Pella girls wrestling coach helps stop alleged knife attack at middle school

Two female students were injured in the incident, as Pella’s girls wrestling coach helped talk attacker down

A coach on the Pella girls wrestling team helped calm a scary situation Wednesday at the local middle school. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

A girls wrestling coach at Pella High School is being applauded for helping minimize the damage done during a scary situation on Wednesday.

According to a report by KCCI, a 14-year-old male student used a knife to cut two female juvenile students in the middle school cafeteria. While not naming the teacher, superintendent Greg Ebeling did say she was a coach in the girls wrestling team.

“Our staff performed amazingly,” Ebeling said. “We had a (female teacher) in our middle school - she’s actually one of our girls wrestling coaches - a strong gal who literally has dealt with kids with behaviors just really talked him down.”

Neither victim was transported to a local hospital, as all care was given on-scene and an evaluation was performed by ambulance services. 

The attacker had previously been charged with assault causing bodily injury after he allegedly assaulted a school counselor last February.

Last year, Pella’s Emmalee Spurgeon and Elaine Babcock both placed at the state wrestling tournament. Spurgeon finished fourth and Babcock was seventh, as Serenity Turner also qualified. 

The Lady Dutch were the Little Hawkeye Conference co-champions and finished in the Top-20 for all schools at state. 

Pella’s high school coaching staff includes head coach Adam Hale and assistants David Bouska, Brittany Buck, Anthony Bestell, Gwen Canney and Todd Smith.