To Mom of Several:

My name is Tom Williams, I am the father of Tommy Williams and am one of the STA coaches in the corner of the match you described. The other is Lorne Parks, our head wrestling coach. I was there, I saw, and heard, what happened. I have also reviewed the videotape of the match.

Let me first say that we had two controversial call situations with my son. The first was the night before in his semifinal match, where he was ahead with seconds to go in the third period and the other wrestler was awarded a reversal, sending him, and not us, to the finals. We argued that call, as coaches do, and lost the argument. We then shook the winner's hand and congratulated him. I also spoke to the winner the next morning and congratulated him again and wished him luck in the finals. This is what we do at St. Thomas Aquinas, and is the only way we know.

Regarding the Williams/Kmiec match, we were ahead 2-1 and chose down in the 3rd period. It was a frantic period with Aspen Kmiec on top trying to turn Tommy, and Tommy trying not to get turned. With 20 seconds to go, the referee signalled a stall warning, and with 10/12 seconds to go, he signalled another stall warning, tying the match at 2-2. We then worked for an escape, and ended up standing up, with Kmiec keeping an overhook and we elevated him in the air, in the last few seconds. The refereed signalled nuetral and awarded us another point as time expired, making it 3-2. It was very frantic, as these situations usually are.

I am not sure what you mean by your lying comment, but it shows you lack understanding of the wrestling environment. We advocate on behalf of our wrestlers, as all coaches do, but at the end of the day, we accept, and teach our young men, to accept, the referees' decisions and go on with our business. This is what we did in our hearbreaking loss in the semifinals and the hectic win for third place with Kmiec.

As for the Kmiecs, young Aspen is a fierce competitor and wrestles like a lion on the mat. I assume Stan Kmiec is Aspen's father who responded and I would like to thank him for his comments. I know Aspen and spoke to him before the match at the tournament and I have met the family and they seem like good people. In our wrestling community we compete hard, but when finished, we try to act like gentlemen. Aspen has had a great high school career and has nothing to be ashamed of.

Should you wish to contact me, my email is wilgt@msn.com and Coach Parks is lparks@stasaints.net. We will not hide.

Tom Williams