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By Ray Hamill — The biggest annual fundraiser for College of the Athletics athletics will take place next week.

The Corsairs will host their annual athletics dinner and auction in the college gymnasium on Thursday night.

The event, which annually attracts around 450 community members, will run from 5 to 9 p.m.

And this year, the Corsairs will celebrate the return of a sports program that enjoyed plenty of success the first time around and has hit the ground running again the second time around.

Under the guidance of new head coach Brandon Benvenuti, the CR men’s wrestling team returned to the mats for the first time in four decades this past year, while the local community college added a women’s wrestling team for the first time.

Both teams enjoyed successful debut campaigns and should continue to grow in the coming years.

And on Wednesday, the Corsairs will honor a strong tradition in the sport and celebrate the first era of CR wrestling form 1967 to 1982.

Wrestling alumni Bert Van Duzer, Jim Sylvia and the 1976 wrestling team, which placed second at the inaugural California State Small College Wrestling Tournament, will be recognized at the annual fundraiser.

“Our athletic department is thrilled to recognize the return of men’s wrestling and the addition of women’s program, and to reconnect with the outstanding legacy of our wrestling program that operated from the mid-60s through the early 80s,” CR Athletic Director Bob Brown said in a press release earlier this year.

“Many members of those legacy teams have been instrumental in their support to reinstate these programs into intercollegiate competition this past season. 

“The goal is to create a similar level of legacy of success over time with (men’s and women’s wrestling) coach Brandon Benvenuti and his staff, mirroring the excellent wrestling that happened at CR under the tutelage of head coach Jim Sylvia.”

This past year the CR sports teams provided opportunities for 275 student-athletes, of whom 50 percent are local.  

And the Corsairs continue to succeed on and off the field of competition.

The college football, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams have all enjoyed tremendous success in recent years, while also sending many of their student-athletes on to four-year programs.

This year alone, 15 players from the CR football team, which won a first bowl game in 30 years, will continue their playing careers at four-year schools.

The Corsairs are also thriving in the classroom.

In the 2023/24 school year, female athletes averaged a grade point average of 3.23, while male athletes averaged 3.13, with an overall graduation rate of 77 percent.  

This year’s fundraiser is sponsored by Blue Lake Casino and Hotel, Wahlund Construction and Advanced Security Systems.