A pair of Pennsylvania coaches from traditional rivals in the Harrisburg area are under fire after a district championship meet between their schools ended in acrimony following a two-man brawl … featuring the coaches.
As reported by PennLive.com and other sources, the District 3 Class 3A Team Wrestling Championships were brought to a premature end when Cumberland Valley head coach Dave Heckard and Central Dauphin head coach Jeff Sweigard became entangled in a brief fight following a pair of controversial disqualifications, one for each team. Cumberland Valley captured the title, 29-28 on tiebreaker, but not before Heckard and Sweigard were involved in a heated discussion that slipped into minor violence.
While the two disqualifications involved a body slam and an eye poke, both teams felt that their opponent could have easily continued when the shoe was on the other foot. Instead, their teams traded bout disqualifications as rancor between the sides grew leading to the physical disturbance between the two coaches.
It goes without saying that the actions of the coaches presented a poor example for their student athletes, and both are now paying the price for it. On Monday it was announced that Sweigard was suspended for the preliminary round of the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships. Heckard also missed the initial postseason competition after he and school officials jointly decided it was not in the best interest for him to coach at the event.
With an eye on moving beyond the disturbing incident, the two schools offered a combined statement condemning the action of the coaches, all while praising their student athletes for keeping the fracas from getting further out of hand.
“The actions of the Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin head wrestling coaches at Saturday’s match do not reflect the high standards of good sportsmanship and leadership that we expect our coaches to model for our athletes,” officials of both schools said in a joint statement.
“While these two programs have a history of extraordinary accomplishments, this public display was unacceptable. It is important for both communities to know that success does not relieve a coach of the responsibility to exercise restraint and good judgment, especially in those moments when emotions might tempt a coach to behave otherwise.
“The administrations of both the Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin School Districts do commend our student athletes for their positive behavior on that difficult day.”