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| Things that happened
at Regionals
Posted by By the Book 
on 2/13/2011, 11:07 pm
Funny enough, here were some of
the things that I saw at Regionals this weekend:
a. It started at weigh-in on Friday. We have a kid who shows up to the
scale AFTER we had closed that weight class a few minutes earlier. Kudos
to his coach whose response was, "He wasn't here, he's not wrestling."
b. Also at weigh-in, one of the competitors comes to the scale with his
Under Armor hair cover. In it's pristine condition with all those
numerous logos intact, it would probably fetch maximum price on eBay. I
inform this kid that the hair cover is illegal with more than one logo
visible. He tells me, "No, my coach says it's OK. He asked the officials
at the start of the season, and they said it's OK." So, not to be
disagreeable, I simply tell him, "No they didn't. And if you show up
with that thing on the mat, then just know that you will be penalized 1
point and given injury time out to correct the problem." By the way,
that kid was the Regional champ the next day. He also was wearing a
different hair cover when I saw him wrestling during the tournament -
one that had no logos visible.
c. Plenty of Cautions, but no points awarded for Cautions. So, for those
who have anxieties about officials enforcing the starting positions so
strictly (which I do all season), it didn't affect a single match. But
it happened ALOT. Almost every match I officiated that didn't end with a
first round pin, there was at least one Caution issued. I'm thinking
about offering a free clinic on starting positions at 7:45 am on Friday
at the Tacoma Dome.
d. I had a match where the offensive wrestler was working a hold, and
turned the opponent into near fall criteria. I got a one-count, then the
defensive wrestler came back to his base. I kid you not, 5 seconds later
I hear the defensive kid's coach from the corner yelling about the
offensive wrestler, "He's STALLING! He's not doing anything!" It did
make me ponder this thought in the moment - do I need to recalibrate my
stalling meter? Then I returned to the real world and realized my stall
meter was working OK.
e. I did hear some coaches urging me to call the pin very quickly when
their kid was pinning the opponent. I know everyone is looking for
consistency on this forum, so I'm just gonna say it - I am too. So, I
was a bit disappointed when those same coaches were silent when their
kid was on his back. I was expecting the same vociferous instructions -
"He's PINNED! Come on, CALL IT ALREADY! Ohhhh jeez! He's flat! Get in
position!......"
f. I had a wrestler who was convinced the Green leg band gave him some
special powers. I didn't feel he needed to wear it because his opponent
had a Red uniform on, and his uniform was Black. But, he insisted, so I
said, "Go ahead." Well, sure enough, he fell behind and was losing by a
few points in the middle of the 3rd period, when he turned it on and
finished with a flourish, securing a late takedown and near fall to win
by 2 points at the end. At the scorers table, when he was signing his
bout sheet, I pulled that green band out of my pocket and showed it to
him. See, the thing fell off his leg during the second round and I had
picked it up and put it in my pocket for the rest of the match. I told
him, "See, you didn't need it after all. It was ALL YOU!" He still
couldn't overcome his superstition and continued to believe in the power
of that Green leg band.
g. I had a match where the one kid never initiated a single takedown
attempt in over 3 minutes on their feet. I had warned and penalized him
for stalling. Seems he thought locking on a collar tie was aggressive
wrestling. And his coach did too. He even berated me after the match,
telling me, "Way to go. You took my kid out of his game with your
stalling calls." I had to admit to him that he was right. I did take him
out of his game. His game was stalling, and my enforcement of the rule
indeed was my attempt to take him out of that game. I told the table
crew that maybe I should apologize since I didn't realize my stall calls
might have been the very thing that prevented the kid from ever
initiating a double leg, a duck under, a High C, etc. Anyway, the kid
got pinned late in the 2nd round, but I think the coach is still
convinced that I'm the reason for that loss.
h. Lots of nice people helping to put on the tournament. I enjoyed
talking with the folks at the tables. It really takes a good community
to run such an important event so well. I appreciate all of those
volunteers so much. Thanks to you, the kids have these wonderful events
to participate in. |
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