(Atlantic) Atlantic Schools Superintendent Steve Barber recommends the district not renew the wrestling sharing agreement with CAM.
Barber said last week; that the Athletic Union released the BED numbers from the October count day applying for classification in competitive interscholastic sports. The various sports have different classifications. Barber said that based on the 40-plus increase of students in grades 9-11 and combining that with CAM as a shared program, the Atlantic classification would move from Class 2A to Class 3A. This would result in the wrestling team competing against all metro schools.
Barber says the current enrollment in grades 6-8, the BED’s number will continue to stay at this level, meaning Atlantic would remain in Class 3A for wrestling for several years. “Personally, I think these schools have a competitive advantage over our kids due to the number of students available and how many wrestlers change location as wrestling is their number one priority to their education,” said Barber. “Additionally, I believe our rivalry, not only in wrestling, exists with many of our Hawkeye 10 Schools where many are in the 2A Classification.”
“After a lot of conversation with Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Duff, we truly believe the best decision for our student-athletes and the wrestling program is to not share with CAM in wrestling. Barber says Atlantic would have to sever its relationship with CAM to make this happen. “By doing so, their 119 BED number would not count, which would keep Atlantic in Class 2A.
“This relationship has been good, and this is a difficult decision,” said Barber. “We spoke with CAM and told them we will do what we can to help in this transition and are still interested in partnering with CAM with girl’s wrestling and soccer where our partnership does not put us at a competitive disadvantage.”
