U.S. Wrestling A Double Loser Leading Wrestler, Benefactor Gone In Du Pont’s Shooting Of Dave Schultz
In the span of a few seconds Friday afternoon, American wrestling lost one of its brightest stars and, perhaps, one of its most generous sponsors.
As the wrestling community mourns the shooting death of Olympic gold medalist Dave Schultz, it is grappling with implications raised by the identity of the only suspect. Police say Schultz was murdered by John E. du Pont, who donated $400,000 per year to the United States’ amateur wrestling program.
“Conceivably, the whole program could fall apart,” said Bruce Baumgartner, a longtime friend of Schultz, a fellow Olympian and head coach at Edinboro University. Du Pont’s money “helped pay the coaches and everything. This could leave us a fragmented team going into the Olympics.”
Maybe not. According to a statement released Saturday by James E. Scherr, executive director of USA Wrestling, du Pont’s sponsorship of the program ended seven months ago.
“USA Wrestling has not received any direct sponsorship funding from Mr. du Pont since June of 1995,” Scherr said.
Scherr said du Pont contributed $400,000 every year from 1987 to 1995. It was that steady influx of cash that led to the sometimes uneasy relationship between du Pont and the nation’s best young wrestlers.
“You had to be careful in the way you went about dealing with him,” said Rob Eiter, a member of the U.S. national team. “John donated quite a bit of money to USA Wrestling, and there was a fine line.
“The impression I had was that if you said the wrong thing, he would pull out. And you’re talking about half a million dollars or so,” Eiter added.
Baumgartner noted that du Pont did more than contribute money to USA Wrestling. By employing and housing some of the nation’s top wrestlers, including Schultz, and providing training facilities, du Pont allowed them to devote themselves to the sport full time. That aspect will be hard to replace.
It will be harder to replace Schultz and what he brought to the sport, said national team member Zeke Jones.
“Dave was the glue that held everything together, not just on the wrestling mat, but off the mat, too,” Jones said. “Dave was fun-loving, easy to get along with. He was more than a coach. He was a mentor, a parent to the younger guys. This is a big blow to the U.S. wrestling team.”
Baumgartner said Schultz had “one of the best technical minds in wrestling,” but he mourns him for other reasons.
“This is going to affect a lot of people’s lives,” Baumgartner said. “This is going to be devastating. The money is insignificant compared to the pain and hurt and suffering his family is going through.”