Federal judge clears CBU to cut wrestling

Riverside Record: A federal judge denied three California Baptist University wrestlers' request to temporarily stop the school from eliminating their team, all but ending a monthslong push to save the program. District Court Judge Kenly Kiya Kato ruled June 3 that the athletes' claims did not show "a likelihood of success or serious question."

The wrestlers sued in late March, arguing CBU cut three men's programs to bring athletic participation in line with enrollment under a Department of Education Title IX compliance test — a move they said federal gender-equity rules prohibit. Kato found precedent runs against that argument and that CBU showed the decision rested on non-sex-based concerns, including finances. Pacific Legal Foundation, representing the wrestlers, plans to appeal but expects the case will be dismissed on this ruling. A local group that raised money to reverse the cuts says it will keep pushing, though some athletes and coaches have already moved on.