This is about as big of a non-issue as there is. Those who were there are not even aware of anything that happened. Coach Johnson did NOT manhandle, assault, hit, etc. any referees. Those of you who know coach J know that this is just not part of his make-up. He was very agitated about a no-call and he did discuss his perception of the call with the asst. referee who then discussed it with the lead referee. coach J probably was within the circle when he was discussing the no-call, but if that is going to be a DQ or point deduct about every coach at PB should have been dinged--heck, everyone should have just started with a -1 team score.

This rumor (and that is all it is) is in my opinion based on jealousy of coach J and his program.

That's a completely different take on what I was told Saturday, but I did't see it. I was just told about it by a kids fed wrestling coach. Jealousy come on

Yeah, major jealousy.

hahahahhaah

please lets be real!!! coach J made a mistake and was lucky he was not DQed for it. It was a close match and his kid was trying to upset the number one seed and coach J let his emotions get out of hand. End of story!

Agreed--he was "into' a very close match and reacted very emotionally to the call. However, to say that he should have been DQed is totally out-of-line for what happened.

anybody see that call? it was rediculous!!! and for the reccord house did nock of the 1 seed and advance to the finals w-out those backpoints, Johnson had the same thing hapen to one of his wrestlers at the state tournet, james annon, and he might have been having flashbacks


I have alot more respect for coach johnson disputeing with the referees than those coaches that sit back in their wonderul folding chair and let their wrestlers fend for themselves

I would agree sticking up for your wrestlers is great, but the moment you put YOUR HANDS on the ref thats where we should draw the line. if a wrestler was ever to put his hands on a ref even to just get his attention not only would he be DQ'd for the tourn. but probably for a couple of weeks if not the rest of the season, and for a coach to, the Leaders so to speak, punishment should be far more harsh.

Good grief--coaches and referees put their hands on each other all the time. What is at issue here is the intent. As a point in fact, it is probable given the circumstances that the referee initiated the contact with Coach Johnson.

Again, this is a real non-issue; the vast majortiy of people who were in the gym did not see anything even closely resembling what is being alleged--I was there watching that particular match and saw Coach Johnson's reaction to the no-call and his request of the asst. ref to discuss it with the lead ref and I DIDN'T see anything that even remotely resembled an aggressive "laying on of the hands" by Coach Johnson.

El Gato first says coach J was very into the match and reacted very "emotionally" and then says the ref initiated the contact-which is it? I was not there so I do not know any of the facts of this particular instance. I do know I have never seen a coach complain about referees calls during a match as much as Coach J. Also IF he did initiate physical contact in an aggressive way that does constitute grounds for a DQ no matter what. However it seems the ref must not have felt he did or he would have DQ him. As far as the jealousy issue- get real. How many state tournys has Norton won when they are one of the largest schools in 321A? Jealous of Hoxie, Ark City etc. maybe but Norton? (Was'nt Norton 4A last year?)

What I have said in the posts is NOT mutually exclusive as you imply. There is no question that Coach Johnson was very emotional about the no-call; there is no question that he requested the two officials discuss the no-call. There IS question as to who put their hands on who first and there is no question as to the aggressiveness of the "laying on of hands"--it was not aggressive at all. Those who were there and observed the sequence of events know that what I have written is accurate.

In regards to wrestling tradition and current excellence Norton takes a back seat to no school in Kansas--6 team state championships, 199 individual state medalists (of which 50 are state champions) and two grand state champions (yes Kansas used to have a Grand State in mid-70's) including the first grand state champion ever crowned (the Norton 98 pounder won the grand state in the first year it was held). Hey, all the names of Norton state medalists can't be put on a t-shirt so they can be read! Few schools in the state can point to such an extended period of consistenly good performances (Hoxie, Ark City, Garden City ARE in that category) .

Norton was 4A last year due to an unexpcted infusion of new students--which made us either the second or third smallest school in 4A (incidentally Norton won the Larned regional last year and finished fifth at state after a poor Friday performance--no excuses.)

However, back to the original point of the post--the incident at P-Burg was a non-incident. And yes, I have seen other coaches as antimated or more and who complain more than Coach Johnson.

Coaches and referees put their hands on each other all the time?????

Come on Jaxx--you know what is being talked about--during blood time, time outs, discussing rules interps, etc. refs and coaches (and refs and wrestlers) will put hands on each other's shoulders, on each other's arms, demonstrate moves on each other, etc. while in conversation. The point being made is that contact between coaches and refs is normal and is not automatically a breach of rules warranting a DQ.

so you are saying coach j calmly walked up put his hand on the refs shoulder and said i think u need to explain this call to me so i understand it. If it is you seen something different than I seen!

NO THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM SAYING. What I am saying is that there are many instances of coaches, refs and wrestlers putting their hands on each other in situations that do not constitute aggressive intent. I am also saying that just the placing of one's hands on a referee is not an automatic DQ as has been argued by others during this thread. Lastly, what I am saying is that the asst. referee PROBABLY put his hand on Coach Johnson first. If this is too difficult for you to understand I will type slower ;-). BTW, I am through discussint this non-issue and giving it any more weight or legitimacy than it deserves. Those of you who were not there or who have suffer from that Freudian condition known as "Norton Envy" can continue this discussion. Good luck to all of your schools this weekend. Peace, out.

this is what i saw: coach johnson after realizing that no backpoints had been called walked (or leaped) over to the assistant ref as he approached the ref (while still outside the circlethe ref put his hand on coach johnson as a way of recognizing we was there and wanted to address him then just after that Johnson put his hand on the refs shoulder, not agressively or with malicious intent (or else it would have been called) so lets put this to rest really now if the ref thaut it deserved a call he would have made one