Two high school wrestlers recruited by the University of Wisconsin are facing disorderly conduct charges for alleged behavior against a fellow teammate.
Devin Peterson, 18, and Rylan Lubeck, 18, both UW wrestling recruits from Lincoln High School in Wood County, Wis., were charged with disorderly conduct due to alleged inappropriate behavior toward a younger wrestling teammate. According to the criminal complaint, Lubeck and three other wrestlers danced naked around the ninth-grade member of the wrestling team, as well as touched him inappropriately in the high school locker room.
According to court records, Lubeck is pleading not guilty for disorderly conduct with a decision yet to be reached in an upcoming trial.
Peterson pleaded no contest and was determined guilty by a Wood County Circuit Court Judge. The judge sentenced Peterson to three days of jail time, 100 hours of community service and to write a three-page paper outlining the effects of the case within 30 days, according to Wisconsin court records.
The judge also ruled Peterson to return to jail from March 23 to April 1, the week of the high school’s spring break.
Citing interviews with Wisconsin Rapids police officers, the complaint said the victim, a younger student, told the coach about the situation, adding the coach wanted him to wrestle more during the spring season, but he did not want to continue wrestling because of the harassment he was enduring.
The defendant added later in the season that Lubeck “went crazy screaming” while standing nude on a bench and swinging his penis next to the victim. Lubeck also locked the wrestler in his locker and continued to dance around him naked at multiple points throughout the wrestling season.
Other witnesses interviewed said the wrestlers would grab others’ genitals as they came out of the showers, which was ongoing throughout the wrestling season, the complaint said. It added a mother of one of the victims said he suffers from anxiety and has nightmares due to the harassment.
UW Athletics spokesperson Justin Doherty said the Athletics Department is aware of the charges as they have been reported in newspapers, but did not comment more on the case, citing that one of the cases is still in the legal process.
“We’re aware that one of them is still working its way through the legal system,” Doherty said.
He would not comment on whether or not the athletes’ recruitment status or potential scholarships would be revoked due to the charges.
UW Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell said he did not know the details surrounding the case yet, but in similar cases where prospective UW athletes face criminal charges the coaches will decide the future of their recruitment or scholarships.
“Usually a coach will make a judgment on the severity of the situation and whether a scholarship should be extended or not,” Bazzell said. “But initially a coach will take a review of the severity of the situation.”
