Boy Tells of Bad Times at Westlake High

All he wanted to do was follow his father’s high school wrestling success and maybe earn a place in the pantheon of Westlake High School’s renowned sports heroes.

But the glory and recognition he hoped that the intensely physical sport would bring have since diminished to humiliating taunts, stares and whispers.

“It’s embarrassing. . . . It hurts to go to school now,” he said in a faltering voice, adding that some classmates now brand him with a homophobic slur.

The Westlake High School sophomore is one of several students at the center of a hazing and intimidation scandal that led school officials to cancel the remainder of the wrestling season last week.

Police say there may have been as many as six attacks--including assaults against at least one girl and a boy not on the team. At most, the incidents could lead to misdemeanor charges of assault and battery against a handful of team members.

Over the past two months, this 15-year-old wrestling hopeful said he was the victim of several hazing incidents--perpetrated by a number of his fellow teammates and, in most cases, involving simulated sex acts with a wooden mop handle dubbed “Pedro.”

As he recalls it, the hazing started soon after the team began practicing in November as a rite of passage into a clan of close-knit athletes who value brute strength and an iron will above all.

In the first experience, he said, as many as 10 team members bound his wrists above his head with duct tape while screaming a barrage of vulgar insults at him.

“It started off as a joke and I was into it,” he said. “That didn’t make me mad. I wasn’t hurt and they let me go.”

However, he said it wasn’t long until the hazing took on a more hurtful and demeaning character with simulated sexual assaults inflicted on him and several other students.

According to police and several Westlake High wrestlers, a small group of veteran team members adopted a dry mop that was used to scrub the wrestling mats as their de facto mascot and good-luck charm. They named it Pedro and took it to competitions. After a series of victories, the mop became an icon to the team.

According to investigators, members hazed several novice wrestlers with the mop handle on several occasions during the unsupervised period before practice--about 45 minutes after school recesses--until the coach arrived at 3 p.m.

Investigators believe all of the team’s 27 members knew of the incidents, but not all participated.

Despite the fact that the stocky sophomore was one of the larger members, he was pinned and held face-down on the mat by several teammates while others poked his buttocks with the stick. His clothes were not removed.

“I wasn’t scared, but it made me really mad,” he said. “Everyone was laughing. . . . It was embarrassing.”

Although he said he suffered without complaint through several more hazing episodes, he said he remains a proud member of the team and concentrated on preparing for upcoming meets.

But when word of the incidents spread to school administrators, they canceled the remainder of the season, citing “gross team misconduct.”

Since then, sheriff’s deputies have been interviewing administrators and students about the reports and will soon decide whether to pursue the matter as a criminal case.

“We’re still talking to people to find out what the heck happened,” said Sgt. Bob Sparks of the department’s major crimes unit. “It’s going to take awhile because of the holiday break.”

According to Sgt. Rod Mendoza, if charges of misdemeanor assault and battery are filed, they could result in fines, community service or even a year in jail--which would be “extreme,” he added.

School administrators, who have concluded their investigation, said they may also pursue punitive actions against some of the wrestlers, pending the outcome of the sheriff’s inquiry.

“I guess we’ll have to wait to see what the investigation turns up,” said the boy’s mother. “But whatever did happen, it hurt him a lot.”

She would not say whether the family was considering legal action against the school or members of the team.

While the youth considers the shattered season the “most devastating” part of the whole situation, he plans to continue wrestling when the school reinstates the season next year.

“I think [the administration] did the right thing, but I really wanted to wrestle,” he said.