A former Woodburn coach has gotten a state reprimand for biting the thigh of one of half a dozen wrestlers who tried to give him a wedgie.
At a December 2005 practice, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission said, team members tried to give Peter Porath a wedgie — jerking his undershorts upward.
"At least six wrestlers, weighing between 180 and 215 pounds each, came up to Mr. Porath from behind in an attempt to give him a ‘wedgie.’ In the process of getting the boys off of him, Mr. Porath bit the inside of a wrestler's leg, leaving distinct teeth marks," the commission said.
The commission called that "gross neglect of duty." It put him on probation for two years and said Porath must complete a class on appropriate behavior and write a public apology to the student he bit.
Porath was then the assistant wrestling coach. He teaches high school social studies at Woodburn. He no longer coaches wrestling but does coach baseball, said Woodburn Superintendent Walt Blomberg.
Blomberg said the wrestlers were disciplined by the wrestling coach but did not receive academic penalties such as suspension.
"You can't place all the blame on the teacher. He characterized it as an attack," Blomberg said.
The student and his family did not pursue a complaint, but the district felt obligated to report the incident to the state, Blomberg said. The district also reprimanded Porath.
