Jaymes Juarez

A member of the Southern Oregon University wrestling team facing assault charges has been suspended from the university “until his legal situation is resolved,” according to a statement from SOU.

The suspension went into effect Thursday.

Jaymes Juarez, listed on the SOU Wrestling website as a redshirt freshman from Orange County, California, was charged with felony second-degree assault and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault over accusations that he beat an O’Ryan’s Irish Pub employee who tried to eject the wrestler for showing a fake ID. The alleged assault occurred April 21, and Juarez was born March 30, 2002, making him 21 at the time.

“We cannot discuss anything about Mr. Juarez or about the allegations against him but will trust the legal system to find a just and appropriate outcome,” wrote Joe Mosley, director of communications for SOU, in an email to the Rogue Valley Times.

Appearing virtually Monday before a Jackson County Circuit Court judge, Juarez was expected to make a plea on both charges, one of which is a Measure 11 offense that carries a mandatory-minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in prison. But instead, he asked for more time to review his right to a court-appointed attorney.

Juarez pleaded not guilty to the two counts on June 1.

SOU head men’s wrestling coach Joel Gibson and numerous teammates sat in court in April and watched the proceedings play out in a show of support for Juarez. 

After the April hearing, Gibson referred all inquiries about Juarez to Mosley.

Court records state that just before midnight April 21, officers responded to a report that Juarez was at O’Ryan’s Irish Pub, where he allegedly “threw a punch” at Michael Szelong, an employee, before allegedly running away from the establishment on 137 E. Main St., Ashland. 

When officers arrived at the pub, Szelong told them that he had Juarez’s fake ID and “confronted him about it.”

“Szelong told Juarez he wasn’t letting him into O’Ryans … Pub tonight,” said the report, written by Officer Angel Valdez. 

In response, Juarez allegedly punched Szelong on the left side of the face and his jaw, according to the report.

“It was apparent that Szelong had been hit do (sic) to blood being on his lip, his lip being swollen, and his left side of his face was red with approximately inch by inch bruise starting to form near his left eye,” Valdez stated in the report.

Valdez wrote officers were shown surveillance footage of the incident, in which Juarez allegedly punched Szelong in the face. Szelong allegedly tried to grab Juarez before knocking on the pub’s front window.

After that, Szelong allegedly tried to grab Juarez before the SOU wrestler allegedly punched him on the jaw, knocking Szelong to the ground.

Police officers later caught up with Juarez on Siskiyou Street near Morse Street, where he told them he “didn’t remember what happened,” according to the report.

Court records show Juarez was released from jail on the condition he not possess firearms. He was also granted the chance to travel back home to California to visit his parents May 5.

Juarez is due back in court June 1.

Correction: The original version of this story said the alleged assault occurred in 2022 due to an incorrect date on a probable cause affidavit in Jackson County Court records. The incident occurred April 21, 2023.