I am in complete shock. We received the news tonight not long after winning our 3rd consecutive National Championship that UNO plans to move to D1 and they will drop the wrestling and football programs.

There is a meeting at SAP Field House tomorrow (now today) Sunday 3/13 at 6 PM for the Regents to hear from us. If anyone can come wearing any team wrestling shirt, please join in our battle to save wrestling. If such a successful program is dropped, I don't think anyone is safe.

Please read this article for the real story about UNO's plans to drop wrestling. This is not bitter talk due to the announcement. These are all events we have experienced and tried to work through with a very difficult AD

http://themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=23332

Does the State of Nebraska have an Open Meetings Law - was the public or the school student body ever notified of their meetings behind closed doors, This is all about business and has nothing to do with the student athlete anymore. I can promise the UNO administration that there will be some long term (25 to 50 years) negative impacts. The institution will lose many supporters who make recommendations to other prospective students to attend that school. It is the beginning of an ugly battle and the focus is off the students and their ability to get a college education. If these college administrators want to continue to use state property (owned by the tax payers) in order to run a for profit business then they (AD, President, decision makers) should go buy private property and build their own buildings for semi-professional sports. They Nebraska Board of Regents, Legislature, Governor, Senators need to put a stop to running young students away from a college education.

Wow I am in shock!! Wrestled there back in the late 80's early 90's Coach Denney is the best guy ever. Trev Alberts needs to go.

What a joke. I feel pretty confident in saying that wrestling is about the only program (except hockey which is already d1) that could be competitive and see success right away at the division 1 level. I guess the positive side is they're not trying to mask cutting it by saying its because of Title IX which should make it easier to fight. He says it is a complete business decision, but at one point did college officially become business and not about the students? I mean I know it has been for quite some time and certainly since my first year of college, but at least students were led to believe that it was about their education. And if he's really that worried about making money in the long term scheme of things why would he get rid of football. Football is the biggest revenue sport there is and while it'll take some time to build a big time d1 program up, they would profit in the long run. Heck there's enough bowl games now all the team has to do is go .500 and they'll get money from playing in a bowl. You just don't get rid of a program with the tradition of the uno wrestling team though. Denney has been there for I think 32 years now and has coached the team to 6 titles in 8 years! It'd be about like Penn State not only firing Paterno, but dropping the program after a bcs bowl victory. I think Trev Alberts needs to go back to being a college football analyst. We'd still have to listen to him from time to time but at least his ignorant decisions wouldn't hurt students. I have no idea how in the world he managed to land the AD job at Omaha but he needs to be ousted. Good luck to the UNO wrestling program and all its supporters in fighting this, I really hope the decision gets vetoed.

This is so sad for the UNO wrestling community and the national wrestling community. What is even more depressing is that the chancellor appears to have such a strong wrestling background. I agree I hope they veto this decision. Three straight current national titles and I believe eight total national titles. It also has to be the worst timing of an announcement that I have ever heard of.

Yes!


It was not unlawful for the affected student athlete, student body, or the public to be noticed of the meeting. The following Attorney General's Opinion should answer your question.

"Committees of faculty, administration and students created by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska to advise the Chancellor of the University in his administrative/management function with respect to budget cuts were part of the management structure of the University and not public bodies subject to the open meetings statutes. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 92020 (February 12, 1992)."

The only thought I can formulate is.....Down with Trev Alberts!

I second that Ike. UNO is a tremendous wrestling program and a model for other programs around the nation. I hope the UNO wrestling team, alum, and community fight this battle and Win!

Shame on Trev Alberts for the timing of his cowardly phone call. You can't wait till Monday and meet with Coach Denney face to face?

Alberts is bush league and weak.

There are a lot of crappy decisions that college administrators make, but this has got to be one of the crappiest I have ever heard of.

cparks,

I also hope that they can find a way to fight it and win.

I agree with all of you. Denny is one of the greatest men I have ever met. He runs that program with a 20K budget and raises all the rest with the hard work of his assistants and his squad. Alberts has been out for wrestling every since his arrival. Ndsu and sdsu are in that conference with wrestling. Maybe unos arrival would allow a conference meet?

The phone call is the only was he could deliver the message without getting his a** kicked. Denny has been in battles with him before and would go to alberts office dressed in his jujitsu gi(sp?) Ready to battle!

Just in case anyone was thinking Trev Alberts can't be that classless, I just learned that when the wrestlers arrived at the UNO field house today after the trip home from Kearney they were unable to get in because Alberts had changed all of the locks on the building.
Additionally, Alberts tried to call coach DURING the awards ceremony last night to tell him of the plans to drop wrestling!!!!!!! It was upon coach returning the missed call (which I am sure coach assumed was to be congratulatory) that he learned of the plan.
This is a personal thing, Trev Alberts is threatened by Coach Denney's success and the level of respect he receives from not only those at the university, but the entire nation. As mentioned previously, Alberts has been an enemy of the UNO wrestling program from the moment he stepped on campus.
In my opinion, the best solution is to get rid of the source of the problem. Trev Alberts must go!!!!!

Sound like he needs to go. Maybe a national petition from the wrestling community would make a difference. Otherwise, it is like any other Dictatorship that runs a country into the ground.

Trev Alberts may have been an elite level college athlete as a Football player at Univ of Nebraska,but he doesnt have the clue for what building and maintaining a classy and top notch program in Wrestling fully entails and nor does he have the respect for the selfless commitment of Coach Denney, who is one of his best Coaches & someone Alberts as AD should be backing 110%. -

It amazes me how this young, wet behind the ears AD with very little experience can swoop in and have all the answers. I still cannot fathom how a program who was won 6 of the last 8 National Championships is just tossed aside. - I personally dont agree with the decision to go Division 1..but even if they do.. Coach Denney has PROVEN he will do what it takes to maintain a program monetarily and there is NO DOUBT he can field a highly competitive team at that level too ! -
I am in shock as a fan and can only imagine what those close to the program are feeling right now. My heart goes out to them and I sincerely pray that this plan of Alberts doesn't come to fruition.

I have already emailed Trev Alberts as I hope the rest of the wrestling community will do the same! shut down this scum bags server with emails and phone calls! Yes, I Kansas people and people across the country can be a factor in saving this program.

I made sure he was aware of how big of a coward and scumbag he was by the way!

Does anyone know if the Board of Regents has approveed this or if they have to?





Kevin Seybold

The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Regents is in April, but I understand they are considering having a special meeting before that one to discuss and vote on this issue.

SO THERE IS STILL TIME TO TAKE ACTION!!!!

Coach Church, I like your style!!!

How did the meeting go tonight???

I saw this on themat.com. You can suggest stories to ESPN "Outside the Lines". Simply put UNO drops wrestling after 3rd consecutive national title.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=1550773

Thank you for your support. We are still here in Omaha. I just couldn't bring myself to leave. We are fighting to influence the Regents.

The meeting with athletes was one-way only, no questions allowed and lasted about 20 minutes. The coaches had almost a 2 hour meeting with the Chancellor and the AD. It got pretty real. One football coach said he was hired in the last 3 weeks and was made promises that UNO already knew would not be fulfilled. The wrestlers and parents/boosters stood watch in the hall until the coaches meeting broke up. Coach Denney then gave us a recap of their meeting and we strategized our plan to try to save our program. The Regents Meeting by rule is an open meeting and must be announced in advance so the public can attend. I will post a list of the Regents and their emails soon.

Thanks for this. I copied it into our Facebook page and many people have already acted on your link.

If you are interested in learning more specifics you can read articles and see the video of the press conference yesterday with the UNO AD and Chancellor who is an ex-college wrestler and avid fan. Go to:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110314/NEWS01/703149908#shock-anger-at-uno-plan

I got back from Omaha early this morning after watching the Div. II tournament in Kearney. It has been a very up & down ride. I have watched over the years as wrestling programs get cut across the country, I have never had strong ties to one. I do feel that if a program as rock solid as UNO has been gets cut there is no wrestling program that is safe. I do ask that you take an active role in the protection of wrestling and write the Board of Regents in support of UNO wrestling

The administration is require to have minutes of all their "private" meetings at a public institution. These guys are not above public institutional requirements. They are suppose to also inform the public when they are having these discussions that affect the students. This is not a personnel matter it effected programs. It would be no different if they were trying to add a school of business or a nursing school it affected programs that were sponsored by the school. They are required to have minutes of their meetings and someone needs to get a hold of all their "private" meetings. Management or not they still have a responsibility to be open and honest with the public.

Nebraska talk forums address
We are posting all ideas and suggestions here, please help UNO

http://huskermat.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/3197030133

When Mr. Ablerts arrived at UNO he thought the wrestling program was a club team. Obviously he has an ax to grind. What he doesn't understand is that his legacy will not be one of taking UNO to Division I it will that he destroyed one of the most storied wrestling programs in Division II. No program deserves this, even UNO.

To hell with Trev Alberts, don't waste your time. Use your time wisely folks, the regents and the chancellor.

I urge each of you to take the time to at least send an email to these folks. Just make it a short email about why they should consider keeping this program. I just wrote a few sentences but included in there that I had told my wife, "this is a program where young men come out better than they went in".

Regents: tclare@nebraska.edu; hhawks@nebraska.edu; chassebrook@nebraska.edu; bwhitehouse@nebraska.edu; jmcclurg@nebraska.edu; kschroeder@nebraska.edu; bphares@nebraska.edu; rferlic@nebraska.edu; unkregent@unk.edu; unlregent@unl.edu; unmcregent@unmc.edu; unoregent@mail.unomaha.edu; johnchristensen@unomaha.edu

Chancellor: Call and email here-
Office Telephone: 402.554.2311
Fax: 402.554.3555
E-Mail: johnchristensen@unomaha.edu

Again, thank you for your support.

Some of the other sport athletes at UNO removed items and trashed their locker room.

That is not the wrestlers!

During the athlete meeting yesterday the football team walked out early.

The wrestlers stayed and at the end they all walked to the front, took a knee, put a hand on their teammate's shoulder and prayed right in front of the Chancellor. The wrestlers are all in class today because that is what their coaches told them to do.

I don't blame the other athletes for their actions. The do not have the leadership in their coaches telling them there is one more round and to keep fighting.

Just sent my 2 paragraph brief letter. Every fan of the sport needs to address this issue and a simple email, and phone call is not that difficult.

Just sent my letter and signed it,

Brad Means
Father of a FHSU wrestler

Thanks Ben. I have added my contribution and hope to see "Outside the Lines" take this and run with it. It is really sad that a terrific collegiate wrestling program like UNO can get kicked to the curb like this. Hopefully it won't.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/592659-summit-league-should-the-conference-flag-be-lowered

This is a Summit League Article. Must read.

Looks like UNO boosters are starting to take action, read the article below about a booster pulling his money and leaving the UNO Maverick Athletic Board all because of Trev Alberts and his decisions.

OMAHA, Neb. -- A major University of Nebraska-Omaha athletic booster was just days away from handing over a big check when athletic director Trev Alberts announced the conference change. Now, the booster's not only pulling his money, he's also quitting the athletic board.

The memories of football at UNO mean a lot to former Maverick linebacker Van Deeb. He's given money to the athletic department for 20 years and he's been an athletic board member for 18 years. But Deeb said after the last few days, it's all over.

“It's a 100-year-old program that's being destroyed,” Deeb said.

Deeb said the memories are starting to fade after Alberts' recommendation that football and wrestling be cut as UNO joins a new conference.

“My heart goes out to Coach Denney, Coach Behrns and all the coaches and student-athletes affected by this,” Deeb said.

A longtime booster, Deeb was days away from making one of his largest donations ever to fund a new facility in the Sapp fieldhouse.

“(It's) a welcome center for the recruits and their parents to come and visit with the coaches,” Deeb said.

The facility, however, will only remain on paper because Deeb said he is pulling his money.

“I'm no longer interested in supporting that project,” Deeb said.

Deeb said he will also leave the Maverick athletic board.

“It doesn't seem like we're involved in any decisions,” Deeb said.

Deeb said Alberts is making too many unilateral decisions, adding he believes Alberts is recommending the cuts for personal gain.

“One of my biggest concerns is that this is just a stepping stone for Trev,” Deeb said. “I guarantee you that Trev Alberts didn't come back to little old Omaha, Nebraska just to hang out and have a program without football.”

Deeb said he's holding out hope that UNO football and wrestling could be saved by Chancellor John Christensen.

did NOT realize the instability in this conference. in existence since 82 yet only 1 of 8 original members remain. 28+ since its formation. Only 2 have been members > 15 yrs.--yet UNO A.D. talks as if it was a real prize to be offered membership into this D1 revolving door and needs to be done ASAP --Really? UNO & Board of Regents--is this ___? what you want to risk for what others have worked so hard to build ? .....

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/592659-summit-league-should-the-conference-flag-be-lowered

From a friend's Facebook:

Justin Kilker, a former UNO alum who now works for ESPN posted this as his status...
"ESPN "OUTSIDE THE LINES" approved the story idea for the current UNO athletic situation and will be doing a story on the matter... just announced it at work today! pretty sweet, more details to come...."
AWESOME!!!!!

"For we wrestle not against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12

I am told the 8 AM Regents meeting will be webcast at www.ketv.com

Are they allowing for anymore discussion from the Wrestling Team and Football Team?

Any updates?

I just watched the Board of Regents vote, and it looks like it was a stacked deck going in! From a Wrestling Coach, Dad and Fan in Nevada, I am sorry about the loss of the sport at UNO. While it is a blow to all of us in the wrestling community, I can only imagine the frustration, pain and disappointment those closest to the program are experiencing right now. My heart goes out to all of you, and I wish you all the best of luck with your futures.

Andy Gebhardt

Seems like the board saw an opportunity with a nice package deal already set up for them. They didn't have to do any more work other than vote. Voting to find another solution would be too much work for them.

The fact that this was the only option on the table is disgusting. The sport teams were blindsided for a reason. Not enough time to prepare and all the raw emotion just played into the hand of the administrators.

What incredibly sad day for the wrestling community, especially for the UNO wrestling community! The whole thing seems unreal still.

As Eric Akin would often say - when life give you lemons make lemonaid.
I think this is more about Coach Denny, the wrestling team and their lack of support from the University. It sounds like he and his team had to raise most of the support for himself and the team. It sounds like they never really supported the team that much anyway. There are a lot of schools that would love to have a highly decorated team and coaches such as the UNO wrestling squad. If it is settled then - I would suggest that a move might be good for Coach Denny and his squad. UNO has set its own path and I hope they are able to live with their decisions - becuase time will tell the real story. I wouldn't expect any help from the wrestling and football community in their endevour. Kansas on the other hand seems to be adding wrestling programs and I would hope some of those programs pic up some of the UNO wrestlers and coaches. Programs will always have to deal with the small minded indivuals who cannot see past their own reflection in the mirror. In this case the AD is looking at the south end of a north bound mule as far as I can tell. A few years ago I had written the KU AD an ask for consideration of a wrestling program at KU - Lancer Lou ask me not to e-mail anymore. Well I e-mail UNO on behalf of the wrestlers and coaches anyway.(a lot of good that did) I hope she will for give me anyway for the e-mail. Good luck to all and the future has not shut you down but has given you new oppotunities for those who dare to seek new beginnings.

One old Grandpa's opinion

If it is a done deal I would suggest anyone affiliated with football, wrestling, cheerleading, etc. who are not in support of the schools plans to immediately transfer schools - get U hauls lineup and do not drop another dime in that town.
Rent u hauls from out of town, do not spend a dime on gas there, do not buy lunch in town, pack your lunches, terminate your leases, a mass group leaving all at once would have a huge economic impact on that town. Start shopping for a new school - finish the semester and pack up. Get the media involved.
Loyality to the University, the city, and the State University system may take a bit of a back seat. What would it mean to the school if 1000 students left tomorrow and found schools in another state.

I just cant put into words how dissappointed I am for all those great kids and Coaches that achieved greatness and now have had it all pulled out from under them.

Their affilitation is now with Coach Denney and each other. They achieved greatness that can never be taken away.

I am not concerned with them, Denney will continue to lead and support his "extended family" they will all be fine under his guidance.

Very sad day

Didn't Dana College drop athletics and a nearby NAIA immediately add and reaped the benefits? How about contacting other NCAA DII schools in the area (Ne, IA, MO, KS) and see if someone would add?

Throw in that the new MIAA teams have won the DII title every year from 2002-2011!

I would say with the fact Kansas has added 4 Universities with wrestling since 2005, we send an onslaught out to administrators and get UNO to come South!

Listen to UNO National Champion Mario Morgan at the Nebraska Board of Regents meeting. UNO should be ashamed of themselves. They sold their soul to sleep with the Devil.

http://serve.castfire.com/video/539271/539271_2011-03-25-102011.mp4

And to make a bad matter worse, UNO changed the locks on the locker room and the wrestling room while the meeting was going on. Trev Alberts is scum and I doubt UNO ever wins anything of importance again under his leadership.

I bet Trev Alberts is not even there in 5 years.