I want to shout out to Nick Romero of LaPata for standing up and finishing the last 13 seconds of his finals match so that Vaughters could claim his second state title. Hats off to Nick and Coach Sharp of LaPata

Agreed... incredibly classy. On the other hand, there was the idiots in the stands booing Romero and calling him names... real classy there. We sure can get things out of perspective quickly. I knew if that kid could stand up, he would do exactly what he did, but others just assumed he'd fake and stay down for a win. That kind of stuff is ridiculous.

Yeah, agreed. I had no idea why everyone was reacting the way they were in the moments after Romero got slammed. Knowing Romero, his older brother, and Coach Sharp, I had no doubt in my mind that he would do the classy thing. All those guys cursing, crying, screaming, booing and fighting needed to take a deep breath. The kid got slammed. He was going to get back up. Give him a minute.

In the end, I think both guys were winners. Vaughters got his second state title and Romero got the respect of the entire state.

States always have interesting stories ( 3A/4A), but the tops goes to the Laplata wrestler for continuing in his bout at 140. That is why Laplata is in year after year, they teach skill and how to deal with life. hats off. Besides Krop winning a third, best match goes to Seneca Valley 215 and his bout with the defending champ from Meade. Can't wait until next year.

Some coaches seem to always do the right thing for their kids and their programs. Todd Sharp is one of them. He exemplifies "A CLASS ACT"
Congrats....

Nicks dad said his son was a stand up kid with class and would not take a cheap win. He unfortunately got escorted out of the tourny for defending his sons honor when a fan accused his son of being a chump. He sure knows his son. I have mad respect for Nick and his family. Nick is a class guy. I wish I knew Nick and his family. They are the kind of people I like to be associated with.

the Old Mill cheering section embarrassed themselves.

I dont know that you should be so quick to fault the Old Mill fans(except for the name calling) A wrestler with far less class than Nick faked an injury for a dq win against Vaughters last year and then wanted to wrestle the finals in that tourny had the trainer allowed. I must admit, I didnt think Nick would do what he did, but then again, I didnt know Nick. I dont think many whom watched the match thought he would do what he did. What a stand up guy!

Absolute class. That was the single best display of sportsmanship I can imagine. Credit to Romero and credit to the ref for not being rigid with the rule. I'm not sure if many other people would have done the same in his situation. No one deserved a standing ovation more than him.

It must be an Anne Arundel thing lol

the same situation happened several years ago, when returning state runner Jeff Blachly had a big lead on Breon Johnson of Parkvile in the first round at the states, and Blachly slammed Johnson. Now, I didnt see how much of a slam it was yesterday, but Johnson was so dizzy from his slam, he had to be helped up to his feet and when the ref blew the whistle johnsons coach threw in the towel. His coach said I wasnt going to cheat a kid that was clearly better then mine and was the favorite to win the states.

unless you get slammed unconcious and dont become alert until taken away on a stretcher its the right thing to do

it even happened to me in my state finals match early on in the first period, which definately took some energy out of me, but the show must go on (kevin you still owe me big time for not taking a dive )

Actually, if knock unconious, the wrestler cannot return to the mat to compete unless seen by a licensed Doctor. This is according to the rulebook issued by MPSSAA.

Class act

Perhaps the Old Mill fans saw Romero's first match against Evan Shebel which ended in sudden victory overtime with a horrible unsportsmanlike call against Evan. Romero laid on the mat grabbing his knee with his coaches telling him to stay down. And, by the way, the ref who made the call has a son who went to or is currently attending LaPlata. He should have never been refing the match.

I was NOT thier. What exactly happened here? My son attended Old Mill so I know how thier fans can be! What was the booing about? The kid got up and finished his match. Also why would anyone call this kid a chump? He has had a great high school career! I just don't get it!

Just for the record, it would not have mattered in the Shebel match if Romero stayed down or got up. The call had already been made and the match was over in Sudden Victory. As far as the Championship Finals, before the crowd started to express their opinion on the situation, they should have let all the events play out and they could have saved their hostility and name calling for someone how might of deserved it, not a young man that proved himself to be a better person than most of us, including myself by not taking the easy way out to victory or the Medical Trainers recommendation to not continue and letting the better wrestler on that day receive his earned victory and 2nd championship ( BTW congrats to Ron). This was the second time in a week that similar situations happened to him and at the Regional finals he also got up and continued the match instead of taking the easy way out. And the most important info. incase anyone is concerned is that after a late night visit to the E.R. and a cat scan later, Romero is a little battered but will be OK.

I am not an Old Mill alum/fan, and I was not sitting in their section either.

However, I will say that I was in strong disagreement of the referee's call of an illegal move. Not because of the results, but because of his application of the rule.

I never doubted Romero's pain or injury, and commend his willingness to struggle back to his feet and allow the match to finish.

I think that it was an unfortunate injury, and I hope that Romero is ok, and should be proud of his wrestling results and character displayed throughout the weekend.

Being there and seeing it.....it was a slam. Old Mills fans reactions were totally uncalled for. Class act all the way!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats to the kid, his family and his coach....Not alot of class acts left in high school wrestling anymore!

The wrestler from La Plata showed alot of class getting up and finishing the match. The standing ovation was well deserved. Congratulations to the coaches for not only producing very good wrestlers, but for also teaching these young men the true meaning of good sportsmanship. I only wish the same could be said for the fans of Ole Mill and for the Ole Mill wrestler. The way those fans booed and carried on while this young man laid on the mat injured was disgusting, and also for the way the wrestler had reacted, stomping around shouting and pointing at the ref's and the coaches showed a lack of respect and sportsmanship to La Plata coaches and the wrestler...Very sad.

Tydan

I couldn't have said it better. The only thing I would add is that as soon as it happened I turned to a wrestling buddy of mine and said that there was no way Coach Sharp would let his kid take a dive. If the Old Mill fans knew anything about the integrity of this man they would have waited quitely and politely for everything to be sorted out. Such was not the case and you're right, that's sad.

To Nick, you had one heck of a career and you really earned a lot of respect in my book for how you handled yourself yesterday. I hope you are feeling better and I wish you the best of luck in the future.

Sincerely,

Dave Pottorff
Bowie High Volunteer Coach

I'm in trouble now...I said the exact same thing as Dave to my friend sitting with me!!!:
As soon as it happened I turned to a wrestling buddy of mine and said that "there was no way Coach Sharp would let his kid take a dive."
What in the world does this mean!!?

It means all of the planets are in alignment a little bit earlier than 2012 (like the movie)

Really, Neil.

Next thing you know dogs and cats will be living peacefully in the same house. Ha!

Wait a minute, I have dogs and cat's live peacefully in the same house.

Maybe getting along isn't such a bad idea afterall. Ha!

Glad we had a chance to talk yesterday. Take care.

Tydan et al,

I got the feeling/impression that Vaughters was more mad at himself than the ref/other wrestler. I agree that his antics were a little much, but I think he was more worried about potentially losing a state title in a match that was out of reach for the other wrestling at the time than at the ref for making the call.

First of all I would like to say that I am glad that Mr. Romero is okay. I would also like to compliment both he and Coach Sharp for the way that they handled the situation. It was the class thing to do. I know neither Coach Sharp or Nick Romero personally , but have known and coached several La Plata wrestlers on my club teams over the years. All of these kids and their families without exception have been genuinely class acts and great people. That is a reflection of their coach and wrestling program. Knowing the type of people that have come from that program, I too told my neighbors to see how it would play out. The right thing happened. I have known Ron Vaughters for years. I was his first coach in junior leagues and coached him from the time he was 7 until the time he got to high school. I have remained close with him throughout his high school career, and want to let those out there who don't know it , that he is also a great kid. Remember we are still dealing with a young kid. I am sure the thoughts of his 2 matches with Tatanish replayed through his head as this situation played out. Ron's reputation precedes him as a very physical wrestler, and he is, and has always been. But he would never do anything malicious to anther person. In my opinion the whistle should have been blown as soon as Nick went in the air. This wasn't a situation where he was lifted, he jumped. In my opinion it should have been stopped as potentially dangerous. I also think there was a misapplication of the rule. "Rule 7-6... A wrestler applying a legal hold shall not be penalized when the opponent turns the hold into an illegal hold." In my opinion, all Ron had was a single leg, he didn't lift Mr. Romero. As slam is defined as "Rule 7-1...A slam is lifting and returning an opponent to the mat with unnecessary force." Maybe this type of situation needs to be addressed just as the Kolat flip was addressed. Just my opinions and two cents. Again, I am thankful that Nick is okay and that if he continues to wrestle at the next level good luck to him.

It happened right in front of me, I was two rows back. I didn't think it was a slam. I was surprised Romero didn't put his hands out in front of him to break his fall. I glad he's ok and he should be proud of himself for the way he handled it.