Leading off today: A lawsuit has been filed against former Canandaigua coach Rich Romeo by a wrestler he was accused of mistreating, the Democrat and Chronicle reported today.

   Romeo is a defendant in the lawsuit along with the Canandaigua City School District, Superintendent Donald W. Raw Jr., AD James Simmons and former superintendent Steven Uebbing. The suit in U.S. District Court seeks unspecified damages for deprivation of constitutional rights and was filed by Christina Perrin and her son Nicholas Hibbard, who was the wrestler involved in the incident that led to Romeo's disorderly conduct plea.

   According to the suit, Romeo "placed the personal safety and health of the plaintiff child in danger by failing to provide needed medication, then harassed and assaulted the child in a manner intended to intentionally inflict emotional distress."

   Romeo declined to comment and Perrin could not be reached for comment, the paper said.

   Romeo returned to teaching at Canandaigua Middle School after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct on Feb. 28, 2007. He subsequently resigned as varsity wrestling coach. The initial charges against Romeo of two counts of second-degree harassment, endangering the welfare of a child and disorderly conduct related to another incident were dropped as part of Romeo's plea agreement.

   The lawsuit says Nicholas Hibbard was having trouble breathing during a match and called a timeout to use his asthma inhaler. Romeo, the lawsuit alleges, called the youth an obscenity and told him that he didn't need medication and to continue wrestling.

   Section 5 tweaks football postseason: The 31 Section 5 football teams that don't qualify for sectionals can play in the postseason this fall under a plan to convert a loosely organized "pool play" format into tournaments sponsored by Connors & Ferris, a local law firm.

   "Pool play was the worst," Marshall coach Jason Muhammad told the paper. "Some schools, it's never a thought, but for some of us who have those ups and downs, it was tough."

   Section 5 and state football chairman Dick Cerone said the new series of games gives players and coaches incentive to take the three potential contests more seriously, with trophies, MVP and sportsmanship awards presented.

   Victory for Illinois papers: Newspapers will be able to sell photos taken at high school games under a deal with the Illinois High School Association. The agreement between the IHSA and the Illinois Press Association gives photographers access to games and does not restrict what they do with the photos.

   The IPA agreed to drop its lawsuit against the IHSA and not ask the General Assembly to bar the IHSA from granting a private company the sole right to sell photos taken at championship events.

   "It’s over. They can’t control how we do business. End of story," IPA executive director Dave Bennett said in a statement.

   The IHSA prohibited photographers from several spapers from taking pictures on the field during the 2007 state football championships. The organization required papers that wanted access to sign an agreement preventing them from selling pictures taken at the event. News organizations argued that the IHSA cannot restrict the use of photographs taken at public events.

   Extra points: Pearl River junior Krystina Paloni slugged a pair of two-run home runs in the third inning of the Pirates' 12-2 softball victory over Putnam Valley. . . . Jason Beckman, 35, previously an assistant to Chuck Tilley, was named the head football coach at Tonawanda, likely leaving the Warriors’ double-wing offense intact.

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