"I'll be your huckleberry...."

"I have looked at the video almost frame by frame. I'll be darned if I can see any kind of violation. Think this was over acted and over analyized."

The referee didn't have that luxury. He had to make the call and he was in position, and made it immediately.


"The kid in blue approached his opponent in a crouch, clearly with both his arms extended. Appears to be reaching for his opponent's right arm with his left hand and arm. His head throughout the move was aimed below the opponents head."

That's true, until he takes a big step and launches himself off both feet, actually leaving his feet, head forward, into his opponents' face, leading with his head. That meets the definition of a head butt.

"The opponent pushed the head further down and the
main contact is in the vicinity of the upper chest/breast bone."



That was after the initial blow, in reaction to it. He was not able to deflect the initial blow because it came up like an upper-cut. The video shows the contact and the head snapping backwards upon contact.


"One poster said the wrestler's hands and arms were behind his back. Not so when he move forward. When the opponent pushed his head down the arms did naturally move back as he naturally tried to maintain his balance."

You have video sequence out of order. He starts out in a decent position, hands forward, but as he then takes a big step, drops his hands and lunges off his feet. The push comes after contact, not before. He lost his balance because he actually leaves his feet, lunging, and had given up his own balance to do so. Also, that "move" is not a wrestling move...he certainly wasn't taking a shot.


"Saw no blood, no opponent grabbing the his nose or holding his head, no looking for dilated eyes, and no first aid. Nothing!!---no flagrant misconduct---no unsportsmanship conduct."

The rule does not mention any of these as requirements for a head butt. You don't have to knock out your opponent to win ...that's a boxing rule.


If any bad conduct it may have been by the opponent who appears to unnecessarily complain of a violation. And if the Heights coaches argged for DQ, that should have been ignored by the refs. Ref has to bear a lot of blame for this incident. If he initially reversed his call after consult with the second ref, incident should have been over. Why go to the scoreres table or coaches-that would have insured an arguement. The second reversal was a very, very bad decision!!!

From what other posters are saying, the Heights' wrestler was saying "Let it go" so don't put it on him. The official must go to the table to talk to a coach, that is the rule. Reversing a call is allowed. Re-reversing a call is unusual, and if it happened, is a legitimate point and is bad mechanics. But leaving a bad call stand is worse. More officials need to make the right call, even if it comes late and requires a reversal.


"Hope this bad call is reversed and the kid gets his trip to the Sate Tournament."

This cannot happen and should not be allowed to happen. There is no rule that permits it, no appeal process that contemplates it, and no administrator with any character that would do it. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of judgment calls every year that affect high school sports and its just part of the sport. As I recall, the Packers lost a game this year on an interception call at the end of the game that no one in the United States thought was correct, but even though the NFL commissioner can do almost anything, that call was not reversed.

This headbutt call was made within the rules, you may disagree with it, you might think it could have been called something less, or ignored, or changed. But it was a headbutt. Maybe a slight one, maybe a poor one, maybe even an accidental one. But the lesson here is if you are behind by 10 points with a few seconds left in the finals, don't be leading with your head, be thinking with it.