OSU's First Dual Loss in Two Seasons Came After Controversial Failed Skin Check

Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/reece-witcraft-failed-a-skin-check-and-it-cost-osu-their-first-dual-loss-in-two-seasons/

It’s not as simple as it may have initially seemed.

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The advertising next to and under that Witcraft article on my computer is for Dove Skin Care Product…

That does seem somewhat suspect when all aspects are considered. Did Lehigh want to win so badly that they would use those kind of rules to their advantage? If you watch John at the very end he walks over to the other teams side to shake hands very quickly as if he is upset. I assumed it was with our effort maybe but now I feel it may be because of his disgust with how they were treated. It would be great to get an interview with John about this.

Can someone explain why it was an issue with Witcraft’s weight being last to wrestle? Since he had to forfeit, why does it matter that the draw had his weight as the last to wrestle?

The disappointing aspect of this ‘L’ and the circumstances surrounding it is how it overshadows a few of the solid performances we saw from Montalvo, Wittlake, even Harris for hanging in there against a bigger guy. I guess if other guys score more bonus points, we aren’t having this discussion, but 6 points is quite the handicap against a top 10 team.

For those of us listening to the radio, Roger Moore announced that Montalvo’s pin would give OSU the win on criteria, and he later corrected that after a break. It was a roller coaster to follow. It makes no immediate sense that a forfeit and a pin should be equal, especially when we have a biased official deciding unilaterally. Add this up there with the broken review process, and you’ll get a list of rules that make little sense and are not commonly understood by even the most avid college wrestling fans.

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Originally after hearing what happened, I had a bit of a picture in my head of a Dr. running out to the mat and changing his mind about clearing Witcraft because he was cleared and then suddenly that changed. So at first I thought it was weird that it was the final weight chosen.

Meaning “Did they want him last so they could stall why the Doc made the decision”

I now know that wasn’t the case at all and the weight was just a very random coincidence

Not a good look for Lehigh due to the indecision. I can see the concern for safety, but seems like a compromise could have been for someone from oSu to compete.