TERRY COLUMN: Grappling with a bad break
Even the best wrestlers get caught.
A bad break happens, a move is made a split second too late. The best don’t stay down for long, but in the course of a career, nearly everyone finds themselves in a tough spot.
News broke this week that Flathead High School sophomore Payton Hume wouldn’t be able to wrestle at the All-Class state tournament this weekend in Billings.
Hume, who was ranked as the top wrestler in Class AA at 138 pounds in the last coaches poll, and who wrestled his way to a second seed in the state tournament last weekend, figured to be a difference maker for the Braves this weekend. He finished in fourth place at 132 pounds as a freshman, losing decisions by one point in both the championship semifinals and the third-place match. That experience, even as a second-year wrestler, figured to be one of the anchors of a Brave team that had more wrestlers at state than any other school. Along with a large group of young wrestlers like him, Hume was hoping to lead Flathead to its first state title since 2010.
Instead, Hume will be in the stands, only able to help as much as the other parents or coaches at the MetraPark unable to get on the mats and earn points.
He was caught. Not doing anything wrong, mind you. He wrestled cleanly and did everything that was asked of him. He didn’t commit any crimes or miss any classes.
It was a clerical error by his coaches that got Hume.
After beginning the season wrestling at 145 pounds, Hume worked his way down to 138 by the end of the season. He weighed in at 138 in his final eight matches and was thought to be one of the toughest competitors at the weight entering this weekend.
But, eight wasn’t enough.
The MHSA ruled he wrestled 10 events at 145 pounds, and by the “50-percent rule”, could only wrestle at a minimum of 145 pounds because that was his recorded weight for more than half of his competitions.
The rule, Rule II. (9) of the MHSA wrestling handbook, states “for health and safety reasons, Montana’s weight-control program shall require each wrestler to have at least one-half of weigh-ins during the season at the minimum weight the wrestler will compete in during the divisional and state tournament series.”
Because Hume qualified at 138 pounds, below his minimum allowed weight per the rules, he was ineligible for the state tournament.
It’s a tough spot for a kid who seemingly did everything else right.
His coaches, who did such a good job in getting him prepared for competition, let him down on their end. It’s the coaches job to keep and submit paperwork and track the eligibility of their wrestlers.
They were the ones that told him to wrestle at 138 pounds at the seeding tournament, even when 145 pounds would have been safer.
Hume is the one that has to pay the consequences.
By all accounts, it was an honest mistake. Flathead head coach Rich Vasquez said all the right things and took the blame for the error as the Hume family fought to have the ruling overturned in court this week. Paperwork was lost or misplaced when it shouldn’t have been, leading to confusion and a wrong decision by the coaches.
It’s a terrible lesson to learn, that sometimes entirely preventable problems aren’t always prevented, that even the best, most-trusted people can lose attention to details.
It’s an unfortunate situation for the Braves, who with Hume would have had a much better shot at the crown this weekend. It doesn’t look good for anyone involved that one of the tenets of wrestling, that everyone competes in the proper weight class, somehow got mishandled.
Hopefully, it’s not just Hume who learns a lesson from this. Hopefully, his coaches and everyone around the program can do what it takes to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Hopefully, Hume will be back again at this time next year, wrestling again for a chance at a state title.
Every wrestler finds themselves in a bad spot at some point in time, let’s hope Hume and the Braves can get out of this one and get back on top.