A leaked video has amplified the spotlight on a California college and the wrestling program the school intends to cut after this final season.

California Baptist University is a private religious school in Riverside that has been quickly ascending in college sports. After competing for decades at the small-school NAIA level, the Lancers moved up to Division II in 2011 and up to Division I in 2018.

During that growth, Cal Baptist’s wrestling program shone. The Lancers won two national championships in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association and were instantly competitive in Division II, ending their five-year run at the level with back-to-back third-place finishes nationally. The Division I era has been a bigger challenge, though things had been looking up in recent years.

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But all of that progress is coming to a rapid halt in an all-too-familiar fashion for student-athletes across California. On Jan. 2, Cal Baptist announced it was shutting down three programs at the end of this school year: men’s golf, men’s swimming and diving and wrestling. According to Nolan Kistler, who was born and raised in Riverside, remains there as an attorney and is the program’s all-time winningest individual wrestler, the Lancers were blindsided by the news.

Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

Wrestlers wear “Keep CBU Wrestling” shirts while standing off to the side of the wrestling mat during a dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Baptist on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

“No warning whatsoever,” Kistler told SFGATE in a phone call on Monday. “The coaches, the kids, all the big donors, we all found out the same day as the public.”

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The school’s announcement included an FAQ page that said the move was done in the face of the “evolving” college sports landscape to help the school “realize the university’s goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands.” The language is very similar to what Cal Poly wrote when it cut its swimming and diving programs last spring — and also like Cal Poly (initially), Cal Baptist’s leadership said no amount of fundraising would lead them to change their minds. 

But unlike Cal Poly, which didn’t announce its move until after that season ended, Cal Baptist made its announcement as the wrestling and swimming and diving seasons were underway, and before the men’s golf season was starting. The intent stated was to help the athletes. 

“Although no time is ideal for this news, making the decision now provides impacted student-athletes and coaches with the greatest opportunity to consider their next steps,” the FAQ page reads. “It also allows our student-athletes to enter the transfer portal immediately instead of the conclusion of their season.”

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Wrestlers from Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Baptist hold up a “Keep CBU Wrestling” shirt during a match on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif., the last scheduled dual meet for the Lancers before their school intends to cut the program.

Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

But that has made the rest of this wrestling season tense — particularly ahead of the presumed final home dual meet ever on Feb. 21. According to a video that was secretly filmed and then leaked on TikTok last weekend, the match took place just a few days after a contentious meeting between the team and a school athletics official. 

The video starts with the unnamed official asking about the Lancers wrestlers’ plan to not wear the school’s singlet. Once confirmed, an official visible to the camera said he was “calling the president right now to be able to decide if you guys will be able to wrestle your last match.” The official gave the team an ultimatum: wrestle in the school’s gear or forfeit the last match and end their season. 

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Kistler said the wrestling program “had no part in releasing that video” because they still want to find a solution “amicably” with the school to keep the program. Still, the video was published and has gone viral: over 2.8 million views, 168,000 likes and thousands of comments supportive of the athletes. Kistler acknowledged the “positive effect” it has had on their cause.

“I think CBU realized that overly micromanaging can backfire,” Kistler said. “Our hearts go out to the way the kids were treated, and we don’t approve of that by any means. I also don’t approve of the video being shared, but it’s important that the public does understand what’s going on behind closed doors.”

Cal Baptist seniors are honored at the final day of what is planned to be the last wrestling season in school history on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

The wrestlers went out in their school-purchased singlets and beat Cal State Bakersfield on Senior Day. But the goal for the current wrestlers and alumni like Kistler is to save their program, not transfer to other schools. They’ve started up social media accounts, a website, offered T-shirts that they’ve worn all season (including on Senior Day) and launched a fundraising drive.

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So far, they have raised over $1.1 million from mostly small donations and wrestling lovers in California. But, as of now, the school hasn’t budged.

“We just want a seat at the table,” Kistler said. “We just want to talk to them and propose other solutions. But, unfortunately, we’ve kind of been stonewalled and they haven’t responded to any of our requests to sit down.”

Cal Baptist did not respond to SFGATE’s request for an interview or comment on Tuesday. 

The wrestlers found some support over the weekend at California’s state wrestling championship meet in Bakersfield. Kistler said the Lancers’ wrestling practice room has been a home for many high schoolers over the years, among them Coby Merrill. The wrestler for North High School in Riverside won the second state championship of his high school career on Saturday. Immediately after winning, Merrill held up the “Keep CBU Wrestling” shirt on the mat at center stage. He was applauded by the crowd.

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Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

There is a good reason for that love in Bakersfield. According to an annual participation survey, wrestling is growing at the high school level across the state and had 26,457 boys in the 2024-25 school year. California is, by far, the state with the most high school wrestlers in the country, according to data collected by the National Federation of High Schools. But as the high school numbers increase, the college ranks are going in the opposite direction. Cal Baptist’s plan to cut the program will leave California with only three Division I wrestling programs: Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield and Stanford.

“The state bolsters more high school wrestlers than any other state in the country,” Kistler said. “We’re disproportionately represented [in the college wrestling world], which means less opportunities for our athletes here in California.”

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Kistler noted many wrestling programs have nearly been axed before. Stanford planned to cut 11 sports after the 2020-21 school year, setting up a similar protest action to what the Cal Baptist wrestlers planned. In the wrestling program’s assumed final season, Shane Griffith won a national championship while wearing an all-black, logoless singlet in a sign of protest. Stanford reversed its decision a few months later.

Wrestlers at Cal Baptist University wear “Keep CBU Wrestling” shirts during their final home wrestling match on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif. The Lancers are set to be cut by the school after the 2025-26 academic year.

Wrestling action from the dual meet between Cal State Bakersfield and host Cal Baptist at the regular season finale on Feb. 21, 2026, in Riverside, Calif.

But while Cal Baptist’s wrestlers did what the school officials asked and wore the proper singlets for Senior Day, Kistler said the leaked video has changed things. In the video, the official is heard telling the wrestlers the school is allowing them to wear the T-shirts so they can have “a voice” while competing. But according to Kistler, the school is now clamping down harder on the Lancer wrestlers as they prepare for the Big 12 Tournament this upcoming weekend, with a new ban on the “Keep CBU Wrestling” shirts and discouragement from talking to fans about their cause during the meet.

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Despite the heightened tensions, Kistler is hoping people don’t view the situation as Cal Baptist and its wrestling community facing off with each other. He’s still holding out hope of finding a solution to keep the program.

“At the end of the day, I’m an alumni of the school, I love the school and I want to support the school,” Kistler said. “I want there to be a positive impact and I don’t want the entire country hating this school and it not being successful because of something like this.”

Cal Baptist is scheduled to take the mat for what could be the final time at the Big 12 Tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma, starting Friday morning.

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