At the arena I had the fortune to sit next to a guy that I immediately recognized - he was a ref at NCAAs from 1989 to 2001. He is now the director of evaluators, and often scribbled notes regarding situations during matches, and texted and sometimes called other evaluators who were watching matches, evaluating the calls. We talked quite a bit, and he appreciated that I had a larger perspective than just an Iowa fan. We usually agreed on the controversial calls, and naturally I deferred to his knowledge and experience.
There were two situations that we discussed that stood out. One, he strongly agreed that Hall should have been hit with a second stall late in the finals match, around 10-15 seconds remaining. Bo couldn't continue shooting (in order to force the ref to make the call) because Hall had overhooks on him, but with no attempt to use them, just prevent Bo from shooting. The evaluator said the ref definitely should have called it.
The second situation was the Cruz takedown that beat Gilman. The evaluator immediately got on the phone with someone and discussed it in an animated manner. He then hung up and emphatically stated to me that the call was wrong. He said that the mat ref had indicated that Gilman's hands had touched the mat, thus a TD; however that only applies when the wrestler attempting control is STANDING BEHIND and the wrestler in front touches the mat with at least one hand, even finger (hope you understand what I'm trying to explain). However, that was not the case here, Cruz was on the mat himself, not standing, and Gilman should have definitely been given reaction time, and in fact Thomas DID react and turn away from control (if I recall correctly), but the ref had already called TD due to hands touching mat. The hand touch situation should be called instantaneously, but in most other TD situations a half-second reaction time is factored in.
Evaluator told me that the call was wrong and should have been overturned on review. Later we discussed this point and he agreed that, naturally (it's human nature), most refs don't want to admit that they got the call wrong and so probably when they look at the replay, they're looking for evidence to uphold what they had called. What's needed is an impartial/uninvolved replay official, like the NFL has...and one more camera so there are different angles to review.
There were two situations that we discussed that stood out. One, he strongly agreed that Hall should have been hit with a second stall late in the finals match, around 10-15 seconds remaining. Bo couldn't continue shooting (in order to force the ref to make the call) because Hall had overhooks on him, but with no attempt to use them, just prevent Bo from shooting. The evaluator said the ref definitely should have called it.
The second situation was the Cruz takedown that beat Gilman. The evaluator immediately got on the phone with someone and discussed it in an animated manner. He then hung up and emphatically stated to me that the call was wrong. He said that the mat ref had indicated that Gilman's hands had touched the mat, thus a TD; however that only applies when the wrestler attempting control is STANDING BEHIND and the wrestler in front touches the mat with at least one hand, even finger (hope you understand what I'm trying to explain). However, that was not the case here, Cruz was on the mat himself, not standing, and Gilman should have definitely been given reaction time, and in fact Thomas DID react and turn away from control (if I recall correctly), but the ref had already called TD due to hands touching mat. The hand touch situation should be called instantaneously, but in most other TD situations a half-second reaction time is factored in.
Evaluator told me that the call was wrong and should have been overturned on review. Later we discussed this point and he agreed that, naturally (it's human nature), most refs don't want to admit that they got the call wrong and so probably when they look at the replay, they're looking for evidence to uphold what they had called. What's needed is an impartial/uninvolved replay official, like the NFL has...and one more camera so there are different angles to review.
