Marea Palka was one of more than 20 wrestlers who logged onto a Zoom conference scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting was hastily called by Steve Hart, the Buffalo State women’s wrestling coach, and the wrestlers on the call had no idea what the meeting was about.
Minutes into the call, wrestlers said Hart informed them that he and assistant coach Kellen Devlin, who also was on the video conference, no longer would coach the Bengals.
Buffalo State’s administration confirmed Wednesday morning to The News that women’s wrestling head coach Steve Hart and assistant coach Kellen Devlin are no longer employed by the school, adding in a statement that a search process is underway for a new head coach.
“They started it with, ‘Our contracts have been terminated and we’ll no longer be working with you guys,’ ” said Palka, who graduated from Springville-Griffith Institute last month. “We thought it was a joke, and the more it went on, the more it became serious. Obviously, it was a giant slap in the face to hear that, that the coaches we’ve been working with, that the coaches are just gone.”
Little detail was offered during the meeting, other than Hart and Devlin had found out earlier in the week that their contracts had been terminated by Buffalo State.
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“It was sudden for them, too,” Palka said.
By Tuesday night, a post on the Buffalo State women’s wrestling Instagram account announced the coaching change in a lengthy statement, one that was not approved or released by the university. It was eventually removed.
Buffalo State’s administration Wednesday confirmed the coaching change, which comes weeks before the start of the school year and as Buffalo State is scheduled to begin its first season as a Division III women’s wrestling program in the fall.
The school’s administration did not say why Hart no longer was with the program or when he was dismissed.
In a statement to The Buffalo News on Thursday, Hart said he wished Buffalo State the best of luck in its search for a new coach, and said he and the school could not come to a contractual agreement.
“I declined a one year offer because I’m committed to my career at UB,” Hart wrote. “(I’m) a permanent employee there with 22 years in the state pension system. I would not give that up for a 1-year contract, especially being informed that an assessment has to be done to see if programs are being cut. That would be reckless for my family. I offered to continue on the same structure that was approved in September of 2023, when I was named head coach, which is I would be on a volunteer line with two part-time paid assistants working nights, weekends, during vacation time and holidays (after my professional obligation was completed for my full-time position), but days later, I was informed that they’re going to move in a different direction.
“I’m grateful for the time spent, the opportunity given to us by (athletic director) Renee Carlineo and Buffalo State. Connecting with the recruits is something that I value and I hope that they all have highly successful academic and athletic careers.”
Hart said did not know details of Buffalo State’s assessment to determine whether programs are being cut.
Wayne Brumfield, interim vice president for student affairs, declined an interview request by The Buffalo News made through a school spokesperson Wednesday. However, he reiterated in a statement to The News that “Buffalo State is committed to building a thriving women’s wrestling program, beginning with competition this fall.”
Wrestlers who committed to Buffalo State spoke with The News the day after the coaching change was announced. Their responses ranged from shock and anger to even resiliency. One wrestler outlined a three-point plan on how she would pursue her next step at the college level.
Wrestlers who said they spoke with Brumfield shared that they were given assurances that the program would launch this fall, but one parent wasn’t afraid to surmise what Buffalo State is planning for the future.
“This is speculation,” said Marea Palka’s mother, Mary. “But maybe they’re doing this because they want to see if some of the wrestlers will not come to Buff State, and they could just cancel the program due to ‘lack of interest.’ ”
How the wrestlers found out
Hart told The News in a message that he found out Monday he would not be retained. The Tuesday video conference included Hart, Devlin and most of the 24 wrestlers who had already committed to Buffalo State. North Tonawanda graduates Brenna and Hannah McCarley had no indication before the call that any sort of coaching change was coming.
“We thought he was joking, and he obviously wasn’t,” Brenna McCarley said of Hart. “We just started crying, and it was hard for us to realize he wasn’t going to coach. We’re a month out from the school year. It’s hard to have to go through this process again.”
Tiarra Guan, a commitment from Long Island, was not on the video conference, but received a string of text messages after she took her phone off do-not-disturb later that night.
“All I saw were a bunch of messages saying, ‘What’s going to happen next year?’ ” Guan said. “I’m reading it and I’m thinking, ‘What is going on? I’m away from my phone for a little bit and this is what happens?’
“I texted coach Hart and said, ‘I’m very sorry I couldn’t attend, can I get caught up to speed on this?’ He texted me and said, ‘Coach Kellen and I were informed we’re no longer coaches and we have no idea what’s going on.’ I was in complete shock.”
The McCarley sisters, Guan, Ysabel Johnson and Marea Palka said they were contacted by Brumfield later that night about the decision to dismiss Hart and Devlin.
Guan said Brumfield apologized for the news of the dismissal and he wanted to hear Guan’s opinion on the situation.
“I gave him a piece of what I was thinking,” Guan said. “For me, wrestling in college was a big deal. So to hear what happened, it was like a slap in the face, almost, from Buffalo State.
“Coach Hart and coach Kellen have been nothing but supportive to me. When I got hurt at Eastern States (wrestling tournament), coach Hart told me, ‘Don’t worry about what happened today, but focus on getting better.’ Then, we saw him at the state tournament and coach Hart made my coach and I feel very welcomed, and we said, ‘This was an easy decision to go to Buff State.’ ”
Guan, though, said she did not receive an explanation from Brumfield about Hart’s dismissal.
Mary Palka said she contacted Brumfield after Carlineo referred her to him.
She said that in their phone conversation, Brumfield reiterated that Buffalo State was committed to its women’s wrestling program, and that the school was still planning to hire a full-time women’s wrestling coach. Mary Palka asked for an explanation as to why Hart and Devlin were let go. She said Brumfield’s initial answer was that the parties couldn’t reach a contractual agreement.
“He stated that several times,” Mary Palka said. “There was no understanding of a contractual agreement, and they had an agreement that was terminated without explanation. He started stuttering because he got tripped up and didn’t know how to respond. He said a couple times, ‘We’ve decided to move in a different direction,’ and I asked, ‘What timeline do you have to hire? Because wrestling season starts in four months and there’s no coach.’ ”
What’s next?
Buffalo State posted an advertisement for a women’s wrestling coach on its website Wednesday. The ad states that the application deadline is Aug. 2, just 24 days before the start of the fall semester. An anticipated date of hire is listed as Sept. 1.
The 2024-25 women’s wrestling roster is not listed on Buffalo State’s athletic website, and a tab for the 2024-25 schedule redirects users to the athletics homepage.
Hart is listed in the University at Buffalo’s online directory as a senior program support specialist in the school of engineering and applied sciences. Hart was an assistant wrestling coach at St. Francis High School for the 2023-24 school year. He previously was head coach of Starpoint High School’s wrestling program from 2014-23.
Starpoint announced in August 2023 that it would not retain Hart as head coach. The next month, the school district announced that it commissioned an “independent decision-maker” to conduct a Title IX investigation, which determined that allegations of sexual harassment within the Starpoint wrestling team in February were substantiated.
The McCarley twins said Starpoint’s decision to part ways with Hart did not concern them. Johnson said she never received an explanation regarding Hart’s background or what happened at Starpoint.
“We’re not familiar with the details of any of that,” Mary Palka said. “It would be wrong of us to make any statement on that. I’ll just say that Marea, having wrestled with coach Hart, has not seen anything inappropriate, at all.
“In my time with coach Hart, he’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. He’s kind, inspiring, thoughtful and one of the most professional people I’ve ever met.”
Guan said she is considering three options: Go to Buffalo State for a year, then transfer to another school; spend the year at Nassau Community College on Long Island and transfer to another school; or immediately reopen the recruiting process and go to another school this fall.
Johnson doesn’t plan to enroll at Buffalo State and said she already has heard from other colleges about joining their wrestling programs.
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Twins Hannah and Brenna McCarley compete against each other during a workout session at the Niagara Falls Wrestling Club in the summer of 2023. They originally committed to wrestle at Buffalo State, but said they are now looking for another college wrestling program to join for the 2024-25 school year.
Asked if they wanted a further explanation from Buffalo State’s administration regarding the dismissal of Hart and Devlin, the McCarley twins didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Yes,” both said in unison.
“It was so sudden and out of nowhere,” Brenna McCarley continued. “We were supposed to move in, really soon. Why couldn’t they just talk about this and be realistic? Why would they do this to student-athletes who are hoping to wrestle somewhere and continue their career?”
The McCarley twins already have decided they will not wrestle at or attend Buffalo State this fall.
“We’re going to wrestle, no matter what,” Brenna said. “We’re just going to figure out where that is.”