Glacier High Wrestling Lawsuit Will Go to Trial in June

A federal lawsuit accusing Kalispell Public Schools of retaliating against a father and son for reporting instances of sexual assault on the school’s wrestling team will go to trial starting June 15, after a judge on Tuesday tossed out a request from the school district to end the suit without a trial.

In his Tuesday order, Magistrate Judge John Johnston found that the plaintiffs, Kirk and Clifford Nance, “met the minimal bar needed to defeat summary judgment and make out a prima facie case of retaliation.”

Avery Field, an attorney with Kalispell-based Bliven Law Firm, which represents the plaintiffs, interpreted that as meaning the court found three elements present in his clients’ case: they engaged in protected activity, experienced adverse action, and can show a causal link between the protected activity and adverse action. He said the burden now shifts to Kalispell Public Schools to demonstrate their motives in conduct directed at the plaintiffs were non-discriminatory.

The Nances’ lawsuit, originally filed in January 2025, focuses on plaintiffs Kirk Nance and his son, Clifford Nance, who was on the Glacier High wrestling team. It accuses Kalispell Public Schools of allowing a culture of hazing and sexual assault to develop on the team. It also alleges the district took retaliatory action against them after Kirk Nance reported the sexual assault of wrestlers to the school district and police department.

In the suit, Kirk claimed he was barred from observing Clifford’s wrestling practices after reporting the assault. It also claims Clifford was removed from certain activities and spaces, that the amount and quality of coaching Clifford received decreased after his father reported the assault, and states the district opposed his request to transfer to Flathead High School’s wrestling team.

In an interview with the Beacon, KPS Superintendent Matt Jensen said the district looked forward to its day in court and to the case “getting resolved in a way that is transparent to the public.”

Field said a jury will now assess the claims over the course of a scheduled five-day jury trial at the federal courthouse in Missoula.

“I would call [the Nances] whistleblowers,” Field, their attorney, said.

During the jury trial, Field said the most important piece for his clients will be presenting to the public the facts about how the school district handled the information Kirk Nance brought forward about sexual harassment and assault within the Glacier High wrestling program. From Field’s perspective, Kirk Nance’s actions in reporting the assault likely helped keep other students safe.

“Unfortunately, it’s likely this type of conduct could occur in other programs in our community, and we certainly don’t want our school district — public school district — to be chilling the public’s willingness to step forward if they need something,” Field said.

Should the lawsuit fall in the Nances’ favor, Field said that, practically speaking, it would validate that the district retaliated against them. Since the suit is civil, the jury won’t make a determination of guilt; however, if the plaintiffs prevail, the jury could decide the school district is liable and opt to award the plaintiffs monetary damages. But Field said that’s not his clients’ motivation in bringing the suit forward, arguing that from the beginning, Kirk Nance aimed to bring the conduct on the wrestling team to light.

The school district sees things differently.

When the lawsuit was first filed last January, Jensen, the KPS superintendent, told the Beacon Kirk Nance had “tried to interfere with our investigation and the regular operations of schools and programs.” He also said coaches and administrators had the “responsibility and right” to hold both students and Kirk Nance accountable for their actions. Jensen doubled down on those sentiments Wednesday, characterizing the lawsuit as a “parent issue, not a student issue.”

The initial complaint described an incident at a hotel in Missoula, after Kirk had reported the assault, during which Kirk and Clifford stopped to talk to one of Clifford’s friends on the team. The wrestling coach, Ross Dankers, allegedly told Kirk to “stop ‘interrogating’ the kids.” Dankers and the assistant wrestling coach, Garrett Melton, filed a police report against Kirk and the Missoula Police Department removed him from the premises and charged him with disorderly conduct. He was also prohibited from school district property — actions the lawsuit includes as examples of retaliation on the part of the school district and its staff.

Pointing to the Missoula incident and “multiple corroborated reports” from other parents and from coaching staff about Nance’s conduct, Jensen said the district had a “responsibility to address these types of adult behaviors and promote a safe and orderly environment for students and staff.”

He continued: “Individuals who disrupt school operations or inappropriately insert themselves in matters concerning other families’ kids should expect reasonable restrictions on their access to school property.”

In comments to the Beacon, Jensen added the students involved in the Glacier High wrestling team incidents were no longer enrolled in Kalispell Public Schools, citing a slow-moving legal process as the reason these lawsuits were still ones the district was grappling with.

He also reiterated the school district’s position that it disciplined students involved with the incidents appropriately. Following initial reports of hazing and sexual harassment, the school district suspended two students from participating in extracurricular activities for the remainder of the school year and required them to complete a program at Kalispell’s Center for Restorative Youth Justice before returning to extracurriculars. A third student was also disciplined, though that action was not made publicly available.

“You know, schools aren’t responsible for the bad decisions that students make, but we’re responsible in how we respond to those bad decisions,” Jensen said. “And I’m proud — when I look back and read through the documentation of what happened — I’m proud of how our coaches and administration responded, how they held students accountable and then how they navigated through the situation.”

The Nances’ suit is one of several the district has faced regarding the conduct of Glacier High’s wrestling team.

A federal lawsuit separate from the Nances’ was filed in October of 2023. A parent filed that suit, which accused the school district’s administrators and athletics officials of failing to address the assault of her son and permitting a culture of hazing and violence within the school wrestling team.

And earlier this year, a former athlete filed a lawsuit in Yellowstone County, alleging fellow wrestlers sexually assaulted and harassed him in a Billings hotel room during a wrestling trip in 2022. Field’s firm is also representing that former athlete. Field said the suit had been re-filed in federal court in February.  

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