Plan set for return of Fresno State wrestling, now fundraising for startup cost
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by Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
It was huge news in college wrestling when Fresno State president Joseph Castro announced this year that the rumors were true and the university would be bringing back its varsity wrestling team.
The program had competed on the national level and produced many outstanding athletes, including three-time NCAA champion and Olympic silver medalist Stephen Abas. In June of 2006, Fresno State dropped its wrestling program as part of cost-reduction measures and a long-range strategic plan for athletics. Extensive efforts by alumni, the local community and wrestling leadership was unsuccessful in saving the program at that time.
“(Castro) is a great person and a great leader. He is one of the main reasons I came here. He knows the Valley. He also knows how important wrestling is to the Valley. Once I got here, we sat down and made a plan to bring back wrestling. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here,” said new Athletic Director Jim Bartko.
On February 26, Bartko released a five-point plan for the athletic department. Included was point 4.0, entitled “Expand Competitive Opportunity.” It spelled out a game plan for the reinstatement of wrestling, along with the creation of a women’s water polo program. There is a three step process, initial fundraising, followed by the hiring of a new coach and the creation of the program, then the launch of fully funded Div. I wrestling and water polo teams. This would bring Fresno State's sports total up from 19 to 21.
The most recently reinstated programs on the Div. I level came in 2004, with the return of Binghamton and Bucknell as varsity programs. It has been over a decade since wrestling had this kind of great news.
“When I got here, I wasn’t going to take money from any current programs. I couldn’t see adding two sports by taking away from our other teams. I didn’t want to pressure the wrestling community and say you have to endow this forever. There will be a three year plan for this, no matter what. We have to raise $1 million over three years. A third of it is done already,” said Bartko.
What is key to understand about this fundraising effort is that once it is completed and the program is launched, Fresno State will completely budget the cost of the wrestling program, just like all of its other varsity teams. The wrestling community is being asked to help get this started. Once the team is established, the budget will be fully covered. The program will not have to continually fundraise for its operations, which is the case for a number of existing teams.
This is a substantial investment by Fresno State athletics in wrestling. By year three in the projected budget for wrestling, as published in the five-point plan, the Fresno State wrestling budget, including salaries, operations and athletic aid, will reach $689,293. The university is making this substantial commitment to wrestling. This is an amazing opportunity for wrestling.
Dennis Deliddo, the longtime Fresno State coach who retired in 2005, is among the leaders in the community who is spearheading the fundraising effort. Deliddo’s phone is ringing off the hook with people asking questions about the reinstatement plans.
“They are very excited. They are asking me questions that I can’t even answer yet. Now they know that they are getting Fresno State back. It is a very exciting time for us,” he said.
Deliddo believes that there is already about $100,000 committed to this project, and has set a goal of having as much as $250,000 raised in a very short time frame.
“It is crazy. This is one of the hotbeds of wrestling in the entire country. It’s nuts now, a very exciting time. It is going to happen and we’d like it to happen as soon as possible,” said Deliddo.
The focus is now on fundraising, but also on the next steps ahead. Bartko would like to hire a coach by January 2016, and give the coach a year and a half to put together the team and recruit athletes. The targeted date for Fresno State wrestling to be on the mat is the 2017-18 season.
“We are working on the facility right now. Things are on track. We still have a long way to go. We have people committed to this and we’ll get it done. We have a lot more community support for wrestling. We won’t have wrestling responsible for water polo. We will find that out on our side. But, we can’t add wrestling without water polo coming in also,” said Bartko.
The U.S. Wrestling Foundation (USWF) and USA Wrestling are working together to assist the fundraising efforts for Fresno State within the national wrestling community for the startup costs. The USWF will collect funds for Fresno State during the NCAA Championships in St. Louis this week, and has set up an online website for donations.
Click here to donate online to Fresno State wrestling
The goal of the reinstated wrestling team is simple, to build a strong program the right way and to become a championship team.
“I made it clear to all of our coaches. We are here to win championships in all of our programs. We will do it the right way. We will win conference championships and compete for national championships. We will strive to be the best. For wrestling, we have to have the right coach and build the program the right way. We won’t take shortcuts. We will buld a stable national program,” said Bartko.
The addition of another Div. I wrestling program has a huge impact on the sport, reaching well beyond just the Central Valley, the state of California or the Western states. Bringing back Fresno State helps wrestling across the nation, providing another opportunity for young men to compete at the highest level of college wrestling.
“I think this will be phenomenal for wrestling. Not many universities are adding sports. It is very hard financially, both for male and female programs. We will add two sports and succeed with all 21 of our programs. If we show success bringing back wrestling, others may follow,” said Bartko.
With the NCAA Div. I Championships going on this week in St. Louis, Bartko, Deliddo and so many others across California and around the nation are looking forward to the day when fans will see Bulldog wrestlers in action on the mats at a future NCAA Championships.
We are excited, the community is excited. Credit should go to the president and the former student-athletes who worked hard for this. Hopefully, in a few years, we will be at the NCAA Championships and doing well. We are excited to be back with Div. I wrestling,” said Bartko.
The program had competed on the national level and produced many outstanding athletes, including three-time NCAA champion and Olympic silver medalist Stephen Abas. In June of 2006, Fresno State dropped its wrestling program as part of cost-reduction measures and a long-range strategic plan for athletics. Extensive efforts by alumni, the local community and wrestling leadership was unsuccessful in saving the program at that time.
“(Castro) is a great person and a great leader. He is one of the main reasons I came here. He knows the Valley. He also knows how important wrestling is to the Valley. Once I got here, we sat down and made a plan to bring back wrestling. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here,” said new Athletic Director Jim Bartko.
On February 26, Bartko released a five-point plan for the athletic department. Included was point 4.0, entitled “Expand Competitive Opportunity.” It spelled out a game plan for the reinstatement of wrestling, along with the creation of a women’s water polo program. There is a three step process, initial fundraising, followed by the hiring of a new coach and the creation of the program, then the launch of fully funded Div. I wrestling and water polo teams. This would bring Fresno State's sports total up from 19 to 21.
The most recently reinstated programs on the Div. I level came in 2004, with the return of Binghamton and Bucknell as varsity programs. It has been over a decade since wrestling had this kind of great news.
“When I got here, I wasn’t going to take money from any current programs. I couldn’t see adding two sports by taking away from our other teams. I didn’t want to pressure the wrestling community and say you have to endow this forever. There will be a three year plan for this, no matter what. We have to raise $1 million over three years. A third of it is done already,” said Bartko.
What is key to understand about this fundraising effort is that once it is completed and the program is launched, Fresno State will completely budget the cost of the wrestling program, just like all of its other varsity teams. The wrestling community is being asked to help get this started. Once the team is established, the budget will be fully covered. The program will not have to continually fundraise for its operations, which is the case for a number of existing teams.
This is a substantial investment by Fresno State athletics in wrestling. By year three in the projected budget for wrestling, as published in the five-point plan, the Fresno State wrestling budget, including salaries, operations and athletic aid, will reach $689,293. The university is making this substantial commitment to wrestling. This is an amazing opportunity for wrestling.
Dennis Deliddo, the longtime Fresno State coach who retired in 2005, is among the leaders in the community who is spearheading the fundraising effort. Deliddo’s phone is ringing off the hook with people asking questions about the reinstatement plans.
“They are very excited. They are asking me questions that I can’t even answer yet. Now they know that they are getting Fresno State back. It is a very exciting time for us,” he said.
Deliddo believes that there is already about $100,000 committed to this project, and has set a goal of having as much as $250,000 raised in a very short time frame.
“It is crazy. This is one of the hotbeds of wrestling in the entire country. It’s nuts now, a very exciting time. It is going to happen and we’d like it to happen as soon as possible,” said Deliddo.
The focus is now on fundraising, but also on the next steps ahead. Bartko would like to hire a coach by January 2016, and give the coach a year and a half to put together the team and recruit athletes. The targeted date for Fresno State wrestling to be on the mat is the 2017-18 season.
“We are working on the facility right now. Things are on track. We still have a long way to go. We have people committed to this and we’ll get it done. We have a lot more community support for wrestling. We won’t have wrestling responsible for water polo. We will find that out on our side. But, we can’t add wrestling without water polo coming in also,” said Bartko.
The U.S. Wrestling Foundation (USWF) and USA Wrestling are working together to assist the fundraising efforts for Fresno State within the national wrestling community for the startup costs. The USWF will collect funds for Fresno State during the NCAA Championships in St. Louis this week, and has set up an online website for donations.
Click here to donate online to Fresno State wrestling
The goal of the reinstated wrestling team is simple, to build a strong program the right way and to become a championship team.
“I made it clear to all of our coaches. We are here to win championships in all of our programs. We will do it the right way. We will win conference championships and compete for national championships. We will strive to be the best. For wrestling, we have to have the right coach and build the program the right way. We won’t take shortcuts. We will buld a stable national program,” said Bartko.
The addition of another Div. I wrestling program has a huge impact on the sport, reaching well beyond just the Central Valley, the state of California or the Western states. Bringing back Fresno State helps wrestling across the nation, providing another opportunity for young men to compete at the highest level of college wrestling.
“I think this will be phenomenal for wrestling. Not many universities are adding sports. It is very hard financially, both for male and female programs. We will add two sports and succeed with all 21 of our programs. If we show success bringing back wrestling, others may follow,” said Bartko.
With the NCAA Div. I Championships going on this week in St. Louis, Bartko, Deliddo and so many others across California and around the nation are looking forward to the day when fans will see Bulldog wrestlers in action on the mats at a future NCAA Championships.
We are excited, the community is excited. Credit should go to the president and the former student-athletes who worked hard for this. Hopefully, in a few years, we will be at the NCAA Championships and doing well. We are excited to be back with Div. I wrestling,” said Bartko.
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