Andrew Long dismissed from team

[Barou]

The Des Moines Register.

By Andy Hamilton

Andrew Long's quest to write a redemptive chapter at the end of his college wrestling career has instead turned into a story of his dismissal from yet another program.

Grand View parted ways with the former Iowa State and Penn State standout after Long violated the terms of a pact he signed with the Vikings when they gave him his third chance to chase his college goals on the mat.

"He violated his contract and basically it's a situation where if it were a normal student, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal, probably nothing that he even would've been reprimanded for," Grand View coach Nick Mitchell said Monday afternoon. "But his situation wasn't normal, so we had to let him go."

Mitchell and Grand View administrators signed off on an agreement in July that forced Long to adhere to a lengthy list of guidelines in order to join the Vikings. It followed an extensive screening process and it was the final step for the 26-year-old Creston native to resume his wrestling career after off-mat transgressions cut short his stays at Iowa State and Penn State.

"There's some pretty obvious things," Mitchell said in July. "We don't want him drinking. He's still on probation, so he needs to stick to the terms of his probation. Any kind of violation would be a pretty easy decision for us to let him go."

Mitchell declined to say which part of the pact Long violated, but he said Long "was honest about it."

Long could not be reached for comment. News of Long's dismissal surfaced Monday afternoon in several social media reports.

"It's just disappointing," Mitchell said. "I feel bad for the kid. But at the same time, he knew what the stipulations were and he had to follow it and it didn't happen. That's the reality of the situation and he's just got to get back to work on becoming the man he wants to be. He's been doing that and he slipped and now he's got to get back to work again."

Long, a three-time Iowa state high school champion, reached the NCAA finals in 2010 as a freshman at Iowa State before the Cyclones dismissed him from the team months later for multiple team rules infractions.

He resurfaced the following season at Penn State and helped the Nittany Lions win the 2011 NCAA title by placing third at the national tournament at 133 pounds.

Later that summer, however, he was arrested after police said Long climbed in bed with a 55-year-old mother of a Penn State student as she slept, took off her underwear and touched her. He pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated indecent assault.

Long had another run-in with police in February 2012 in Ames, where he was arrested and charged with serious assault, one count of simple assault, public intoxication and interference with official acts.

Mitchell said during the summer that Long had been accountable for his past issues during the screening process and had grown in his faith, which made the Grand View coach more comfortable with the decision to add him to a program coming off its fourth straight NAIA national title.

In December, Long became Grand View's first titlist at the Midlands Championships. He won all 31 of his matches this season.

The top-ranked Vikings take aim for their fifth straight title this weekend at the NAIA national tournament. They'll have to do it now without their top-ranked 149-pounder.

"I don't plan on it doing anything (to us)," Mitchell said. "We're going to move ahead. We leave for the national tournament on Thursday and we know our guys are prepared. We said going into this that we felt like this was a situation where we didn't bring Andrew in here just for wrestling. We were trying to help him be a better person. Our plans haven't changed. Our goals haven't changed."

[Ghetto]

Too bad for the young man. Hopefully the dismissal from yet another team will help him adjust his life.

Kudos to the coach for doing the right thing, right before the national tournament. It would have been easy to let Long wrestle and let him go the week after.