SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – We’re learning details about new business plans announced by American International College on Wednesday. The result of their moves would result in the cutting of the school’s wrestling program. For the wrestlers at AIC, the sport is more than just trying to win a match. It is also about participating in an activity they love, which takes hard work and dedication.

“It’s different than any other sport. People don’t realize how hard we work and the dedication it takes. It doesn’t get the credit that every other sport gets,” said AIC senior Tommy Nichols.

Nichols and freshmen Teghan McConnell and Jack Sullivan came to AIC to do exactly this. However, now, they are dealing with a different kind of fight. Their team was told two days ago by the school’s interim president that the program was getting cut.

“We got almost 25 guys on the team right now with closer to a dozen, at least, recruits coming in for visits and a lot of them already saying they want to commit. It was really a shock,” McConnell said.

“I was obviously devastated because I’m a freshman. I want to do all four years here, but just looking at all of the faces around the room, I was just devastated because these guys are my teammates, but it’s a family. These guys are my brothers,” Sullivan added.

The move is being made as a result of a plan AIC called ‘Pathway to Progress,’ which will “guide the college over the next several years.” The announcement was made on Wednesday with the plan’s initiatives including the expansion of degree offerings and the launch of “a comprehensive re-enrollment campaign to engage and recruit former students to return to AIC and complete their degrees.” Interim AIC President Nicolle Cestero said in a statement, “Through this ‘Pathway to Progress,’ we have developed a data-driven roadmap that will only strengthen this institution that has existed for more than 130 years.”

The move to cut wrestling, the school said, was based on the ongoing enrollment trends, financial sustainability and industry demand. The team is not happy.

“If they’re taking the wrestling team, then I’m gone,” McConnell explained.

“If the wrestling team is officially gone, then there’s no point in me staying around. It’s off the table,” Nichols noted.

That is why, for the regular season, the team is calling their run ‘The Last Fight.’ However, Sullivan told Western Mass News they will fight the move before the program gets pinned forever.

“We’re doing everything we can to save this program, so it’s not over yet,” Sullivan explained. “We’re going to be posting on social media, sharing this message and getting it across to as many people as we can.”

The wrestling team is not the only athletic program that’s being affected. The women’s tennis team is also getting cut, while the men’s ice hockey team is going from Division I to Division II. All of these changes will be implemented at the end of the academic year.

The wrestling team set up a GoFundMe as part of their effort to save the program.

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