Bakersfield Wrestlers Win Major Title IX Ruling

In a major legal victory for wrestling, a federal court in Fresno, California ruled on February 22, 1999 that limiting the number of males on athletic teams in order to satisfy gender quotas violates Title IX. Title IX is the federal law which prohibits discrimination based on gender in educational programs, including athletics. The court¼s ruling came in a lawsuit brought by defending NCAA champion heavyweight Steve Neal and his teammates at the California State University at Bakersfield. The Bakersfield wrestlers, together with the National Wrestling Coaches Association, sued the California State University in 1997 to block an announced plan to eliminate the Bakersfield wrestling team in order to satisfy gender proportionality requirements. Under such Ýproportionalityÿ requirements, the percentages of males and females among a school¼s athletes must equal the percentages of males and females among the school¼s students.

In their lawsuit, the Bakersfield wrestlers argue that eliminating male athletes to satisfy gender proportionality requirements is illegal discrimination based on gender. The suit also seeks a ruling that proportionality requirements themselves are illegal because they effectively require exclusion of male athletes, since more men than women try out for college sports. Proportionality requirements have led to the elimination of hundreds of collegiate wrestling programs, and to caps on the number of wrestlers on many remaining teams -- all in an effort to reduce the number of male athletes at universities so that Ýproportionalityÿ requirements are satisfied. According to the attorneys representing the wrestlers in the case, Title IX makes discrimination or exclusion based on gender illegal, period. The law was never intended to be a quota law requiring elimination of male athletes.

Under last week¼s ruling, the Court extended an existing prohibition on capping the number of males on the CSUB wrestling team for the duration of the case. In its ruling, the court stated that it had concluded that Ýrelying on proportionality to cap the men¼s athletic teams at CSUB ... constitutes implementation of a quota based on gender in violation of Title IX.ÿ The university has already appealed this ruling to a federal court of appeals, and the case could be appealed to the Supreme Court as soon as this year. A full victory in the Supreme Court would likely end gender quotas in college athletics.

The wrestling team and the National Wrestling Coaches Association are represented in the lawsuit by California attorney Mark Martel, a former Stanford University wrestler and assistant coach, and by the Center for Individual Rights, based in Washington, D.C.

Although the CSUB wrestlers have been extremely successful to this point, the case cannot be ultimately won without significant financial support. Contributions are badly needed. Any donations are tax-deductible and should be made out to: ÝWrestling for the Next Millenuim/Neal Caseÿ and mailed to:

USA Wrestling
6155 Lehman Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

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