Too Far: CV, CD mat coaches went over the edge

Wrestling is about as intense a sport as there is. It takes toughness, strength, cunning and courage.

It’s mano a mano.

I never wrestled, but have seen a decent amount of it over the years and have respect for those who endure the discipline it takes to be able to compete at a high level.

Though I was not in attendance, I was alerted by a reader to check out the circumstances of Cumberland Valley’s 29-28 District 3 Class AAA team championship win over Mid Penn rival Central Dauphin on Saturday.

I was referred to a video on PennLive, sat back and watched in disbelief as two perennial powerful programs made themselves look pitiful.

It was like the main event at a chump convention.

Seriously.

Both CD coach Jeff Sweigard and CV head man Dave Heckard should be ashamed of both their actions and leadership.

Coaching is emotional. You care deeply about the school, the kids and the community. And, believe it or not (take a deep breath), many coaches have big egos. Most keep it in check.

But there’s a line, and despite what some school boards will tell you, occasional profanity isn’t it. What these two guys demonstrated crossed it on a number of fronts.

Without going too far into the weeds on play-by-play, there were two instances in which a wrestler received points for his opponent committing a violation (one was a slam, the other a poke in the eye), appeared to be able to continue, but didn’t, citing injuries as a result of those infractions. At the point a wrestler is unable to continue due to being injured badly due to an infraction, a six-point win is immediately given to that wrestler.

In CD’s instance, Paul Petrina was slammed head-first to the mat by CV’s Felix Belga. Allegedly, the assistant coaches of CD were telling him to “stay down.” After the CD trainer declared him unable to go (why an independent, neutral trainer isn’t assigned at this level is beyond me), CD got the six points. CD fans were all smiles and everyone on the CV side went nuts crying foul. I get it – it’s emotional.

Then, in the last bout of the match, CV needed six points in order to forge a tie. CV’s Trent Cook and Hunter Nielson went at it and it appeared that Nielson poked Cook in the eye inadvertently. It happens, and an infraction was called. As the two were about to begin wrestling again, it appeared that someone from the CV bench yelled to Cook to come to the side, and Heckard came out to get him. Suddenly, Cook’s eye had to be looked at. This time, it was Heckard’s call and he deemed Cook unable to continue, resulting in six points for CV and a tied match.

Cook waved his hands in victory.

The tie-breaker to win the match was the eighth criteria - most first points scored. CV won more and won the District 3 title.

What’s worse is, after the last bout, Heckard could be seen mocking everything CD by strutting around like a half-chicken, half-Mick Jagger type character with his elbows cocked and all. Sweigard, on the other hand, had to be restrained by his staff after the final result was announced. Had he not been restrained, it would’ve been on. He wanted a piece of somebody. It was foaming at the mouth kind of stuff.

Only thing missing at that point was vintage WWF’s Chief Jay Strongbow and Rowdy Roddy Piper coming down from the ceiling on a hydraulic platform with Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song playing.

Enter security. Mayhem ensued.

Of course there was no team handshake. That’s so, like, scholastic.

I’ve seen basketball fights, soccer fights and bench-clearing brawls in baseball and I’ve really never seen anything quite like this from the standpoint of how the coaches and fans from both teams were mostly clueless. It wasn’t like a basketball game where a hard foul starts a spontaneous brawl and every coach is trying to get control of the kids. This was a slow burn and the adults in the room failed the children.

This time, it was two coaches who frankly should’ve been the ones riding down on the hydraulic platform because this became all about them.

The only difference is, instead of the power of Zeppelin, the song should’ve been something a little more sissified – maybe Reunited by Peaches and Herb.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to both coaches and both need severely sanctioned (Note: both coaches were suspended Monday, and Heckard released a public apology).

I’m usually a coach backer when these kinds of things come up because I understand the emotion of being on the sidelines, but this was nothing short of embarrassing for both schools and both these guys need to sit in the corner with “Dunce” hats on.

I know that seems childish, but if the shoe fits, wear it.

Things have gone too far for too long.

Graham Messner has been a writer for over 21 years, and has been involved in real estate, fundraising and coaching. He can be reached at toofar@gmx.com.