11 WRESTLERS DISCIPLINED IN TEAM HAZING; 7 SUSPENDED; 4 GET SPORTS BAN.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

A month after canceling the Westlake High School wrestling season because of a team hazing ritual, school officials said Tuesday that they suspended seven wrestlers and banned four of their teammates from participating in sports for a year.

The suspensions remove the students from regular classroom instruction, but they still must be present on campus. Students may appeal the suspensions to the Conejo Valley Unified School District superintendent, and athletes banned from sports and all other school activities also can appeal, said Superintendent Jerry Gross.

``Anybody can appeal if they don't like what's happened. We show them how to do it so they know their rights,'' Gross said. ``We will probably have one or two.''

Wrestler Greg Immel, who wasn't suspended but who won't be able to compete during his senior year, said he supported the suspensions because the hazing had gotten ``out of hand.''

But he remains bitter that the season was canceled.

``The way our administration is, they're real tight about everything. It affects people that didn't even do anything,'' Immel said.

Scott Little, the coach who didn't get a chance to finish his second year, said he wasn't aware of the hazing until the school and Ventura County Sheriff's Department began investigating. He said the acts were serious enough to warrant the suspensions.

``Obviously, you don't want people to be hazed or picked on,'' Little said. ``But I do not think the ban was appropriate,'' he said. ``There were several boys who came in (to the program) late, after this happened, because they were still practicing football. They shouldn't be punished because they weren't there. They had no knowledge of it.''

Gross, however, said the suspensions and the more widespread ban on participating in any sports or other school activities was not unprecedented.

``This is not an unusual response for behavior inconsistent with our character education requirements,'' Gross said. ``All the athletes sign a statement that they will follow all the rules and policies.''

Westlake canceled the wrestling season last month after allegations were made that the wrestlers grabbed students, pinned them down and probed their buttocks with the handle of a mop they called ``Pedro.'' The students were fully clothed and no one was hurt, sheriff's officials said.

Gross said the district's Board of Education also has approved a specific policy outlining character traits that schools must incorporate into instructional plans and activities. He said those traits are respect, kindness, integrity, responsibility and perseverance.

``The way it relates to this is at Westlake High School they're very serious about ensuring that students' behavior is not inconsistent with the character traits they ask them to model,'' Gross explained. ``It's fair to say . . . they didn't follow it.''

School administrators determined only a handful of the 30 wrestlers were involved in the hazing. Gross said nearly all of the wrestlers were punished because they were aware of the incidents.

The names of the seven suspended wrestlers and the four banned from other sports and activities weren't released.

A total of 17 wrestlers received admonishments for being aware of the hazing and not notifying a responsible adult.

Two wrestlers were exonerated with a recommendation that the California Interscholastic Federation permit them to compete in wrestling at another school for the remainder of the season. CIF officials have said athletic transfers are ineligible to compete for varsity teams and there is no provision for a hardship waiver.

The sheriff's investigation is nearly completed. The hazing could be considered a misdemeanor battery offense, though no arrests are expected, sheriff's officials said.

Little, a retired state corrections officer, said he fears the program will never get back off the ground.

``I wish some kid could have come forward and said, `I was harassed.' I really think the kids thought it was horseplay.''