Wrestling team faces confusion and nears dismantlement

One misinterpretation between staff members bred into an entire fiasco for the Samo Wrestling team. Even though sports aren’t taught by a full-time coach, wrestling has, at this point, not been dismantled. Here’s the rundown: When Coach Mark Black told the athletic department that he will retire next year, he suggested that they try to find a new head coach. But the department somehow mistook what he said about him leaving for the next 12 weeks. Principal Dr. Antonio Shelton explained the frustration behind this and the current rush to correct this miscommunication. “That comes from people not listening to what was said. What happened with the wrestling team is that Coach Black did not want to take attendance. And when the coach doesn't want to take attendance, you can’t continue the class. So what we have to do is to find another teacher to teach the class, and not even necessarily teach the class, but take attendance and operate in that role,” Shelton said.  Without a coach, wrestling could have been dismantled as a 6th period since there wouldn’t be anyone to supervise. And although Black is retired, he still comes to teach about three times a week. Since Shelton understands that each wrestler had their own preference of how they wanted to continue conditioning, he gave each of the athletes a choice: to either take an AM P.E. class, be removed from the class or work something out with the athletics department.   “I get a part of what they’re saying as far as that this class will be over, but that’s not the direction that we were going for. But there are times when we don’t have a coach to be here with them everyday. We need to make a decision, because I can’t have kids without supervision,” Shelton said.  Regarding the rest of the week without Black, the Samo yoga instructor Jason Battung is currently instructing them, conditioning to keep them in shape for the rest of the season.  “After Coach Black discussed with the principal and the head of the athletic department, they realized their mistake and resolved to have Coach Black teach a few days a week off season,” Captain Nathan Garcia (’18) said.  With a current opening for the position as head coach, the wrestlers will continue to have Battung as their coach for the rest of the year. One of the wrestlers, Riha Prasad (’19), shared her thoughts on the sudden changes to the sport.  “The team is adjusting well to the changes. Although it’s not what I wanted, the incorporation of yoga and weightlifting to our regime will benefit our wrestling,” Prasad said.