College Discontinues Wrestling Program

On April 2, Carson-Newman College announced that the wrestling program would be discontinued at the end of the '08-'09 academic year.

Currently there are 39 wrestlers on the C-N team. Without the program, many are looking to transfer schools to continue their wrestling careers.

Athletic Director David Barger released an official statement about the College's decision. "The difficult decision to discontinue wrestling came out of a desire to ensure the fiscal viability of the overall athletic program," said Barger. "We want to continue to serve their educational needs, but understand that some may seek to continue their wrestling eligibility at another institution. We are arranging financial assistance counseling for each student in hopes that they will complete their degrees at Carson-Newman."

Barger also mentioned that the decision was just one part of the overall downsizing of the athletic budgets and that the process was thoughtful and "sought to find the requisite savings as mandated by the institution."

Barger, however, has refused to make any further comments or have additional conversations on the matter until the Board of Trustees meet and have an opportunity to receive "full disclosure about the campus-wide adjustments."

The athletic committee will be meeting on April 30, and the Board of Trustees will meet on May 1. These are regularly scheduled board meetings but the Trustees must sign off on the cuts. 31 Years of Dedication

"We didn't have any indication at all that it was going to happen," Coach Don Elia said in an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel. "We were to have some one-on-one meetings with the athletic director to look at some budget cuts and trim some expenses."

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Elia never made it to the meeting. As he was preparing for it, he was called to bring his team, coaches, and graduate assistants together.

"I was afraid that it was going to happen. I had a meeting with David Barger and was told the team was being dropped and I was going to have a notice of termination," Elia told the Knoxville News Sentinel. "I'm more hurt than angry. I wanted the chance to retire with dignity and not a termination notice. I felt a little betrayed and that maybe 31 years were wasted. I've received a host of emails and phone calls that reinforced that I did some good in my time here. I hope somewhere down the road they'll see it's not a savings."

Elia has been coaching at C-N for 31 years. Under Coach Elia, 70 C-N wrestlers have earned All-American honors and 22 have won National Championships. Coach Elia also ranks ninth among all NCAA wrestling coaches for career wins with 468 wins.

Coach Elia says he is still puzzled about the situation.

"Deep down inside I feel a bit angry and hurt; I love this place. I have been coaching a lot of great athletes and now my journey has come to an end," said Coach Elia.

In 1978, Ron Case became the head football coach and athletic director at C-N. As athletic director, he helped start the wrestling program and brought in Coach Elia from Maryville College to be the financial aid officer and wrestling coach.

"He started the wrestling program with very little and during the past 31 years has built one of the best small college programs in the nation, as the walls of Butler-Blanc gym bearing the names of all the All-American wrestlers will attest. He has used his own time and money to make many improvements, with the assistance of his wrestlers, to the facility. Through his expertise in the area of financial aid, he has made significant contributions to Carson-Newman by assisting student athletes and other students, who otherwise could not attend, with their financial needs," said Case, in a letter to Dr. Randall O'Brien and the C-N administration.

Elia's last day at Carson-Newman will be July 2.

"It's going to be hard, but I'm going to do my best to get each of these boys into other schools so that they can continue to compete and enjoy playing the sport that they love. Some are not sure if they even want to wrestle anymore," said Coach Elia.

Springing into Action

Justin Ransom, a graduate assistant of Coach Don Elia's and a former wrestler and recent graduate of C-N, said that as soon as he heard that he would no longer be helping with wrestling practices due to the dismissal, he immediately took action, writing a letter to the C-N administration and working together with others to try to raise money for their lost program.

"The decision to cut the wrestling team has destroyed the lives of many of these athletes and coaches. It was very hard to get 30 guys together after a team practice, take them into a room, and watch every one of these men break into tears by crushing all their dreams, their hard work, and their dedication to the sport they love and the school that they have all grown a part of," said Ransom.

Paul Tucker is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He attended Carson-Newman's wrestling camp for three years with his brother, Robert, a 1993 C-N graduate. Robert was a three-time national qualifier and a three-time Academic All-American on the wrestling team during his time at C-N. According to P. Tucker, the wrestling team and Coach Elia had a "significant impact" on them during those camps.

"I believe my initial reaction to the dissolution of the wrestling program was absolute disbelief. I could not fathom why C-N would cancel such an acclaimed athletic program. After I gathered more information and learned that this was not a prank, I was disheartened. I felt as though an extremely important asset in the southeastern wrestling community had been lost," said P. Tucker.

Tucker tried to contact Barger for more information, but could find out no more than that the program had been cut for financial reasons. Tucker, like Ransom, also sprang into action. He created a Facebook group entitled, "Save the Carson-Newman Wrestling Program" and began calling and emailing everyone that he thought could be of assistance.