UPDATE: Bishop Ahr AD apologizes for epic 'Go (bleep) yourselves' email

Frustrated over a controversial vote Monday separating New Jersey's public and non-public high schools in football and wrestling, Bishop Ahr athletic director Michael Wolfthal sent a scathing e-mail to fellow athletic officials in the Greater Middlesex Conference punctuated by an all caps, four-letter profanity.

In the e-mail, now circulating among Bishop Ahr alumni, Wolfthal writes, “I have been part of this conference since the beginning, having served in many capacities all for naught, (sic) what you showed was a total lack of support and appreciation (sic) this is just not right.”

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Wolfthal signs off the e-mail by writing, “TO THOSE WHO DID NOT VOTE TO DEFEAT THE LEGISLATION, GO (BLANK) YOURSELVES.”

The e-mail sent from Michael Wolfthal to fellow athletic officials. (Obtained by NJ Advance Media)

Wolfthal, when reached at home Thursday afternoon, acknowledged writing the e-mail, saying he did so out of “frustration.” He said he regretted the profanity and “maybe the tenor” of the e-mail, “but certainly not the sentiment.”

The vote means Bishop Ahr’s football team will see a significant step up in competition playing exclusively against non-public schools, and away games will mean more travel than its current schedule of Greater Middlesex Conference teams.

Wolfthal said he has not been reprimanded by Bishop Ahr officials. Phone messages left Thursday for Bishop Ahr principal, Sister Donna Trukowski, and superintendent Ellen Ayoub were not immediately returned.

Monday's historic vote among the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association membership was the result of a rapidly growing competitive gap between the state's public and non-public schools. It's also been one of the hottest issues in decades. The problem is most prominent in North Jersey, where some public schools have been forced to face non-public powerhouses such as Don Bosco Prep, Bergen Catholic and St. Peter's Prep.

Bishop Ahr, a small non-public school in Edison with mostly average athletic teams, competes in the Greater Middlesex Conference against mostly public schools. Even so, the Trojans have gone 20-30 in football the past five seasons.

The proposal to separate in football passed by a vote of 215-128, and the wrestling proposal was approved by a count of 216-121.

“I was extremely disappointed,” Wolfthal said. “I’m frustrated because this puts us in limbo. We are not a North Jersey parochial school. We are a very average athletic program. If we have to play an entire Catholic schedule it would hurt us.”

Wolfthal said more of the GMC athletic directors voted in opposition of the wrestling proposal than the football proposal. There are 32 schools in the GMC, meaning that even if every athletic director voted one way it would not have changed the outcome of the votes.

“But it wouldn’t have been as much of a mandate,” Wolfthal said. “Take 30 votes away and the mandate is not as great as it was.”

Wolfthal declined to elaborate further on the e-mail.

Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.