FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - After the resignation of former North Dakota State University cheer coach Verona Winkler, more and more cheerleaders have come forward with more allegations. This investigation started in late August when we received a message into our whistleblower hotline claiming that Winkler coaches with emotional and verbal abuse.
In 2018, a group of cheerleaders at NDSU spoke out against Winkler, claiming physical, emotional and verbal abuse.
“Everyone was just really scared of her the entire time.” said Chani Tretbar, a former NDSU cheerleader from 2015-18.
“I really thought when my teammates went in and had their exit interviews and told them everything the next year would be so much better and we would have such a good energy and culture and instead we were told our teammates lied and our teammates were not honest in their exit interviews.” said Allie Bolin, a NDSU former cheerleader from 2017-19.
Ricky Paulson, who was a NDSU cheerleader from 2016-18, had a hip contusion and given a doctor’s note for the injury. He said that Winkler did not care about the injury, and forced him to perform during a basketball game.
“I thought I was just going to be on the sidelines and not have to do anything,” said Paulson. “But when she called on me to get into the pyramid and we were just all a little astonished and not just having to have somebody on top of my shoulders, but having to throw them up there. That’s a lot of torque. It was definitely painful having...
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