It stands on the second floor of the athletic building in a trophy case like so many other awards that mark grand moments in the history of Irish sport.
Between Joe Theismann’s 1971 Academic All-America award and a bust of the late athletic director, coach and legend “Moose” Krause, is the F. Patrick O’Connor Memorial Award for wrestling. A small plaque shows that last year’s honoree was Marcus Gowens.
Given in honor of a former Notre Dame wrestler who was tragically killed 20 years ago, the O’Connor Award is a lone reminder of the events of last April when athletic director Dick Rosenthal shocked the Irish wrestlers and their coaches in announcing the termination of the program just days after the team’s annual banquet.
Nine months later, the young athletes whose wrestling dreams were shattered by the decision still look back on it with a mixture of disbelief and bitterness. Wrestling alumni consider whether to launch a campaign to make wrestling a club sport with the hope it might return someday to the list of varsity activities at Notre Dame.
There were 14 wrestlers on full or partial scholarship last year. Four either were graduated or used up their eligibility and another was suspended from the university for an off-campus incident. Two are currently seniors at Notre Dame. Five of seven promising underclassmen have transferred to other programs and another non-scholarship wrestler, disgusted with how Notre Dame handled the matter, also transferred.
“When I was choosing schools, it was either Northwestern or Notre Dame,” recalls former walk-on Spencer Malcolm. “After a visit, I chose Notre Dame because I was flabbergasted by the whole tradition and all the family values they seemed to convey. When they canceled the program, it was a shock.
“When they pulled the rug out from under us, they did it in such a deceitful way, I had to leave whether it was best for me or not. I can’t even speak about how I felt about it.
“All I know is, I came back this past fall for the Notre Dame-Michigan football game and I never cheered as hard in my life-for Michigan. I don’t want to display bitterness, but it’s difficult to cheer for a school that just turns your stomach.”
Malcolm, who was a member of the of National Honor Society in high school and vice president of his senior class, transferred to Northwestern, where he is now a sophomore on Tim Cysewski’s team and loving every minute of it.
Rosenthal terminated the program because he said and still maintains, there simply was not enough interest in the sport on campus to warrant its continued annual expense, which amounted to $420,000 last year, about $20,000 per wrestler.
There is a changing landscape in college sports. Notre Dame, like administrations throughout the country, is struggling to meet Title IX requirements of providing women with equal athletic scholarship opportunities and Rosenthal bowed to this reality.
What stung the wrestlers most of all was the manner and timing of the announcement. It came within days of the annual banquet honoring a season in which the Irish finished second at the NCAA West Regional Tournament and just days before the national letter of intent signing day for wrestling recruits.
Rosenthal said the action was done at that time with the idea of continuing the program for one more year but, once the coaches were informed, they thought it better to terminate it immediately. It was a difficult decision for those who stayed and those who departed.
Notre Dame offered to continue the scholarship of any wrestler who decided to stay rather than transfer and it became a choice for all whether they wanted to continue a wrestling career or take advantage of the academics at Notre Dame.
In addition, it was difficult for some to receive wrestling offers from other schools. Other schools’ scholarship money already was committed because of the timing of the Notre Dame announcement.
Two for whom it was extremely difficult were Brian Murphy and Jamie Downey.
Murphy, from Patton, Pa., was a promising freshman wrestler and academic standout. He won the Pennsylvania state championship in his class, was a member of the National Honor Society and president of his class all four years in high school. Wrestling at 150 pounds, he was 10-5 as a freshman and finished at the NCAA West Regional.
Downey, form Lawton, Okla., also was a member of the National Honor Society and won the Oklahoma state championship in high school.
Unlike upperclassmen whose wrestling eligibility was short, the decision to choose between the academics at Notre Dame and finishing a career in wrestling was particularly acute for Murphy and Downey because they loved the sport, but also yearned for the Notre Dame degree.
Murphy opted for the Notre Dame education, but he didn’t like the choices he had.
“Other schools had already promised their money so the timing was terrible,” he said. “It wasn’t so much my decision not to transfer; it was just kind of taken away from me.
“It’s starting to wear on me a little bit now as the wrestling season is underway. I’m just sitting around, going to classes and because I’m not having that competitiveness on the mat, I’m missing a big part of my life.”
Murphy played inter-dormitory tackle football to try to feed his competitive spirit and talked to coach Lou Holtz about trying to be a walk-on with the football team. Murphy worked out during the summer for football, but when he returned this fall with his scholarship intact, he was told that the NCAA does not allow an athlete already getting a scholarship in one sport to play football.
Downey also returned this past fall to Notre Dame with ambivalent feelings. He tried out for the golf team to feed his competitive juices and made the cut.
“I figured golf is a sport where you can make money and you can’t in wrestling,” Downey said. “I figured I got a $20,000 education paid for, a month of Christmas off, fall break and spring break; but then, I just got to thinking about it. A buddy told me, `Jamey, when you’re 85 or 90 years old in a nursing home, and someone’s changing your diapers, all you have is your memories.’
“And, at that point, I knew a I didn’t want the memory of not knowing, of not trying to accomplish a goal that puts you on top of the world. Of not trying to be a national champion.”
Just recently, Downey completed his final exams at Notre Dame and is transferring to Oklahoma for the upcoming semester.
After a similarly difficult decision, another top flight Irish wrestler, J.J. McGrew, also transferred.
McGrew, from Cleveland, Okla., was recruited out of high school by top wrestling powers, but chose Notre Dame because of its combination of academics and athletics.
As a sophomore last year, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA at 177 pounds.
McGrew, the most promising young wrestler on the Irish squad last season, decided to transfer to Oklahoma State, but shortly afterward the NCAA put that program on probation and banned it from the NCAA tournament this year. So, McGrew decided to red-shirt.
“It was a tough decision to leave, but I wanted to give wrestling my best shot,” he said. If, when his eligibility is up, McGrew still doesn’t have his degree, he hopes to return to Notre Dame to receive it.
Others who have transferred include Chris Jensen, who is a starter at Oregon; Steve King, who is a heavyweight starter at Michigan and won the Ohio Open this year; and Harris Brumer, who plans on going to West Point.
Matt Beaujon, now a sophomore, and seniors Emil Soehnlen and Jamie Boy stayed.
“I knew I was going to miss it, and I do,” sid Beaujon, “but with the academics the way they are at Notre Dame, it was not a hard decision for me.”
The decision frustrates wrestling alumni.
Gowens, who also made it to the NCAA quarterfinal last year, and Jerry Durso, a three-year captain and All-American who holds the Irish record for most career wins (130) between 1985 and 1989, hope that somehow the program will be revived.
“I had a great experience at Notre Dame and I really love the university, but it never entered my mind that there wouldn’t be a wrestling program there,” Gowens said.
Durso and others would like to see wrestling revived as a club sport at Notre Dame and then resurrected as a varsity sport. Hockey as a varsity sport was suspended for one season, resumed as a varsity sport without scholarships and has enjoyed a resurgence with entry this year into the premier CCHA conference.
“There isn’t anybody among the alumni from the first team in the ’50s to the present who doesn’t want to see a program again,” said Durso; but Rosenthal holds out little help or restoring it to the varsity level.
“The possibility of a club sport has always been an option and we maintain the equipment and the room in case there is any interest on campus,” he said. “But as for a varsity sport, I’ve always been reluctant to say `always’ and `never,’ but I can’t foresee wrestling being resurrected.”
