Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Wrestling BY BILLY COX Of The Gamecock staff When Jerry Pardue recently decided that it was time to pack his suitcases and take on a coaching position elsewhere, not many people knew about it. In fact, Pardue's role as coach of the USC Wrestling Club may have been the best kept secret since Carolina's NCAA bid to the- Eastern Regionals. For Pardue, who will take the reins of the wrestling program at Northern Kentucky in August, the '75 season was an arduous one in which his grapplers floundered to less than a handful of wins. However, the caliber of athletes he worked with and his won-lost record were hardly influences for his departure. "It's not that I'm really unhappy here," Pardue said, "but I have the opportunity to coach a varsity team. Yet, I can't help but feel a sense of frustration, because there are some dedicated young men here who want a varsity program and will probably never get the chance to have one." Carolina wrestling is a club sport, rather than funded by the athletic department, but Pardue thought there was a hope for change. "When I first came here," said Pardue, "I thought that wrestling could become a varsity sport, because, regardless of his coaching abilities, Paul Dietzel was and is one of the most fantastic athletic directors in the nation. "I'm convinced that if Dietzel were here," Pardue continued, "both wrestling and soccer would've been varsity sports, if not this year, next year." One of the official reasons given for not extending varsity titles to the two sports is the Title IX issue, calling for equal funding for men's and women's sports. "Okay," noted Pardue, "the athletic department says that the problem is an economical one rather than a philosophical one. Well, I don't buy that. The AD needs to make a firm commitment to soccer and wrestling, which it has never done. But it's just the kinda thing that a big university does. "It is inconceivable," he stated, "that the premier institution in the state can't support it. Look around. There are only two colleges in South Carolina that don't have varsity wrestling. "Carolina is the biggest university in the state, yet we have to go through the indignity, the humiliation, of losing to teams like The Citadel, and College of Charleston. I don't want it to look like I'm knocking these schools," Pardue emphasized, "but it just shows the sad situation that we're in." Pardue found It difficult to reconcile the AD's claim of having to tighten its purse strings. "Why, the mere structure of the athletic department is costing $20,000 more to operate this year than last year," he said. "They've got one athletic director, one assitant BUDGET HEARING The Senate Finance Comrnittee will have an open hearing on April 22'- 2:00 PM at the Golden Spur stage room coach lea 4thletic director, and two associate athletic directors," he said. "Now, I don't think its my place to tell the AD how to run its show," Pardue explained, "and I don't pretend that how I know how to. It's just hard to understand how you can cut back on your budget by adding more expenses. "Sure, the economy's tight, in which case, I think the AD has two alternatives. It can either curtail certain programs, or it can in crease its income. There are so many ways to accomplish the latter. It'd be interesting to find out the percentage of decrease in season ticket sales to football games if the prices were raised from $49 to $56. I don't think it would be substantial at all," he said. Pardue indicated that he thought football and basketball should still be funded to the maximum. "Anything else would be unreasonable, since they support all the other programs. But at the same time, you don't have to un dermine the other sports," Pardue said. "Realistically, I don't think soccer and wrestling could ac tually serve as sources of revenue for the AD," Pardue admitted, "but given the chance, they could carry their weight. Because of the emotional nature of these sports, they could generate income in one way or another, such as grant-in aids from the Gamecock Club, or "PH<i XtDe ves USC through clinic fees. I can name two people who would give two full scholarships to wrestling right now." Pardue sees little chance of wrestling becoming varsity in the future, citing a lack of help from inside sources as well as from outside. "While I think Bo Hagan (athletic director) is basically a nice guy, he hasn't been responsive to us. We at least sat down and talked with Dietzel. And the faculty athletic committee, let's face it, is more concerned with basketball ticket allocations for the deans than it is with involvement with other sports. "The thing of it is," Pardue offered, "is that USC is a very easy place to recruit. Anyone who was given a minimum amount of support could build . a fantastic program. We've actually got kids coming to us wanting to wrestle, but go elsewhere when they realize the predicament we're in." Now for Pardue, who has worked extensively on a statewide level to improve the status of wrestling (including engineering four open tournaments when there were none previously), a chance to reaffirm his worth awaits at Northern Kentucky. Thus he joins the ranks of the nameless minor sports coaches before him, lost in the shuffle of disillusion with an athletic structure that few people can explain or understand. M )Nr h/ANT You To 1i 1/.lKE AhAtTAE OF- HE i4E REC SPECIA LS. 22 oR LE9!% Cockfight '71 USC spring s Carolina's annual spring football game-Cockfight '75 will climax a full day of ac tivities, Saturday, April 26, in the "Day of the Gamecock." Head football coach Jim Carlen will divide his squad for the spring game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium, which will conclude 20 practice sessions. Also slated for the afternoon is a baseball game featuring the Gamecocks and Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. at the Rex Enright Athletic Field and a 4 p.m. track meet matching Carolina and Florida State. The Gamecock Club and the Lettermen's Association will co sponsor a barbeque dinner underneath the West Stands on CAROLINA VE Meeting 2 - 3 PM Russel For further inform K~~ ~~ (.P\N -I C . CRET OR...DR t1-T-F-1AT N-M WE R> T LY 0 highlights ports day ground level at the stadium from 5 p.m. until game time. Carlen and his staff have worked this spring installing the "Fifty" defense and utilizing the triple option offense, with both the I split backflelds. "We've been very impressed with the enthusiasm and spirit of the squad this spring," said Carlen. "These young men have done everything we've asked of them and we've made tremendous progress since the beginning of practice," he Paid. Tickets for the spring game are $2 for students and $3 adults and may be purchased in ad vance at the USC Ticket Office. Tickets for the barbeque dinner are $2.50 per plate. TERANS CLUB - April 22 Room 312 I House ation call 777-5156 I L ?Soutem Be