Deaf wrestler blames referee miscommunication for state title loss

Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter:

Paul Ruff (18) is a high school senior deaf wrestler from Gering, Nebraska, who lost at the state wrestling championship on Saturday, February 20th by one point because of what he claims was miscommunication with the referee.

(NBC 6 News Clip)

[Image of an article from Star Herald]

Paul uses a cochlear implant and takes it out when he wrestles. He says he mainly lip reads and does not know sign language. He said the issue was not being deaf, but it was the referee who refused to lower his mask.

Paul was in the Class B 126 pound final match. He went up against Paul Garcia from Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Garcia is a 3-time state champion. After that final match when Paul lost, Garcia is now a 4-time state champion. Garcia is the 34th wrestler to win four state titles in Nebraska. In several articles, Garcia mentioned that he did not expect to win his 4th in this way.

[Image of report by NBC 6 News]

That match between Paul and Garcia was a hot game. It went into double overtime. Yesterday, the Nebraska Association of the Deaf (NeAD) posted a Zoom video of 4 deaf people having a dialogue about this. With their permission, I will show you a short clip of one man named Brent Welsch who explained what happened in that match. Here’s the clip.

Brent Welsch, NeAD Representative: It was a hot match and it was running close, then there was a double overtime. During the overtime, there was what’s called a restart. That’s what happens when the wrestlers get out of bounds from the mat. The wrestlers return to the middle and start again. During that period, Paul chose to be the bottom, meaning he has to be on his hands and knees - all fours. Apparently his knee touched the line which it shouldn’t have, and the referee decided to give him a caution. In wrestling rules, one caution is simply a caution. A second caution means one point is given to the opponent. During that caution, Paul was trying to communicate with the referee to make sure he was doing it correctly and the referee did not pull his mask down. With no mask down, it was difficult for Paul to understand him. Later, after another restart… Again, Paul seemed to be touching the line which caused another caution. That automatically gave a point to the opponent. The other boy started celebrating, and Paul was puzzled, not realizing there had been two cautions. He had no idea and was lost because of miscommunication.

Renca: You can watch the full video with more information with the link below in the transcript.

[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://www.convorelay.com/download]

The NeAD, the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NCDHH), and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) sent letters to the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA). In the letters, they explained that this was a discrimination and asked for an apology from NSAA and a rematch.

[Images of screenshots of letters from NAD and NeAD]

We reached out to Paul for an interview. He does not know sign language and speaks with his voice to communicate so we have an ASL interpreter with us.

Renca: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Paul Ruff, Wrestler: Okay, well, my name is Paul Ruff. And I was born deaf. I got a cochlear implant at the age of two. And yeah. I’ve been wrestling for pretty much since I was seven years old, doing this sport.

Renca: So, you’ve been wrestling since you were seven years old? Wow. That’s, like, a long sports career for you! And I’m sure this is the first time you’ve experienced this kind of situation?

Paul Ruff: Yes. Really, you know, this is something that has never really happened to me before in my entire wrestling career. Losing that match, I was very frustrated and I didn’t know why I lost. At first I was very confused, and then later on I put my cochlear implant back on and my coaches told me what happened. I was frustrated about it, but what helped me was winning the team title, as a team. That kind of, you know, cooled me down a bit. Later on that night, I was getting a lot of text messages, a lot of people were out there supporting me. So I didn’t know I had that much support, you know? We were thinking about [that support], we were relying on it, so I’m just going to let it motivate me and have me become a better person about it and move on.

Renca: I’m curious, how do you feel right now?

Paul Ruff: Well, I kind of… Right now, you know, I’m happy because I’ve never seen so much support, and you know this is an opportunity to help the NSAA with this so this will not happen again.

Renca: Speaking of the NSAA, what would you do if the NSAA refuses to apologize and refuses to hold a rematch?

Paul Ruff: Well that would be...that would be very rude of them. That’s not very professional of them. At least do something, you know what I’m saying?

Renca: Yeah. What do you, from your personal opinion, think that the NSAA should change and what should they add in their policy, or what should they consider? What’s something you feel they should change?

Paul Ruff: I want the NSAA to start helping with the deaf kids, or disabled kids as well. I want this to inspire them and look out for sports instead of having their disability prevent them from doing sports. And I just want to inspire them, and I want those without disabilities to inspire them to go out for sports as well.

Renca: If you could share a tip to a younger wrestler who wants to continue their wrestling career, what would you say?

Paul Ruff: Really, the one tip I would share is that there’s always going to be challenges in life and you’ve gotta overcome every challenge. In the sport of wrestling, there’s always going to be a challenge. You’ve got to overcome them. Some people, they just get frustrated but you’ve just got to break through those walls.

Renca: We also reached out to NCDHH to share their thoughts because when this situation happened, they took lead in supporting Paul. We talked with one representative, Cody McEvoy, who works as a statewide behavioral health coordinator at NCDHH and is a former deaf wrestler in Nebraska. We asked him why it was important for NCDHH to support this situation and what can be changed for the future of our Deaf/Hard of Hearing athletes.

Cody McEvoy, NCDHH Representative: As a former deaf wrestler, my peers were hearing. We have to advocate for ourselves at each match, tournament, and so on. You’ll have to communicate with the referee that you can’t hear them, so the referee has to physically touch you to communicate when it’s time to stop. We’re always at a disadvantage as a deaf or hard of hearing wrestler because the referee has to try to blow the whistle and give a hand signal. It’s not the same, so we only have half a second as a disadvantage to play defense. Really, we play more defense than offense on the wrestling mat, so when I watched the video… Yes, deaf people have to endure a lot. The referee is a big part, because they facilitate the game so communication can be a challenge. Some referees do a great job, and some referees don’t, so you just have to deal with whoever the referee is and hope it’s a good one. If not, so be it. So, it’s tough. I think for all referees, there should be required training for special considerations for various groups, such as athletes with disabilities. They should know what to do in these situations to make sure it’s a fair process, because the NSAA’s mission is to be equal and make sure all athletes have a fair chance to play and compete. So, that was not really fair in that situation. Referees should be properly trained and know how to deal with these situations so they can improve for future athletes.

Big things that will lead to change is sending appeal letters, because sometimes there might be problems that they’re not aware of because no one submitted an appeal against them. So, we need to send letters to them so they can notice a pattern and identify what they need to change, like a policy, the bylaws, or make an amendment. We have to share those with them so they can know there’s a problem, and that it’s not perfect yet, so… Maybe it’s not a solution to the current situation, but hopefully this kind of situation doesn’t happen in future opportunities. We don’t want another person to lose their opportunity for a *state title - that’s a big honor. Losing it because of that situation isn’t fair. "

Renca: Paul mentioned that this year he is graduating from high school, but he will continue with wrestling when he gets into college. He has his eye on several colleges for wrestling. We, The Daily Moth, wish you Paul the best of luck with your wrestling journey and we hope to see your name as a wrestling champion one day.

*Correction: We had an error in our captions -- Cody McEvoy said Paul Ruff lost an opportunity to win a state title, not a "season title."

NeAD Facebook Video: https://www.facebook.com/839116981/videos/10160752482481982/

https://www.klkntv.com/deaf-nebraska-wrestler-feels-wronged-by-nsaa/

https://kearneyhub.com/sports/high-school/advocate-says-nsaa-wronged-deaf-gering-wrestler-in-state-finals-match/article_4f7c85b4-5c7b-5882-935f-046cd66dbf1b.html

https://www.wowt.com/2021/02/25/family-wants-apology-rematch-after-miscommunication-error-during-wrestling-state-championship-with-deaf-athlete/