Three Falcon High School wrestlers disqualified from competing, coach fighting back
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Joe Betterman is not new to the sport of wrestling. He won the Olympic trials, competing on the World Team, wrestled for the Army, and has spent years of his life as a high-level coach.
When he opened Betterman Elite Wrestling, a nonprofit wrestling club on South Academy, he was excited to help train young athletes. When four athletes asked to come to live with him and train at his club, he went to the school district they would compete in to make sure they were following all the Colorado High School Activities Association (CSHAA) regulations.
"I am very, very familiar with CHSAA bylaws… [we wanted to know] what the ins and outs of the bylaws are just so that we didn't set overstep on certain things. You know, take a kid to another state to go wrestle for club during the high school season would be against one of the bylaws there. So I mean, we're very familiar with them," Betterman said.
That's why he was so surprised when he got the call 10 days ago that his four athletes were suspended from competing, with District 49 saying they had violated CHSAA Bylaw 1850, which prohibits transferring to a new school for special training to compete in high school sports. To comply with that bylaw, one of his athletes sat out for 365 days. His other three athletes enrolled as freshman, so Betterman said they weren't required to sit out to be eligible.
All four students wrestle for Falcon High School, but attend Springs Studio for school. It's a public school within District 49 that allows for flexible schedules and does not have a wrestling team. Betterman said athletes from several sports attend Springs Studios to be able to train in their sports with more flexibility. He also said that model is used in different schools throughout Colorado.
"There's a ton of other sports -- hockey and basketball for example. There's programs that have 60 plus hockey kids that are being hosted with host families transferred in from out of state and then playing hockey for not only club but for other high school teams within the state," Betterman said.
He doesn't believe his situation is unique and is unclear on why District 49 and CHSAA believe he's violated their bylaws -- especially considering all four athletes were allowed to compete last year under the same circumstances.
"Nothing has changed with their status there. I'm still the legal guardian of these of these four individuals. The only thing that I would say that has changed is that the team is ranked number one now in which, you know, it creates a little bit more publicity for them," Betterman said.
When he first heard about the suspension, he called CHSAA and D49 to try to get answers. They told him they would investigate, and by Friday, January 28th, they made their final decision.
D49 told KRDO that the final decision meant three of the four athletes would be ineligible to compete. The district released this statement to KRDO before notifying Betterman, the coach and legal guardian of the athletes. The one student who is allowed to wrestle transferred under a separate circumstance, and will be allowed to compete for that reason.
Betterman said he hasn't received any written notification of the ineligibility. He said all of this information has been relayed to him over the phone.
"[I'm] very frustrated, I think that CHSAA really didn't take the time to really go over this situation -- and then they didn't follow proper protocol. The kids are really the ones that are at loss here," Betterman said.
One of the three athletes deemed ineligible is a senior, meaning this is his last chance to compete at the state level. He took second overall at the state championship last year and was poised to do very well at this year's tournament. His ineligibility will likely impact his ability to receive scholarships and wrestle at a collegiate level.
"As a senior, he busts his butt every day and does extra work when he can and now he's having his senior year taken away, and you know, possibly the state title taken away from him," Betterman said. "These kids are losing their opportunities. We have kids that are trying to get college scholarships, kids that families can't afford, you know, to put them through college and this would change their lives if they're getting scholarships."
By the time Betterman was notified of the final decision, state qualifiers are just two weeks away. Without any written communication from D49 or CHSAA, Betterman will attempt the appeals process, hoping it's completed in time for his athletes to compete at the regional tournament.
"They waited until kind of the last minute to sanction these athletes and now that might be too late to get them back in," he said.
Betterman also has lawyers involved and is trying to fight this decision however possible. He's raising funds to pay for those lawyers. He's also asking CHSAA to tell him what his younger athletes are doing wrong, so they can fix it for next season.
A fellow wrestling parent also started a petition to allow these athletes to complete. You can click here to learn more about the petition.
KRDO reached out to CHSAA, they referred us back to D49 for any questions about this incident. D49 released the following statement to KRDO:
"In collaboration with the Colorado High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), Falcon High School administrators conducted a thorough investigation into a claim presented to CHSAA that some D49 student-athletes who compete on the FHS wrestling team are out of compliance with CHSAA bylaws. In particular, multiple students may have violated a regulation which prohibits transferring schools to take part in specialized sport training.
As a result of the investigation, CHSAA representatives notified FHS administrators Friday that three student-athletes, who are enrolled at a separate D49 campus, but compete on the FHS wrestling team, are ineligible to appear in CHSAA sanctioned events.
FHS will follow CHSAA guidance, and the wrestling team will finish the 2021-2022 season with all remaining eligible wrestlers."
District 49
