"As Grand Canyon University continues to assess its overall sports offerings, it has made the decision to discontinue its varsity wrestling program, effective after the 2015-16 academic year. GCU will honor the athletic scholarships of all wrestling student-athletes through their graduations.
After evaluating the program, it was determined a programmatic change was necessary to allow the institution to remain successful in a constantly changing collegiate athletics landscape."
That terse statement left many more questions than answers ... and, right now, no one from the private, for-profit, four-year Christian university located in Phoenix is saying much. The school's official wrestling website has nothing about the announcement, nor does the program's Facebook page, which seems to be frozen in time -- before the bombshell announcement, touting summer wrestling camps.
Seeking additional information, InterMat reached out to Charles Hampton, Associate Athletics Director, Strategic Communications/PR for Grand Canyon University. When asked if there was any significance in the use of the word "varsity" in the above announcement, Hampton responded that the school would continue to offer wrestling as a club sport.
Hampton continued, "As for additional information, unfortunately I do not have the ability to elaborate on our statement from the website. While we would love the opportunity for clarification and to refute inaccurate statements as you stated, we are unable to do so at this time."
The axing of the Antelope wrestling program at GCU doesn't seem to be generating much media attention in Arizona, either. A brief story at AZCentral.com -- website for the Arizona Republic, the major newspaper of the state -- included the text of the announcement, then added, "This is the third year of the four-year transition period from NCAA Division II to I for GCU, a for-profit school. It attempted to become a non-profit school, but the Higher Learning Commission recently denied its request."
The East Valley Tribune provided much more in the way of perspective, starting with the fact that GCU wrestlers and coaches were ushered into a meeting with the compliance department Monday to learn their fate.
"They were simply told the program was being cut but their scholarships would be honored," Tom Monty, whose son Blake was a freshman wrestler at GCU, told the Tribune's Jason P. Skoda. "No real discussion of a reason."
Skoda went on to report, "A source close to the program said the news surprised just about everyone within the university and not just those involved with the programs directly with results and financial losses being the main reasons."
Incoming freshman Danny Vega, who committed to the program as a three-time champion from Ironwood Ridge, told the Tribune, "I'm just a little confused on how this just popped up out of nowhere." (Vega said he's already been contacted by other schools.)
Some in the wrestling community -- especially those in the southwest U.S. -- have a strange sense of déjà vu, in that Grand Canyon's announcement that it was eliminating its varsity wrestling program is reminiscent of one made by Arizona State in 2008. However, the Sun Devil mat program was spared, thanks to the fundraising efforts of local boosters and wrestling supporters from throughout the country.
While this week's announcement out of Grand Canyon University was startling, there are some historical elements that, in hindsight, may have foretold the fate of the 'lopes wrestling program.
The program was established in 2007 as an NCAA Division II program, with R.C. LaHaye serving as head coach from the start before he was abruptly dismissed in the summer of 2014.
In the final four years with LaHaye at the helm, Grand Canyon compiled a 62-23 overall record. During that time, LaHaye coached his wrestlers to four individual national titles, with 13 Antelopes earning NCAA All-American honors. One of the program's brightest stars, heavyweight Tyrell Fortune, named NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year in 2013. (Fortune, who competes in freestyle, has announced plans to enter mixed martial arts competition after the 2016 Olympics.)
The program's trajectory seemed to be headed in the right direction as it was in the process of moving from NCAA Division II to Division I. However, in July 2014, Grand Canyon University issued a pithy, 50-word statement, stating that LaHaye and Larry Wilbanks, assistant coach for five seasons, "had been dismissed for violation of institutional policy" without further explanation. The story was posted at the official Grand Canyon wrestling website with the headline "GCU Announces Wrestling Program Changes."
One month later, Grand Canyon announced that Jon Sioredas, former assistant wrestling coach at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Old Dominion, had been hired as head coach. In September 2014, Sioredas hired two assistant coaches: Mark Ellis, 2009 NCAA heavyweight champ for University of Missouri, and Brian Stith, a two-time NCAA All-American at Arizona State. (For the 2015-16 season, the GCU coaching staff consisted of Sioredas, Stith and graduate assistant Jerome Robinson.)
During the past two seasons, the Antelopes had struggled, compiling a 5-19 dual-meet record in 2015-16, albeit against upgraded competition, including University of Iowa, Virginia, Minnesota, and North Carolina State. Just last weekend, Grand Canyon had participated in the National Collegiate Open held in northeast Ohio, where the Lopes had a national champion (Uzo Owuama) and two All-Americans (Austin Gaun, Trayton Libolt).
Wrestling isn't the only varsity program to be eliminated in recent years at Grand Canyon. As the Tribune reported, while GCU has grown tremendously in recent years, the school made a similar decision for the men's lacrosse team in 2011 after four seasons at the Division II level.
Speculation aside, the real reasons why Grand Canyon University administrators made the decision to eliminate their varsity wrestling program may never be known.
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