Effective next year, the wrestling and rifle programs at Rose-Hulman will lose their funding from the Athletic Department. The Rifle program has saved enough money to compete at the varsity squad next year but Wrestling is not as fortunate. Pete Gustafson explained the program cuts as a method to reduce the budget with the slowing economy. “Many years, athletics gets funding from interest off the endowment but with the slowing economy, it’s a loss of income,” he explained. Over the past couple years, Rose-Hulman has been reducing the budget by about nine percent, but cuts for next year will amount to somewhere around 22 percent.

This comes as a bittersweet moment for the Rifle team who recently beat nationally ranked Ohio State University. This past Sunday, the team defeated the buckeyes by a score of 4,374 to 4,034. Junior mechanical engineering major Lucas Weir recorded a career high score of 1,116 to lead the squad in the match. In addition, senior mechanical engineering major and wrestler Tyler Goble is having a standout season, currently touting a 24-6 record so far.

While these two programs are being affected the most by being completely cut, other programs are experiencing cuts, with the biggest cut coming from travel. One of the methods that athletics will be reducing prices will be going back to mini-buses that will be driven by coaches.

Additionally, athletics isn’t the only department experiencing major cuts. Gustafson stressed that every budget in the school will be making significant cuts, some more so than others, most the cuts coming from travel and professional development budgets, he said.

Post-game rundown →