I have been fortunate enough to have both Eric Morrill and Derek Moore on the podcast. They’re great men and leaders of the Cal Baptist program. It’s hard not to be a fan of them and the then growing CBU program.

CBU hosted Iowa in a wrestling dual that shattered their Fowler Events Center attendance record with 4,676 fans in attendance. The high school program I coach at accounted for about 60 of those fans.

We were able to be shown around campus by CBU wrestler and current US service member Chaz Hallmark. He did a great job talking to not just our wrestlers but engaging with our parents. He showed great humility, maturity, and a good sense of humor. 

We saw the sick rec center with the turf soccer field on top of it. The sport performance center was state of the art. The vibe on campus was something that, in my soul, I believe inspired a lot of our wrestlers to want to wrestle at the next level. Six of the young men in that group are either now wrestling in college or have just recently committed to compete for a program this upcoming season.

CBU wrestling wasn’t just a program that was bringing in great recruiting classes, building men with strong character and faith, or punching guys through to the national tournament. They were inspiring a broader California community. People in the southern section are thirsty for a Division 1 wrestling team and CBU made an egregious mistake in cutting the program.

The argument that Nolan and Harlan Kistler laid out to me on our podcast a few months ago, outlined the argument the university has made in desiring to cut the program. They said that they needed to be Title IX compliant. If you aren’t familiar with Title IX, it was created to prevent gender-based discrimination with any education program receiving federal financial assistance. It is supposed to require equal opportunities in sports. While Title IX is a great concept, the implementation of it merely requires colleges to “make progress” towards being Title IX compliant, not being 100% compliant. Most universities across the nation are not totally compliant with IX.

So cutting CBU wrestling is not a compliance issue… is it a money issue?

The organization, Keep CBU Wrestling, announced that it raised $1.3 million in private donor pledges before the academic year has ended, enough funds to sustain the program an additional year. 

CBU said no. No amount of private donorship could reverse their decision. It was not a money issue.

So what gives? Why are you cutting the program, CBU?

Upon reading the recent Keep CBU Wrestling’s media release, they outline some interesting points that shows a build up to cutting the program before announcing the decision to do so two years in advance.

Here is a breakdown of the timeline that was on the media release:

2024: School declines a private donor’s off to start a wrestling endowment (strengthens the economic status of the wrestling team)

Summer 2025: School shortens Head Coach Derek Moore’s contract from 3 years to 1 year. 

Allows coaches to recruit wrestlers despite making these plans to cut the program.

Tells the program they are going to upgrade the facility.

January 2026: School announces they are cutting the program (middle of the team’s season)

February 2026: CBU’s Deputy Athletic Director, Joey Logan, threatens to cancel the match if the student’s protest by not wearing CBU singlets.

March 2026: CBU threatens to pull the athletes from the BIG 12 Conference meet if they wear KEEP CBU WRESTLING t-shirts at the event.

After the conference meet, student-athletes were given an hour to clear out their belongings from the locker room.

CBU knew they were cutting the program and still allowed coaches to recruit athletes to the university. They purposely misled the coaches and student-athletes in telling them they were going to upgrade the wrestling facilities. They have actively engaged in trying to silence students on campus from engaging and participating in anything related to Keeping CBU Wrestling.

Why are they so adamant about getting rid of the program if it isn’t for financial or Title IX reasons?

CBU has refused to give any answer. In absence of a clear answer, there must not be a reasonable one.

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Bryan Battisto

@bryanbattisto

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