Is wrestling a difficult sport to officiate?
HS: To be honest, I think it probably is the easiest sport of them all to referee. In wrestling, a referee has just two people to watch, and those two people are competing in a very small space. In basketball, two people have 10 players to watch and a very big court to control. In wrestling, both guys are right in front of you. There are only two tough calls. One is knowing when the buzzer is going to sound and the other is the line (out of bounds). In basketball and football, there are all kinds of tough calls. One coach thinks it’s blocking, the other coach thinks it’s charging, and neither one knows for sure. Wrestling is cut and dried. NOW: Do the coaches give you much grief with the calls? HS: Again, our sport is a little different than the others. The calls are a lot easier, but we still get the coaches comments. But compared to basketball, it’s totally different. In basketball, the refs get it every time down the floor. The wrestling coaches respect the officials more than they
