The topic has been discussed before. I was in college when ND got dropped and we wrestled against ND in our regional. The story was the program was dropped in order to avoid an NCAA probe of the athletic program. The wrestling program had commuted some "minor" NCAA infractions and the NCAA used that as an excuse to drop the program therefore warding off the probe that was to take place. It was a self-funded program, as was another Catholic school, Marquette, which dropped around 2001. Both of those schools competed in the West Region at the time.
The ND roster was filled with top high school recruits, but their success in regards to AA's was limited. However, JJ McGrew, who was on the last ND team, transferred to Okie State and won a national title. Steve King was another guy on the final ND that transferred and earned AA status at Michigan. There may have been a few others.