Mergers

For a brief time, South Fayette and Fort Cherry considered a co-op program that would have sent South Fayette wrestlers to Fort Cherry and make the team Class AAA. Fort Cherry OK'd the measure at a school board meeting two weeks ago but South Fayette turned it down. The SF school board wants to start its own program, but there are some money concerns in the district that might not make that happen.

Co-ops can be a good way to keep a sport alive without the burden of cost. But there can be drawbacks. Athletes who compete at neighboring schools could feel a loss of identity with their own school and there can be border rivalries. Imagine Washington and Trinity deciding on a football co-op. With fewer athletes and rising costs, co-ops are becoming more popular.

South Fayette might have made a stand against a co-op with Fort Cherry but that was the easy part. Now, it must find a way to establish a wrestling program that has been in hibernation.