ROGERS — Prep wrestling has made great strides in terms of popularity in Arkansas over the past three years, particularly in Northwest Arkansas.
Area schools have claimed state championships in each of the fi rst two years since the sport has been sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association.
But while the local programs themselves are growing with more participation, finding enough off - cials to call matches can be tough at times, Rogers High wrestling coach Mark Malcom said.
“Oh yeah it’s real hard at times,” Malcom said. “I tell you it’s very hard to get good quality off cials.”
The reason for that is there are only around a half dozen off - cials in Northwest Arkansas. That includes one who lives in the Fort Smith area.
Don Brodell, associate director with the AAA, said there’s only around 25 certifi ed wrestling off - cials in the state.
Malcom, who spent more than 20 years coaching wrestling in Oklahoma before coming to Rogers two years ago, said it’s time for coaches to hit the recruiting trail not just to fi ll their rosters, but to find more off cials.
“We need to look at some of the guys who are coming out of our programs,” Malcom said. “In other states, guys who have wrestled but don’t go into coaching a lot of times get into off ciating.”
Malcom said the big key could be starting an association for wrestling coaches and officials, similar to the local officiating chapters for football, basketball and other sports. Malcom said in Oklahoma the association includes both coaches and off cials. Other states like Missouri have separate associations, but they work well together, Rogers Heritage wrestling coach Doug Freeman said.
“It would help us with recruitment, with interpretation of the rules,” Malcom said. “It could help get us all on the same page.”
Similar associations already exist in Arkansas for other sports and their off cials.
Brodell said it would take three or four years to put all the tools together for wrestling off cials.
“We’re looking at things from states that surround us,” Brodell said. “We’re always looking for a better process to classify and rate off cials.”
Malcom and former Rogers Heritage wrestling coach Randy Steen, who got back into off ciating this year, have been working to try to get an association started, but with only limited success.
“I sent out postcards last year to every wrestling coach in the state, but most of them that came back were right here (in Northwest Arkansas),” Malcom said. “For the sport (to grow), we need to all come together.”
Steen likened the problem to a chicken or egg situation.
“We need programs large enough to have junior varsity, but we also have to have enough offcials to call those matches,” Steen said.
Junior varsity matches give more inexperienced off cials a chance to get their feet wet.
Freeman pointed out a situation this season where a new offcial was thrown into a varsity match as his first match.
“It was really hard for him,” Freeman said. “I felt bad because if I went out there for the first time I know I’d make lots of mistakes. Heck, I hate doing my own wrestleoft s.”
“That’s not fair to (the offcial) or to the wrestlers,” Steen said. “He got thrown to the wolves.”
That’s where an association with an assignor to assign offcials to prospective matches and tournaments could help.
Steen was the head of the officials association and assignor for a time in Nevada.
“We’d meet weekly, get our assignments and even go over any rules issues,” Steen said. “Right now off cials are like independent contractors. You have one or two guys go out and gobble up all the work.
“If you do good enough work you’ll get more work, but nobody’s going to hire someone they haven’t seen,” Steen said. “It’s like you see these great jobs in the want ads, but they all say experience necessary. How do you get that experience if you don’t get a chance?”
Steen acknowledged it’s not an easy job and it’s not for everyone.
“You need a little bit of a thick skin,” Steen said. “Off - ciating wrestling is not like other sports that you have a partner or a crew. You’re making 500 or 600 calls a night.”
Freeman said other states have programs to allow new officials to go with experienced ones in a shadowing type experience.
“We’ve done a little bit of that with our new guy here,” Steen said. “But we don’t do anything to train new officials, really.”
Several of the officials in the area moved to Arkansas, after growing up with a wrestling background, including John Kincade, who lives in Fort Smith,
Anthony Haubner was one of the first high school wrestling coaches in Northwest Arkansas, coaching in the Springdale and Rogers schools. When Rogers split into two high schools, Haubner decided to go into off ciating.
“(An officiating chapter) would help because someone like me wouldn’t have to go solicit,” Haubner said.
Kincade, who off ciated and coaches wrestling in Oklahoma, moved to Greenwood after he got married and got a job as an assistant football coach.
Now, he off ciates wrestling in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Kincade’s also trying mentor one of his former wrestlers and get him into off ciating.
“Wrestlers need to pay back to the sport and offciating is a way they can do that,” Kincade said.
Freeman said the problem with lack of officials is something that can be turned around and it’s something that can be done in a relatively short period of time if coaches and off cials work together.
He used the example of a new official in southwest Missouri he met, then took a coaching job in a dift erent part of the state for a few years.
“He was a guy who always asked to be critiqued when I was there ... then a few years later he was doing state tournaments,” Freeman said. “It’s something that can get better pretty quickly really.”