Hersey High School wrestling coaches dismissed amid probe of student residency, recruiting
Five John Hersey High School wrestling coaches including boys varsity coach Joe Rupslauk have been relieved of their duties over concerns with recruiting practices, in-season training activities outside of school, and students living outside of school attendance boundaries receiving spots on the team, officials said.
The five coaches — across varsity, junior varsity and freshman levels — had been on administrative leave since Northwest Suburban High School District 214 launched an internal review Dec. 10.
Rupslauk didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The probe identified residency eligibility issues and determined that “several” students who wrestled at Hersey didn’t reside within the Arlington Heights school’s attendance boundaries, district officials said Wednesday.
Officials declined to say how many athletes are involved since the matter involves student eligibility and remains under review by the Illinois High School Association.
“Families directly affected by those determinations have been notified, and the district continues to work closely with the IHSA on this matter,” Pat Mogge, the district’s director of community engagement and outreach, wrote in an email to the Daily Herald. “In connection with this work, the district is reviewing its internal processes and procedures related to residency verification and will continue that work throughout the remainder of the school year to strengthen oversight and reduce the risk of similar issues in the future.”
The district reported concerns over student residency — as well as “potential recruiting practices and in-season training activities outside of the school program” — to the IHSA, Mogge said.
District officials didn’t elaborate further on the matter.
The district Wednesday evening replied to the Daily Herald’s Jan. 7 Freedom of Information Act request for a notice to remedy issued to Rupslauk by the school board. The document only references “unprofessional conduct” further described to him by Deputy Superintendent Kate Kraft in a separate Dec. 19, 2025, memorandum.
“Any future recurrence of this sort of conduct, or your failure to comply with the directives stated … will result in further disciplinary action, up to and including your dismissal as a tenured teacher in this school district,” the notice states.
Mogge declined to say if Rupslauk followed the stated directives and if he may remain in his separate role as a special-education teacher at the school.
None of the other four coaches were teachers in the school district, Mogge said.
Under Rupslauk, the Hersey varsity boys team finished fourth in state last season, following a number of regional and sectional titles in recent years.
Though Rupslauk and other coaches are gone, Hersey wrestlers continue to compete under the supervision of interim coaches, and Mogge said district officials have begun planning for the program’s future.