Flathead wrestler falls short in bid to compete at state

Flathead High School sophomore Payton Hume, the top-ranked 138-pound Class AA wrestler in the state, will not compete in this weekend’s state tournament after a judge declined to grant an injunction to overrule a Montana High School Association ruling that deemed Hume ineligible at 138 pounds.

Flathead District Judge David Ortley delivered his ruling Tuesday night to an emotional courtroom filled with Flathead supporters, administrators and students — including a number of Hume’s wrestling teammates — and called it “a harsh result, but often what I do is a harsh result.”

“I think it’s a huge injustice to a kid that is a good kid that has never done anything wrong in his life,” said Walter Hume, Payton’s father and the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“He [Payton] did what he was supposed to do [and] is getting punished for something that was out of his hands.”

Hume’s case on behalf of his son was brought against the MHSA and Flathead High School and centered on whether his son could be punished for what Flathead wrestling coach Rich Vasquez admitted in court was “a mistake” in how the Braves interpreted the so-called 50 percent rule governing state tournament eligibility.

Hume and his attorney, Thane Johnson, argued that Flathead coaches and administrators advised the Humes incorrectly about Payton’s status and that their negligence had unfairly harmed the sophomore grappler.

The 50 percent rule — Rule II. (9) of the MHSA wrestling handbook — states “for health and safety reasons, Montana’s weight-control program shall require each wrestler to have at least one-half of weigh-ins during the season at the minimum weight the wrestler will compete in during the divisional and state tournament series.”

Hume’s eligibility at 138 pounds was questioned by “an anonymous phone call from Flathead” and “an administrator at Sentinel High School,” according to testimony from MHSA Assistant Director Brian Michelotti.

Michelotti reviewed Hume’s weigh-in history and ruled Hume had wrestled and weighed in at 145 pounds in more than half of his events, and was therefore only eligible to wrestle in the state tournament at 145 pounds.

After Michelotti and the MHSA handed down their initial decision, Hume asked for and was granted a temporary restraining order on Feb. 4 by the court. He wrestled at the Feb. 6 Western AA seeding tournament in Missoula at 138 pounds, finishing second.

Johnson and Walter Hume claimed that before the seeding tournament began, Flathead representatives erroneously advised the Humes that Payton was eligible to compete at 138.

“I told [the Humes] that absolutely, without a doubt, we were in compliance,” Vasquez testified.

Johnson then asked, “Were you wrong?” and Vasquez replied, “Yes.”

After Tuesday’s adverse ruling, Walter Hume voiced his frustration.

“I still think the world of our coaching staff but they messed up,” Hume said. “They made a huge mistake and unfortunately an innocent kid has to pay for it now.”

“In the evidence that was given to me [before the seeding tournament], it was pretty plain that we had reached everything that we were supposed to,” he continued.

“That was coming from the [activities director, Bryce Wilson], that was coming from our head coach, that was coming from assistant coaches.”

Confusion over Hume’s eligibility stemmed from both inaccurate and missing weigh-in sheets turned in by the Braves before the seeding tournament.

According to the high school association, Flathead failed to correctly report weigh-ins Dec. 11 in Butte and Dec. 18-19 at C.M. Russell, and improperly counted a weigh-in for Hume on Jan. 26 at Sentinel, an event for which Hume weighed in but did not wrestle.

The MHSA also questioned Hume’s appearance at a Jan. 29 event at Arlee that was added to the Flathead schedule late in the season.

“We’re pleased with the judge’s decision, of course, but also we do understand that a young man is not able to wrestle because of a situation where weigh-ins were not recorded properly and according to the rule,” MHSA executive director Mark Beckman said.

“So we do feel bad about that, but we know that our rules have to be enforced and the judge upheld that.”

Vasquez was contrite outside the courtroom.

“We have procedures in place to prevent this but it happened,” he said. “So as a head coach, it’s on me. However you look at it, it’s on me to make sure things are done right so the fault lies with me.”

Neither Hume nor Flathead appealed the original MHSA decision, and Judge Ortley left the door open in his final ruling for the MHSA or its executive committee to act on an appeal if Hume or the high school files one before Thursday.

The state tournament begins Friday at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings. Even without Hume, the Braves still will have 21 wrestlers competing, more than any other Class AA school.