Staff Photo by Sam Martin
Tri-County junior Tyler Lashbrook wrestles with Winterset’s Jacob England at this year’s state wrestling tournament in Des Moines.
Area superintendents shed light on shared program
By Chuck Friend
The Record Editor
On March 15, the school boards of BCLUW, Eldora-New Providence, Hubbard-Radcliffe and Grundy Center will all have the topic of shared wrestling programs on their agendas. And while each board will be discussing sharing their programs, the partner relationship is the topic that will be drawing the attention.
For the past 22 years, BCLUW and Grundy Center have shared wrestling through a partnership called “Tri-County.” After March 15, that partnership agreement is expected to be severed, but, according to superintendent John Stevens of Grundy Center, both districts are walking away from the current shared program with no hard feelings and good relationships.
Meanwhile, BCLUW Superintendent Mike Ashton and Eldora-New Providence Superintendent Randall Nichols feel the new proposed sharing agreement for wrestling that is being considered between their respective districts has been positively received. Both are expecting their boards to give the proposal their nod of approval on March 15.
Stevens told The Record that the situation at Grundy Center came up in January, when the need to reclaim the use of the old elementary gym for their nationally acclaimed “pe4life” program dictated the impossibility of keeping wrestling mats rolled out in that facility for four months.
Stevens said that he approached Ashton to see what could be done about transferring the practices to Conrad, Beaman or Union. But he added, that if that was impossible, then he felt it best to look for a “new marriage”.
That had been an earlier topic for the BCLUW board, when concerns about the Grundy Center facility had the board looking into the cost of remodeling the Beaman gym or to build a multi-purpose/wrestling room in Conrad. Both proposals were cost prohibitive for the local district.
But this time, as practice facilities were still in question there was a new twist to consider: ending the current wrestling partnership; joining with another school(s) to wrestle; or wrestling on their own.
Ashton said that South Hardin contacted BCLUW to say that if Grundy Center pulled out, they would be interested in sharing with BCLUW. Talks began, with the agreement papers being drawn and presented to the BCLUW, E-NP and Hubbard-Radcliffe boards in February.
Stevens said that upon hearing that, the Grundy Center program also began “looking to reconfigure.”
“We are currently looking at a different marriage,” Stevens said. “And if their boards (the schools GC is attempting to begin sharing with) approve the reconfiguration this week, then we will have it up for approval on March 15 at our school board meeting.”
One concern that Ashton and BCLUW activities director John Schill had about keeping Grundy Center and then joining with another school, would be that the wrestling program would be elevated into Class 3A (the larger schools such as Waterloo, Des Moines, Marshalltown, Iowa City, etc.)
When asked if Grundy Center had any concern about their “re-marriage” bumping them up to 3A, Stevens answered, “We are not worried about it. We’re not scared.”
It can be noted that Grundy Center has only one junior high wrestler coming back next season and up to five that have wrestled with the JV or varsity unit.
Part of the problem with the wrestling program at Grundy Center is the rounds of reductions that are taking place with the budget cuts. Stevens said that the board has made $307,000 in cuts for the next year, but that only eight percent of that is from the activities fund.
Their second round of staff and program reductions included actions to drop soccer, spring play, one JV football and two JV basketball games, eliminate one assistant football and cross-country coach, freeze school purchased uniforms for two years, and reconfigure wrestling.
From the South Hardin standpoint, Nichols said that the matter of sharing wrestling with BCLUW came before the separate E-NP and Hubbard Radcliffe boards in February for preliminary approval. The matter was discussed at the South Hardin joint meeting last week and the response was in his words, “very positive.”
South Hardin has wrestled in Class 1A for the past few years, but Nichols said moving to Class 2A program would have little effect, as many of the meets and tournaments are against 2A opponents anyway. With numbers being down in both districts, he feels the move seemed the way to go for both BCLUW and South Hardin.
According to Nichols, the South Hardin program started with 15 wrestlers for 2009-10. However he said that due to a rash of injuries and ineligibilities, the Tigers suited seven wrestlers for sectionals. As far as junior high numbers, Nichols said to expect between five and eight in what would be a good core group of freshmen to work with.
Ashton said BCLUW is definitely pursuing the South Hardin proposal. BCLUW returns six varsity starters and seven who either wrestled JV or have some varsity experience, and seven who wrestled in eighth grade.
“Whenever you begin a new program you could have some boys that participated last season decide not to go out, and others that did not participate decide to try the sport,” Nichols said. “It seems like a win-win situation for both districts.”
The plan is for the BCLUW, Hubbard Radcliffe and Eldora-New Providence school boards to consider the proposal independently, sort through the agreement details on March 15 and then vote to approve or deny the program.
The school board meetings on March 15 are open to the public. BCLUW’s meeting is at 6 p.m. at the high school media center. The E-NP board meets at 6:30 p. m. and the Hubbard-Radcliffe Board at 7 p.m.
The Grundy Center Board meets at 5 p.m. to discuss their future plans.
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