According to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, Crook County High School Principal Jake Huffman may have used school resources to promote his for-profit business, prompting an investigation. The inquiry, which began around May 15, 2025, centers around Central Oregon Wrestling Academy LLC, which Hoffman owns.
For context, many conservatives are concerned about how many bureaucrats and government officials in blue states use their positions of power to enrich themselves at the expense of normal Americans. Cases such as that one emphasize the vital importance of agencies like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which seek to root out government fraud.
In any case, local media reports that between 2022 and 2024, the wrestling academy did not have a contract to use Crook County High’s gym, but used the space regardless. Additionally, other organizations were charged $20 per hour for using the space.
Explaining away the situation, Huffman said that it was ultimately a misunderstanding. He claimed, “I just want to cooperate however I can. I did use Cowboy Mat Club’s time in the gym to run my practice. Cowboy Mat Club asked me to run the advanced portion of the practice so I did do that. As soon as I knew I wasn’t supposed to do that, I got a contract signed, so that the entities were separate, so basically I have my own gym space now.”
Continuing his explanation, Huffman added, “A lot of this is probably my own fault because I didn’t do the necessary research to figure out what I needed to do,” stating, “At the end of the day, all we want to do is provide an opportunity for students to get better at wrestling…It wasn’t something I was trying to do purposely to take advantage of anything.”
Providing additional context, Crook County Schools Interim Superintendent Joel Hoff stated, “As the district became aware of a gym scheduling issue last winter, the HR department conducted a thorough internal investigation. Mr. Huffman accepted full responsibility for not properly scheduling the gym and implemented corrective measures to ensure he followed the correct process moving forward. The district remains committed to working collaboratively with OGEC to ensure this matter is fully resolved.”
This case is far from the only recent high school sports controversy to make headlines. As we reported, many of the state’s schools are defying their woke governor and banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports teams.
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Justifying the decision, Superintendent Michael Eastman explained that the schools within the district will stop following the policy right away, explaining, “This change will take place immediately. We appreciate the turnout last evening and thank those residents who addressed the board with their thoughts regarding the policy.”
Concluding his remarks, he added, “It is my interpretation that the school board will be looking to approve policies that align biological sex to their specific athletic teams, too, i.e., biological males will be playing with only other biological males, and the same for biological females. These policies will need to be approved by the policy committee and the board once rewritten.”