Pacific Lutheran, one of only five non-Division I four-year schools in the Pacific Northwest and Canada to offer collegiate wrestling, has dropped its wrestling program.    "After discussions between the president, provost and myself," said athletic director Dr. Paul Hoseth, "the decision was made to discontinue the wrestling program at PLU." Hoseth informed head coach John Aiken, then made the announcement to team members. "This has not been easy and certainly was not taken lightly," Hoseth added.    Hoseth noted the lack of Division III and Northwest Conference wrestling programs as a primary factor in the decision. With the demise of the Pacific Lutheran program, Pacific University, located in Forest Grove, Ore., is the only remaining Division III school in the Northwest Conference, and in the Pacific Northwest region, with a wrestling program.    "Our primary affiliation, the Northwest Conference, has not supported wrestling since about 1990. We have continued to support wrestling for years without strong philosophic justification," said Hoseth. "All other varsity sports at PLU are affiliated with the Northwest Conference or are moving in that direction. All have strong regional and national connections. Our preference is not to drop sports, but Northwest Conference and Division III wrestling in the Northwest is essentially non-existent."    Hoseth pledged that the Pacific Lutheran athletic department "will work with the current wrestlers to help them with their future plans," including possible transfer to other institutions with wrestling programs. Of 16 wrestlers listed on this year's roster none are seniors and 13 of them competed during the season.    The top wrestler in 2002-03 was junior Josh Rhoden (Prineville, Ore. / Clackamas CC), who won the Division III Great Lakes Regional championship at 174 pounds to earn a berth at the national tournament, where he lost both of his matches.    Among the remaining non-Division I wrestling programs in the Pacific Northwest are Simon Fraser University, located in Burnaby, B.C., Central Washington University, located in Ellensburg, Southern Oregon University, located in Ashland, and the aforementioned Pacific University.    Since the inception of Pacific Lutheran wrestling the program has had 13 All-Americans, starting with Paul Giovaninni in 1981, and one national champion, Brian Peterson, who won the 158-pound title at the 1994 NAIA tournament. Peterson later served as Pacific Lutheran head coach for three seasons from 1995-98.    PLU Wrestling All-Americans (Top 6 finish at national tournament):  Paul Giovannini, 5th, 134 lbs. (1981)  Mike Agostini, 5th, 177 lbs. (1982)  Chris Wolfe, 3rd, 142 lbs. (1985) and 4th, 142 pounds (1986)  Jeff Lipp, 6th, 177 lbs. (1985)  Adrian Rodriguez, 2nd, 126 lbs. (1987)  Bob Freund, 6th, 150 lbs. (1988)  John Godinho, 6th, 134 lbs. (1990)  Brian Peterson, 2nd, 150 lbs. (1993) and 1st, 158 lbs. (1994)  Nate Button, 5th, 134 lbs. (1994)  Quoc Nguyen, 4th, 118 lbs. (1995)  Tuan Nguyen, 4th, 118 lbs. (1996) and 3rd, 118 lbs. (1997)  John Aiken, 2nd, 150 lbs. (1998)  J.J. Hanson, 3rd, 190 lbs. (1998)