A friend of mine in Western KY was at the tournament and asked me to jump on here and provide my two cents on the two matches being discussed. I've been an official in West Virginia and Virginia for the last 14 years. For the last 4 years, I've been an evaluator of other officials in my area (only in VA not WV). I'm by no means the NFHS, but I do know a great bit when it comes to NFHS Wrestling Rules. What I hope to do below is give a clean and clear view of how would I would evaluate each man specifically related to the rule book.
Couple of disclaimers before I give my critique of each match:
I know a couple of KY refs but use to know a lot more.
I do not know either of the head officials in question in these matches.
I have no vested or rooting interest in these matches.
I watched on Flo and wasn't there in person.
I absolutely do not want to get involved with the overall state of "quality" of officials
I absolutely do not want to get into the should have let it settle in OT.
138 pound conso 2nd round:
General observations:
Head official seemed to have good positioning and was moving around the mat well.
Was quick to be in position to see things.
Made good on the line calls.
Did not effectively utilize assistant official (this is an issue in WV and VA too)
Scoring observations:
I thought the first stalling warning on red shouldn't have been called. Red was up 4-2 and had shown that he was the aggressor by securing 2 takedowns to that point
Second stalling call (resulting in one point penalty) was a little quick, but I don't have that much of an issue here. Stalling Is subjective in these situations
The third (resulting in one point penalty) and fourth (resulting in two point penalty) stalling calls were there and the right call.
At this point there was misapplication of rule. In the 2022 NFHS Wrestling Rule book, when the 2pt (fourth) stalling call is made, match shall be stopped and the opponent will have choice of position on restart.
I saw the head official direct the green wrestler that he was down after stoppage, but I did not see where he asked/informed green that it was his choice of position. Nor did I see the official direct the scorers table that the wrestler chose down. Assuming that they were using track for scoring, track would have automatically prompted for position choice. The scorer likely saw that green was down so he clicked down to keep moving.
Again - watching on flow. Maybe he did ask and maybe green did say down - but the signs don't point to that.
The match restarts and the fifth (DQ stalling call) was borderline. He was circling and backing up. He wasn't going directly backwards. I personally would not have made this call, but also don't hate the call.
As soon as the fifth stalling is called the match is terminated.
Had the red wrestler remained on the mat and the red coach approached and called out the misapplication of the rule, bad time would have been re-wrestled starting at the 21 second mark. Any points, penalties, or injury time that occurred during bad time would be voided. Choice would be given, recorded, and wrestling would begin. Bad time can be called to re-wrestle as long as the offended wrestler and/or coach remains on/in the mat area and requests the bad time. I did not see that request made.
While I do not think that red coaches realized that DQ for stalling was a thing, I certainly think the strategy would have changed if bad time was re-wrestled as it should have been.
157 pound finals match
General observations:
Head official moved around the mat well but would have liked him to be back a bit more to be able to survey all of the action. Sometimes the bigger the wrestlers the easier it is to see further away than up close.
Good utilization of assistant on the first takedown. My assumption is he wanted to confer with assistant on whether the period ended before takedown was secured but that's just a guess.
Missed headgear throw at conclusion of match.
Scoring observations:
Takedown at end of first was a good takedown. I would have awarded points first then conferred with my assistant to confirm my call with timing rather than wait and award later. This is being super critical and there isn't really anything clearly defined in the rulebook for this situation.
Good on the line reversal call in period 2. Those are hard to see supporting points when guys are moving that fast.
Stalling warning on red in period 2 was good and clean.
Although rule book doesn't explicitly state 5 seconds for a mat return, it is generally and widely accepted that 5 seconds is the timing for a mat return stalling call. I had anywhere from 5-7 seconds depending on when you start your count. Ok call in my book.
Probably should have hit green for stalling towards the end of period 2. Action wasn't forward by green.
Good "let it burn" for takedown by red in third period. Some guys would have hit stalemate before that action finished.
Could have been stalling on red at 30 second mark for dragging opponent out of bounds on his feet. Ok with no call there.
After scramble completes at 20 seconds left in the third, red has greens heel to the buttock while the defensive wrestler is broken down for 10 seconds (18 second mark to 8 second mark). Good stall call and by the book.
Rule 5-24 Art 4-B - It is stalling when the contestant in the advantage position legally holds the hell to the buttocks while the defensive wrestler is broken down on the mat for more than five seconds.
Conversation with red coach at the table seemed strange. At one point head official looks at green corner. Not sure what was going on there.
Green probably should have been hit for stalling a little sooner out of neutral, but I don't think it was going to be called twice in 8 seconds here.
