On November 4, 2021, the PIAA District 6 Committee voted to punish the Bishop Mccort Wrestling program by suspending the coach for one year, and suspending the wrestling team from post season competition for a period of 20-36 months, as well as putting the entire athletic program on probation for three years.  This was for a recruiting violation that never occurred.  The only evidence that was provided was two pictures of a young man in the presence of the coach, one was in his driveway at a public celebration for the coach's son (the coach was unaware of the celebration as it was a surprise) and a video of the student at an open workout in the coach's basement.  Neither of these qualify as proof of any of the examples laid out in the by-laws, and both happened during the off season when the by laws expressly allow the coach to act as a private citizen.

This punishment is the harshest that has ever been handed down by a PIAA committee.  It was handed down by the Bishop McCort's immediate rivals who were disgruntled that a number of middle school wrestlers transferred to Bishop McCort during the pandemic. Middle schoolers are below the jurisdiction of the PIAA, so the committee decided to fabricate a recruiting violation from a sophomore transfer student who was not recruited in any way.  It was an extreme overreach by rival schools who should never have been given the authority to judge and punish a school against whom they compete. They have effectively been given the ability to gang up on a school that they decide will out-compete them in future seasons.

This all started with an initial transfer away from a public school in the district by a high school wrestler who was left to "deal with" a teammate who made racial slurs to this student who is black.  The coach thought he was handling the situation best by telling the wrestler that he needs to just deal with it. That life is hard.  The wrestler's family disagreed with the way he handled it, lines were drawn and sides were taken.  Eventually, the wrestler's family chose to transfer.  But it wasn't long before the wrestler's cousin, a world champion also began to feel fallout from the situation, and he too chose to transfer.   Where they chose to go was a Catholic school that also had the benefit of conducting live, in-person classes while the public school was still virtual.  It was basically a domino effect and about 10 middle school wrestlers also decided the environment at the Catholic school was an all around better situation.  

But because they were all in middle school, the old school had no recourse to punish the kids for leaving. (The original transfer was punished for his high school transfer by losing post season competition eligibility last year).  

So when another high school student from the old school experienced the same ostracizing, even though he wasn't a big wrestler, but he did work out with the group that transferred, he decided he wanted out too.  This time, the district committee had a way to punish the whole program.  They trumped up a bogus recruiting charge and voted to suspend the wrestling program long enough for those middle schoolers to feel the pain they wanted to inflict. 

We are calling upon the PIAA to immediately hear Bishop McCort's appeal and respond to the facts with honesty and integrity.  We are also calling on the PIAA to change their policies to make sure that violations involving coaches not be judged by the same district committee in which the school resides.

What has happened to Bishop McCort can happen to any school and any coach when the facts of the case can be misconstrued and contorted to fit the preconceived narrative that rival schools create.  All so they can "level the playing field" to their satisfaction. This is a dangerous precedent, and should frighten every high school coach of any sport.

Please join us in calling on the PIAA to right this dangerous wrong.