We've seen many posts on this board about unsportsmanlike behavior from coaches, wrestlers, and even officials now. But we really haven't given credit to the people who deserve to be recognized for not following these trends.

I have to say I saw something this weekend that mad me realize how great our sport can be. I was officiating on mat 14 at the District 1 tournament in Baldwin. There was one kid from the Jr. Vikings and Matt Vander Linden from Burlington. Vander Linden ended up pinning his opponent and before I could even get up off the mat Matt's father Doug was instructing his son to offer his hand to help his opponent up, he did so and the two wrestlers met back in the center for post match procedure. As the shook hands I took notice of the extreme sincere nature of the handshake. It was unlike so many of the limp wristed producural handshakes I've had to be a part of over these years. This whole situation made me do a double take, when I realized this was the first truely sportmanlike match I had witnessed all year long, from the coaches, the competitors, and even the spectators. It made me wish that all matches could be like this. And indeed as I watched all the other competitors from Burlington compete they all exhibited the same attitude, and NONE of them threw a fit after losing.

So to that I say the Burlington wrestling team, and coach Vander Linden you truly are class acts and a model from which other clubs should take note. And on that note I wonder if anyone else has seen anything like this this year that has stood out in their minds?