Story highlights Columbia University has opened an investigation into its wrestling team over alleged lewd group messages and texts

The university said the team will not compete until it has a "full understanding of the facts"

(CNN) Columbia University has put its wrestling program on hold amidst allegations that several members of the team sent lewd and racist group messages and texts.

The university said in a statement that it has launched an investigation and that wrestlers will not compete until the school has "a full understanding of the facts on which to base the official response to this disturbing matter."

The team's next scheduled meet is at the New York State Championships in Ithaca, New York, on Sunday.

"Columbia University has zero tolerance in its athletics programs for the group messaging and texts sent by several members of the men's varsity wrestling team," the university said in the statement. "They are appalling, at odds with the core values of the University, and violate team guidelines."

The alleged messages were captured on screengrabs and published on Bwog.com , an independent student-run campus website. According to the site, some of the messages are recent and others go back as far as 2014. The alleged messages included homophobic and racial slurs as well as crude sexual comments about women.

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