SALEM – Nearly a year after the University announced it would eliminate wrestling after the 2007-08 season, a judge in Marion County said Monday that he’s going to have a tough time approving a preliminary injunction against the University because of the delay and other questions.
Equity In Athletics in Oregon, Inc., a group representing former Oregon wrestlers and coaches, is seeking the injunction to stop the elimination of the wrestling program by the University. Oregon Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny announced the addition of baseball and competitive cheer along with the elimination of wrestling on July 13, 2007.
Marion County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Ashcroft allowed lawyers from both sides 48 hours to file additional paperwork regarding the injunction before he makes his decision.
He said that because nearly a year has passed since the public announcement, an injunction now might mean putting almost an entire program together again instead of keeping one intact had the suit been filed sooner. Equity In Athletics filed suit on June 6.
Ashcroft also scheduled opening arguments for a later court date between the two groups for Sept. 8 at 9:30 a.m. in Salem.
Saying at the beginning that “this is a situation where by the end of the day there will be some knowns of the unknowns,” Ashcroft ended the session saying, “I’m ending up with a bunch of questions.”
Besides Kilkenny, Reneé Baumgartner, executive senior assistant athletic director, and Tom Larson, chief financial officer for the athletic department, represented the department on the witness stand. Former Oregon wrestling coach Ron Finley, along with several current and former Duck wrestlers, testified as well.
Both sides did seem to come to an understanding that Title IX equal opportunity protections did not play a role in the elimination of wrestling, as athletic department officials testified.
However, both sides didn’t agree on the term “discontinued,” with EIAO challenging when, or if, the program was really cut.
Finley said in conversations he had with Larson, he was told the athletic department hadn’t notified the NCAA of its dropping the program because it hadn’t been discontinued yet and it needed to honor the scholarships of remaining wrestlers. Lawrence Joseph, one of two lawyers for EIAO, said the handling of the situation by the University was poor.
“The school handled this internally,” Joseph said, “with a lot of mistakes in facts and the law.”
Larson refuted telling Finley the program was not finished.
Kilkenny said he is still committed to honoring those scholarships, but that any budget beyond that for wrestling next year is zero. He said his decision to eliminate wrestling was final when it was announced publicly.
“[Wrestlers and coaches] wanted to know what the silver bullet was, and I was very clear that there was no silver bullet,” Kilkenny said. “We can’t be all things to all people.”
While former Ducks such as Chael Sonnen, who coaches at the youth level in Canby, testified to the popularity of the sport throughout the state, Kilkenny said the decision was a factor of many things, including facilities, “money, community interest and support.”