Well, I have another topic to play with. Officials at state. Now I know I am going to catch some crap for this but I believe that officiating in the state is in overall bad shape. There are a some good officials out there. However, there are some bad ones also.

So how do we fix this problem.....

Here is what I propose..

1) Pay them more...
I do believe they are very much underpaid for their job. Maybe 25-50% unerpaid. Add taxes being taken out in many cases and they don't make crap. If we pay them more, we might be able to get more people to do it, which in turns gives us a better shot at having good officials.

2)However, with this pay raise will come evaluations. I know we have evaluations now, but this good ole boy system is not working. WE NEED EVALUATIONS THAT COUNT. Have coaches during the year send in evaluation on the officials at the duals and tourneys. Have a person go take a look at the ones that are getting bad evaluations. Heck, also praise the ones that are doing good.

3)We need to find a way to get all officials together to get on the same page. What is stalling, what is near fall, what is a reversal, etc. It seemed that East Officials and West officials call a match totally different.

I know I am going to get at least one response that says, why don't you try officiating and see how hard it is. Well, I have, and it's hard as hell. I don't ever want to do it again. But you are getting paid for what you are doing. These kids have worked too hard for an official to take a match from him. We have to get this right and soon. Some need to retire, some need to speed up, some need to get on the mat to count near fall, need to read a rule book, some need to give it up. However, there are some good ones! Let's get them to teach the bad ones and make them better.

P.S. and some might want to invest in a bigger shirt and realize that the fans are watching the kids wrestle, not the officials officiate.

I know that we have had a lot of complaints about stalling this year. But the level of stalling calls at State were ridiculous. People who had a patient style of wrestling, were definitely at a disadvantage. To tie up a match on a stalling call is one thing, to award one is just plain bad reffing (sp). I watched several matches that the ref was calling stalling when there was real activity and the top person was working a leg ride move to drag the person over.

I would have to second the stalling calls… I understand the need to work of to the side when on top but when the bottom man has his arm stretched out and does not work to his base what are you supposed to work from? Also when guys are on their feet trying to work inside control how can you call a double stall on little guys? The heavy’s don’t get called for this. What disappoints me is call it the same way all year or don’t call it at all. There is no reason to change your philosophy at the State tournament.

I do no tthink the stalling was called consistently through out...75% of the refs were on the same page

Also the cool cat with the bald head and sport band glasses is the man! I love his style and demeanor. His mat presence is phenomenal. What's his name? #1 all weekend.

I agree being a ref is a tough job,you have to let a lot roll off your shoulders. By the way, I have a tough job, and so does my neighbor, and just about everyone else. One of the tougher jobs is getting to the state tournament with average strength and quickness. Some are not born with wonderful reflexes, so they rely on other things to help them compete, like more hours in the gym, and tougher dieting. I witnessed this type of job for the last 12 seasons.

Having a placing at state taken away by an obviously bad call is inexcusable, remember I said obviously, not borderline. I witnessed this very thing in a second round 5A 119 match.

Paying refs more might be a good start, competition will raise the bar in any discpline. I don't know if there is an evaluation done by the coaches at the end of the season , but that would be a useful tool. On the other hand , making the refs jump through too many hoops could possiibly drive some of the good ones away.

That kid was my son, and somewhere along the line he has learned to lose gracefully and accept life as it comes, I am proud of him, for he is a better man than I ,because my butt is still a bit frosty.

im in favor of ref evaluation, there should be a ballot card the caoches fill out at the end of every meet that rates how teh refs did their job, and as for the stalling issue, i wouldnt mind the calls being quick as long as they were consistent

good one, and as long as the refs know that a coach is filling out a card after the game on them, but which coach gets the calls then? The one who actually takes the time to fill out a card, or the one who don't.
Might be a good idea, but someone besides a coach might be a better choice although don't ask who. AD maybe. or a neutral evaluator.

Red--the ref you speak of is known only as 'Phoney.' And maybe you didn't see too much of him...he super sucks.

Why not have an official do the evaluations? If we had a qualified individual doing this, the officials would be more likely to accept the critiques and criticisms. It should also help with the consistency on how calls such as stalling are being made.

I would not go as far as to say someone sucks or not, but I have to agree with Dingbat, Phoney gave a stalling point in the last 10 seconds of a tied match , effectively handing the victory to the opponent. I dont remember who was wrestling, but I bet THEY remember. I believe it was a larger size, you know the kind that resemble a couple of dancing bears.

Evaluations by impartial observers would be ideal, however, I believe an end of season evaluation by seniors would fulfill the need. Who else has an intimate knowledge of the referees actions than the wrestler. Too many of the coaches know the refs too well, and the good old boy system wouldnt be totally eliminated.

Ok...I'll give you some of my favorite refs that actually refereed this week although some names might not mean anything.

Brady Sauder
Larry Alley
Bob Warkentine

I also saw one of the best refs from Kansas ever, but didn't get to say hi to him: Jim Ramierez

I think that the Official who was officiating the Joey Ortiz-Dexter Deeds match, stole the win from Ortiz.

Well, the 6A 189 finals match was horribly officitated. Butler from J.C. had to have taken 30 shots to 0 and a stall call was never given. I could not believe what I was seeing. 6A 160 was also horribly officiated. I would have double stalled both of them out of the match. Neither one took a shot in 3 periods or OT. Hell they might as well started with a coin flip. Worst match I have ever seen at state. Stalling needs to be addressed at this level for sure.
Elliot in the Semi's at 119, made dumb mistake in OT that cost him the match. however, he should not have even been there. There was 2-5 points taken from him.
Im done venting!

Church,

I hope the "she" was a typo...lol!

Phil Martin is also a horrible ref he has a huge chip on his shoulder. He screwed over a kid at state from herington who i think he dislikes more then anyone in the state. of course this kid should never benn in the situation to getting beat on two bad calls but this isnt the firwst time this ref has hosed the kid, or his school. i think some of the hoxie people would agree with me on this one that watched the baker weatherbee match in the quarters at state he may have put the screws to baker just a little bit in that match. maybe some of you have seen him there. what does everyone else think of Mr. Phil Martin

My fealing is that to be a wrestler you have to have a certain amount of confidence and ego. Also I think that most officials are ex wrestlers, and that ego comes into play. I feel that when referee's start letting their ego's get into play, then they are taking away from the kids, which we all know is what is important. I saw this happen from a very respected official at Lawrence High this past season. He took upon himself to threaten this woman about a call against her son during a blood time out 6 feet from the grandstand. My feeling is that the ref's job is to control the mat not let his ego dictate the parents enthusiasim(sic).

Phil Martin is a great guy to talk to as are all the referees...they have a passion for the sport or they wouldn't be out there working long hours at tournaments. I by no means am one of his biggest fans, but I try to bite my lip...we are all entitled to a mistake here and there, and although a call or two have been made in the past that have caused a change in results by Phil, as well as some other referees, I think we need to step into their shoes sometimes. Phil has tenure and I know many a people may not care for him, but people might think he's a great ref too...there are always two sides to every story and we just have to remember that.

In closing "HOW DID I MANAGE NOT TO SAY SOMETHING BAD?"

Yes Swayz, it was..hahaha! I fixed it.

Phil is a great guy, who I've known for several years. He refered many of my matches when I wrestled and I always thought he was fair. There has been talk about him that I've heard before but I always shrug it off becuase 95% of the time the person watching has no idea about what they are talking about. My stance is this, unless you are a certified ref you have no business questioning the JUDGEMENT calls of a referee. And if you are certified then you really shouldn't be critical of your co-workers. I have made one exception and that was in the Ortiz-Deeds match because as a fan and a coach, and now as an official I know the call was wrong, and apparently so did everyone else in that entire Colusseum. There were a few refs at the tournament who maybe made a few mistakes but they are only human and when you ref for two straight days, make hundreds of calls your bound to mess a few up. Anyway back to Phil, hes one of the better refs in the State, very knowledgable about the rules, and I would have him ref at any tournament I was hosting.