Three California Baptist University wrestlers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday challenging the school’s decision to eliminate the men’s wrestling team.
Paul Kelly, Cooper Shore and Jesse Vasquez allege the cuts violate Title IX by using proportionality as a pretext to discriminate against male athletes, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the athletes at no cost.
According to the PLF, which alerted AB Today to the lawsuit, the university, located in Riverside, announced it would eliminate the men’s wrestling, golf, and swimming and diving teams at the end of the 2025–26 academic year. By cutting men’s teams, the school can achieve near-perfect proportionality — matching roster spots to the student body’s male-female enrollment ratio.
“Title IX was built to open doors for students, not close them,” said Caleb Trotter, senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “Cutting men’s programs to hit a quota isn’t equality; it’s discrimination. Every student deserves the freedom to compete without being told there are already enough people of their sex playing.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, challenges the university’s misapplication of a non-binding Department of Education interpretation of Title IX, which the PLF filed a separate petition to repeal, noting that Title IX itself says schools cannot give preferential or disparate treatment based on sex.
