Private school's wrestling coach files suit after his team is barred from competing in tournament
A private school's wrestling coach has filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) after his team was barred from competing in a MPSSAA sanctioned tournament because there are home schooled students on the team. Carlos Sandoval, head wrestling coach at Progressive Christian Academy, is suing MPSSAA for $7.7 million. He also has named MPSSAA director Ned Sparks and MPSSAA wrestling tournament director Duke Beattie as defendants and is seeking $350,000 from each of them. MPSSAA rules restrict member schools to competing "only against high school teams" and stipulate that participants on school teams must be "students who are officially registered with, attending and representing the school from which they intend to graduate." Mr. Sandoval asserts, "They discriminated against a particular class of athletes, manufactured fraudulent rules, and applied [them] in an arbitrary manner. The ultimate goal is to [stop] the MPSSAA from issuing sanctions... that... disallow non-member schools from using home-schooled athletes." Dana Murray, an assistant state attorney general representing MPSSAA, plans to file a motion to dismiss the case on the ground that Mr. Sandoval "is not entitled to the relief sought as a matter of law."
Baltimore SunBy Lem Satterfield
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