they wanna have a little fun too ... Its a sport for them too...
They're not getting paid to have a little fun. They're getting paid to officiate objectively, protect the wrestlers from injury, and to promote sportsmanlike conduct. Why should they be allowed to antogonize the wrestlers/coaches/parents/fans to display unsportsmanlike conduct and then punish a wrestler for doing just that. That's rediculous. It's not a sport for them, and they are not there to be a show. I watched a wrestler make a show to the crowd after getting a call in his favor to taunt his opponent -- probably less of a show than what some of the refs make. That ref rightly hit him with a violation and awarded the other wrestler a point. He lost the match by 1 and was rightly eliminated from state b/c of it. Then, you say refs should taunt people just the same? Come on!?