Controversial finish in Class B 126 state wrestling match?

[HuskerO]

In the championship match, Class B 126, Kael Lauridsen, Bennington (3 time state champ) took on John Alden, O'Neill.

Lauridsen was up 2-1, but with 18 seconds left in the 3rd, Alden went up 3-2. Lauridsen took bottom position and within 4 seconds Alden was called for stalling which tied it up 3-3.

I know very little about wrestling, but it seems like an awful quick stalling call and it looked like Alden was riding Lauridsen, keeping him from escaping so I'm not sure he was even called for stalling.

Am I missing something?

 

[northeastNebraska]

In the championship match, Class B 126, Kael Lauridsen, Bennington (3 time state champ) took on John Alden, O'Neill.

Lauridsen was up 2-1, but with 18 seconds left in the 3rd, Alden went up 3-2. Lauridsen took bottom position and within 4 seconds Alden was called for stalling which tied it up 3-3.

I know very little about wrestling, but it seems like an awful quick stalling call and it looked like Alden was riding Lauridsen, keeping him from escaping so I'm not sure he was even called for stalling.

Am I missing something?

It was odd that’s for sure, and I’m not a huge wrestling person. But everyone seemed pretty skeptical of the call.

 

[billybob131]

In the championship match, Class B 126, Kael Lauridsen, Bennington (3 time state champ) took on John Alden, O'Neill.

Lauridsen was up 2-1, but with 18 seconds left in the 3rd, Alden went up 3-2. Lauridsen took bottom position and within 4 seconds Alden was called for stalling which tied it up 3-3.

I know very little about wrestling, but it seems like an awful quick stalling call and it looked like Alden was riding Lauridsen, keeping him from escaping so I'm not sure he was even called for stalling.

Am I missing something?

From what I heard from a reasonable source, he wasn't called for stalling really, Alden had 2 cautions in the second period already for false start. the stalling that you saw was a call for a stalling warning. once the match was stopped do to being out of bounds, Pokorny (Bennington's head coach) went to go talk to the head ref, do to him seeing a third caution at the stop before which wasn't called (a third caution results in a point) which tied it up. The head ref went to go talk to the 2nd ref to see if he had seen if anything warranted a caution, the second ref said yes.

Also the Takedown at the end seemed to have been called a little to early in my opinion, no one really had full control at that time.

 

[HuskerO]

From what I heard from a reasonable source, he wasn't called for stalling really, Alden had 2 cautions in the second period already for false start. the stalling that you saw was a call for a stalling warning. once the match was stopped do to being out of bounds, Pokorny (Bennington's head coach) went to go talk to the head ref, do to him seeing a third caution at the stop before which wasn't called (a third caution results in a point) which tied it up. The head ref went to go talk to the 2nd ref to see if he had seen if anything warranted a caution, the second ref said yes.

Also the Takedown at the end seemed to have been called a little to early in my opinion, no one really had full control at that time.

Gotcha. Not a true stalling, but rather a stalling caution (3rd caution of the match = 1 point).

How the point was scored makes sense now, but I guess I didn't see how a stall caution was warranted. Alden was riding Lauridsen, no? What else was he suppose to do in those 4 seconds?

 

[billybob131]

Gotcha. Not a true stalling, but rather a stalling caution (3rd caution of the match = 1 point).

How the point was scored makes sense now, but I guess I didn't see how a stall caution was warranted. Alden was riding Lauridsen, no? What else was he suppose to do in those 4 seconds?

Not 100% sure on that stalling warning at all either.

 

[hailvictors2]

Clarification from above- the 3rd caution and the stalling warning were separate infractions. The stall warning doesn't count as a caution. The 3rd caution was apparently tied to the restart with 17 seconds left in the 3rd period. My understanding was that the match was stopped with 5 seconds left (or whatever it was) to issue the stall warning (Standard practice when the wrestler that is being stalled against would benefit from the stoppage). At that time Coach Pokorny summoned the head official to the scorers table to discuss what he believed warranted a 3rd caution when they originally restarted at 17 seconds. The head official consulted with the assistant referee. At that point they issued the 3rd caution, which resulted in a 1 point penalty. That tied the match at 3.

None of that^^^ is intended to sway people's thinking of whether a call was correct or not. Just a summary of what happened as best as I could understand watching.

The really unfortunate thing about this situation is that it has become a lose-lose. If the call was wrong it essentially took a state title from Alden. If it was correct it causes some unjust questioning to a kid's 4th state title. I am reminded of the Paul Ruff (Gering)-Paul Garcia (Scottsbluff) finals match from 2021. Coincidentally, that match also featured a potential 4 time champion (Paul Garcia-Scottsbluff), was in the class B 126 pound weight class, and the winner was the beneficiary of a point for a 3rd caution call.

 

[HighPlainsCoach]

The problem with the botched match (and illegitimate 4-time champion) was that the boy from O'Neil only had ONE false start. "His" second one happened when Class A had a pin and the crowd erupted.
I've seen, literally, dozens of times the ref blow his whistle, get the kids reset, then go. Happens with crowd noise, another whistle, whatever. That should have been the case here. The WORST thing is, it wasn't even the kid from O'Neil who jumped! At the end of the match, BOTH guys had two false starts. Somehow the ref had it 3/1. Technically, the awful stalling call didn't happen. I'm not sure the backup ref can rectroactively call a false start 12 seconds later. That reeks of "i didn't like what happened, let's redo it". Ultimately these two clowns took a state title from a kid, and added to history, that wasn't. A few years back, in a semifinal D match they inverted a score and allowed the wrong kid to advance. Those levels of incompetence need to STOP. For the record i have no ties to any of the kids, schools, anything. Just hate to see injustice.

 

[HuskerO]

Rubek: Controversy and backflips part of a wild Saturday at Nebraska state wrestling

Backtracks and backflips. Both ruled the conversation around the state wrestling tournament on Saturday — and well into Sunday. A pair of controversial calls in a match for the ages.

omaha.com

 

[northeastNebraska]

The problem with the botched match (and illegitimate 4-time champion) was that the boy from O'Neil only had ONE false start. "His" second one happened when Class A had a pin and the crowd erupted.
I've seen, literally, dozens of times the ref blow his whistle, get the kids reset, then go. Happens with crowd noise, another whistle, whatever. That should have been the case here. The WORST thing is, it wasn't even the kid from O'Neil who jumped! At the end of the match, BOTH guys had two false starts. Somehow the ref had it 3/1. Technically, the awful stalling call didn't happen. I'm not sure the backup ref can rectroactively call a false start 12 seconds later. That reeks of "i didn't like what happened, let's redo it". Ultimately these two clowns took a state title from a kid, and added to history, that wasn't. A few years back, in a semifinal D match they inverted a score and allowed the wrong kid to advance. Those levels of incompetence need to STOP. For the record i have no ties to any of the kids, schools, anything. Just hate to see injustice.

This in bold. That is why I was confused. How can you call a stall 12 seconds after it "happened". Just an odd deal.

 

[HighPlainsCoach]

This in bold. That is why I was confused. How can you call a stall 12 seconds after it "happened". Just an odd deal.

Very odd. When they reset the clock, technically, the stall was erased. The fact that the lead ref lost control of the match, cameras not showing the actual signals, TV guys being confused, all leant a hand to increasing the strangeness. I had to watch a recording to spot. Besides the retroactive caution, o'neils second caution is where it starts to go off the rails.

 

[Bubman86]

I totally agree it was a bit off. If I were a betting man, which I am not, I'd say someone really wanted to see history being made. The sad part is it came at the expense of the true and rightful state champ John Alden of O'Neil. This in no way takes away anything from Cael Lauridsen, it just stinks that it came down to this.

 

[Sadlerfan]

Equally ridiculous as the bizarre caution was the nonsensical roughing call on Lauridsen. Should have been a caution, not a roughing penalty point.

 

[HighPlainsCoach]

Equally ridiculous as the bizarre caution was the nonsensical roughing call on Lauridsen. Should have been a caution, not a roughing penalty point.

Was that what it was? Matside they said it was an obvious F bomb. Thanks. But regardless, "unsportsmanlike" CANNOT be "cautioned".

 

[Sadlerfan]

Was that what it was? Matside they said it was an obvious F bomb. Thanks. But regardless, "unsportsmanlike" CANNOT be "cautioned".

It looked like he made the hand to face type of contact which I believe resulted in the point, prior to the whistle being blown. That is why I thought a caution may have been warranted, not as a "replacement" for the roughing non sportsmanlike call.