of ..."NO HIRE"

I remember when Gene Blaymier was hired at Boise State many years ago. The rumblings were heard about possibly dropping wrestling. At that point he stated his goal wasn't to drop ANY sports. That his goal if anything would be to ADD sports. THAT is a good position for an AD. The ones that want to drop sports are simply to lazy or inept to do the job correctly. I think it is probably both.

[1032004 365]

didn't take long for the title IX excuse to come out. never heard a lacrosse fan mention title IX. i doubt many even know what it is. 

 

it's a battle for limited resources. there's a million reasons why wrestling programs get or dont get funding, we should worry about what we can control, not about what we can't. 

 

I have heard a lacrosse fan mention Title IX.  Here is probably the biggest lacrosse brand tweeting about it:

 

[Pinnum 670]

Cleveland State beat Indiana from the Big Ten, a strong Rider team that had been in the ranking, and shutout Bloomsburg. The team had a lot of successes and was competitive in duals. The scores from the NCAA championship don't reflect the quality season that club had. Such a shame. (Mobile)

[rlw028 106]

Program looking to raise 800K by March 31, 2016 ... want to raise 5M to endow the program. That's what we're looking at folks. If we want these smaller schools to have wrestling, we're going to have to pay for them and endow them ourselves. 

 

The Arizona State "ransom" is basically being replicated here and if we don't step up, that's one less Division I program in Ohio. 

 

365 days to raise 800K. -- That's just over $2,000 a day that needs to be raised. Anyone got any Cleveland-area friends with a few million laying around unused?

 

What are the odds we can get 10,000 people to give $80 each? 

Edited March 30, 2015 by rlw028

[RealAmericanHero 55]

Pinnum - I tried to quote your post. It is not letting me at this point. But I wanted to agree with that post. NCAAs is not the end all, be all to a programs. Especially with dual meet victories like you mentioned and the camaraderie that is established by the coaches and wrestlers.