Ford was wrestling in the finals, his oponent was staling literaly the whole match and Ford was working him good trying over and over for a takedown and head snaping him. He wrestled very intense with 6 minutes of pressure and the kid never opened up so Ford became mad and shook his oponent around to score a take down. He got called for unecesary roughness. I believe this was a Bogus call he was wrestling intense working for a take down, not trying to hurt the kid and plus Ford barely even snanpped on his head. But w.e its over with Good match ford and congrats on the win and state championship title.

I agree that Ford wrestled well. I do however have an issue with someone having a temper tantrum after winning a state championship. I saw 3 periods handle the situation immediately but I believe that behavior is uncalled for under any circumstances. Kids are kids and we all have made mistakes but I sincerely hope that his behavior is the exception. I have heard many coaches praise Andrew for his wrestling ability and it is clear that he is very good. I hope that Andrew learns from this. It is disrepectful to the sport and to every other wrestler to throw your headgear while on the mat after winning a state championship.

I completely understand your view. He did have a bit of an anger issue but due to the fact of staling and the unecessary roughness call. He was just wrestling with agression, do they want us to go wrestle with pillows or something? lol seriously Ford wrestles how it should be done not like how montville wrestled, scared backing up the whole match. Ford wanted more out of it obviously.

The point was given because of an obvious headbutt he threw. I understand his frustration, but what is more frustrating... to not score as many points on your way to a state championship as you would have liked because your opponent is clamming up,or getting handily teched or pinned? He beat everyone badly on his way to the final... Every one of those kids got up shook his hand and walked off the mat respectfully. I'm sure they would have traded places with him any day! Things got out of hand, & I'm sure most people can look past it... ONCE, but attitude like that can't become a habit. Also... 2 referees, & the entire gym saw what happened, so please don't come on here trying to deny or defend it as it enables bad decisions. I do believe it will be taken care of at home, and we'll never see this again.

I thought the ford match was the most exciting one in that God-awful hot*** gym. And I thought he was the most outstanding wrestler, the montville kid was obviously content with second place. Everyone booing him was as uncalled for as him throwing his headgear. Was he supposed to be jumping for joy when everyone in the gym was hating him at that moment?

They booed because of the headbutt, the fact that he would barely shake hands, & the fact that he threw his headgear. You're right, Ford was the best wrestler in that sauna Windham calls a gym, but he wasn't all around outstanding. He's young and emotional, & as long as this doesn't become a habit he'll be just fine. Good luck to him at Opens & NE's... he works very hard at the sport.

The 160 final was great, 119 suspenseful, 171 good but disappointing (by the way did anyone see that move (flip, jump?) Brainard did in the semi's against Duplice when he was in a single? Arguably the Most athletic kid in the state!

My son and I regret what happened in that finals match Saturday night involving his tossing his head gear. I took him aside and "discussed" it with him immediately after the match. On his own, he went and apologized to Dustin and his coach (father) for his disrespectful behavior.

I later went over and apologized to Mr and Mrs Wilcox. I also spoke with Dustin and told him I was upset over what had happened.

Drew and I discussed putting an apology on this forum. I decided doing that would only make the situation worst by inviting people to offer their opinions on something they knew nothing about.

I am quite sure Drew will never do anything like that again. He is 17 and still has some growing up to do. I am not making excuses for my son's end-of-the-match behavior. It was wrong.

To wrestleoff specifically, and anyone (or EVERYONE as wrestleoff suggests), who saw my son throw an obvious head-butt, it was unfortunate he did that. However, I am not going to let anyone portray him as an unprovoked dirty wrestler. There was more than one aggressive head movement in that exchange and my son did not throw the first one. He was wrong to throw one at all. There is no acceptable reason for it. But, if you only saw one head-butt you did not see everything that happened.

And to those who will reply they know what they saw...I ask...have you ever seen a replay in a sporting event where the retaliatory response is the one that gets penalized? I have one, on tape, if you have never seen one.

I know that I am a bit defensive about this. I love my kids. They make mistakes. And I try to correct and inform them when they make mistakes that may be more severe than they realize. However, I will not stand down and allow someone to unfairly portray Drew (or my other children) in an unflattering light when not considering all of the facts. To anyone who thinks my son threw an unprovoked head-butt, I say, you do not know all the facts.

In closing, I want to make it clear. There is NEVER an acceptable reason or excuse to throw head gear or a head-butt in a wrestling match. My son understands this very clearly now. We both regret it very much and we're so embarrassed by his behavior last night we could not get out of that gym fast enough. Waiting for the awards ceremony and wondering how much booing he would be subjected to when his name was announced was a stomach-wrenching experience. I do want to thank all the people there for showing restraint and not subjecting him to that treatment. It was a relief for both of us.

Very nicly put. I was going to touch on much of the same points.

His actions were not needed, but I was sure you and the Coach would take care of it. He is a great wrestler and by the sounds of it he has a good up bringing. I am sure he will learn from this, as long as he an others know it was unexceptable.

Good Luck Andrew, I was there and saw the frustation. I for one will cut you some slack. You let the match get to you. Put it aside, and consentrate on Opens!

you are a fweeeiirrrdd guy, you know that? who gives a crap about people critizing your son, he got mad and a little outta control...big f'in deal, id rather see a kid be competitive and tough then one who settles and is timid. not tellin ya how to raise your kid, but i think your getting upset over nothing...if some chump kids are bashin your son on this stupid website you dont have to be an over protective parent and come on here an teach everyone a lesson...especially since your son is hands down the best wrestler in the state(only cause west aint around no mo....maybe). your repremandin kids who your son probably beat the piss out of...and if i was andrew the drew ford...id double leg you through the kitchen cabinets for comming on here and embarassing his star athlete son.

There were a few wrestlers during that tournament that lost due to absolutely horrible refing which showed more class losing then Ford showed winning. Stop making excuses for him. He lost his temper and acted like a spoiled brat (I said LIKE, not he is). How easy it is to go shake hands an apologize over in the corner of a gym when few are watching during another match, but at least he did it.

Don't let his success or the hard work of his father sugar coat his behavior. It was wrong, period.

Now, having said that, I am sure he has learned a valuable lesson, hopefully. The character an athlete is measured in more then the win column. He will learn from this and move on. He clearly is a good kid who had a bad moment in front of hundreds of people. His father has posted as I knew he would, said was expected and did his duty as a good father. He is a stand up guy.

Now, to the parents who booed....that was even worse, of course the Bacon parents lead the charge, clearly the worse fan base in the entire state. The Bacon team and coaches are great, the parents are an embarrassment to the ECCs. That my friends, is no news flash...

3Periods,

that seemed very hearfelt, and although I had respect for you before, I now have just that much more

It's amazing how a few seconds of emotions can overshadow six minutes of zeal.
Congrats for the win.

Andrew is a class act and I was not there, but I know he and his father for many years.

You can't fault a young man for having emotions and/or being frustrated.

These are life lessons... that we all (hopefully) learn.

Luckily we all love the same sport that teaches us winning, losing, sportsmanship and much more...

I can tell you at 36 years old, and with business, marriage, kids and much more, wrestling will teach you life lessons, courage, winning, losing and the things that are outside the box.

Stick to the things you believe in and good things happen!

God Bless

Booing? At a HS match?
This is very diferent than the professional sports "I paid for the ticket, that gives me the right" argument. C'mon people...these aren't million dollar athletes. They are teenagers learning how to deal with pressure, expectations, adversity, and disappointment. I cannot imagine being scrutinized like this now...much less 20 years ago (I really don't like writing that!).

Now, to be honest, I was not there--it sounds like it was a moment that Andrew would take back if he could, and will hopefully learn from. Hopefully all the spectators/wrestlers also learn from what happened and conduct themselves in a manner that they will look back on proudly.

Just because you know his father, doesn't make it right, just because his father is righteous on this website doesn't make it right. Saw the match, the son(child) needs to reel it in.......this is HS wrestling, keep it in persptective.....too much hype

Andrew apologized to Dustin, and Coach Wilcox. He's told a bunch of us in the chat that he isn't proud of what he did, but it wasn't right for the entire gym to get hostile with him because he through his headgear. If you guys think he needs to redeem himself, which does not need to be done, I'm sure he will definitely show it this weekend by wrestling his A** off.

Shrug it off, Andrew, it was a bad lapse of judgment which we all have, now go wrestle hard.

he wasnt that great, get real.

mater of the obvious- great post until you get to Bacon, keep it real if you were there, you would know what went on in the gym..........

its perplexing to understand why a 17 year old would throw his head gear off in frustration after winning a state championship.
What would he have done if he had lost... or is that not an option.
When a kid does something like that its usually because he is under a ton of pressure.

Ford, a little heads up. I think I know how all your opponent are gonna wrestle you at states. lol

completely ridiculous to throw a fit after loosing, even worse after winning. Its degrating to the opponent. BUT he apologized to him and that is really the only person he should apologize to. I dont think he needed to come on here and post an apology lol just dont do it again. its old news now. Time to let it go.

I could only imagine the anger that rose in 3periods after that match... along with his son throwing a blatant headbutt (as i've been told) he was listening to the whole crowd boo his own child after andrew unfortunately threw his headgear down in a fit of anger. People you couldn't even fathom what a father wants to do to a child who just embarrassed himself in front of a good quarter of the state. From wanting to pull his pants down in front of the whole crowd and give him a spanking to wanting to hug him and tell him that itll be ok, knowing the potentially dangerous position they were then in... im sure that Andrew learned his lesson enough just by dealing with disappointing a whole gym's worth of fans and the punishment im POSITIVE his father gave him at home... trust me, if he ever did it again im sure his body might end up MIA due to his father's own rage and punishment.

I think the kid has learned his lesson already people...

I was there the whole weekend and I was at the ECCs. I was 10 feet from the mat and saw the whole thing, I have known all the major players for years. I hate to get personal on any post, but the Bacon parents, not all of them of course, but a enough of them, are very rude and display ridiculous behavior.

It is one thing to cheer for your wrestlers and team, it is even acceptable to recognize that sometimes a loss by another wrestler may help your team win, but Bacon consistently cheers rudely and obnoxiously against other kids, even taunting them and confronting them by the mat and in the hall ways. This is no secret, I have been only yards from many of the instances.

The team and coaches are FIRST CLASS, but there are some real bad apples up in the stands. Put it this way, when their own wrestlers apologize for their parents actions to you, you know there are issues.

It is really weird to, one on one the are very friendly and nice, but when they get in the stands and see blood, it gets real ugly. Maybe there is just a few stirring the pot, but it is enough. Too bad, because they have a great program.

Congratulations to Andrew Ford, the South West Conference is proud that he is representing all of us. He is under a lot of pressure on and off the mat for a wrestler of his caliber and at such a young age. I think all he wanted was a good hard fought match for the title, not someone who runs away.

For a wrestler to make it to the finals and then not even try to wrestle him is unsportsman-like and almost cowardly. Personally, for as good as Ford is, why wouldn't you want to be the guy to upset him and win. A person can't do that if they run away the entire time. I'd rather lose knowing I at least tried to beat him than to lose and do nothing. The same going for Ford, I'd rather win knowing my opponent came after me and had some guts, than to win and know he was ducking me the entire match.

I don't blame him for getting frustrated and at 17, I wouldn't expect any other type of reaction. Once again, congratulations Andrew Ford for being state champ and representing Bethel and the SWC's. Fellow SWC teams don't "boo" our champions.

He may be under a lot of pressure but still. ford needs to chill out. he was way too intense. he was winning the whole time and he's won this before. the only suggestion i have for him is the next time he gets into one of those fits, just blaze one up and chill out

I love Ford's style, overwhealm your opponent. He's quick keeps moving in his stance. Very solid aggressive wrestler, I would do the same thing in that situation.

WORD to that brotha

omg he threw his head gear... give me a break. every match that ive ever been to or wrestled at..someone threw their head gear out of anger or disappointment. Just because its Andrew Ford..it was a big deal. there should be no apologies. it happened and its over.

it was his own fault for getting ford angry, everyone knows... when ford angry, FORD SMASH

I agree that there was no need for any apology on this forum by Andrew or his father. 3periods was in no way obligated to offer that apology but manned up anyways. As for Andrew, he did the right thing by apologizing directly to Wilcox and his parents face to face. I'm sure the lesson was learned.

ford is an amazing wrestler, but he can't wrestle someone who runs away from him the entire match...maybe guys who get the chance to go against him should man up and actually put up a fight instead of running towards their bench with their tail between their legs...

Man everyone is making way to much out of this bottom line is kid made a mistake about head gear, an emotional one and we are all sure if he could take it back he would...Wow first time any of us has scene it. part of the game is to get into the other wrestlers head. Wilcox dad is The head coach i'm sure there was a game plan and being big underdog it almost worked right?....One of our guys lost 2 matches to a certain person this season..They met again at states was saying tie up keep match close till 3rd period and knowing other person gets frusterated and can make that one big mistake man it almost worked each wrestler had 2 penalty points each and match ended up 4-3..On the Elite level all it takes is that 1 second lapse in judgement to lose no matter who you are.

Talking about beating a dead horse....Now i'm sure Mr Ford has more incentive now than ever of winning opens and doing very well at new-englands...getting a close challenge is good sometimes Right!!!


WoW way too many arm chair Wrestlers now that 99% of kids have been eliminated for season..

Good Luck Andrew learned a big lesson now finish season kicking A**
And Mr Ford I feel for You
It's All Good As The kids say today...

shmenryshmery: "it was his own fault for getting ford angry, everyone knows... when ford angry, FORD SMASH"

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