cbarnett Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I would like to take a minute to recognize the Heritage Hills coaching staff, and specifically head coach Matt Thompson, for the ethical response in which he responded to an unfortunate incident in which one of his wrestlers was injured in a quarter final match Saturday morning during the IHSAA championships. The Heritage Hills wrestler was taken to the mat with his arm tied and no way to defend himself. The forceful landing resulted in both the injury, as well as an Unnecessary Roughness call (Note... there was no call for an Illegal Move or Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty). The Recovery Time was started, and it was determined that the injured wrestler could not continue, however, rather than accept victory via disqualification, Coach Thompson and his staff ended the Recovery Time situation voluntarily and chose to Injury Default. It was obvious that the offending wrestler did not intend to hurt his opponent, and Coach Thompson and his staff recognized this as well and chose not to let an accident end the season of the opposing wrestler, The Heritage Hills wrestler subsequently defaulted to eighth place, as his injury did not allow him to continue in the tournament. Thank you Coach Thompson and Heritage Hills High School for your sportsmanship and decision to do the right thing. An Exemplary Sportsmanship Report was filed with the IHSAA and your school's administration by the mat official to recognize your effort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headlock83 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I would like to take a minute to recognize the Heritage Hills coaching staff, and specifically head coach Matt Thompson, for the ethical response in which he responded to an unfortunate incident in which one of his wrestlers was injured in a quarter final match Saturday morning during the IHSAA championships. The Heritage Hills wrestler was taken to the mat with his arm tied and no way to defend himself. The forceful landing resulted in both the injury, as well as an Unnecessary Roughness call (Note... there was no call for an Illegal Move or Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty). The Recovery Time was started, and it was determined that the injured wrestler could not continue, however, rather than accept victory via disqualification, Coach Thompson and his staff ended the Recovery Time situation voluntarily and chose to Injury Default. It was obvious that the offending wrestler did not intend to hurt his opponent, and Coach Thompson and his staff recognized this as well and chose not to let an accident end the season of the opposing wrestler, The Heritage Hills wrestler subsequently defaulted to eighth place, as his injury did not allow him to continue in the tournament. Thank you Coach Thompson and Heritage Hills High School for your sportsmanship and decision to do the right thing. An Exemplary Sportsmanship Report was filed with the IHSAA and your school's administration by the mat official to recognize your effort I agree completely! This was one of the classiest things I have ever seen. At first when the wrestlers started taking off their ankle bands, I thought here we go, a coach taking advantage of the slam situation. But when they raised the Lake Central kid's hand, I was shocked. Classy move to the HH coaching staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrecoISU Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 This was a very classy move indeed. Just a note though, he did try to wrestle the 7th place match but clearly looked hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 People in my section started to boo when the wrestlers took off their ankle bands... but when they raised Robinson's hand everyone looked around to see what was going on... it was classy of them to do what they did, because they had every right to accept that win but chose the different path... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoGutsNoGlory Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I was sitting next to a group of HH fans and the best part of it was they seemed like they knew their coaches would do that. You would expect fans to be disappointed with the result, but the HH fans and wrestlers expected it. Very classy actions from everyone involved with Heritage Hills wrestling. You guys have earned and deserve a whole lot of respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURDUEdad Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 An example of great sportsmanship that I saw and really appreciated was after Merrillville's Steveson lost his match yesterday and then opted not to shake the opposing coach's hand. Merrillville's coach then MADE Steveson go right back over to the opposing coach and shake his hand. Steveson clearly has many great wins ahead of him, and I thought it was great for Coach Maldonado to mold this young man in this manner. That is something that he will remember for a lifetime . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 It is great to see some coaches in this sport still have ethics and morals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlHungus Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 An example of great sportsmanship that I saw and really appreciated was after Merrillville's Steveson lost his match yesterday and then opted not to shake the opposing coach's hand. Merrillville's coach then MADE Steveson go right back over to the opposing coach and shake his hand. Steveson clearly has many great wins ahead of him, and I thought it was great for Coach Maldonado to mold this young man in this manner. That is something that he will remember for a lifetime . . . One of the many reasons I think he is the best in the business right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I looked away and missed the move. Thanks for sharing the details and cudos to the HH team for doing the right thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3-back Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Class Act HH 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchas Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 This one hits very close to home for me. My son's season ended in the exact oposite way. I have to say I am very impressed by the action of Heratage Hills wrestler and coaches. Strength and Honor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy215 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 An example of great sportsmanship that I saw and really appreciated was after Merrillville's Steveson lost his match yesterday and then opted not to shake the opposing coach's hand. Merrillville's coach then MADE Steveson go right back over to the opposing coach and shake his hand. Steveson clearly has many great wins ahead of him, and I thought it was great for Coach Maldonado to mold this young man in this manner. That is something that he will remember for a lifetime . . . I also saw that. I wasn't surprised at all. I competed against Merrillville every year and witnessed Coach Maldonado act with nothing but class. He is the coach that impresses me most year after year. I didn't see the HH situation, but that is an incredible display of sportsmanship. I'll be cheering for HH from here on out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontherise219 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 One of the many reasons I think he is the best in the business right now. Big David Maldonado Fan. HH awesome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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