KNOCH, Pa. — A local high school wrestling coach was fired after a complaint was filed against him following a tournament.
“We’re devastated. We’re devastated to lose him. He was an asset to our program, our girls, to our whole wrestling community,” Ashley Glover told Channel 11.
She is the mom of a girl on the Knoch Girls’ Varsity Wrestling Team.
Their head coach, Logan Downes, was fired by the school after a complaint was filed following a tournament the girls competed in last month.
In a video of the tournament on HUDL, you can see Downes wearing the tan colored shirt. After the girls finished their matches, coaches congratulated them, and you can see Downes tap a girl on the backside.
That girl’s mom tells Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek she never complained about the tap, which she said happens in every sport.
“This whole incident of firing the coach has affected her more than the actual butt tap, after her wrestling so hard all day, to get that third-place win that she got that day,” said Tiffany Greiner.
All three moms who spoke to Channel 11 were at that tournament. They said neither they nor their daughters noticed anything inappropriate.
In that video on HUDL, you can see Downes tap another girl as she gets up from her chair next to him, after she had won her match.
“They took whoever reported it, their opinion, and moved forward with what they chose to do without asking anybody anything,” said Kim Ireland, that girl’s mom.
The Knoch Superintendent sent Channel 11 a statement on the firing.
“The School District received a complaint regarding a volunteer wrestling coach. Due to the nature of the alleged conduct, the School District suspended the individual’s status as an approved volunteer coach. The School District has no further comment.”
The girls’ team is entirely funded by the boosters. The moms said Downes has been critical to the girls team, and to the boys as an assistant coach.
“They’ve just ripped him away,” Ireland said. “She’s [her daughter] getting ready to commit to college and wants him there in here corner.”
The moms plan to go to next week’s board meeting on January 14, hoping to get Downes reinstated.
“We want Logan to know that we back him,” Greiner said. “We’re for you. Our girls miss you as their coach.”
Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek called Downes and left a voicemail. That call has not been returned.
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