Jerry Wollmering, Truman State director of athletics, notified coaches and student-athletes of the cuts via email Wednesday.
"Sport elimination is extremely difficult as it affects the lives of our students and staff," Wollmering said in a statement. "Athletics, along with every area on campus, is dealing with cost-cutting measures due to University revenue decreases and mandatory cost increases."
Truman is facing a recommended $3.1 million cut in state core appropriations. This reduction is on top of a $3.8 million cut in the current year.
"With reduced University revenues and mandatory cost increases across campus, every area at Truman is making tough decisions in moving forward," Wollmering wrote in an email obtained by the Kirksville (Mo.) Daily Express which was sent to coaches and student-athletes Wednesday. "With this reduction from 20 to 18 sports, Truman will still sponsor more athletics programs than every other D2 Missouri public institution."
In fact, despite the elimination of wrestling and men's tennis, Truman State will still sponsor more varsity sports (18) than the other 12 four-year public institutions in Missouri with the exception of the University of Missouri-Columbia, which has 20 intercollegiate sports.
The elimination of wrestling and men's tennis will not affect Truman's affiliation with the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The GLVC requires seven sports for membership: men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, softball and baseball.
"This isn't just an athletics issue on campus," Wollmering told the Kirksville newspaper in a phone interview Wednesday. "It's not like we just said to cut athletics for the fun of it."
The specifics of eliminating the Bulldog wrestling program
David Schutter, wrestling coach at Truman State since 1990 - the longest-serving coach on campus - said, "I had no inkling of this at all. I was blindsided. I found out at 9:15 this morning."
Following that phone call, Schutter said Wollmering met with him and the team at 12:30 p.m. There, Schutter said his athletes were "respectful" while pressing Wollmering to reverse the decision. Wollmering expressed the financial details on a whiteboard, claiming that the wrestling team costs $99,000 to continue.
Schutter is surprised the wrestling team costs enough money to help erase any gap in Truman funding, especially considering the program raising between $15,000 and $20,000 per year in alumni donations.
"I just think it's interesting you chose to go after wrestling. We aren't costing any money, we've got to be making money," Schutter said. "I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around this."
Truman State University is a four-year public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It was originally called Northeast Missouri State but was later renamed after Harry Truman, president of the United States long associated with the state of Missouri. Truman State has an enrollment of approximately 6,300 students. The school's sports programs compete in NCAA Division II.
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