Archbishop Murphy Football Faces Wesco and WIAA Eligibility Investigation

The Wesco Conference is investigating the Archbishop Murphy football program over allegations involving player eligibility, and the alleged violation has also been submitted to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), according to The Everett Herald.

The matter was raised at a Sept. 9 meeting of Wesco athletic directors, according to minutes provided to the newspaper. The minutes say two Wesco schools had a concern that a Wesco coach allegedly coached a 7-on-7 team and that athletes followed that coach to the school in question. The accused school investigated and said the coach did not coach the team. The school making the allegation disagreed and filed the complaint through the WIAA portal, giving the other school five business days to respond.

The minutes add that the accused school shared findings after speaking with the coach and families involved, and said it did its due diligence on the transfer student, including running everything by the WIAA, before letting him play varsity. A Wesco committee is to review the violation and rebuttal. Its recommendation goes to the District 1 Executive Board, which then forwards its own recommendation to the WIAA Executive Board.

Wesco President Don Dalziel confirmed Archbishop Murphy as the school in question and said the investigation was ongoing as of Friday, Oct. 23. He declined further comment. An anonymous area source said the coach who allegedly coached the 7-on-7 team is on the Archbishop Murphy staff. The investigation could lead to forfeits of games in which an ineligible player took part, though results are pending. The WIAA declined to provide a representative to speak with the newspaper.

In a statement from Director of Admissions Jana James, the school said it "remains committed to protecting the rights and eligibility of its student athletes while maintaining full compliance" with WIAA rules. It said it continues to challenge an eligibility determination that it believes is not supported by the evidence, and that it will not give interviews while the matter is in the appeals process.

Multiple area coaches say the 7-on-7 program involved is "Wipe Me Down Boyz." Its co-founder and owner, Ryan Clary, once listed himself on X as Archbishop Murphy's College Liaison. Archbishop Murphy coach Joe Cronin said Clary was never a school employee. Two area coaches said Clary was often on the Wildcats' sideline on Fridays, and Cronin said he may have been there, but "not in a coaching capacity." Clary now lists a college liaison role at Mt. Tahoma High School and was seen on that sideline Friday. He said he held no official role at Archbishop Murphy and has not been there in two or three years.

The player at the center of the case is not named publicly, but Cronin confirmed it involves the starting quarterback, a transfer from Woodinville High School. The quarterback played the first four games but sat out a 51-7 win over Squalicum on Oct. 2 and a 24-17 win over Lynden Christian on Oct. 8, the team's most recent game. Cronin called him "an awesome kid" who is "going through a bad situation right now."

The schedule has also been affected. Sultan and Lakewood chose not to play Archbishop Murphy in league games set for Oct. 16 and 23. Cronin expects those to be recorded as forfeits, though a source said a Northwest Conference rule lets the bottom two teams opt out of facing the top two, at the cost of title eligibility and head-to-head tiebreakers. The standings did not list them as forfeits at publication. The Wildcats are next scheduled to host Lynden on Oct. 30.