Investigation into Topsail wrestling program claims bullying, NCHSAA violations

Months after the Pender County Board of Education announced it would launch an independent investigation into the dismissal of Topsail wrestling coach Pete Smith, findings have been revealed.

Pender County Schools distributed a press release on Tuesday that contained hundreds of pages of information, many of which were heavily redacted. The release included a 27-page report from Schwartz Law P.L.L.C., a Raleigh-based law firm hired to conduct the independent investigation into the Topsail wrestling program and Smith.

Smith, who led Topsail to unprecedented success during his four seasons at the school, was fired in March, leading to confusion and concern from parents and community members.

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"Our investigation verified a number of concerning events, which alone or in their entirety, would give legal grounds for termination of an employee," the law firm concluded.

Here's a breakdown of the report's main findings and claims. Parts of the report and its hundreds of supporting documents were redacted. According to the law firm that conducted the investigation, 41 individuals - both school staff members and wrestlers - were interviewed.

Financial issues

Findings in the report claim Smith continuously mishandled team finances.

"While some of his errors early on may have been attributable to his inexperience with school finances, by his third year as a coach, issues of this magnitude should not have occurred," the report reads.

One specific instance cited claims Smith promoted a car wash fundraiser for his athletes and improperly promoted a coffee shop he owned.

"His Facebook post also suggested that people buy a coffee while getting their car washed. This was not an approved school fundraiser and the Venmo link included in the post was for the Irontide Wrestling Club."

Team Culture

The report concluded that Smith "Led a team which had multiple bullying issues" and mentioned several instances of potential bullying. The exact situations listed were heavily redacted.

One instance referred to messages allegedly sent between wrestlers on the team.

"Coach Smith sent a text message to advise that he had been made aware of the messages directed towards [Redacted] in a wrestling [Redacted] and that he found it to be appalling," the report says. "He advised that he would be addressing this the next day with the team. Coach Smith wrote, "I'm mortified and just want to say I'm sorry this happened. This is not how I want anyone on my team to be treated."

Assistant coaches

Smith fired three assistant coaches during the 2023-24 season.

Two were terminated after it was revealed that they wrote disparaging comments on social media about a rival wrestler at Laney High School. Those coaches, Edwin Aristizabal and Lukas Engledow, were terminated once Smith was aware of the incident.

"weren't you the one who lost it for Laney in overtime?!" Aristizabal posted on Instagram," the report noted.

"Coach Engledow posted comments including "LLLLLLLLLL" [i.e. Loser], "TRASH KID," "CHOKE BOY," and "JACKSON BUCK WANTS YOUR LUNCH MONEY LIL BOY." Both coaches also tagged the Laney wrestler in their posts on Instagram," the report continues.

While the coaches were terminated, the report says Aristizabal continued to be involved with the team and was present at the NCHSAA 4A East Regional tournament, where he coached a wrestler from the corner.

A third coach, Jarrid Braunagel, was fired after berating a Topsail wrestler after losing a match at regionals. One coach who witnessed the event told investigators that Braunagel "... had (The wrestler) up against the wall and was yelling in his face. He was so aggressive towards (Redacted) and used such profanity that (The coach) was about to step in when [Redacted] stepped in."

The report also raised questions regarding Smith's authority to fire the coaches, noting that Engledow and Aristizabal did not receive formal notice of termination.

Potential Title IX violations

More than two pages concerning Title IX violations were redacted from the report.

Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school that receives federal funding.

One example not excluded was the handling of Topsail girls wrestling coach Dashanigq Sidbury.

According to the report, Smith was unwilling to coach female athletes due to the physical nature of the sport and requested the school hire a female coach to train girls in the program.

Topsail Athletic Director Chris McGee hired Trask High School teacher Dashanigq Sidbury as an assistant coach for the team to handle female wrestlers.

"Coach Sidbury had no experience coaching wrestling and told us that she was learning on the fly. It is a potential violation of Title IX to provide coaches with substantially different qualifications for boys and girls," the report says.

The report said that Sidbury was told to leave practices and that those interviewed had no knowledge that she was a member of the team's coaching staff.

More claims

The 27-page report presented many additional claims, including wrestlers practicing during dead periods (an NCHSAA violation), unauthorized use of team facilities, and improper keeping of medical forms.

"Though some of the incidents described in this report may seem insufficient to justify a termination on their own, combined they created a troubling record. While Coach Smith (and others) have been extremely dedicated to their sport and developed a strong wrestling program and feeder program, the wrestling team faced many difficulties over Coach Smith's tenure," the report said.

Who is Pete Smith?

Smith took over the Topsail wrestling program in the 2020-21 season. He was named the 2022-23 Mideastern Conference wrestling coach of the year and led Topsail wrestlers to state championship victories over the past two seasons.

In early March, after the conclusion of the high school wrestling season, Smith was terminated.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Investigation into Topsail wrestling program claims bullying, NCHSAA violations