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