Messalonskee High School wrestling coach Patrick Engleright, front, encourages a wrestler during a match Jan. 4, 2024, in Oakland. Engleright, who has been credited with revitalizing the wrestling program at Messalonskee, was fired after he allegedly assaulted a student on the wrestling team at practice Dec. 19. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel file

OAKLAND — A wrestling coach was fired recently from Messalonskee High School in Oakland after he allegedly assaulted a student during a wrestling practice in December, officials said. 

Patrick Engleright reportedly punched a 15-year-old student Dec. 19 when they were paired together during a practice, according to a request for a temporary protection from harassment order filed by the student’s mother.

Superintendent Carl Gartley of Regional School Unit 18 said Engleright is no longer the wrestling coach in the school district.

The mother of the student sought the protection order against Engleright on behalf of her son. She said she has received several Facebook messages from Engleright about the incident, and the coach has continued to show up at wrestling events that her son was also attending.

The Kennebec Journal has spoken with the student’s family to confirm the identity of the student and details about the incident, but the newspaper is not naming the student or the student’s family because a minor is involved.

A temporary protection from harassment order has been granted.

Engleright has been credited with revitalizing the wrestling program at Messalonskee High School after years of struggling to field a team. 

According to information provided to obtain the temporary protection order and Engleright’s account on social media, the student performed a head and arm bar on Engleright while paired with the coach at practice Dec. 19.

In a head and arm bar, the wrestler wraps an arm around an opponent’s head and arm and clasps the two together, similar to a headlock. It can be done as a takedown from a standing position, or used on the ground as a pinning maneuver. 

One of the methods of escaping a head and arm bar is to push the opponent’s face away.

According to the student, Engleright’s response got out of hand.

“(The student) tried to put Engleright in a head and arms bar to pin him,” the student’s mother wrote. “Engleright’s arm slipped out, causing (the student) to get Engleright in a headlock. Engleright made a sound and (the student) let go immediately, at which point Engleright punched (the student) in the jaw.”

The wrestling coach at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, shown Monday, was fired recently after he allegedly assaulted a student on the wrestling team at practice Dec. 19. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The family said that after the incident Dec. 19, Engleright blocked the student’s family from Team Reach, a social media app that allows athletes and sports teams to communicate. Engleright wrote a public post stating he was fired because of the incident, according to screenshots provided by the student’s family.

“(The mother) called the police instead of just talking to me about it,” Engleright wrote in the post. “She is a horrible human being. I’ve been there to support her child through the ups and downs. Well, congratulations (student’s mother), you just got rid of someone who loves your child.”

The temporary protection from harassment order prohibits Engleright from contacting the student, threatening or assaulting the student and being in the vicinity of the student’s home, school or place of employment, among other restrictions. A judge is expected to consider imposing a three-year restraining order Jan. 27.

The student’s family said that at first, Engleright was apologetic about the incident, but that his actions after the fact have made it so the child no longer wants to participate in wrestling.

“What (Engleright) did was wrong, period, and he should take accountability and responsibility of his actions instead of villainizing the child and his family,” the family wrote in a statement. “The effects of this incident are not just physical for our son, but the emotional ramifications are unknown and far reaching undermining his confidence in authority. Something needs to change in our system, to better protect children and their rights.”

Engleright declined comment when the Kennebec Journal contacted him last week.

In a public Facebook post, the former coach said his reaction to the student wrestler’s move was natural and one that “anyone” would have had in the situation.

“To get him off of me, somehow my fist brushed against his face,” Engleright wrote. “It was a natural reaction that anybody would have out of fear or shock. I’m positive that it was my way of getting him off me.”

Engleright was fired after school officials reviewed a video of the incident. The Kennebec Journal attempted to obtain the video through a Freedom of Access Act request, but the request was denied on the grounds it was a personnel matter. 

Engleright was employed as a physical education teacher by Freeport-based Regional School Unit 5 from Nov. 8, 2023, until the end of the 2023-24 school year, the district’s superintendent Jean Skorapa said.

Kennebec Journal sports writer David Dyer contributed reporting to this story.