Wrestling match injures teen
By Steve Nash -- Brownwood Bulletin
A 15-year-old Brown County boy was banged up in a backyard wrestling match Sunday at Lake Brownwood. The teen told a deputy the matches are regular events in which participants -- several of whom have been injured -- compete for a homemade belt and a "title."
The boy told deputy David Varner at the Brownwood Regional Medical center emergency room Sunday that he did not want to report his injuries because they occurred during a "game" and that he was a "willing participant."
The boy's match was with an 18-year-old, and he was hit in the head with a piece of metal during the weekend match, according to Varner's report. He told Varner that at a previous match, someone jumped off a roof and landed on another participant who was on a table. That participant got up spitting blood, Varner wrote in his report.
The boy's mother told deputies she wants charges filed and the matches stopped, according to a report filed by Varner. Sheriff's officials said Monday that they would forward a report to Brown County Attorney Shane Britton's office but said it appeared to be a civil rather than a criminal matter.
Britton said Monday afternoon that he had not yet received a report but said a misdemeanor assault charge is possible. "Based on the limited information I have at this time, I am greatly concerned," Britton said. "I am particularly concerned that a 15-year-old was involved.
"When adults are involved in this type of activity with children, it's a much different situation than when two consenting adults are involved."
Varner was dispatched to the emergency room, where the boy had been taken with a large knot on his head and scrape marks on his body, Varner's report states. The boy's mother said he'd been at a friend's house on CR 546. She said her son called her, crying, and said he wanted to come home. She told Varner that when she picked him up, he was disoriented and dazed, and she saw the injuries.
The boy said the knot on his head was from being hit wit a flat piece of metal. His back was injured when he was slammed onto lattice, and his elbow was injured by a metal folding chair, according to Varner's report.
The boy said he has been participating in matches for about two months and had previous injuries, Varner's report states.
credit:
http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com
