Stanford Announces Cut of Wrestling Program
The University of Stanford announced today that 11 varsity athletic programs are to be cut at the end of the 2020-21 season. Among those sports was the wrestling program. In addition to wrestling, Stanford cut men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, and men’s volleyball.
With the cut of Stanford’s 11 sports, 240 student athletes will be without sport at Stanford and 22 coaches. Stanford’s cut sports produced 27 Olympic medals as well.
The school went on to add that the school will not be pulling the scholarships from the student athletes through their undergraduate years. The school also said if the athletes wanted to compete elsewhere, Stanford would support them as well.
The school goes on to say that the cuts are due to loss of revenue due to COVID-19 and the cancellation of sports across the world. They also said that the athletic department was operating at a projected $12 million deficit in the 2021 financial year and it only would grow from there with 36 varsity sports under the school’s wing.
The school also says that coaches, football and basketball included, have taken voluntary pay reductions to help cut costs for the athletic department but the cuts in pay wasn’t enough to save all sports.
Stanford and Wrestling
Despite the cut to the sport, Stanford’s wrestling program has not been bad as one may think. The team was consistently ranked and last year saw some of the best prospects for a great next season. With names like Real Woods, SShane Griffith, and Jaden Abas, the school was poised to make a run at the tournament.
Now the wrestles and all other of the 240 student athletes will have one more season to compete as a Stanford student athlete until they are cut.
Stay posted to My MMA News for all the latest on where the wrestlers land after next season. Thanks for reading!
