Father arrested after tackling his son’s high school wrestling opponent during NC match
The father of a high school wrestler was arrested Saturday during a tournament at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis, North Carolina, according to a news release from the city’s police department.
Barry Lee Jones, whose son wrestles for Hickory Ridge, ran onto the wrestling mat and tackled an athlete from Southeast Guilford High School, social media video from the event shows.
Kannapolis police charged Jones with simple assault and disorderly conduct. He was processed at the Cabarrus County jail and received a $1,000 secured bond, according to the release. The Southeast Guilford wrestler was not injured.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Southeast Guilford coach Jed Cox told the Observer on Tuesday.
Before the incident, the Southeast Guilford wrestler was penalized for lifting Jones’ son off the mat and not returning him safely. Garinger High wrestling coach Tyris Rorie said wrestlers are taught to make safe mat returns because when one wrestler lifts another off the mat, the return move -- think of a body slam -- can cause the other wrestler “to land on his neck or break his collarbone.”
“It’s a dangerous move, even if you’re not that high off the ground,” Rorie told the Observer on Tuesday. “But (the illegal mat return) doesn’t happen that much. It depends on a kid’s adrenaline when he’s trying to perform a move. I don’t think most of them are intentional. It’s like getting hit by a baseball. But you don’t see it that much because you know you’ll lose a point.”
Other Hickory Ridge parents apologize
On Monday, Southeast Guilford posted a note of apology from Hickory Ridge parents on its wrestling Facebook page.
“We want you to know that we experienced the same nightmare WITH you (Saturday),” the note read. “We are in shock, horror and disbelief by the inconceivable action of one parent....We don’t understand it nor would we ever condone it.”
N.C. High School Athletic Association commissioner Que Tucker told the Observer on Tuesday that her office could take action against Jones after Cabarrus County Schools completes its investigation and reports to the NCHSAA.
Four years ago, two fans came out of the stands near the end of J.M. Robinson’s N.C. 3A state championship win over Fayetteville Sanford. One of them punched a Robinson player. That fan, who Tucker said had a child on the Sanford team, was banned from NCHSAA events “for as long as he had someone participating at Terry Sanford,” Tucker said.
“This incident is no different than many others we hear and read about, that are occurring all across the country at youth sporting events,” Tucker said, “where parents are sometimes out of control. What I hope happens is that other parents will have seen this video and take advantage of an opportunity to evaluate their own behavior at their children’s sporting events.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Father arrested after tackling his son’s high school wrestling opponent during NC match."
