Mar Vista Wrestling Coach Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Allegation

Mario Olmos, Mar Vista High School's longtime wrestling coach, has resigned for "personal reasons," the school said Friday.

Principal Wes Braddock declined to give details, but said Ed Delos Reyes will act as the team's coach for the remainder of the season.

The resignation comes amid allegations that other wrestling coaches at the school sexually harassed the teenage daughter of Jesse Terminel, father of Mar Vista’s 2012 CIF wrestling champion Jesse Terminel.

The elder Terminel says coaches physically and verbally sexually harassed his daughter over the past year.

But Braddock told Patch: "We investigate every claim, no matter what the source is, and we have no evidence at all of anything inappropriate related to relations between athletes and adults."

No official statements have been filed by students with the school about treatment by wrestling coaches, Braddock said.

Since "misinformation can get sucked into a void," Braddock said he met with the team before practice Friday.

"If somebody makes a claim that something untoward has happened, then we start talking to kids,”he said. "I've questioned kids about things that have come to our attention, but at this point in time we don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing."

The team still held practice Friday and will compete this weekend at Rancho Bernardo High School.

Delos Reyes, a former wrestling coach at Chula Visa High School, is the only authorized coach for the wrestling team, said Braddock. Before Friday, Mario Olmos was the only authorized coach for the team, he said.

Particularly with conference, county and state championships in February and March, kids and parents have worked too hard and should not suffer because of the actions of adults, Braddock said.

"Kids should not suffer in any way, shape or form because of any action whatsoever by an adult," he said.

Most recently, Terminel claims that at a wrestling tournament last December, two other coaches asked his 15-year-old daughter inappropriate questions about her brother’s sex life, and suggested he sleep with another student and team manager.

Terminel said he filed no reports because he told Olmos about the alleged sexual harassment two weeks ago. Coaches should react if a parent approaches them with these kinds of concerns, he said.

"'You’re the head coach. That’s why I’m coming to you,'" Terminel told Olmos in a text message earlier this week. "He never did that."

Patch obtained the text messages from Terminel.

"If you cared about the team, you would have told the vice principal about [the two coaches] disrespecting Elena. She’s only 15 years old," Terminel said.

Instead of reporting possible sexual harassment or other allegations, Terminel contends Olmos tried to keep him quiet.

In a string of text messages sent over the course of the past week Terminel shared with IB Patch, Olmos said coming forward would hurt the team and its wrestlers.

"You are bringing the whole team down, Jesse included," one message read.

Other messages said:

“Why would you do this? It’s your son’s team.”

“More kids are crying and finding it hard to focus in practice.”

“What are you hoping to accomplish by getting the whole coaching staff fired?”

Citing personnel issues, Braddock declined to state whether any coaches have been excused, or if any coaches did not go through fingerprinting and background checks required by the school district.

The Sweetwater Union High School District Human Resources Services Division did not respond to requests Friday to confirm whether the two assistants were coaches on the team or if they went through background checks.

Olmos and the assistants did not respond to requests for comment.

Terminel said he’s happy to see Ed Delos Reyes coach the team so his son and other wrestlers can just focus on their sport.

“Ed's going to do a great job,” he said.

Terminel's accusations aren't the first drama to touch wrestling at Mar Vista High School or youth sports in the past year.

Jeffrey Apple, who claimed to be a softball coach, was arrested and found guilty of charges he sexually abused minors. Apple was not fingerprinted or cleared to act as a coach.

Olmos filed a restraining order against parent Robert Brians last January after he allegedly made threats against him during Imperial Beach Predators Junior Wrestling programs.

A restraining order was granted in February in South Bay Superior Court, according to online record.

The Predators practice at Mar Vista High School.

Olmos is a teacher at Mar Vista High School and a Predators coach.