Following a fire in the Bellwood-Antis Middle School wrestling room early Tuesday morning, coaches and athletes alike have had to overcome the challenge of scheduling events and practices. As of now, the middle school gymnasium is unavailable, forcing coaches of different sport teams to work together in a creative manner.
Firefighters were called to the school early Tuesday morning to fight the blaze, which destroyed the wrestling room while damaging the middle school boys locker room, which exits into the middle school basketball court. Both the locker room and court have been closed as a result.
Former B-A student Elias Alley was arrested later in the day Tuesday and charged with arson after admitting to starting the fire.
Tuesday after the fire closed the school district, Coach Kyley Longo of the girls basketball team took her team to the Summit in Altoona to practice.
“It’s going to take a lot of communication, collaboration, and teamwork as we figure it out,” Longo stated.
The Blue Devils’ home game against Williamsburg was cancelled on Tuesday and postponed after the school was closed that morning.
On Wednesday, the junior high boys basketball team practiced in the Myers Elementary gymnasium while varsity was able to get into the high school gym.
“Unfortunately, it does hurt the younger teams more, being that the gyms will all be occupied by the older teams,” boys coach Tyler Mertiff commented. “I do appreciate the Bellwood-Antis School District and community coming together to get things arranged quickly so we can get these guys back into a gym at all.”
Coach Longo shared similar concerns regarding access to practice for everyone.
“It is going to have a trickle down effect for sure. We are looking at five different winter sports teams using one gym at the middle and high school level,” Longo said.
The aftermath of the fire will also affect nine elementary boys and girls basketball teams. Those teams are currently looking for alternative gyms outside the Bellwood area to practice at.
The wrestling program is currently sharing the multi-purpose room between the varsity and junior high teams as well as the elementary team and the cheerleading squad.
“We must be flexible and understanding of any changes. As a wrestling program, we didn’t dwell on what happened… we quickly shifted our focus to be forward thinking,” varsity wrestling coach Josh Hewitt commented.
Athletes have also had to adjust on the fly to cancellations and practice schedules.
“We haven’t had a game in about a week and a half. We were all ready to play Williamsburg, but we had to quickly adjust and move on to get ready for Penns Valley,” junior basketball player Martin Fatzinger stated.
Lady Blue Devil senior Leigha Clapper said the girls were able to adjust on the fly and proceed with as normal a schedule as possible.
“We were all skeptical what would happen to practices and games the rest of the week. We practiced Tuesday morning, got lunch as a team, and headed to Coach Longo’s house to watch film,” Clapper said. “Thankfully everyone was able to show up and practice like nothing happened.”
Many athletes have been grateful of the community support they have received during this time.
“After the fire, we had to adjust especially with an upcoming game. It was great that the Summit was so understanding and allowed us to practice there,” junior Marissa Cacciotti said. “We were still able to get a good practice in and prepare for our game.”
The wrestling team, which normally hosts its matches in the middle school gym, had its match against United scheduled for Friday moved to the high school gymnasium.
The wrestling team’s main fundraiser is the elementary wrestling tournament held annually on December 31st. This event has also been moved to the high school gymnasium in coherence with the school district.
“The area’s wrestling and local community has been overwhelming us with support. I don’t foresee any circumstances coming forward that we can’t handle as long as we stay focused on what is best for all students at Bellwood-Antis,” Coach Hewitt added.
The annual Bellwood-Antis elementary holiday basketball tournament has not been postponed, but the multi-day event will require extensive collaboration and communication to ensure access to the Myers gym for the teams that use it.
