The injunction requested by Amherst High School was denied.
The question raised was about a student who had played football at Manawa in the 2018-2019 school year while being home-schooled, then attended Stevens Point Christian Academy in the 2019-2020 school year before transferring to Amherst for the 2020-2021 through 2022-2023 school year. Under WIAA rules student-athletes are eligible for 8 consecutive semesters of high school athletics.
Attorneys arguing for Amherst had stated that their three large wins in conference play should not have been forfeited because the player in question did not “significantly contribute to victory.”
Attorneys for the WIAA responded that the player in question had “been an offensive starter for 5 games and a defensive starter for 4 games and played 43% of the snaps in the games in question.”
Judge Michael Zell ruled that Amherst High School was not likely to succeed on the merits of the case, one of the parts of the rule that would allow the judge to grant the injunction.
In making his ruling Zell stated, “Appeals like this puts judges in the position of super referees forced to reverse individual touchdowns or extra points to see if the player contributed in a meaningful way.”
Zell also stated, “[Amherst High School] wants us to address this as an ‘us vs them’ situation when it is really an ‘us vs us.'”
This is a developing story we will have reactions from Amherst athletes and administration later today.
