Rands DQ'd at WPIALs
Neal Rands, who had just received medical clearance to wrestle on Wednesday, saw his scholastic career come to an end in an unexpected way Thursday night.
Rands, a senior from Ringgold High School who had passed out in his Section 2-AAA finals bout against Hempfield’s Dante Nania last week, had breathing difficulties in his 215-pound bout against Ean Villemain of Indiana in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Canon-McMillan.
Rands needed two injury time-outs during the match, and appeared to be in some distress each time. Following the second stoppage and holding an 8-0 lead over Villemain, Rands decided to default.
The official wanted Rands to shake hands with Villemain, but Rands was trying to leave the mat. He said something to the official that resulted in a flagrant misconduct and his disqualification from the tournament.
“He was on some medication, and he was feeling sick,” said Ringgold head coach Bob Bove. “It’s been a frustrating year for him. Every time he tried to come back, something happened.”
After Rands passed out in the section tournament, he needed to get a doctor’s release to continue wrestling. That didn’t come until Wednesday evening after a trip to UPMC-Presbyterian in Pittsburgh.
Canon-McMillan had a strong day, advancing eight of nine wrestlers, including defending state champion Connor Schram at 112.
McGuffey’s Christian Whipkey had two pins, the first over Keith Berback of McKeesport in 1:50 and the second over fourth-seed Zach Reges of Butler in 5:09.
Becky Barker, a junior from West Mifflin, became the first female to compete in this tournament. She was pinned by Christ Olszewski of Hampton in 5:00 in the preliminary round and eliminated from the tournament.
Rands, a senior from Ringgold High School who had passed out in his Section 2-AAA finals bout against Hempfield’s Dante Nania last week, had breathing difficulties in his 215-pound bout against Ean Villemain of Indiana in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Canon-McMillan.
Rands needed two injury time-outs during the match, and appeared to be in some distress each time. Following the second stoppage and holding an 8-0 lead over Villemain, Rands decided to default.
The official wanted Rands to shake hands with Villemain, but Rands was trying to leave the mat. He said something to the official that resulted in a flagrant misconduct and his disqualification from the tournament.
“He was on some medication, and he was feeling sick,” said Ringgold head coach Bob Bove. “It’s been a frustrating year for him. Every time he tried to come back, something happened.”
After Rands passed out in the section tournament, he needed to get a doctor’s release to continue wrestling. That didn’t come until Wednesday evening after a trip to UPMC-Presbyterian in Pittsburgh.
Canon-McMillan had a strong day, advancing eight of nine wrestlers, including defending state champion Connor Schram at 112.
McGuffey’s Christian Whipkey had two pins, the first over Keith Berback of McKeesport in 1:50 and the second over fourth-seed Zach Reges of Butler in 5:09.
Becky Barker, a junior from West Mifflin, became the first female to compete in this tournament. She was pinned by Christ Olszewski of Hampton in 5:00 in the preliminary round and eliminated from the tournament.
posted by Joe Tuscano at
11:46 PM
8 Comments:
Childish rage. No excuse for that type of behavior
Would not want him representing my school with an outburst like that.
Don't pity him he got what he deserved
Dont blame Neal, great kid. That type of behavior starts at home. Dad is a @&& O.
Let's not be too hard on Rands. I don't think he is a bad kid, just caught up in a frustrating situation. I would take him on my team.
Everyone is always making excuses AND exceptions for Rands--whether it be morals, schoolwork and attendance, or athletics. THAT is what has made him the person he is. He knows he has and can get away with it.
Ok Joe lets just condone what he did and just pretend that this kid is on the edge and could go off the deep end,hurt himself or someone else. This kid needs help!!!
Rands was not cleared to wrestle until late Wed. He had an alergic reation to the dye inject into his blood stream during a medical test.
The dye caused hives to breakout all over his body which were very itchy and vomiting up until just before the match. He was not sure he was going to wrestle until mins before the match. Decided to give it try knowing he could injury def and maybe feel better the next day. At the time is was running from the mat; Neal was leading 8-0 knowing he just def the match. The combination of the reation, his asthma and forgeting his inhaler caused him to panic. Neal was running to get his inhaler in his bag. Not disrespecting the other wrestler by not shaking his hand. The Ref was yelling at him to come back to mat. Neal had words with the Ref. The Ref was correct He should have been DQ. However, I do not think the REf knew why he was running from the mat. Give the Kid and his family a break. I do not think people should be trashing kids or their family on this blog.
To Anon, I didn't say condone it. He was tossed from the tournament. That's punishment for his actions.
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