Elk Mound hires high school wrestling coach
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound school district is planning to have a high school wrestling team next year.
To prepare for a high school wrestling team, the Elk Mound Board of Education at the February 17 meeting approved hiring Sam Melton as the high school wrestling coach.
The numbers are looking good for a high school wrestling team next year, said Eric Wright, district administrator.
Elk Mound has participated in a wrestling cooperative program for the past few years with McDonell Central Catholic High School in Chippewa Falls.
Melton has been serving as the middle school wrestling coach, Wright said.
According to the Elk Mound Wrestling Club’s Facebook page in a May of 2023 post, Melton graduated from Spooner High School where he was a three-time wrestling team captain and finished third at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) tournament in his senior year.
Melton also wrestled in college, where he was a three-time Scholar-All American and finished the 2022-2023 season with a record of 25-21, according to the Facebook post.
The middle school wrestling program started five years ago as a way to start building a wrestling program in the school district, Wright said.
Melton teaches fifth grade at Elk Mound Middle School.
Under the WIAA rules, Elk Mound will have both a girls’ and boys’ wrestling team, he said.
Wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, Wright noted.
In 2023-2024, there were more than 350,000 high school students participating in wrestling nationwide. Participation by boys had increased by nearly 13 percent, and participation by girls had increased by almost 30 percent. The number of high school girls’ teams has quadrupled over the past 10 years, according to various internet sources.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Approved Kamri Rothbauer and Ellie Schiszik for the academic excellence scholarship and Erick Sandoval for the technical excellence scholarship. If Rothbauer were to decide on post-secondary education at school located out of state, the scholarship would go to Schiszik.
• Approved rescinding Policy No. 2264, nondiscrimination on the basis of sex in education programs, and approved Policy No. 2266 on nondiscrimination of the basis of sex in education.
• Approved a request from Matt Malmberg to attach his property to the Elk Mound school district. Wright said while he did not know for sure, he suspected that the Eau Claire school district would not approve allowing the property to detach from the Eau Claire school district.
• Approved a resolution supporting public schools’ week February 24 through February 28.
• Approved a retirement request from Cheryl Mauer, a Title I teacher at Mound View Elementary.
• Approved Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for Elk Mound’s 2025-2026 health insurance cooperative vote. Wright noted that each school district participating in the health insurance cooperative receives one vote.
• Learned that a proposed solar project, Muddy Creek Solar, has approached the Elk Mound school district about making a charitable contribution to the school district, similar to the annual charitable contribution offered by Elk Creek Solar. Wright said he would like to see information about the amount of property taxes the school district would be losing if the project moves forward.
• Learned that Mound View Elementary participated in the Kids Heart Challenge earlier this month in physical eduction and raised over $17,000 for the American Heart Association.
The Elk Mound Board of Education meets next on March 24.
