i was just wondering what ever happened to Nathan Furches? i used to love watchin that kid wrestle!! i know he got into some trouble lastyear but what about this year?

Need to delete this and PM/ask Mike off-line. He'll let you know if he feels you need to know...

Has this young person not reached the "Age of Majority"?

In Kansas, the "Age of Majority" is eighteen (18) and is the age when a person acquires all the rights and responsibilities of being an adult.

Is it still necessary to contact dad for information or is it time to give dad a break?

First, my response here, and then I am giving my pasted response from theMat.com.

Richard, it is my preference to do what I think is right, that is address personal issues in a personal way. I am sure all of us have ghosts in our closet that if addressed on public forums has the issue to do far more harm than good. By the way, taking up for my son or speaking on his behalf in a personal way, on personal issues, not public, is something this particular dad would always rather do, I can't speak for all dads, but likely most dads in my position of seeing their son ripped a part over the last year, with over 95% of the things said totally untrue on both these forums, national forums, and the Wichita Eagle forums, would likely understand my position. Then again, folks can also speak to Nathan, he is a young man, and thankfully far more mature than many adults. Frankly, it is time to focus on other things, I am trying to focus on helping my son, a young wrestler who has given to this state, and in return had so many give to him the chance to live a life without people singling him out on message boards all of the time. Helping him realize, that yes people are cruel, say things they shouldn’t and often times aren’t true. But his faith, his love for family and love for others is really what matters. I wish I could say he has been perfect, heck, I wish I could say I have been perfect, but I’m not, he isn’t, and I have yet to meet anyone who is.

I would also like to say, that on a weekend where so many talented wrestlers wrestled a tournament they should be proud of, The Kansas State High School Championships, I am frankly disheartened that one would take time away from recognizing those wrestlers and even consider bringing this issue up, once again. My son and I spent virtually every waking moment following and cheering on our two favorite teams this week while at Liberty Nationals by following the results and updates. We were wanting nothing but the best for The Derby Panthers and the Clearwater Indians. I am so proud of those Derby kids who wrestled their tails off, no one gave them a shot and the job Coach Ross and his staff did, and that team did is FAR MORE DESERVING OF A THREAD THAN THIS!

Now my answer I provided at The Mat where the issue has again come up. I will ask out of graciousness, and respect, if you have questions, feel free to contact me personally off line. Or face to face, I am certain there are individuals who have done so that will verify I have tried to be as honest and respectful as humanly possible and tried to answer every single question, as has Nathan when speaking to him. Now that answer I provided at themat.com:

To help squelch the rumors. It is called coming up short 3 points on a semester grade in Chemistry. Anyone with questions feel free to email me at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com There are enough rumors floating around to drown a fish, and unfortunately, almost all of the rumors we have heard are untrue. I will not respond to personal family issues or concerns on these boards other than this post. He is still wrestling, been practicing all season, and has been spending extra time working on Greco and Freestyle. He had a great tournament this weekend, against some very good, tough quality kids.

I apologize if I have offended anyone here, it was only my intent to answer the questions asked, and to address any "rumors" that may be floating around as we have again, heard most of them. Thankfully, as of now, the grades are much better.

WOW!!! well i just want to apologize!! i really didn't know about what has all been going on!! i honestly was just trying to find out of he got injured or something!!

Mike, Nathan is one of Kansas finest and I am sure that he understands the consequences of his actions, He no doubt would have been at the top or near the top of the podium but in the grand scheme of things..an education which will take care of him the next 40 years is more significant than this years State Championship is.

We don't want to believe it, but we all know that there are high schools and colleges out there that will GIVE the star athlete the GRADE and aren't doing them any true favors-- so it is good for youth to be able to see his example and it could actually be a very positive thing for Nathan to share with his peers. It can happen to alot of kids and likely does but because Nathan is of such a high caliber in his sport and even nationally, his name is thrown out there but...I'm sure you both know that most in Kansas wrestling are still in your corners and wish you well. ....hang tough..you've got a good kid and its not really that big of a deal.

Somebody needs to go stand up for Nathan on this forum

http://www.illinoismatmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16258

I was there and could see perfectly (have also had my vision checked recently, lol)
The only thing that I saw was very poor sportmanship from the other party involved
I have no reason to "pick sides" the win or loss doesn't affect me
Nathan won

The question is how bad were the bite marks or were they merely teeth marks from getting his head scissored as I understand that the scissor was illegal and it may have been hard to breathe and most ANY of us-would likely bite or whatever is necessary in that circumstance to ensure that you have what is very high up on the list of Maslow's hierarchy of basic needs-AIR to BREATHE. Some things are blown out of proportion and it is my guess that this is more likely the case because if they were true bite marks I doubt that the officials and I understand that they conferred on the matter--would have tossed him. ...This too shall pass !

Oh boy, now I don't mind these discussions. I am working on the video of the match, and will type a longer response at the other forum to detail what happened. I will say this, two officals, one on the mat, one mat side, did not see indication of a bite, in fact, the video will show this decision was very quick. The head official was called to the mat, and also, made a very quick decision that there were not bite marks. The Official of the Tournament, Denny from Kansas, (way to go) was there, and he didn't see a bite. On this note, he was sitting to the right of the table watching the match, and I was in the right corner as the camera will show the match, this is critical as you will see the boys were facing us.

Keith did have Nathan in a very tight head scissors with his hands around Nathan's throat and face, again, I'll give the kid credit, he kept the pressure on. Bottom line, I didn't see a bite, at least one other official matside didn't see a bite, the official on the mat didn't see a bite or an indication of a bite, and neither did the head official who was called to the table. As to the rest of the things mentioned in the thread at Illinois Matman, I'll respond more after I can post the video for evidence of my points, with the exception of what occured after the match, and thankfully there are a number of witnesses including one of the tournament directors who saw everything and can verify everything I say if need be. Again, don't mind these discussions as it is about a wrestling match, and I think Mr. Serber and his son will be very surprised at what I do say as I have nothing but the utmost respect for them, again, as one of the tournament directors could verify as he was there and was the one that asked Mr. Surber to leave.

I guess the IL Website couldn't handle the truth,as they closed the topic down...thats weak

Have you posted the video Mike and also was wondering if since you are savvy in this area (posting videos to the web) if you could PM the gentleman from Abilene regarding the 4A finals match that ended with what he felt was a wrong call. He was wanting to put it on the web and it will not change the results but it can be a very beneficial tool for coaches/officials as there is question as far as to the scoring/awarding points in this particular match situation.

His video I don't feel will take away anything from the winner and if is valid in proving his point doesn't necessarily have to reflect negatively on the official as they are human and he feels he got the call right or he wouldn't have made it. Or perhaps he was right after all and this can be proven and he won't be questioned. I know if I was the official and made the right call I would WANT to have that be reflected. ..Thanks

Video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zHGsPI2SuE

As to doing another video, need the video, it is really pretty easy at YouTube if you have a digital camera, I have the tools for non digital camera video, vhs and so forth but need the vids to do it.

I do know that some take offense at posting vids but do believe, they can also be used for the very purpose you speak of.