bubowski, Unfortunatly you interpreted what comp 5 says incorrectly. The components section is basically a guideline so there will be less mistakes made when filling out the form. Component 5 is a summary of the first 4 "Guidelines/Components" What it says in simpler terms is "If all of the components listed above are filled out correctly, a referee should not have to be placed in the position of having to make a medical decision" In other words its saying that if everything on the form is filled out correctly, then there really shouldn't be any reason for an official to doubt its documentation. Furthermore if the lesion is questioned and the form is filled out correctly, the referee need only show that form to the person questioning the lesion to end the debate.

I hope this makes better sense to you. This form is not saying that it superceeds another opinion. In fact an onsite physician can overrule a skin form that was signed by a off-site doctor 10 minutes before, if the on-site physician is desiginated by the tournament committee. But more than that the Referee has the absolute final decision as to who can wrestle and who can not when it comes to skin infections. We went over this at the District I officials meeting, and Mark Anderson whom I know most everyone here knows and is one of the most highly respected officials in our state said the exact same thing I'm telling you now. And that is if an official feels that an apparent skin infection is still oozing, bleeding, etc etc Than they are not to wrestle regardless of any notes they have. It is the referees descretion. Don't put too much faith in skin forms, they are useful so that in 99% of cases an official does not have to intervene, but always remember that they do have the right to not let a wrestler on the mat. If you don't understand this I suggest you contact Rick Bowden, Mark Anderson, or anyone else on the rules committe.