For wrestling referees, second-guessers abound

The noise came from every angle of the arena, both cheers and boos. Mitchell wrestling coach Travis Carpenter pumped his fist, while Huron coach Dan McCarty threw his hands up in disbelief. Steve Rounds, a 26-year veteran high school wrestling referee, kept his cool. His first-period, time-expiring takedown call gave Mitchell’s 112-pound Lakin Neugebauer a 2-0 advantage over Huron’s Reagan Francom. To the fans all around the Huron Arena, it was a very close, controversial call. Not to Rounds, though. He knew he had it right. “He had a cradle hooked up and his hips were down,” Rounds said, adding, “Out there, there’s no place to hide. You’re always going to have 50 percent of the people happy with you.”

It was just another day on the mat for a thick-skinned wrestling referee, whose job is to award all of the points in a match by himself and do so in a sometimes hostile environment, listening to complaints from fans.

The shouts Rounds heard at the Eastern South Dakota Conference rivalry dual — which was held Dec. 22 — were nothing new to the Pierre resident.

He said he’s been handed a pair of glasses before and has been called a “cheating referee.”

Letcher resident and Scotland native Clark Slykhuis doesn’t have as many years officiating as Rounds, but he’s seen and heard from the same kind of irate fans in his eight years.

“Some of it can get pretty explicit sometimes,” Slykhuis, 29, said. “Most of the time the coaches are just fighting for the kids.”

Slykhuis decided to become a referee eight years ago after he suffered a career-ending injury while wrestling for Dakota Wesleyan University.

His brother, Cory, a wrestling official from Tea, talked him into joining the small fraternity of South Dakota wrestling referees. Today, there are only 79 high school wrestling referees in the state, and Clark Slykhuis said it’s partly because of the verbal abuse that comes with the job.

“The hardest part for me is not being too hard on myself,” he said. “I see a lot of younger kids trying to get into (officiating), and they get dis- couraged right away. The coaches think they can push you around when you’re young and starting out.”

In basketball, football or volleyball, officials have partners to discuss possible close calls or rulebook interpretations. Wrestling referees don’t have that luxury.

Most often, they do all of their work alone.

Jerry Bussler is the longesttenured wrestling official in the state, having refereed since 1975. He’s been hired to officiate at every state tournament since 1986, and even he said he still gets butterflies before a big dual.

“I get a rush from it,” Bussler said. “It’s almost like when I was competing in high school and in college.

“You want to make sure you’re on top of your game. There are a lot of things in the sport that are judgment, and you want to make sure you’re fair and consistent.”

Rounds said he feeds off duals like the one at the Huron Arena.

“The more you get an entire gym yelling with all the kids, parents and coaches, that’s what’s fun,” said Rounds, who has 17 years of state-tournament experience. “If you don’t get chewed out, it’s a boring match. … I had a lot of fun tonight.”

As Rounds walked out of the arena after Huron defeated Mitchell 39-29, he got a visit from Francom’s father. After Neugebauer took the firstperiod lead on Rounds’ call, Francom battled back to win the match, 3-2.

The two discussed the dual, but mainly the 112-pound match and the first-period takedown.

Rounds defended it, while the elder Francom joked about it.

“A wrestling fan is a special person,” Rounds said. “Maybe they’ll be mad at you for the match, but as soon as it’s over, it’s done with.”

Tags: steve rounds, sports, referees, wrestling