Be the Referee: Wrestling Inspections
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
January 27, 2022
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Wrestling Inspections - Listen
Before every individual or team wrestling event, each participant must be inspected by the referee or other authorized personnel. They are looking for any skin infections or evidence of a communicable disease.
A typical inspection will check a wrestler’s mouth for braces, fingernails, hairlines, underarms, back/shoulder area, behind the knee and more.
All inspections are done in the same manner for all wrestlers at a tournament site, both male and female wrestlers. Inspections generally should take place in an area not readily visible by the public because of modesty concerns for the wrestlers.
No wrestler is allowed to compete until they have gone through and passed the inspection.
Skin inspections are done with the goal of keeping all participants as safe as possible and preventing the spread of contagious skin conditions.
Previous editions
Dec. 16: Ball Over Backboard - Listen
Dec. 9: Winter Officials Mechanics - Listen
Nov. 26: Instant Replay - Listen
Nov. 11: Tourney Selection - Listen
Nov. 4: Receiver Carried Out of End Zone – Listen
Oct. 28: Volleyball Back-Row Block – Listen
Oct. 21: Soccer Disallowed Goal – Listen
Sept 30: Field Goal Falls Short – Listen
Sept. 23: Volleyball Obstruction – Listen
Sept. 16: Catch or No Catch – Listen
Sept. 9: Intentional Grounding – Listen
Sept. 2: Pass Interference – Listen
Aug. 26: Protocols and Mechanics – Listen
Be the Referee: Blocking Below the Waist
November 13, 2014
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains the differences between high school and the college and professional games when it comes to blocking below the waist.
"Be the Referee" is designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating and to recruit officials. The segment can be heard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the school year on The Drive With Jack Ebling on WVFN-AM, East Lansing.
Below is this week's segment - Blocking Below the Waist - Listen
Many times the key rules differences between high school football and those rules used at the college and profession levels deal with player safety. One of the best examples of this deals with the rules that cover blocking below the waist.
All of us have watched that game played on Saturday or Sunday; we’ve seen that wide out or the wide receiver blocking downfield, and they block the defender below the waist in springing that runner for a big gain.
At the high school level, the only offensive players that can block below the waist are those on the offensive line, generally positioned from tackle to tackle, and those blocks below the waist must be immediate – at the snap – and within that free blocking zone at the line of scrimmage.
Past editions
Nov. 5 - Tournament Selection - Listen
Oct. 29 - Uncatchable Pass - Listen
Oct. 22 - Preparation for Officials - Listen
Oct. 15 - Automatic First Downs - Listen
Oct. 8 - Officials & Injuries - Listen
Oct. 1 - Overtime - Listen
Sept. 25 - Field Goals - Listen
Sept. 18 - Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 11 - Pass Interference - Listen
Aug. 25 - Targeting - Listen