Edgewood files suit against WIAA over tournament removal, disputes ruling that player was ineligible

MADISON, Wis. — Edgewood High School is taking the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association to court over its football team’s removal from the ongoing state playoff tournament for using a player the WIAA deemed ineligible.

Edgewood and the WIAA have sparred in recent days over whether the player, Cameron “Cam” Fane, was eligible to take to the field, culminating in Edgewood filing suit on Thursday. The Crusaders had been undefeated heading into the tournament and were set to take on second-seeded Columbus.

Edgewood is seeking an injunction allowing its team back into the tournament, claiming the WIAA allowing Kewaskum — Edgewood’s most recent opponent — to take its place deprives the school of its due process rights.

Court documents filed Thursday lay out both sides’ arguments.

“(T)he premise underlying WIAA’s draconian sanction—that Cameron is ineligible to play football at Edgewood this season—is wrong,” the school argues in a 13-page brief. “When he transferred to Edgewood from Juan Seguin High School (“Seguin”) in Arlington, Texas in January 2021, Cameron had played high school football in three prior years: academic years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Thus, the current season at Edgewood is his fourth year of high school football.”

Edgewood’s brief says Fane played football while at Madison West High School for the fall semester of 2017. Between the spring semester of 2017-18 and the spring semester of 2020-21, he attended Seguin before moving back to Wisconsin and attending Edgewood.

The WIAA, meanwhile, said Edgewood applied and received a transfer waiver based on Fane’s moving back to Madison from Texas. The group claims Edgewood has “unclean hands” and “is now trying to dress up the previously approved transfer waiver as a fifth-year eligibility waiver.”

“The two waivers have entirely different forms, standards, and application materials,” the WIAA’s brief opposed to Edgewood’s request reads. “Edgewood is well aware of this and attempted to mislead the WIAA in applying for the transfer waiver in hopes of using it as a fifth-year waiver if and when they were called out.”

In a statement Thursday, Edgewood said a judge will hold a hearing on the case at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

“Unfortunately, Edgewood High School’s appeal to reverse the ruling issued by the WIAA regarding the ineligibility of a player was denied this morning at a hearing in front of the WIAA Board of Control,” the school said in the statement, outlining its rationale for filing the suit.

The statement continued, calling the dispute “purely administrative, and in no way represents an error on Cam’s part.”

“We are immensely proud not only of how Cam has handled himself during this very difficult situation, but of all the hard work he has done and the commitment he has made to Edgewood, his teammates and the entire school community. Cam is an asset to our Community and we are blessed to have him,” the statement ends.

The WIAA, in a statement, called the situation unfortunate but said it “has the responsibility to uphold the integrity of the rules of education-based athletics as established by the member schools.”

“In matters like this, it is important to note that all schools are afforded due process to ensure the member rules are being applied as written. Edgewood appealed this decision to the WIAA Board of Control, which was denied this morning,” it said.

During the 2021 season, Fane scored 13 touchdowns for the Crusaders, according to statistics from Wisconsin Sports Network.

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