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Why not; Benton used an inelligible wrestler at State College and got shown the door mid-season. In AA, the same thing and the guy gets voted coach of the year. WOW!

Good one, Eagle! Not only that, there was a letter in today's Reader's Forum in the Trib discussing it, so therefore it is still newsworthy.

EagleAlum,

Come on now, you're putting down a coach as though it was his fault this dingbat kid was not passing his subjects.

Why does the blame get placed on the teachers, coaches, faculty? Come on people, there are 20 other wrestlers on that squad that took care of what they had to in the classroom.

Being in that situation myself, deflecting blame away from where it belongs is the last thing I would do. But as far as I know, every other school puts out a sheet on who's failing and who's not. To knowingly put a kid on the mat that isn't elligible is just as bad as what the kid did; they both let their team down.
I'm with you on the point though; nobody accepts fault anymore. And people wonder why kids have no sense of responsibility.

VAD1, you are not getting it. Coaches, wrestlers, faculity, administration, students, parents, PTA, somebody was there that knew and they did not keep the chain of command informed. Richland accomplished a very momumental task winning D6. Someone should have been keeping track of wrestlers GPAs. Don't you think!

i don't think you guys know how grading is done now. the teacher puts his or her grades on a computer and that ends their responsiblity. there are no grade sheets anymore. and it's not failling a semester. piaa rules say if a student is failing 2 subjects in any Week that athelete is not allowed to compete the following week. it is the responsibility of the a.d. to notify the coach. as i explained, richland went to this new grading system this year and no one knew how it worked. the fault lies with the student and the administration for not properly in-servicing their staff on this program before it was implemented. there is no way the coach knew this kid was failing.

GADZOOKS! That must be what happened to BM's Wadley! He slips on and off the team at least a couple times this school year, yet they continue to let HIM play! "Where's A.W.? He's off the team this week, didn't pass pottery 101. Don't worry, playoffs are coming up, he'll be back before anybody knows, especially the other teams! " Kinda like a "special dispensation".

Wrasslerfan, the whole point of this conversation circles around good communication between administration, faculity, coaching staff and their wrestlers in this case. I think everyone wanted to see Richland pariticpate in the State Dual championships and it was a shame the way things transpire. I'm sure this will inspire all of the Richland wrestlers who qualified for regionals to wrestle their best and strive for qualifying for states.

VAD1 and Wrasslerfan, I could not agree with you more. The problem here lies in the fact that no one holds kids accountable anymore. Everyone (or should I refer to the title 'irresponsible kid enabler') is quick to blame the adults—the teachers (whose job is to teach, update grades, offer assistance to their students, etc., not keep daily tabs on each and every student’s eligibility status) and coaches (who don’t know any better if the kids aren’t on the ineligibility list they are provided and if the kids say they’re academically ok).

What about the student athlete? Surely a kid knows if he or she failed an assignment, quiz, test, etc. and is in danger of failing a class. Even if they don't know, why not doublecheck with your teachers in areas of concern? If a student athlete wants to compete and contribute to the team, he or she would know the rules, be aware that you cannot be failing two classes in a week and still participate the following, and work at academics as well as athletics. They need to communicate with their teachers and see what needs to be done in order to get their grades up.

They are called interscholastic sports, and maybe this fact needs to be reiterated to student athletes. Grades matter. It is up to the kids to keep tabs on their grades and be responsible young adults. Kids need to grasp the concept that passing high school classes, though they may not care about them, is necessary in order to compete in what they love. I understand that kids have a lot going on in their lives, and as a coach myself, I also believe that high school sports are very important… but let’s not put the blame on the adults in charge.