The Wash High situation

I recently wrote a column on the state of the wrestling program at Washington High School. It was a critical piece that took a hard look at the program.

Here is the link:

http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/12-19-08-Washington-column

Among the responses I received was this letter.

"I am a wrestler for Washington High School.  I am writing in response to the column written by Mr. Tuscano, in which he stated that our wrestling team was “unwatchable” and also stated that myself and four other wrestlers wrestled a total time of 9:40 before being pinned, or losing by default.

What Mr. Tuscano failed to mention in this article was that one of our wrestlers pinned his opponent and two of our other seven wrestlers lost because of injuries that made them unable to finish the match. I find it highly offensive that people in our own community would criticize us and point us towards a co – op with Trinity that is completely impossible due to the fact that we have too many wrestlers to join with Trinity.  

Our “lack” of wrestlers is not the fault of any coach nor is it any fault of the schools, however it is due to the fact that one of our wrestlers is out for the season due to a shoulder injury and a few other members of the team are either held back due to grades or a lack of the amount of practices required to compete. How dare Mr. Tuscano disrespect my team and coaches (Josh Barrette and Adrian Turner) by stating that our team is “on life support”!

Mr. Tuscano obviously wrote this article in ignorance which is proven by the fact that he only knows half of our story. Instead of criticizing the Wash High wrestling team how about giving us a little bit of encouragement. I  am , however, glad the article was written, because it  inspired us to work just a little bit harder. Thank you Mr. Tuscano."

I would be interested in knowing what you think about this situation. I do have a response to the letter but I would like to hear from you first.