SLIPPERY ROCK — Wrestling has become a dying sport at the collegiate level.

A group of former Slippery Rock University wrestlers have joined with the National Wrestling Coaches Association in an effort to resuscitate it.

The organizationfacilitated a hearing before the PennsylvaniaGeneral Assembly in November that included former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert and wrestling legend Dan Gable testifying on behalf of the sport.

Hastert was a successful high school wrestling coach in Illinois for 18 years before entering politics.

This coalition's goal is to seek a mandate for state-funded schools to notify the General Assembly before eliminating any wrestling programs in the future. Six PSACschools — SRU, Indiana (Pa.), California (Pa.), West Chester, Mansfield and Cheyney — already have dropped the sport in recent years.

Ultimately, the goal is to reinstate wrestling as a varsity sport at SRUand other state universities. SRUdropped the sport two years ago.

"In our case, Title IXwas the biggest issue with wrestling,"SRUpresident Robert Smith said. "No. 2 was funding the program.

"To stay in line with Title IX, we have to offer equal opportunities for male and female athletes. Football and wrestling are the primary two sports that don't offer a women's program with it. Our football program generates a lot of funding to counter that. Our wrestling program did not.

"When we reached out to our alumni to help us fund the program ... it was non-responsive,"Smith added.

Numerous SRUwrestling alumni, including Butler coaches Scott Stoner and Bill Mylan, and Shaler coach Drew D'Agostino, coach the sport at the high school level. Former SRUcoach Fred Powell founded the wrestling program at Slippery Rock High.

Powell said that Title IX is "good for athletics, but the interpretation of Title IXis not to hurt wrestling.

"An attorney is working on legal issues to challenge Title IXin that regard," Powell added.

"There was a lot of tradition with SRUwrestling,"D'Agostino said. "Ithink it stinks that they got rid of it. They had good numbers and it was a Division I sport.

"A few years ago, there were more than 200 Division I college wrestling programs. Now there's less than 90. That's an alarming decline."

Stoner described the ending of The Rock program as a "sudden and abrupt thing."

"We weren't really informed about it. All of the facts were not available,"Stoner said.

Smith disagreed.

"Our alumni were given a two-year window to help raise money and it didn't happen,"he said.

SRUathletic director Paul Lueken estimates it would take $130,000 annually to run a viable wrestling program at the university.

Stoner said the sport lost a proven training ground for coaches when SRUdissolved its program.

Powell concurred, pointing out that "the university's strong teacher education history helps churn out quality coaches."

"There's probably 40 head wrestling coaches who came from SRU,"Stoner said. "I walked on to the team as a student there and I'm still involved in the sport today. It changed my life. It changed a lot of lives.

"We're concerned about the trickle-down affect here. Fewer college wrestling programs in Pennsylvania means our kids are going elsewhere to stay in the sport — and there's fewer opportunities to stay in the sport."

Smith acknowledged that scenario.

"There are still plenty of wrestling programs thriving at the high school level," he said. "And there's no place for those kids to go."

NWCAexecutive director Mike Moyer recently sent a letter to every head wrestling coach in Pennsylvania urging them to contact their state representatives and senators about increasing the number of intercollegiate opportunities in the sport at state-funded schools.

Stoner wrote a similar letter and distributed it to fans at a recent Butler home wrestling match.

"There are tons of (SRU)alumni behind this movement,"Mylan said.

Ever since SRUdropped wrestling, Smith has maintained steady contact with Moyer. He described their relationship as one of mutual respect.

As far as wrestling returning to SRUas a varsity sport, "I don't want to say never forever,"Smith said.

"We would need to be assured and convinced we're in compliance with Title IX, had lasting funding in place, along with a women's sport, such as rugby, to maintain proportionality," he said. "I use rugby as an example because that's a very successful club sport here on campus.

"Could it happen?Anything's possible."