Controversy Surrounds NCAA Wrestling Match Officials as They Are Once Again Accused of Favoring Penn State Rookie

The NCAA Wrestling match officials drew a lot of heat in the past few weeks. The referees were criticized by several fans for making bad calls that cost several wrestlers their matches. In response to this, a notification was directly issued to all the referees from the office of the National Coordinator of Wrestling Officials.

This made the angry fans calm down as they hoped for the match officials to hit reset and go back to giving quality judgments. However, a social media post finds the NCAA Wrestling fans agitated once again over a bad call. In fact, this time, the officials seem to be directly involved with helping a rookie from Penn State.

NCAA Wrestling officials and Penn State stinking of foul play

The Wrestling Room tweeted a new video to X showcasing incriminating footage of NCAA match officials. The tweet carried the caption, “I have never seen this before…’We don’t have it,’ referring to video replay. 🤔” The video showed a Rutgers Scarlet Knights wrestler, Dean Peterson, and Penn State’s Braeden Davis at the edge of the circular ring.

The referee gave a call favoring PSU, to which Rutgers HC Scott Goodale issued a challenge. However, the officials said they don’t have any footage to use for a video replay. This frustrated Goodale a lot, and he threw the red sponge in his hand in rage. Notably, the video in the tweet was recorded on a screen displaying the live coverage of the NCAA match.

This development has resulted in a lot of public anger and questions about the integrity of Penn State. Davis eventually won the match by a 4-1 decision, and PSU won by a score of 35-3. While the NCAA officials are definitely under fire right now, the intentions of PSU are also bewildering people. Especially when the 125-pounder is being protected despite the Nittany Lions taking big wins. 

After winning championships, will cheating be a new staple at PSU?

The previous wrong judgment involving PSU’s Braeden Davis was also made when the dual was held at the Rec Hall. Last time, Ohio State’s Vinny Kilkeary wasn’t awarded the points of a well-executed takedown that could have won him the match. The reason behind protecting Davis may not be instantly visible. 

However, there is a strong motive behind the corruption of the NCAA officials. The 2023-24 roster of Penn State Wrestling is one of the greatest lineups in the history of NCAA Wrestling. It is projected that this squad has the potential to not just win this season, but win it with the highest number of points. 

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While Braeden Davis is a good wrestler, PSU has a vested interest in protecting him from losing matches. Otherwise, they may lose out on becoming the greatest D1 roster of all time. Do you suspect something similar? Or do you have any other theories about this?

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