Save Boise State Wrestling
On April 18--with zero warning to any students, coaches, or alumni--Boise State University suddenly announced that it was cutting its wrestling program, effective immediately. This is a shocking way to end a successful program that has been molding young men since 1959, particularly given the very strong wrestling following in the Boise area and the entire state of Idaho.
Boise State has a nationally competitive wrestling program that was top-ten ranked in 2010-11 and had an NCAA finalist that season (and again in 2013). Since 1999, it has produced two NCAA champions, two Olympians, 22 NCAA All-Americans, 30 individual Pac-12 champions, six Pac-12 team championships, seven top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships, as well as the very first UFC lightweight champion.
The Boise State wrestling program is incredibly important to the wrestling community in Idaho. Youth wrestlers and high school wrestlers throughout the state of Idaho look up to Boise State wrestlers and aspire to be one someday. These young wrestlers not only have an opportunity to watch elite college wrestling at Boise State meets, but they can learn the very same techniques at Bronco wrestling camps!
We want to keep this program alive because of how important it is--not just for students and alumni--but for the entire Idaho wrestling community. Idaho has more high school wrestling programs than high school baseball programs and over 2,200 high school wrestlers, plus many more youth wrestlers.
My name is John Dewey. I'm the father of graduating senior Austin Dewey (174 lbs), and I'm also the President of the Bronco Wrestling Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates for the benefit of Bronco wrestlers and amateur wrestlers in Idaho. We are raising $500,000 through this campaign to demonstrate the financial support of the wrestling community for Boise State wrestling, and to reinstate the wrestling program as an NCAA Division I sport at Boise State. All funds will be designated as a donation to the Boise State University wrestling program, conditional on the reinstatement of Boise State wrestling as a varsity sport.*
Your donations are tax-deductible!! PLEASE HELP US raise these funds to continue the wrestling program at Boise State and continue to grow the wrestling community in Idaho. No contribution is too small...or too large!! We know that $500,000 is a very ambitious figure, but we're wrestlers--we embrace the grind and have set our sights very high!
Please help us #SaveBSUWrestling!!!
*In the event that it proves impossible to persuade the BSU administration to reinstate the Boise State wrestling program, we plan to use the funds to support wrestling as a club sport at Boise State until the program can be reinstated and/or support amateur wrestling in Idaho, including possibly growing another college wrestling program in the state of Idaho.