My son is a first year wrestler, and we have always taught him fairness, humbleness, and good sportsmanship. Win or lose, sportsmanship on and off the mat wins out no matter what. Here is my dilemma, a few times this season, (and this happened again at Wichita Classic) the kid who is wrestling my son starts screaming when it is clear that my son is going to take the kid to his back, the ref stooped down as if to check to make sure the kid was not hurt so my son (seeing the ref coming down to check) let up his grip just the tiniest little bit and the kid gets away either by escape or by a reversal. This "Crying Wolf" tactic, I believe, is somewhat cheap and don't know what to tell my son to do in the situation.

What should I tell him?

Tell him not to quit wrestling his hardest until the ref stops the match

Tell your son not to let up until the ref stops the match by touching him. Some kids will stop wrestling when they a refs whistle blows on a different mat, so to avoid this we tell our kids not to stop until the ref touches them. Tell your son that if a ref truly thinks the other kid is getting hurt, the ref will stop the match. If he keeps going until the ref stops the match this will avoid the "crying Wolf" tactic. I know at some point in a match, I think it is backpoints, if the ref stops the match for a kid crying of being hurt he will award your kid an extra point for the the cry baby rule. I'm not exactly sure how that works but maybe someone can shed some light on this. Wrestling is a tough sport and sometimes kids get hurt but we all know that when we get into it.

dont
stop