KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — The father of a student-athlete spoke with a local radio station after his son was tackled by a parent at a wrestling match.
Rock 92 gave WFMY News 2 permission to use the audio from one of the broadcasts, when Tony, the father of the tackled student, called in to speak with the radio station about it.
The student-athlete goes to Southeast Guilford High School.
Tony says he was filming the match and didn't initially see the man run towards his son.
"When he struck my son it registered," he said.
He talked about the moments that followed.
"Our coaching staff both got between him knocked him to the ground and by the time I got to him I was literally pulling him off the coaches because he was trying to swing at him," he said, "When I pulled him around, I didn’t have good intentions but the other coach from the other team grabbed a hold of me and pulled me back and was talking to me calmly."
He expressed gratitude for the way the coaches of both teams handled it.
"He says 'Don’t do this, it’ll make it worse. Your son's OK,' and basically talked me off the ledge," Tony told Rock 92.
Director of Activities, Athletics, and Drivers Education at Guilford County Schools Leigh Hebbard says the coaches of teams talk with parents at the beginning of each season about behavior expectations.
"We want everyone to enjoy the experience but we want everyone to be positive and supportive also," Hebbard said.
He says he's pleased with the way the parent of the Southeast Guilford High School student handled it.
"He reacted as we would hope anyone else would react," said Hebbard.
Hebbard says if parents have concerns about the way something is handled at a sporting event, contact the school administration to work through the issue.
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