Estes Park High School wrestling coach fired after making donut with team bus: “I made a big mistake”

Estes Park High School wrestling coach Will Casey was terminated on Feb. 1 after a video surfaced of him driving the team bus recklessly while students were on board.

A letter of termination that Casey received that day states that on or about Jan. 25, 2023, Casey’s “behavior was willful and deliberate” and that because of his actions, he placed himself and students in imminent danger.

The letter went on to say, “We consider that your wrongful actions while driving the small bus constituted serious misconduct. Your actions fall under reckless endangerment of students while under your supervision.”

Casey, a former Estes Park wrestler and coach of the program for six years, admitted in an interview with the Trail-Gazette on Feb. 9 that the bus incident occurred after a wrestling dual meet at Resurrection Christian School in Loveland.

“I made a big mistake. I am the first one to admit it. I did a donut in the short bus with five, maybe six kids on board,” Casey said.

The video of the bus incident came to light following the Patriot League Tournament at the Brush High School in Brush on Jan. 27-28, where an Estes Park High School student was found in possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia.

Casey explained that on Jan. 27, during the tournament, he was informed by members of the wrestling team that another team member had marijuana and was trying to get others to smoke it with them.

Upon returning to the Best Western Plus in Fort Morgan, where the Estes Park team was staying, Casey said he and assistant coach, Elijah Kitchen, had a conversation with the individual during which Casey confiscated marijuana and paraphernalia and informed that student that they would be off the team once they arrived back to Estes Park.

According to Casey, he phoned athletic director Nolan Oberg after the meeting that evening and was instructed to keep the substance in his possession until it could be confiscated at a later date.

While talking to the Trail-Gazette, Casey expressed that he felt uncomfortable having a controlled substance on him while the team competed at Brush High School the following day, Jan. 28.

“Not only did I have the weed on me at that point, I had the pipe and the container that had weed in it,” said Casey. “I had that thing in the Brush School District with me while I was coaching, and that made me feel pretty uneasy.”

Casey kept possession of the materials until about 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, when Oberg and Paul Mieszala, the school’s resource officer, went to Casey’s Automotive on Elm Road, where he works, and retrieved them from him.

Casey stated that he was informed by Mieszala and Oberg during the interaction that they would be meeting with the student and the student’s father about the situation at noon.

At approximately 12:45 p.m. that same day, Casey received a text message on his phone from Oberg saying, “Quite a few claims came out today that we are investigating. We will likely need to meet tomorrow.”

Casey told the Trail-Gazette that upon receiving the message, he called Oberg and was told that the student had made four accusations against him. The first accusation was that he smoked marijuana with members of the team. The second was that he had seen a vape in the possession of a student but made no report of this to school authorities. The third was that he inappropriately touched three of the team’s student managers. The fourth was the video that had been taken of him driving the bus recklessly.

Casey admits to the bus incident but denies there being any truth to the other three accusations.

According to the Estes Park Police Department, no criminal charges have been filed against Casey in relation to any of these claims.

The Estes Park Police also confirmed to the Trail-Gazette that the student who had been in possession of the marijuana paraphernalia on the wrestling trip was charged and released to the custody of a parent, and that the Town of Estes Park’s Restorative Justice Partnership was handling the disposition of the student’s case.

Casey told the Trail-Gazette that a confrontation between him and Oberg at Estes Park High School on Jan. 31 led to a meeting between Superintendent Ruby Bode, Oberg and him where the accusations against him were discussed. Casey said that Bode informed him that he would likely receive a written reprimand for the bus incident and that his driving privileges would be revoked, but that the possibility of termination was never mentioned at that time.

On Feb. 1, Casey said, he received a text message from Oberg saying that a follow-up meeting needed to be held. Casey arrived at the EPSD Administration building later that day, where he was met by Bode, Oberg and Estes Park High School Human Resources Director Kim Morris and was handed a letter of termination. This letter points to Casey’s misconduct in driving the bus recklessly as reason for termination but makes no mention of the other accusations.

Casey told the Trail-Gazette that he asked that the decision be reconsidered, to no avail.

On the night of Feb. 1, Casey said that a meeting took place at his family auto shop among all members of the wrestling team, a handful of parents and him. During the meeting, Casey read a letter he had written to the wrestlers and parents of Estes Park wrestling, apologizing for his actions of misconduct and elaborating on what the program meant to him. The Trail-Gazette received a copy of this letter.

Following this meeting, Casey said, approximately 40 parents and students met with Superintendent Bode, Barren and Oberg on Feb. 2. Twelve wrestlers, three student managers, and one parent submitted written statements to the school administration in support of Casey and requested that he not be terminated. Casey provided copies of these statements to the Trail-Gazette.

One parent who reached out to the Trail-Gazette, but asked that her name not be used, said she was prepared to circulate a petition among parents for signatures to ask the school not to terminate Casey, but since the termination had already happened, she did not move forward with the petition.

This weekend, the Estes Park wrestling team competed in a postseason regional competition at Easton High School under the direction of assistant coach Kitchen. None of the Estes Park wrestling team members qualified to move on to state competition.

The Trail-Gazette has reached out to Bode and Stacy Ferree, president of the Estes Park Board of Education, for a statement. Bode emailed the Trail-Gazette to say that the school district does not disclose information regarding personnel matters.

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