A stripper at a Fresno State wrestling party? University must explain what happened

At the prompting of Bee staff writer Robert Kuwada, Fresno State admitted it is investigating if a stripper performed at a party held for recruits to the Bulldog men’s wrestling program.

According to Kuwada’s story, Fresno State’s athletics department immediately began investigating after it received “internal reports that a stripper danced at a party last year that included recruits on official visits to the university.”

Fresno State did not disclose who made the internal reports. But Athletics Director Terry Tumey said in a statement that “Fresno State takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and, as such, a thorough investigation into all aspects of the wrestling program was initiated immediately upon learning of these allegations.”

The key word in that statement is “thorough.” The responsibility for cleaning up this mess falls to Tumey, and his promise for an extensive investigation is both a basic expectation of the public and a must if Fresno State is to get past this embarrassing episode for a program that was just hitting its stride.

Returned sport

Fresno State wrestling was once a regular part of athletics, but when budget pressures hit in 2006, then-university President John Welty cut the program to save money. It was a bitter blow to the wrestling culture in the Valley, one of the state’s premier regions for the sport.

So wrestling aficionados had great joy when current President Joseph Castro announced the return of men’s wrestling in 2015. The first matches began in 2017.

On the mat, the Bulldogs are achieving success. This past year, five wrestlers qualified for the national championship meet.

And the program is doing better in the classroom. It posted an Academic Progress Rate score of 967 for 2018-19 and a multi-year score (four years) of 963; a multi-year score of 930 is required for a team to compete in NCAA championship events. The year it was closed down, wrestling had an Academic Progress Rate score of 871, among the bottom 10% of wrestling programs in the nation.

So it was indeed a shock to learn of this latest development allegedly involving a stripper. Such entertainment violates a rule in Fresno State’s student-athlete handbook that expressly prohibits using adult services or venues during any official recruitment visit.

What’s next

Fresno State’s contracts with its coaches require them to know and follow NCAA, Mountain West Conference and university rules, policies and bylaws, and to report violations to the athletics director and director of compliance.

“A failure to report could result in termination or suspension with or without pay for a period to be determined by the university president or designee,” Kuwada reported.

The NCAA can also hold a school accountable for violating policies.

Wrestling coach Troy Steiner is under contract through June 30, 2023 at $127,632 a year. The university has not said if Steiner had any knowledge of use of the stripper.

But if such a service was hired to perform for recruits who might have been high-school-age students, Steiner is clearly going to have to redouble discipline over his program, assuming he keeps his post.

This latest incident pales compared to some of the serious scandals that have hit Fresno State athletics in the past. Headlining the troubles was the reign of men’s basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose players were accused of grand theft, sexual assault and assault with a deadly weapon, among other crimes. Then there were discrimination lawsuits filed against the university by women coaches over lack of gender equity. Large payouts and a revamped sports slate that offered more women’s programs were the result. And in 2006 a men’s basketball player was convicted of shooting a woman to death in a botched drug deal.

Nonetheless, the stripper allegation comes at a poor time, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put all fall and winter sports into question.

It is not yet clear if wrestling — in which two competitors literally lock arms and legs around each other’s sweaty bodies in the ring as they compete — will actually be allowed, due to the possibility of a new wave of the coronavirus later in the year.

Tumey must ensure an investigation that is thorough and efficient — the process should not drag out. Nor should the results be hidden from view. Tumey and Castro need to publicly announce the findings. Indeed, both will be on the line for as much transparency as they can achieve to explain this sordid incident and how they plan to keep it from happening again.

This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 1:28 PM.