Parents

Parents and fans. Recently there have been some incidents occurring after/during our wrestling matches that fall under the new OSSAA policy of unsportsmanlike conduct.

I had a meeting with our wrestlers today and my main point is “Don’t let your performance AFTER the match overshadow your performance DURING the match.”

Celebrating after a big win is fine and I’m totally ok with that as long as:
-it doesn’t disrespect your opponent, fans, coaches, or most importantly, the great sport of wrestling.

This has become all-too-common in society today to have these giant celebrations after a competition. In some cases, a big celebration is fine. But, many of these celebrations are being turned into ways to disrespect an opponent or fan base and they totally overshadow a great performance that happened during the match.
-It should go without saying, but any kind of celebration (good or bad) that occurs while the match is still going is ALWAYS WRONG!

-2 of my favorite wrestling celebrations of all time occurred by wrestlers involved in our program. Teyon Ware’s backflip after winning his first NCAA title and Boo Lewallen’s arms crossed after a big win in GIA are great examples of “appropriate” celebrations that in no way disrespected their opponent or the sport of wrestling.

-Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this issue. I’m sharing this in hopes that as parents and fans we would adhere to the same standards that we expect of our teenage athletes. Thank you in advance for all of the support and cheering you do to encourage our team on to victory.

*Reminder: we have no control over how an opponent or opposing fans act, only ourselves.