Pat Dollard

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“The matter was addressed immediately by the cheerleading coach (Brad Turner). Any disciplinary action is being reviewed by the cheerleading program,”

Tulsa World:

The Oral Roberts University student who wears the Eli the Eagle costume during Golden Eagle athletic contests has had his wings clipped.

The male student involved in an intense scuffle between mascots during Tuesday’s champion ship game of the Summit League basketball tournament “will not be participating in that role for the remainder of the school year,” according to a statement issued by the school.

“The matter was addressed immediately by the cheerleading coach (Brad Turner). Any disciplinary action is being reviewed by the cheerleading program,” the statement said.

Summit League associate commissioner Ed Grom retired both mascots from action after a first-half scuffle between ORU’s Eli and Jawz the Jaguar, representing Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis.

“I told them they were done for the night,” Grom said. “I told them to take off their costumes and nobody else would be using them.”

University officials said the name of the student in question, clearly a male after having his costume head knocked off twice in the skirmish, would not be released.

The incident sparked interest Wednesday after a portion of the scuffle appeared on YouTube.com.

The scuffle apparently started as a dance contest between the mascots during a first-half timeout in the ORU-IUPUI championship game, but escalated into a shoving match with the mascots trying to wrestle and slam one another to the floor at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

The YouTube video shows the final few seconds of the scuffle. In it, the IUPUI mascot has his arms wrapped around the ORU mascot from behind and is pulling him to the ground as ORU marketing director Richard McCutchen rushes to stop the skirmish. All three fall to the floor.

McCutchen then receives help from two IUPUI male cheerleaders in separating the mascots, who then leave the floor.

Grom said he met with both in the immediate aftermath. Grom said both schools apologized for the incident and the league plans no disciplinary action.