(The Center Square) – Three California Baptist University wrestlers who filed a federal lawsuit over the elimination of the men’s wrestling program say the university's decision has upended their academic and athletic futures.
The lawsuit, filed on March 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges CBU violated Title IX by cutting opportunities for male athletes when it announced in January it would discontinue men’s wrestling, golf, and swimming and diving after the 2025–26 academic year.
CBU, an NCAA Division I school in Riverside in Southern California, competes in the Big 12 Conference for wrestling.
After the announcement of the sport's elimination, the administration sent an email on March 16, giving athletes one hour to retrieve their belongings, after which they would have no further access to the wrestling room.
“If you intend to wrestle at another institution but have not entered the Transfer Portal, we encourage you to contact the Compliance Office so they can assist you with either entering the portal and exploring other wrestling opportunities,” the administration said in an email shared with The Center Square.
A student journalist at The Banner, the university’s campus newspaper, attempted to report on the events following the elimination of several sports. However, in an email obtained by The Center Square, the administration said, “A story on graduating students is one we can support, but campus-wide, we are putting a hold on any publicity for men’s swimming, golf, and wrestling. Any athletes used for this story must come from our remaining teams.”
More than 150 students, coaches and families participated in a “Walk for Wrestling” protest on campus, holding signs that read “Don’t Take This Opportunity Away” and “#KeepCBUWrestling.”
Nolan Kistler, a 2018 CBU graduate, former wrestler and now spokesperson for the Keep CBU Wrestling movement, said athletes are being forced into difficult choices.
“I love this school, and I want it to thrive, but I also disagree with this decision, and I know there are better solutions than eliminating three sports,” Kistler told The Center Square in an interview
Kistler added that affected athletes have been “left with an ultimatum on whether to transfer and potentially be set back academically or stay here and not do the sport that you love and trained your whole life for.”
The lawsuit centers on a 1979 policy interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education that introduced a three-part test for Title IX compliance. One prong evaluates whether athletic participation opportunities are substantially proportionate to overall student enrollment by sex.
“Equal opportunity and equality do not mean quotas,” Caleb Trotter, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation representing the wrestlers, told The Center Square during an exclusive interview. “You cannot single out one sex for worse treatment than the other. And unfortunately, that's what CBU has done here. And we are hopeful that, combined with our Department of Education Petition and this lawsuit, it will spark a fundamental change in how Title IX is viewed and used by universities across the country.”
Two of the plaintiffs, Cooper Shore and Jesse Vasquez, spoke with The Center Square during exclusive interviews to share their reactions to the news.
Vasquez, a graduate student studying business administration, said he has wrestled since he was 6 years old. Before transferring to California Baptist University, Vasquez competed at Arizona State University during his undergraduate studies before returning to his hometown of Corona, Calif., to complete his final year.
Vasquez said he learned the program was being eliminated while preparing to compete at the Southern Scuffle, a wrestling tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“Everything that they promised me I came back here to do, and now it's all being taken away from me without any notice,” Vasquez said.
Vaquez is pursuing a spot in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics representing Mexico, but now he’s unsure where he will be able to train and prepare.
Shore, a junior studying exercise science, transferred from Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. He said he has wrestled since he was 4 years old and comes from a wrestling family.
Shore said he was on campus with other athletes when Micah Parker, vice president of athletics at California Baptist University, announced the elimination of the men’s teams.
“It's really hard to want to leave this community in terms of the school itself, the faculty and the support that you have,” Shore said. “But also, wrestling has given me this opportunity. Wrestling has been that avenue for almost all of us to achieve our goals, not just on the wrestling mat but in life.”
Since the announcement in January, the Keep CBU Wrestling coalition has raised more than $1.2 million.
“Imagine what we could do if we had more time,” Kistler said.
The Keep CBU Wrestling coalition has sent a formal proposal to California Baptist University President Ronald Ellis and board members requesting a three-year delay to explore solutions that would preserve the programs.
The Center Square reached out to CBU for a comment, but did not receive a response.
