Wrestling goes back to club status at Fairbanks
With low numbers for the past couple seasons, Fairbanks High School’s wrestling program has been downgraded to a club sport.
However, a plan to address increasing participation is being devised.
According to athletic director Logan Dunn, the department has a policy that dictates when a club sport can evolve into a varsity program. Similarly, it also has a policy for varsity sports downsizing to a club program.
“Following that policy and looking at our numbers at the high school level, our male wrestling fell below the threshold to remain a varsity sport and the same thing goes for the female side,” he said.
In 2021 and 2022, Fairbanks’ wrestling program practiced in an off-site location in Milford Center. In Dunn’s evaluation of the program, the funding of the offsite location did not make sense given the participation.
“We looked at bringing wrestling back on campus, but without a dedicated wrestling space, I had to get creative with the facility I was able to offer not just to our high school wrestlers, but also for our middle school and youth,” Dunn said.
Fairbanks’ Ellie Chippas (right) competes in a match as part of the Heart of Ohio girls wrestling tournament last season. The Lady Panthers’ wrestling club will still represent Fairbanks in matches, tournament and postseason competitions.
(Photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
Prior to a meeting with the program’s booster group, Dunn said he reached out to Marysville girls coach Shawn Andrews and Triad boys coach Derek Sharp.
The effort was made to join forces so that Fairbanks could sustain its program moving forward and give members of the club a better experience.
“We’re currently under five girls wrestling at the high school level and no boys participating,” Dunn said.
Eric Chippas will serve as the club’s main leader. After having a private meeting with Andrews, Chippas decided that a partnership with Marysville will give Fairbanks the assistance it needs.
“We sort of cobbled together a practice schedule and it’s going to involve some neighboring districts,” Chippas said. FHS will partner with Columbus DeSales and MHS for occasional practices.
Fairbanks will practice with Marysville twice a week, giving his club’s membership a chance to fine-tune their skills against an established program.
“They are excited about it,” Chippas said. “We’ve practiced there in the past and they know they are going to get good looks there. It will make them better wrestlers.”
Before conversations between the two programs began, Andrews spoke with Fairbanks assistant principal Morgan Cotter about the club’s status. He shared his contact information with Cotter in case Fairbanks needed assistance.
“When I talked to (Chippas) we just discussed what that (the partnership) might look like,” Andrews said
Chippas said Andrews has been supportive of Fairbanks’ wrestling program in the past.
The Monarchs allowed heavyweight Billy Reed-Bodey to practice with the team. Reed-Bodey placed sixth in the state at 285 pounds his final season at Fairbanks.
“We had no one to wrestle him — the next closest weight to him was 152 pounds.” said Chippas. “Coach Andrews allowed Billy to train with his guys.
“He has done a lot to help us.”
A challenge that Andrews and Chippas will have to monitor this season is the potential competition implications that working together will have.
Fairbanks’ boys program competed in Division III, while MHS is in Division I.
That made postseason implications a none issue.
However, since girls wrestling is combined into one division, there may be a chance that a Lady Panther and a Lady Monarch will face one another.
“With girls having one division, now you are potentially practicing with a competitor who is competing for the same spot come the end of the year,” Andrews said. “We are going to evaluate that throughout the year.”
Chippas said Triad offered to let Fairbanks practice with them.
However, the club’s leader wants to maintain a footprint on campus.
“Our numbers have dwindled,” said Chippas. “The last two years, we’ve practiced at the Lions Club in Milford Center and I believe that was one of the factors.”
As far as this season is concerned, the four Lady Panthers on the club squad will still represent the school and its colors during tournaments, matches and postseason competitions.
The team members consist of three sophomores and one junior with varying degrees of experience from newcomer to three years.
“I still want these girls to be proud they are from Fairbanks,” Chippas said.
As a club, the only aspect that will be different is the amount of funding the athletic department has set aside for its winter sports teams.
“The only thing that really changes for us is monetary,” said Chippas. “We are going to be providing our own transportation.
“The school will help, but we are going to be paying for some of our own tournaments and stuff like that.”
Like the sport itself, life presents challenges to which some can adapt and overcome. Fairbanks’ wrestling program faces another adverse situation with the hopes of getting back to a varsity program.
“We want to try and rebuild our program back to when we started initially,” Chippas said. “To make this work, we will eventually need to have space on campus.”
A vote on the Nov. 7 levy could have helped create a dedicated space for the wrestling.
That levy, however, failed.
