I am sure that to referee a kid’s wrestling tournament is very difficult and stressful. I truly respect these men who choose this job. Passionate parents and coaches watch their young ones strain for victories. Close calls that go against a kid can cause some bad reactions. Bad calls can cause some very bad reactions. Referees are human and they will make mistakes...just like the young wrestler will make mistakes…just like the coach will make mistakes. We all need patience...but...

This is my first year coaching a wrestling club and I have seen some dramatic inconsistencies in the some of the decisions made by referees. Again, please, I am not here to throw stones. But we should all try to get better at what we do. I know that I need to get better at what I do.

Let me give some examples of questionable calls…

(By the way, in one of these examples the call was to my wrestler’s advantage. This is not about hard feelings. I just feel we should talk about this and improve.)

Situation 1:

Wrestler 1 has Wrestler 2 in an arm bar. Wrestler 1 "wing tilts" Wrestler 2. The referee counts 5. Wrestler 1 lets Wrestler 2 off his back. Wrestler 2 returns to his base. Wrestler 1 keeps the bar, releases the wrist, hooks the far arm and runs the bar in the other direction placing Wrestler 2 on his back again (it was the same arm bar but it was a different move executed from a defendable base). The referee did not count a new 5. The referee awarded only 1 set on back points (he stated that it was because the arm bar was not released)...

Later in a different match...Wrestler 1 has in a leg turk. Wrestler 1 turns Wrestler 2. The referee counts 5. Wrestler 1 lets Wrestler 2 off his back but keeps in the leg turk. The referee awards 3 points. Wrestler 1 then executes the exact same move putting Wrestler 2 on his back again. The referee counts 5. Wrestler 1 lets Wrestler 2 off his back again. The referee awards 3 more points (he stated that the Wrestler had returned to a defensible base)...

In both cases I was told “It is a judgment call”. But I believe these two situations were a contradiction.

Situation 2:

Wrestler 1 executes a Peterson. The referee did not award a reversal. Wrestler 2 is rocking on his back, trying to cross-face. Surely, 10 seconds went by. No call. Wrestler 1 had to let go of the Peterson, turn into his opponent before the referee gave a 2 point reversal. No back points. (Referee claimed that there was no change of control).

Again: “a judgment call”.

I know that there are “judgment calls” in this sport. But we need to ensure as best as we can that one referee’s judgment will be close to another referee’s judgment. This plays an important role in what we teach our kids (and our parents) about the rules of this sport. I am sure that we try to achieve this now. But I believe we need to get better. What might we do?

Maybe we could have a post tournament coach's meeting where the particular referee, his peers and the coaches could review a given match situation and examine how a rule was applied. (How a judgment was made.) I know that after a tournament is over, we all want to get home. I also don’t want to set our referees up for a bitch session. So maybe this wouldn’t work.

Maybe the only answer is that we all do the best that we can. Maybe we just shake it off and move on. But I believe we need to reduce some of these “gray areas”. An inside cradle is an inside cradle. We might all agree on that. It is not a “judgment call”. So…is a Peterson a Peterson or is it a “judgment call”? If I put you on your back, let you off your back, and put you back on your back again, when do I get 2 sets of back points and when do I get 1. Judgment call?

Let’s get the rules right and consistently apply them. Shouldn’t we strive to have as few “judgment calls” as we can? I know this is asking a lot. Maybe too much. Maybe the whole sport is judgment calls.

Again, I thank all the referees for their contributions.