Couple of things on this subject.
I think Kansas is in a transition phase for officials. A lot of the well respected ones are beginning to phase themselves out, while younger ones are trying to become reputable. This will take time and, as with young wrestlers, there will be growing pains throughout matches until these newer officials gain confidence and experience. Yes, it is painful to lose on questionable calls, or to see the call made against you, but hopefully they will learn from their mistakes just like our kids.
Secondly, Mr. Furches is correct. We do need to make sure we give kudos where they are due. I had a wrestler in a regional finals where a call went against him at the end of the match. Had a different call been made we would have went into OT and had a different outcome. A majority of the crowd was calling for a favorable call to us, but to the officials credit he checked with the assistant and stood firm. He made the right call and I was able to discuss it with him this past weekend and commend him for his work. Did I agree with all of his calls that tournament. Nope. In that particular finals match though, he made the right call. Even though it went against us.
Last point; sorry to ramble on. I was under the impression that officials wore numbers on their uniforms, or gave high school coaches a card with their information on it, so we could report to the powers that be on individuals who consistently did sub-par jobs. I did notice at one of the subs this weekend that several experienced officials would stay near some of the younger officials mats during their breaks and help explain or clarify any issues that came up.
Thanks guys for doing a thankless job. No matter the call, someone is usually unhappy.
