City, West Wrestling with Transfer Dispute Tuesday, August 29, 2006
City, West wrestling with transfer dispute
Smith accuses Reiland of enticing transfers
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
The West High wrestling program has added City High's captain, another Little Hawk starter and a former state finalist, and Brad Smith is tired of watching his rich crosstown rival getting richer -- especially at his expense.
The City coach accused the Trojans of "enticing" wrestlers and voiced his complaints to the Iowa High School Athletic Association last week after two of his former wrestlers, Grant Gambrall and Jeremy Garvin, and Eagle Grove's Ridge Kiley enrolled at West.
"We haven't been able to prove anything, so nothing's going to happen," Smith said. "Probably nothing is going to happen now just because how are you going to prove these people are being enticed or recruited to come to the school? But look at how many people have come into that school."
West coach Mark Reiland has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing during recent years when a handful of top wrestlers joined his team and allegations of recruiting followed them to the Trojans. West principal Jerry Arganbright said he has investigated the accusations and found the claims baseless.
"There have been all kinds of things like that that we have listened to," Arganbright said. "I hear those things, and we certainly don't ignore them. We follow them up. But I would say we've tired of those accusations.
"We're not going to apologize anymore for parents and kids moving into our high school community because they like our program. ... It's not because anybody is inviting parents or kids to move in in those situations. That's where they want their sons or daughters to go to school."
The Trojans benefited from several wrestlers who moved in from outside the Iowa City school district during Reiland's first seven seasons. Brad Stockton and Mitch Mueller won state championships at West after beginning their high school careers elsewhere.
The Trojans won their first traditional state title in February. Four of their six state place-winners were wrestlers who came in from outside the Iowa City district.
"You take away the points from the kids they brought in and they don't win a state title last year," Smith said. "The enticement comes from: Look at the workout partners you'll have in the room. Look at the tradition we're starting. Look at all the guys who have come in and the bodies we're going to have in the room."
Reiland defends program
Reiland said the only thing the Trojans are guilty of is having a successful program.
"We're not giving anybody anything to come here," he said. "They're choosing to be a part of something that I think is pretty special right now. That's their individual preference."
Reiland said he won't tell a wrestler he can't move in to compete with the Trojans. Neither will Arganbright.
"I have no position of telling parents they can't move into our high school community," Arganbright said. "It's a compliment to us that people want to come into our school because they have a perception that our school is a strong academic institution or have programs our kids want to participate in."
Reiland seems amused by the source of the latest allegations against his program.
"I guess my memory is a little bit longer," he said.
Similar complaints were made against Smith and the Little Hawks several years ago. City added at least nine talented transfers during Smith's time at the school and captured a pair of state titles thanks to the boost it received from the move-ins.
Twins Dan and Dave Pearson came in from California in 1998 with hopes of parlaying their time in Iowa City into college scholarships at Iowa. They helped the Little Hawks to the 1999 traditional and state dual titles before moving back to California for their final two years of high school.
Three years later, City won the traditional and dual titles again but wouldn't have done so without three Waterloo East transfers. Johnny Galloway Jr. and Anthony Watson won state titles that season, and Justin Jordan placed third.
"Those guys weren't enticed to come here," Smith said.
Allegations not unusual in Iowa
Iowa High School Athletic Association executive director Alan Beste said his organization receives "a handful" of recruiting allegations each year.
"Most of those don't warrant an investigation," he said. "They're an unsigned allegation. It's an over-the-phone allegation where nobody's willing to give their name and nobody's willing to name a school. Those are things that we just can't follow up on."
Beste acknowledged the IHSAA has "had a couple people express concerns" about wrestlers enrolling at West.
"I think everybody needs to know what's going on because I don't think it's good for athletics overall or good for wrestling overall," Smith said. "You've got a lot of coaches who are getting upset at what's going on here. And I've been upset since (Reiland) has been coaching there. He's brought in a lot more kids than we have.
"We just had a bunch that came in during those couple years there with Galloway, Watson and Jordan. We've had a few other guys here and there and there are reasons behind that, and (the people at West) will give their reasons, too. That's why nothing is going to happen. But they've got to keep their eyes open and not be so naďve."
City loses its top wrestler
Gambrall's move across town is the West addition that stings Smith the most. He's losing a wrestler he coached for 10 years. He's losing a Cadet freestyle All-American and Greco-Roman national champion. He's losing his best wrestler and perhaps best leader to the team City and everyone else is trying to catch.
Gambrall finished his sophomore season with a 41-2 record, losing in the 160-pound state final. He was named the Little Hawks' most valuable wrestler and voted team captain. Those honors have been covered by tape with other names replacing Gambrall's on the plaque outside the City practice room.
"It's a blow to our program because Grant is an elite kid," Smith said. "And it's going to help them win a state title."
The Trojans probably would've started the season ranked No. 1 without Gambrall, Garvin and Kiley. Now they look almost unbeatable. West's roster has five state finalists, and that's not even counting standout sophomore Derek St. John, who placed third last year, and talented freshman Nick Moore.
Kiley was a state finalist in 2005 and placed third at 103 pounds last season for Eagle Grove, the school where Reiland won two state titles as a prep. But Kiley lost his top training partner with the Eagles when three-time state champion Mark Kist graduated, and Eagle Grove has been searching for a head coach.
"Ridge has got some goals and he didn't feel like he could do them there, and his family decided they would help pursue it for him," Reiland said. "That's not easy for a family to do."
Jeff Gambrall said his family outgrew its east-side Iowa City home after the recent birth of his fourth son. The Gambralls are building a house on Iowa City's west side that is expected to be completed in March. In the meantime, they are living in a townhouse on the west side while they prepare to sell their old home, which Jeff Gambrall said has been egged a couple of times since he told Smith that Grant would be attending West this year.
Jeff Gambrall said his family discussed keeping Grant at City. But they decided it didn't make sense to have him drive to the east side of town when his closest friends are already at West.
Gambrall struck up a friendship with several current Trojans when they started their wrestling careers in elementary school at the Hawkeye Kids Club and spent weekends traveling across the country to tournaments together.
"You were at the state tournament last year, you saw after he made his mistakes in the finals," Jeff Gambrall said. "Who was there supporting him?"
Iowa City has strict transfer rules
IHSAA transfer rules require an athlete to sit out 90 school days when moving from one school district to another unless certain exceptions are met. The most common exemption is when the entire family moves and establishes a permanent residence in the new school district.
Inter-district transfers are subject to the policies within that school district. Iowa City School District rules are more stringent than state guidelines, requiring athletes to sit out an entire school year unless a change of residence has taken place.
"It's not our practice to interview parents as to why you're moving," Iowa City School District Superintendent Lane Plugge said. "If we did that, we'd have to hire someone to interview parents. We have a number of kids who move each year."
Beste said that's something that gets lost.
"I think the thing a lot of people don't understand is there are hundreds of transfers that take place every school year, and the only ones that catch people's attention is when it's an elite athlete," Beste said. "The impression is that this is unusual for an athlete or family with a great athlete to be moving from one district to another when in reality it happens hundreds of times every year that families move for whatever reason."
But Smith remains skeptical of West's additions. He understands why Dylan and Tyler Carew wouldn't stay in the Clear Creek Amana district when the Clippers can't field a full lineup and West and City are viable options. But he wonders about Nate and Nick Moore leaving Dubuque and St. John coming in from Belle Plaine in recent years.
"To me, it doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense," Smith said. "There's got to be some enticement going on."
Allegations not easy to prove
Smith said he has no definitive answers or hard evidence to support his claims, just things he hears from others connected to Iowa high school wrestling. He acknowledges there are ties among the West wrestlers and their parents that were formed from years and miles spent together going to national tournaments.
"The fact that they're a part of a pretty successful program right now -- I guess that's enticement," Reiland said.
Jeff Gambrall said one of the bonuses for being at West is the environment inside the Trojan wrestling room. He wonders if their year-round commitment to the sport has been overlooked by some taking issue with the transfers.
"I think most people think wrestling season goes from the middle of November to the end of February," he said. "We don't treat it like that. None of us do.
"These guys are looking to wrestle beyond high school. They're certainly putting the time in. It's easier to do when you've got a lot of people in the same room working for the same objective. In some ways, that's a reason to be on the west side of town at this point in time."
Beste said the majority of the recruiting allegations that have been investigated during his 17 years at the IHSAA revealed no wrongdoing.
He said it's virtually impossible for the IHSAA transfer rules to interpret the intent of why a family moves, whether it's for a better academic environment or a better athletic opportunity.
"We are not blind to the fact there are some family moves that probably take place because the family believes their son or daughter is going to have a better athletic opportunity in the new school district," Beste said.
"It happens. It happens within the rules. We've certainly had discussions about that, and I just don't know that there's any way to stop that. And I just don't know if a family is going to make a family move that we can or should prohibit that.
"I'm not sure it's our position and I'm not sure legally that we can determine the intent of why they wanted to make that family move."
Reiland points out that West is hardly the only athletic program attracting top athletes in Iowa, or even the only wrestling team in the state gaining from address changes. He admits he's growing tired of accusations that he's doing anything improper.
"I'm not going to apologize for having a good program," Reiland said.
Reach Andy Hamilton at 339-7368 or ahamilton@press-citizen.com.
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