First, my response here, and then I am giving my pasted response from theMat.com.

Richard, it is my preference to do what I think is right, that is address personal issues in a personal way. I am sure all of us have ghosts in our closet that if addressed on public forums has the issue to do far more harm than good. By the way, taking up for my son or speaking on his behalf in a personal way, on personal issues, not public, is something this particular dad would always rather do, I can't speak for all dads, but likely most dads in my position of seeing their son ripped a part over the last year, with over 95% of the things said totally untrue on both these forums, national forums, and the Wichita Eagle forums, would likely understand my position. Then again, folks can also speak to Nathan, he is a young man, and thankfully far more mature than many adults. Frankly, it is time to focus on other things, I am trying to focus on helping my son, a young wrestler who has given to this state, and in return had so many give to him the chance to live a life without people singling him out on message boards all of the time. Helping him realize, that yes people are cruel, say things they shouldn’t and often times aren’t true. But his faith, his love for family and love for others is really what matters. I wish I could say he has been perfect, heck, I wish I could say I have been perfect, but I’m not, he isn’t, and I have yet to meet anyone who is.

I would also like to say, that on a weekend where so many talented wrestlers wrestled a tournament they should be proud of, The Kansas State High School Championships, I am frankly disheartened that one would take time away from recognizing those wrestlers and even consider bringing this issue up, once again. My son and I spent virtually every waking moment following and cheering on our two favorite teams this week while at Liberty Nationals by following the results and updates. We were wanting nothing but the best for The Derby Panthers and the Clearwater Indians. I am so proud of those Derby kids who wrestled their tails off, no one gave them a shot and the job Coach Ross and his staff did, and that team did is FAR MORE DESERVING OF A THREAD THAN THIS!

Now my answer I provided at The Mat where the issue has again come up. I will ask out of graciousness, and respect, if you have questions, feel free to contact me personally off line. Or face to face, I am certain there are individuals who have done so that will verify I have tried to be as honest and respectful as humanly possible and tried to answer every single question, as has Nathan when speaking to him. Now that answer I provided at themat.com:

To help squelch the rumors. It is called coming up short 3 points on a semester grade in Chemistry. Anyone with questions feel free to email me at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com There are enough rumors floating around to drown a fish, and unfortunately, almost all of the rumors we have heard are untrue. I will not respond to personal family issues or concerns on these boards other than this post. He is still wrestling, been practicing all season, and has been spending extra time working on Greco and Freestyle. He had a great tournament this weekend, against some very good, tough quality kids.

I apologize if I have offended anyone here, it was only my intent to answer the questions asked, and to address any "rumors" that may be floating around as we have again, heard most of them. Thankfully, as of now, the grades are much better.