Colfax renews wrestling agreement with Bloomer
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — With only a few wrestlers and no head coach, it would be difficult for Colfax High School to have its own wrestling program.
With that in mind, the Colfax Board of Education approved another two-year wrestling co-op agreement with Bloomer at the March 21 meeting.
“We are limited as to what we can offer. We do not have enough students. We do not have enough coaches,” said Bill Yingst, district administrator.
Although administrators in the Colfax school district have been keeping an eye out for a wrestling coach over the past six years of the agreement with Bloomer, Colfax has had no ability to hire a coach, he said.
Only one teaching candidate in the last five years had an interest in coaching wrestling, Yingst said.
According to Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association rules, the agreement with Bloomer must be renewed before April 1.
One suggestion is that the varsity wrestling program could be at Bloomer but Colfax could host the middle school wrestling program at Colfax, Yingst said.
Travel time
Marty Harmon, who spoke about the wrestling program during the visitors’ section of the meeting, told the school board that traveling to Bloomer for wrestling practice has partially contributed to the low participation rate.
The varsity wrestling program started out with nine students this past fall and ended with four wrestlers, he said.
“That would change if the program was in Colfax,” Harmon said.
Colfax has a thriving youth wrestling program, but the participation drops off in high school, he noted.
The kindergarten through eighth grade wrestling program in Colfax has 40 youngsters. By way of comparison, Menomonie has 70 in its youth wrestling program, Harmon said.
“There’s good interest with the youth but it drops right off in high school,” he said.
The youth wrestling program has been in existence for ten years, and Harmon said he was recommending that the school board suspend the co-op agreement with Bloomer.
The wrestling program “needs to be here (in Colfax) to see the numbers,” Harmon said.
If Colfax formed its own wrestling program, the students would only be able to participate in invitationals for the first two years to allow the WIAA time to put Colfax into the schedule, he noted.
When Colfax competes with Bloomer in the combined wrestling program, then Colfax is competing against Division 2 schools because Bloomer is larger than Colfax.
If Colfax formed its own wrestling program, Colfax would be in Division 3.
Other wrestling programs in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference include Mondovi, Durand, Spring Valley/Elmwood, Glenwood City and Boyceville.
History
According to a history of wrestling in Colfax provided to the school board by Wes Grambo, athletic director, in 2014-2015, eight students signed up for wrestling but only three were participating by the end of the season.
In 2013-2014, 13 signed up for wrestling, but only four were participating by the end of the season
In 2012-2013, 11 students signed up for wrestling and four were participating by the end of the season.
In 2011-2012, eight signed up for wrestling and five participated.
In 2010-2011, five signed up for wrestling and two participated.
This year, Bloomer had 12 wrestlers. Last year, Bloomer had 14.
In 2013-2014, Bloomer had 17 wrestlers. The year before it was 13 wrestlers.
In 2011-2012, Bloomer had ten wrestlers, and the first year that Colfax participated in the co-op agreement (2010-2011), Bloomer had 12 wrestlers.
In 1992-93, when Colfax ended its wrestling program, there were seven wrestlers.
In 1991-92, there were eight. In 1990-91 there were seven.
According to the statistics Grambo provided to the school board, going back to 1980, the highest participation rate was 12 wrestlers in 1980.
In the year 1981, there were ten wrestlers. In 1982 there were 11 wrestlers.
No numbers are listed for 1983, 1984 or 1985.
The years 1986-87 and 1987-88 each had nine wrestlers, and in 1988-89 and 1989-90, there were ten wrestlers in each of those years.
According to an athletic survey distributed to students, out of the 10th graders who responded, 12 said they had participated in youth wrestling, three said they would like to wrestle, but none of them said they would wrestle if it conflicted with basketball.
Projected cost
According to information Grambo provided to the school board, the total cost of a high school wrestling program would be $12,750 for the first year, and about $10,000 after the first year.
Costs would include $5,055 for coaches; $800 for dues and fees; $575 for officials and workers; $600 for supplies and equipment; $2,720 for the initial cost for uniforms and headgear; and $3,000 for transportation.
The total cost for Colfax for the high school and middle school wrestling program when combined with Bloomer was $2,625 for the 2014-2015 school year and was $3,532 for the 2013-2014 school year.
For the first year, the additional cost to Colfax for a wrestling program would be between $9,000 and $10,000.
Agreement
“I don’t feel we have a better option at this time (than to renew the agreement with Bloomer),” Yingst said.
If the sixth, seventh and eighth grade numbers keep increasing, the school board can review the wrestling program annually, he said.
“We have always viewed the co-op (program) as a bridge to a Colfax program,” Yingst said.
Colfax resident Dave Blanchard and Colfax elementary principal Trevor Hovde have been coaching the middle school wrestlers, he noted.
“We need to start our own wrestling program. Two years is a long time,” said Jodi Kiekhafer, board of education member.
School board member Ken Neuburg pointed to the lack of coaches and wondered about college students being coaches.
School board member Kyle Knutson asked if any of the assistant coaches would be candidates for head wrestling coach.
If Colfax were fortunate enough to find a wrestling coach, the school district would have to be sure to ask for a multiple year commitment from the coach, Yingst said.
“If you find one wrestling coach, you might not find another one,” he said.
Motion
A motion made by school board member Ken Bjork to continue the co-op agreement with Bloomer at first appeared as if it were going to die for the lack of a second.
“If we do this, we will not look for a coach,” Kiekhafer said.
A chorus of “not true” “not true” came from the remaining school board members with several noting that Colfax has been looking for a wrestling coach for five or six years.
If Colfax approves the agreement with Bloomer, which must be renewed by April 1, Colfax can always back out of the agreement later if a coach is found, Yingst said.
With the assurance that Colfax would not have to remain in a wrestling program for two years even if the agreement were approved, Neuburg seconded Bjork’s motion.
The Colfax Board of Education approved the motion to renew the wrestling agreement with Bloomer on a vote of five “yes” to one “no.”
School board members Bjork, Neuburg, Knutson, Todd Kragness and Christie Hill voted in favor of the motion.
Kiekhafer voted against the motion.
School board president Joel Hilson was absent from the meeting.
Kragness chaired the meeting in Hilson’s absence.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Set a tentative date of June 1 for the staff recognition banquet.
• Approved four youth options applications for the fall of the 2016-2017 school year: two for UW-Stout and two for Chippewa Valley Technical College.
• Approved a CESA No. 10 contract in the amount of $2,215 for 2016-2017 for software updates.
• Approved a CESA No. 11 contract for continuing a variety of services, such as healthy, safe, and respectful schools; Title I administration and program services (which will be done in-house next year); Title III consortium for English Language Learners; audiology services; occupational therapy; physical therapy; special education consultation; Supporting Students with Disabilities Network.
• Approved hiring Kirk Secraw as a high school assistant football coach for the 2016-2017 school year.