Wrestling students—both past and present—spoke against the elimination to West Valley­Mission Community College District board members at an Oct. 16 meeting during oral communications from the public. The announcement that the team was being considered for elimination because of budget cutbacks caught board members by surprise. But the decision was not made by the board; rather, it was a collective decision made by leadership in the college's physical education and athletics department.

Statewide budget cuts affecting West Valley College in the form of a $1.6 million deficit have mandated that the intercollegiate PE and athletics department reduce full-time faculty by 25 percent, which has included cutting the amount of offerings in every athletic department program and could include future cuts. The department is operating on only 40 percent of its budget, and currently has nine men's and seven women's sports.

Jim Root, who has coached the wrestling team since 1972, said that while there has been a decrease in the number of wrestling teams in the area, as well as in the state and nation, those numbers are leveling off. In California from 1972 to 1985, Root said, the number of wrestling teams decreased from 78 to 21 to accommodate more female athletic programs, to comply with the Title IX statute. But that number has remained at 21 through 2003 without dropping further. Title IX bans discrimination based on gender in schools, whether it be in academics or athletics.

Jan Bertron, the mother of West Valley College wrestler Ken Bertron, said 45 high schools from many districts feed into the West Valley College wrestling program. Root said the team has maintained an average roster of more than 35 students for the past 14 years. Bertron encouraged board members to keep the wrestling team, especially because community college is affordable to students who might otherwise not be able to receive an education because of finances or grades. There are currently 28 wrestlers on the team, Root said.

"I know we've run a good program, because we haven't had any of the problems that other schools have," Root said.

About 60 percent of the team is Latino, Root said, and eliminating the team could negatively affect the school's diverse population if wrestlers decide to transfer to other institutions that do offer wrestling programs.

Root, who officially retired from West Valley College two years ago, coached the team last year as a part-time associate faculty member and has been coaching the team this fall term without pay because of budget cuts. But to his disappointment, the PE department informed him that he will no longer be able to coach the team as a volunteer after this season, which ends in mid-December, due to the drastic budget cuts the department has had to make.

"The only reason it has been allowed to continue has been because of Jim," said retired West Valley College athletic director of 18 years Bill Campbell. "We look at a lot of different factors, not just the success of the sport. It's not just one person making the decision [to eliminate the wrestling team]."

Root said the wrestling program brings in an average of $100,000 per season in state funds, second only to football out of the college's 16 sports. He added that a part-time instructor to coach the team would cost between $5,000 and $9,000.

"It's not about me," Root said. "I'm just a retired old guy who believes in the team."

Adam Ruiz, 32, a former wrestler at West Valley, said the sport taught him discipline and respect—traits that he exhibited not just in wrestling, but throughout the rest of his life. Ruiz said he continues to support the program through his son, Adam Ruiz Jr., because it's the only community college in the area that still offers wrestling.

But being one of the only community colleges to still offer wrestling is an inherent reason why administrators say the team is being discontinued.

Campbell and Carol Knight, division chair of the PE and athletics department, said a precedent had already been set in the past that when full-time coaches retire, the department has been forced to look at the unfortunate possibility of eliminating a sport because of issues such as budget constraints and declining-enrollment trends.

Men's tennis was eliminated in 1993 when the late coach Dan Braden retired, Campbell said, and men's volleyball ceased to exist in 1995 when Claudine Simpson retired because of its struggling numbers of participants.

"You have to offer what's popular and what students are interested in," Campbell said.

A similar situation occurred when women's basketball was dropped in 1992, according to the new West Valley College athletic director, PE instructor and football coach John Hancock.

Other discontinued sports include coed fencing, which was dropped in 1979; women's field hockey, which was dropped once in 1979 and again in 1982; men's golf, dropped in 1985; men's gymnastics, dropped in 1979; women's gymnastics, dropped in 1983; and women's tennis, dropped in 1988.

Hancock said the wrestling program is taking the hit because of a combination of factors, including a bad sequence of budget shortfalls, a precedent that has been set in the past, as well as difficulties in scheduling wrestling matches with teams that are within a reasonable driving range.

Knight said the wrestling team is competing against some four-year schools because there are not enough community colleges with wrestling programs in the area. Some of the other teams on the West Valley College schedule for this season include Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Sacramento City College, Modesto Junior College, Fresno City College and Santa Rosa Junior College.

Skyline College in San Bruno and Chabot College in Hayward are the only other community colleges in the same conference as West Valley College that still offer wrestling. Root said both Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill and San José State University no longer have wrestling programs.

"This has nothing to do with Jim," Knight said. "We want to honor his legacy. There's no question he has done great things. We're not excited about the fact we're going to cut this program, but it's a reality."

While Knight said it was valiant of Root to offer to coach the team without pay this fall, she considers the sport of wrestling to be "endangered."

"We have a trend nation- and state-wide of shrinking programs, which limits who you can compete against," Knight said.

Knight emphasized the hidden and often fixed costs associated with the sport such as meals, physical checkups, transportation, officials, membership and dues, travel equipment, services for student athletes such as athletic trainers and insurance and maintenance of the facilities.

"Wrestling is a very intense sport because it's considered a 'high-risk' activity," Knight said.

This year because of budget cuts, Root said the PE and athletic department only pays for the cost of transportation, and the team is responsible for raising funds to meet the rest of those costs.

Knight added that the department is very aware of the effect of diversity on its program and suggested an alternative sport for wrestlers could be the newly added men's soccer program.

But for some of the wrestlers, there may not be an alternative.

Mike Fredenburg, who came to West Valley College in 1976, is the father of a second-generation wrestler, Drew, who attends West Valley. He said the college and wrestling program provide students with a valuable chance to improve their grades and finances, and to be scouted by four-year colleges and universities. Fredenburg was a community college and academic All-American, and is a graduate of Humboldt State University.

"A lot of the kids in this area look at West Valley College as a funnel to yet another opportunity, and if they don't have that, it's going to be a real loss," he said.