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High school to skip events officiated by referee who told wrestler to cut dreadlocks
MSN Sports ^ | 12/27/2018 | Michael Frankel

Posted on 12/27/2018 10:30:35 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts

BUENA, N.J. -- A New Jersey school district says its wrestling team will no longer compete in events officiated by a referee who told a wrestler to lose his dreadlocks or forfeit his bout.

The announcement came during an emergency meeting held Wednesday with the Buena Regional school board and members of the community. The groups that assign referees have already said they wouldn't assign the ref until further notice.

Buena Regional High School wrestler Andrew Johnson had his dreadlocks cut minutes before his match on Dec. 19.
Johnson, who is black, had a cover over his hair, but referee Alan Maloney, who is white, said that wouldn't be sufficient. Maloney didn't respond to requests for comment.

WCAU-TV reports the high school's wrestling coach and athletic trainer discussed the incident with board members behind closed doors Wednesday.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: badabing; badaboom; bobmenendez; buena; corybooker; gardenstate; highschool; newjersey; nj; philmurphy; referee; wrestling
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Two things;

What difference does it make that the student is black? Why did the writer think it necessary to report that?

Second, I've wrestled in a number of tournaments in my High School days...many decades ago...and those are the rules. They always have been. We were required to be clean shaven, hair cut to a reasonable length at the ears and nails freshly clipped. Don't like it? You'll be disqualified at the discretion of the REFEREE.

I was in a sectional tournament one time and was the number 3 seed in my weight class. The number 2 seed (who I'd beaten in 27 seconds during the season) had long, Fabio-like hair. He was instructed to cut it. He refused and was disqualified. I was moved up to number 2 seed and wrestled the number 1 seed in the finals. And he kicked my ass...but I went the distance.

For the coach to deny the rules and have the whole team and the whole school pitch a hissy fit over this is disgusting.

1 posted on 12/27/2018 10:30:35 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
For the coach to deny the rules and have the whole team and the whole school pitch a hissy fit over this is disgusting.

That's the fantasy-land that many Americans and public school bureaucrats live in. We are all victims, we are all heroes, we are all brave social-justice warriors battling a deadly system of oppression.

2 posted on 12/27/2018 10:34:13 AM PST by PGR88
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Have you been following this story?


3 posted on 12/27/2018 10:38:42 AM PST by guido911 (all)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

The kids dreds weren’t that long, maybe 4-5 inches, and not drooping down....................


4 posted on 12/27/2018 10:38:44 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

I wrestled 7th 8th 9th and was good at that age. Broke 2 kids arms. There’s a reason for the hair, jewelry, and other rules. Hair can be pulled and a cap can also become a weapon if grabbed the right way.


5 posted on 12/27/2018 10:38:44 AM PST by DaxtonBrown
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

I made them rinse the sulfa8 out of their hair.


6 posted on 12/27/2018 10:39:16 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

The ref was right as he was enforcing the rules of the game. The kids that engage in the sport are fully aware of the rules, but this kid chose to to be different.


7 posted on 12/27/2018 10:39:37 AM PST by kenmcg (tHE WHOLE)
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To: guido911

No. I just saw the latest as posted...searched here and found nothing posted.


8 posted on 12/27/2018 10:41:21 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Perhaps we should be less concerned about who we might offend and more concerned with who we inspire)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Nuts. Back in the day, 'hair' was celebrated. One of the more famous wrestlers with a different look was national champion Ben Askren. Fear the Fro.


9 posted on 12/27/2018 10:43:11 AM PST by Theoria (I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Notice the words: “, who is white, “ and “, who is black,” with the commas in the right places. And so the division continues. ALL Whites are assumed to be evil racists.

Suppose there were an accident and they reported that a Mazda and a Toyota collided, and they included the words:
“The Mazda, which is white,” and “The Toyota, which is black,” the reader would wonder what the implication was.

With the people, the implication is that ALL Whites are racists and ALL Blacks are victims.

Damn the reporter for continuing the racism.


10 posted on 12/27/2018 10:46:40 AM PST by I want the USA back (There are two sexes: male (pronoun HE), and female (pronoun SHE). Denial of this is insanity.)
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To: DaxtonBrown

The arm pit state called NJ now allows FEMALE wrestlers. Will they have to cut their hair?


11 posted on 12/27/2018 10:50:00 AM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Why anyone would want long hair when they're wresting is beyond me. There's no way you could avoid it getting pulled, probably right out of your scalp. And that's if your opponent is playing clean. If he's at all dirty, the "accidents" might be even more severe.

It's like short hair in the military: there's a reason behind the rule.

12 posted on 12/27/2018 10:55:21 AM PST by IronJack
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

This is only going to make it harder for other black players to be accepted by future teams. I know this is just High School, but it’s competing on a national level. What coach is going to want the potential headache of hypersensitive black parents who frame every negative experience as being ‘racist’?

The kid is learning the wrong lessons from this.
Learning to weaponize his presumed victimhood.
The school or wrestling organization is learning the wrong lessons from this, always ready to take on the burden of implied guilt because of race. This sets us all back 50 years.


13 posted on 12/27/2018 11:05:11 AM PST by lee martell (AT)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Anything bad that happens to anyone wearing dread locks is to be welcomed.


14 posted on 12/27/2018 11:05:35 AM PST by dsc (Our system of government cannot survive one-party control of communications.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
We were required to be clean shaven, hair cut to a reasonable length at the ears and nails freshly clipped.

True in the late 70s, early 80s when I wrestled in CO.

Coach carried scissors and a razor.

15 posted on 12/27/2018 11:08:45 AM PST by Mr.Unique (The government, by its very nature, cannot give except what it first takes.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

I dont get this, I mean, I saw the video, and yeah it was sad, but I withheld judgement. What are the ACTUAL RULES that they wrestled under?


16 posted on 12/27/2018 11:24:19 AM PST by Paradox (Don't call them mainstream, there is nothing mainstream about the MSM.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Youth wrestling coach and ref here... hair long enough to be grabbed from behind and used for leverage or which affects the proper fit of head gear will be covered using an authorized hair restraint (skull cap or cover).

Adidas sells a pretty awesome design...

This rule gets more lax the older the kids get, but if a girl or boy came on my mat with long hair, they would be told to cover it, especially if it affected the fit of their head gear.


17 posted on 12/27/2018 11:26:55 AM PST by Mathews (Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV), Luke 22:36 (NIV))
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To: lee martell

Spot on.


18 posted on 12/27/2018 11:27:17 AM PST by gogeo (The Repubs may not always deserve to win, but the RATs always deserve to lose.)
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To: Paradox

I wondered, too, what are the rules in NJ. My kid wrestled against Sikh kids who had caps or something. There were also girls that wrestled. Here the kid with the dreds could have done something like that.


19 posted on 12/27/2018 11:29:57 AM PST by Cloverfarm (Pray for the peace of Jerusalem ...)
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To: shanover

Females have been wrestling for a long time. No, they don’t have to cut their hair, but hey do have to wear covers or ear their hair in tight braids next to the skull (cornrows). As they get older the rules become a little more lax and some don’t wear a cover at all. Some don’t even wear head gear.


20 posted on 12/27/2018 11:30:28 AM PST by Mathews (Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV), Luke 22:36 (NIV))
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