The Indiana High School Athletic Association recently overturned two Greencastle varsity football team victories this season due to player ineligibility

Thursday, October 13, 2005

The Indiana High School Athletic Association recently overturned two Greencastle varsity football team victories this season due to player ineligibility.

The IHSAA overturned a Sept. 9 win at South Vermillion and a Sept. 30 win over Cloverdale, after Greencastle discovered a player was academically ineligible and reported it to the governing body.

"It was just something that got missed," Greencastle Athletic Director Scott Weltz said. "He did not start the season. He was an addition. In the course of getting his paper work turned in...(his ineligibility) was overlooked."

The player's ineligibility was discovered while preparing sectional rosters. After discovering the problem, Weltz informed the IHSAA and the affected schools immediately.

"At this point, everything has been followed by IHSAA rules," he said. "We found it internally. As we're getting ready for sectional, we were putting together the sectional roster, checking everything twice, and in that process we discovered this."

IHSAA Sports Information Director Jason Wille said this is normal procedure for violations.

"The vast majority of them are reported by the schools, " Wille said. "Seventy-five percent to 80 percent of the violations are self-reported."

Weltz took responsibility for the issue. Coach Mike Meyer declined to comment, as instructed by Weltz, who said he wanted to handle the issue himself, being fully honest and straightforward.

Greencastle defeated South Vermillion, 35-7, and Cloverdale 21-14. The Tiger Cubs were 4-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference on the season. But after the sanctions, Greencastle is now 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the conference.

The IHSAA website does not yet have the South Vermillion game recorded as a loss. However, Weltz said the game has been forfeited.

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