Smyrna's coach should be ashamed

[reftn]

As soon as the trainer cleared him and the kid indicated willingness, the ref should have indicated "lets wrestle".  At that point the Smyrna coach would have had the option to throw in a towel to protect his kid.

 

This doesnt remove responsibility to the ref, only giving a way it perhaps should have gone.

Edited February 20, 2016 by reftn

[memphiswrestling171]

Cobra if refs suck in Tennessee so bad why don't you become a ref and be the best ref in the state? This can't be blamed on the ref at all it's a coaches decision and ref can't make a wrestler wrestle.. This is all to blame on the coward joke of a coach from Smyrna

[cobrakid8]

Cobra if refs suck in Tennessee so bad why don't you become a ref and be the best ref in the state? This can't be blamed on the ref at all it's a coaches decision and ref can't make a wrestler wrestle.. This is all to blame on the coward joke of a coach from Smyrna

 

There are some good refs in TN, however when you have to go 12 mats at a time there are some really bad refs out there because they are needed because of the amount of wrestling taking place. Sad but it's completely true and I did don the ref shirt for a while but I have 2 kids in other sports(select and pre-select soccer) that take up much more of my time then would allow me to coach and ref like I used to. Again maybe watch the match or be there in person to actually be able to make a call on if it was right or not, for me it wasn't and really it wasn't even close to an illegal slam so it should have never been put into the coaches hand to be a coward, I do agree though once that decision was made by the ref it put it into that coaches hand however it should have never happened. This again happens when you have 12 matches going because they continue to split into different divisions and have a girls wrestling division also, it waters down the amount of actual qualified refs that take the mat.

[memphiswrestling171]

I'm not saying there aren't guys that are great refs there however. Just like with all sports easy to blame the refs all the time.. I've coached umpired refed and played sports all my life and none of it is easy there is always 2 sides and 2 diff views.. And especially in wrestling when everybody is yelling he's pinned when your less than a foot looking at his shoulders knowing there a 3 inch gap in between happens every match tournament... I go back to argument of good ole brother system that also takes place looking at how many officials from diff regions get to go to state? None of its fair... I think they should rotate the state tourney and find a better place with showers or make the state bring in portable showers for the wrestlers which to me is more concerning then a possible bad call...

[cobrakid8]

I agree with you on that, I also coached and was a ref in wrestling as well as many other sports before my family took precedence. My youngest wants to step away from competitive soccer next year because I took him to a few matches this year and he now wants to try his hand at wrestling. It's a sport we all love and there are many changes I would love to see but TSSAA don't care about anything but getting their money. Again I did see what happened and the slam wasn't a slam, I have seen double legs harder taken down then this illegal slam called. I am just glad that Russo has the intestinal fortitude to not let it keep him down and is fighting to come back as third if possible, I have seen others through the years once their dream is crushed move on and forfeit out. But if they want to continue to water down the tournaments and have the women's also, I wished they would let D2 and women's wrestle last weekend and then let A/AA and AAA wrestle this weekend so that the number of refs isn't so watered down, the sport suffers because of that.

[SWEEPsingle2k]

Pretty sure Michael Kennedy ran into the same problem a couple of years ago, but the coach of the kid he "slammed" made the ref start the match again for one second and then stop it thus allowing Kennedy to win, as he was the better wrestler by far and had no malicious intent. There was a better way to respond than the Smyrna coach did. Russo, imo, deserved OW and a chance at a three-peat

[wantitbad]

Its amazing the difference one bad call can make in a tournament.

 That being said , many who stand on a soap box when its someone else's kid if put in the same position would use any rule or call to advance their kid to the next round.  

The officiating and the bad use and interpretation of a rule are at fault here.

Even though it was a bad situation and your heart breaks for the Russo kid, don't blame a coach for advancing his kid. Blame a bad rule and a bad call .Many will disagree with this opinion, but there it is.  

[WrestlingGod]

Its amazing the difference one bad call can make in a tournament.

 That being said , many who stand on a soap box when its someone else's kid if put in the same position would use any rule or call to advance their kid to the next round.  

The officiating and the bad use and interpretation of a rule are at fault here.

Even though it was a bad situation and your heart breaks for the Russo kid, don't blame a coach for advancing his kid. Blame a bad rule and a bad call .Many will disagree with this opinion, but there it is.  

Im 27, Ive been coaching different levels for the last 5ish years, and I can look you in the face and tell you that I would NEVER take advantage of any kid, at any level like this. This is a disgusting representation of our sport. Wrestlers have gotten a reputation as hard workers, dedicated athletes and morally sound citizens, but this tarnishes all those reputations. In a situation like this, if you TRULY believe your kid cannot compete, if you honestly think he cannot continue, and you are really 100% truthfully looking out for the safety of your wrestler you should restart the match then immediately after the ref blows the whistle stop the match and forfeit. Unless its obvious it was intentional, why the H*&! would you punish the other wrestler for something that he did not intentionally do. Scumbag move, low, dirty, and not a good representation of what our sport is about.

[ghouse]

I posted in another thread on this and will do so below again... anyone questioning the call from the official either hasn't seen the video or doesn't understand the rules...

 

This discussion does bring up an interesting point... a few people have been critical of the official for the call in that match.  My other post is copied below:

I will say that I saw video of the sequence in question.  Most people that know me know that I like good hard wrestling, however there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that an illegal move should have been called on that sequence.  It was absolutely a slam.  The official did absolutely what they should have done there.

 

The rest of the sequence... well I think most folks already have their opinion made up on that one.  I wasn't one of the parties involved and therefore in theory don't know everything... so my opinion really doesn't matter.  I doubt the state would be so up-at-arms had the entire sequence happened but a non-heavily favored wrestler been involved.

 

[karelin]

 Several things have made this whole scenario a tragedy, most of which have been mentioned, but one other point here is that Sells, the 160 champion, didn't get to wrestle Russo, consequently tainting his win in the eyes of some who said Russo was denied being a 3xer,

kind of like the 1984 Olympic champs who didn't get to wrestle the boycotting Soviet countries.

  Incidentally, I watched the slam on video; the call should not be contested. Everything else is totally on the coach and him alone. Surely, he is now regretting his actions; 

[Sommers]

Several things have made this whole scenario a tragedy, most of which have been mentioned, but one other point here is that Sells, the 160 champion, didn't get to wrestle Russo, consequently tainting his win in the eyes of some who said Russo was denied being a 3xer,

kind of like the 1984 Olympic champs who didn't get to wrestle the boycotting Soviet countries.

Incidentally, I watched the slam on video; the call should not be contested. Everything else is totally on the coach and him alone. Surely, he is now regretting his actions;

 

...it's been mentioned before, a superior wrestler like Russo has the responsibility to take the wrestler back to the mat safely without the potential for neck, head, back or limb injury.,. This was a slam to me unlike the Creagan- Scooter Houston Semi final call by Mara, which may have set a precedent for the younger officials I've witnessed, but not here on this one.

 

This is a call by a coach that I'm certain was not ever displayed by his former coach at Dickson a few years ago when faced with a similar scenario.

 

Congrats on a fabulous HS career to Mr Russo and his outstanding family and coaches. I know many around the area (including you Karelin) have been a part of what he has become and it was unfortunate that that GP West sequel (OT last month) didn't occur Saturday between Russo and Sells... Probably best match!!!

Edited February 22, 2016 by Sommers

[WrestlingGod]

Can someone post a link of the match please?