The wrestling program at West Valley College in California has been saved, as the Governing Board of the college voted to reinstate the program.    On Thursday, Nov. 20, at its regular meeting, the Governing Board had the fate of the wrestling team as one of its agenda items.    According to West Valley College wrestling coach Jim Root, the makeshift meeting room had to be opened to double its size because of a crowd of over 100 people there to support wrestling.    "This one agenda item took three and a half hours," said Root. "There were speakers in favor of keeping the program and others from the Academic Senate and the Physical Education Division that spoke in favor of dropping the program."    After the session, the Board voted 4-2, with one abstention, to reinstate the program. This was the first time that an athletic team was on the Board agenda for a vote.    According to Root, the Board spoke about the interest in the team, especially from alumni and the local community. They also noted that the hundreds of e-mails received supporting wrestling during the past month also impressed them.    "This was a great win for the program," said Root.    Earlier this month, Root reached out to the California wrestling community, as well as the national community, asking for support to save the program. A decision had been made to cut wrestling after this season.    California community colleges compete in wrestling during the fall season. Root, who officially retired from his faculty teaching position in 2002, is coaching the team this year for free this year.    West Valley College has had a successful wrestling team and has made a strong impact on the community. Wrestling was started in 1964 as one of the college's first sports programs. The team has placed in the top 10 in the California State Championships 14 times, with a third place finish in 1993. Twice the squad has been Nor Cal champions. Numerous athletes have transferred to compete on the university levels. Six have been national champions and five have competed in the Final Olympic Trials.    Root is most proud of the fact that 50 of his wrestlers have gone on to coach wrestling on the high school and college levels. Others have become attorneys, business leaders, actors, athletic directors and on to other successful careers.    West Valley is the only wrestling program in Santa Clara County, serving 40 high school programs. The team roster has been over 35 students annually for the last 14 years. According to Root, the wrestling program has the top Latino enrollment of all of the sports offered at the college.    Root and the other supporters of wrestling decided to take the case for keeping wrestling beyond the athletic director and the college president.     "We are going to the Board of Trustees," said Root earlier this month. "We are going to the top down. I was a faculty member for 30 years and spent eight years as athletic director. I know how it works. I was getting nowhere going up the line."    Saving this California community college program was a big victory for wrestling in the state and in the nation. At its peak, there were 78 California community colleges with wrestling. It dropped to just 21 in 1985, but has held stable for a number of years. Saving West Valley College is important to wrestling at all levels in California. It was a victory that has preserved opportunity for future young wrestlers to participate in their favorite sport and receive a college education.