Voices from the mat: Save Wrestling stages rally at Fresno State.
By Ken Robison / The Fresno Bee
07/13/07 04:39:07


The incongruity of the scene was too sharp to ignore.
Nearly 20 dozen youths from all over California were gathered Thursday for the fourth day of a six-day wrestling clinic at Fresno State -- a school that whacked its wrestling program a year ago.
That's 225 wrestlers wearing Save Wrestling T-shirts, grabbing and clutching and taking down their buddies in the Fresno State student recreation center, not far from the office of John Welty, the university president blamed for the demise of the Bulldogs wrestling program.
That's a couple of hundred kids and a few parents listening to speakers decry the loss of Fresno State wrestling at a "rally" of sorts during a break in the action.
So incongruous was the scene, in fact, that the Fresno State administrator in charge of the facility, Derek A. Walters, entered the large room to deliver a message: If the Save Wrestling crowd wanted to rally, it needed to move to the free speech area.
He was a few minutes too late, as the pep rally was just about over. Clinic director Ken Chertow defused what could have been a confrontation by asking the crowd to applaud Walters for allowing the clinic to rent the room.
But that didn't stop former Bulldogs coach Dennis DeLiddo, the chief rabble-rouser, from exclaiming: "Do you believe this? We have a wrestling clinic and we can't talk about wrestling?"
Chertow, a former All-American and Olympic wrestler, stages dozens of wrestling camps around the United States -- including the past two years in Fresno.
He said he chose Fresno because Central California is a hotbed of talent and to demonstrate the large amount of interest in the sport.
"The goal is to educate," he said. "To get the [Fresno State] administration to recognize the importance of wrestling and change its mind."
His clinic had an all-star cast, including former Fresno State All-Americans Stephen and Gerry Abas, former Olympian Tim Vanni and current Stanford All-American Tanner Gardner.
The assembled multitude heard Chertow, DeLiddo and others give impassioned pleas to keep fighting for the reinstatement of wrestling at Fresno State.
"We're here, we're not leaving," said Stephen Abas, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist. "We're going to fight until we get our program back. Wrestlers don't give up."
The school axed wrestling last summer, after just one season under coach Shawn Charles. It cited budgetary reasons, but Save Wrestling supporters also believe gender equity played a role.
Clovis West senior Nick Fisher said Fresno State eliminating wrestling took away his option of wrestling for a Division I school in his hometown. He believes the sport will be reinstated eventually.
"I know it's going to happen," he said. "But maybe not in my time to go to college.
"The wrestling community is a strong one. We'll keep pushing."
The message has reached some ears. Steve Roza of Clovis, whose son Holden was attending the clinic, said he no longer donates money to Fresno State athletics and will not until wrestling is reinstated.
Wrestling supporters know the Fresno State administration expected them to go away. But DeLiddo and his troops, which include former booster's club president Tim Cornish and McLane High coach Bruce Lippman, vow not to let that happen. Even if they have to take their act outside.

The reporter can be reached at krobison@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6279.