The Green Phone was created so the fans could voice their opinions. Give us a call and let us know what’s on your mind.
CALLER 1: Hi, I’m a fan of Gilroy wrestling and have been to several meets and watched several of the guys wrestle you’ve got a big discrepancy here. Adin Dueñas wrestled for the Gilroy Mustangs this year and he placed fourth in the nation. It’s nowhere to be mentioned in the Friday, June 16th sports section story “Fresno Fallout”, and I just thought that that was really poor of you guys to forget such a big accomplishment of placing fourth in the nation.
GREEN PHONE: Caller 1, thanks for writing. Here’s something to ponder. If we listed every one of Armando Gonzalez’s and Adin Duenas’ accomplishments over the past four years in every story about the two wrestlers, we would have no room to write the rest of the story. Our point? They have long and impressive resumes. You are correct, Duenas’ fourth-place finish at the Senior National Wrestling Championships after the conclusion of the high school season is an impressive feat – which is why the Dispatch did a story about it on April 6 (“Capping Off A Career”). The point of the “Fresno Fallout” story was to detail the unfortunate situation of Fresno State dropping its wrestling program, which is where the two wrestlers had signed to continue their careers. Just a day earlier, both athletes were recognized in the Gilroy Dispatch’s Athletes of the Year section.
CALLER 2: I’m calling about the “Fresno Fallout” story. It’s unfortunate for these boys that they’re getting kind of riped over by Fresno State, but if somebody had done their homework they would have realized that Fresno State has had the lowest graduation rate for many years under their former coach ???, who was forced out last year. And it’s a good lesson for any kid getting recruited, looking at Division I or any school for an athletic scholarship. Ask the question: What’s the graduation rate for this team and if a coach can’t answer you, it’s probably because he’s not paying attention. And that’s unfortunately what was happening at Fresno State. It’s bad for wrestling, it’s bad for those kids, it’s bad for everyone. Bye.
GREEN PHONE: Thanks for the insight, Caller 2. One of the fringe reasons Fresno State gave for cancelling the wrestling program was its history of poor academic performance. But mostly, this was a financial decision. New coach Shawn Charles had been brought in to turn Bulldog wrestling around. And a year is hardly enough time to make any long-lasting improvements. Also, it is rare for an entire program to be dropped because of academic shortcomings. Athletes can be kicked off the team, rendered ineligible or hit with probations from the university or the NCAA. So to say someone should have seen this coming is somewhat unfair. Nevertheless, you bring up a good point. The academic record of a program is often overlooked by athletes in the recruitment process. But it shouldn’t be.
