I agree with former wrestlers becoming officials. We see them at kids and middle school tournaments, but rarely see them beyond that. Poor officiating definitely needs discussed. But the majority of the wrestling community looks at these forums, and does it scare young officials off seeing other officials called out? Does it keep them from wanting to progress to the next level for fear of making a mistake? In our digital world, social media can make or break young people.

I won't disagree with you Bass but the real number one enemy of officiating is "Because we have always done it that way!" The "Good Ole Boy" network blocked many, many aspiring officials for many years. The issue that has finally came to a head was caused by this very group of officials not allowing a blend of young and veteran experiences. They thought bringing in one or two a year was adequate. So, so many officials were being overlooked for regionals and state when they were far better than the old guard because of the ridiculous recommendation system.

Like i posted eariler Cokeley. I had an ex wrestler get 14 votes for a regionals and he didnt get one. I know he had more votes than some of the officials that did regionals that year because in the seeding meeting one of the coaches asked who is voting for these officials. Not one person said they did for 2 of the officials that were there. The buddy system needs to go. They need to post the votes!!!

Well said. Coaches could post their votes, so no discrepancy. You would know who was officiating before the tournament. It would expose any corruption within the vote system. Young and talented officials are needed, as it seems the pool continues to age. If the leaders and experienced officials won't allow young ones to step up, basic nature, they will become extinct. I hope it's not as bad as it seems, but not many signs pointing to the contrary.

This official has since quit officiating because of the buddy system shut him out. He did an average of 2 varstiy meets per week and was really becoming a good young official. Sucks to see young ones quit

I started officiating as a freshman in college and only kept my certification for 3 years. Partly due to the fact I started coaching as well, but mainly for the fact that it felt almost impossible to get into the "inner circle". If you didn't know the right person or kiss the right ass you weren't ever going to be more than someone helping to support the association and work kid's tournaments. I know and like several officials from around the state and don't believe any of them to be flawless. That being said I do believe the quality of officiating has deteriorated due to the "good ole boy" system. The officials association has almost become an untouchable entity. I'm tired of watching them walk around puffy chested as if they can't be touched and instantly dinging a coach for any kind of questioning that takes place. In my opinion a fairly decent sized number of them are either to lazy to care or unaware of how to get in the right position to make a lot of calls. I know it's a hard job and calls will be missed, I've been there and done that. I just feel like some of the guys who've been around forever may be a little lax in their ways these days and the young ones are soooo green they shouldn't even be on a JV mat.

Hahha post your name whimp

As a young ref it is tough wanting to get into high school level wrestling as an official. My first year I was assigned HS jv job. I got paid $35 almost a month later. The older refs look down on us for sticking with kids club wrestling. They don't ever want to coach or guide us to becoming a better Offcial.

It really is a huge gap in regards to how much more the kids club officials who are veterans try to keep us moving up and get us jobs compared to the veterans of High School.



What is going to happen when these guys simply cannot go out there any more? There will be no one nearly as experienced at the high school level to take their place because there is simply little to none opportunity to get some experience. Things need to change!!

My opinion is that young Mr. Cokeley, quoted below, has correctly analyzed the calls and the reasons for the errors that were made. The elder Mr. Cokeley,in his posts, has again correctly assessed the serious problems we have with how Kansas recruits, selects, trains, and rewards officials. My proposed solution was to put all the dates in a hat and draw names...no favorites, no hogs, no good old boy system. Everybody gets an equal shot. I've posted my observations, from an official's viewpoint, many times over the years on this forum. As a retired official, I've had time to reflect and haven't changed my views. I'm now free from the ethical restrictions on criticizing other officials, but will refrain from doing so still.

"As for this particular match, I believe the refs made two incorrect calls. First, someone earlier pointed out that in the first clip the SL wrestler scored 2 and the the RC wrestler IMMEDIATELY scored a reversal. That is incorrect call #1. In high school the wrestler must establish control BEYOND REACTION TIME to score a takedown. Therefore I believe the SL kid should not have been awarded a takedown but the RC kid should have. In OT the SL kid was awarded a takedown because it appeared that he gained control of the RC kids hips. The was incorrect call #2. I don't completely fault the main ref for this one because he was only in position to see the SL kid cover the hips. However the assistant ref could have pointed out that the RC wrestler had both arms under the SL wrestler's leg preventing him from gaining control. This is just my opinion from what I saw from the clips posted."