School district investigating incidents at wrestling state finals

– Contributed photo

School district investigating incidents at wrestling state finals

HART — The Hart Public School district is investigating incidents that occurred at last weekend’s wrestling team state finals, which resulted in the coaches not accompanying their wrestlers to the individual state finals this weekend.

“The district has been investigating two incidents that happened last weekend at the team state finals,” wrote Superintendent Mark Platt in a post on the district’s Facebook page Friday, March 3. “The decision was made to have another coach in our program, with the assistance of a previous coach, lead the wrestlers competing at the individual state tournament this weekend. Any students involved will or have been addressed through normal district procedures.

“The district understands that people desire information and deserve what is appropriate to share. The district continues to work through the process and will share information when able.

“We are aware of stories being shared. As often happens, information is not always accurate and is exaggerated.”

The team is/was coached by 2013 Hart High School graduate Elijah Flores, a Hart Middle School paraprofessional. Flores’s brother Josh Galvan serves/served as assistant coach.

An online petition launched in defense of the coaching staff has received 685 signatures so far.

This year marks the fourth consecutive year the Division 3 Pirate grapplers competed at the state level.

The team state finals took place at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo Feb. 24 and 25, and the individual finals are this Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4 at Ford Field in Detroit.

A voicemail message left with Platt seeking further comment was not immediately returned.

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