Feb 16, 2018Mat Kiss Leads to Loss
A gesture commemorating a high school wrestler’s last home match ended up being called unsportsmanlike and was the difference in his team’s one-point loss.
According to an article in the Warren Times Observer, it took Warren (Pa.) High School senior Liam Stevenson just 34 seconds to pin his opponent in the 170-pound bout during Warren’s Senior Night Match on Feb. 12. Then, after shaking hands with his opponent and having his hand raised by the referee, Stevenson knelt to the floor and missed the mat. The referee deemed the gesture unsportsmanlike and deducted a team point from Warren.
Although the 170-pound match was contested early in the dual meet, that point proved to be the difference as visiting St. Mary’s High School walked away with a 33-32 victory. Had the teams finished tied, Warren would have been credited with the win since it held the tie-breaker.
“I knew it would be a close match either way,” Warren Coach Dean Johnson told the paper. “If we had tied, we would have won on criteria. This was a little hard to take.”
