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Show ..... - 'I V K ', : ' ' ; ' 4 " ' " - REFEREE. MAUGHAN COLTON signals that Cory McNeill, riht and Foston Fans love or hcrfe flhe men in striped shirks o men in striped shirts by the .ires of Maughan Colton and Billy 'l.Ti.N have bevn raising harnis, slapp-:;a:s, slapp-:;a:s, awarding points and making ::er gestures during the wrestling srixt! in the I'ir.iah Basin for years ji jeans. 5ti.ihan Colton began refereeing .-s:.:r.g matches in 1-J6S. and he dirked. "I just love kids and it has s J great experience to see the pro-.:ss pro-.:ss wrestling has made over the -L-s All schools have stronger vwestl-i vwestl-i programs and the sport isn't -.-j;ed by a few schools like it used x Coach Leon Smuin has built a J ra: junior high program, which is the s,v.:or high program in the state of .a. The vour.g men have gone onto t. p ir.!o great wrestlers in high :x: They get basic skills n junior iar.j that gives them a great start 1 x Coach Chuch Henry appreciates i'. Tr.e young wrestlers are seasoned :ethev enter high school. " I smarted referring matches in 16. ; I haven't had anyone hit me on the vi" stated Billy Murray. "Maughan -'.:r. got hit on the head by a lady w ith rse because her son was getting '3' xit on the mat." ii".on and Murray have seen many Ending wrestlers battle out on the . "Ron Lewis was an All-Navy "pion and was second in the Olym-'- 'J".als. Three wrestlers. Billy Mur-":?. Mur-":?. Scott Ruppe and Johnny Price three-time state champs." said "Ruppe is an outstanding s'.ler. Price competed in the NCAA 'v. as a member of Utah State sversity, and he placed first in a y-a.n meet in order to advance to the AA meet." W.e of the outstanding wrestlers Billy Murray mentioned w ere Joe I '"&. Burnell Slaugh. Mike Murray. J 1 ;a Murray, Jim Miller, Scott Ruppe. . 'n Woodhouse, Johnny Price and j Smuin. Murray remarked, "Leon yin placed second in the state tour- ent, but he should have won it." 'lis always easier to referee the bet- 3i)d more experienced aggressive f Uws, which is what we have in y f-ih," said Maughan Colton. "We in- the best teams we can get to our 'laments and dual meets. I see ' -landing wrestlers from Colorado, ..r5"ng, Idaho, and Utah in the Ver- Tournament every year. I think our Tournament has been stronger ;:Se years than the state tour- Murray added, "Pocatello came and wrestled us in a dual meet : 5the Vernal Tournament of Cham- nas a lot of outstanding teams, nboat Springs always has a good ughan Colton has seen all the Uin-' Uin-' Hgh School state championship "is in action since the first crown in The 1977 team with five firsts, seconds and the 1978 squad with lrsts, four seconds have to be the ; "Sst teams at Uintah High School I don't think you could top last J of t?m for team effort and desire-, desire-, ' them had to come through. It .. the first places that won the :j, crwn, but the thirds and four- 'drtMUrray added' "Last year S , 'Ja s"per job. Everyone had to "51 In 6Very Uintah wrestler that 'rdr state placed- Tney were tne im ogs a"d came out the state . :';tlT)nS' How could you ask for J more exciting." 4teften the fans- wrestlers and :ia get ettremely upset with the J 'anUt " lhe mat' and sometimes pPear about ready to go out and Chivers are off the mat. Colton has been refereeing matches since 1958. flatten the referei' for a fall. "You try not to listen to the crow d. and keep your mind on the two wrestlers. All you know is that one has a red band on his leg and the other has a green one. You don't even w ant to know their names." stated Billy Murray. When asked what his wife, Betty, thinks when the people are upset with him. Murray said, "She would rather have me quit. When you make a division part of the crow d is for you and the other side is against you." "The main thing is consistency. These people basically know the rules. If you are consistent and call them pretty pret-ty much the same way you don't have much of a problem with the fans A referee has to know the rules first and that is the number one thing." remarked remark-ed Colton Maughan Colton has referred at five different region tourneys and six state tournaments. Colton will be an official at Union. Uintah. Northwestern Colorado Col-orado Community College matches. He will also be a referee at some Union. Uintah tourneys and the Region Nine meet and the ICAC meet. Billy Murray, who has refereed four or five region meets, will be an official this season at meets in the Uintah Basin. When asked if he has refereed state meets. Murray said, "I like to go watch them and not referee. I spend about one or two nights a week refereeing matches." Colton was graduated from Uintah High School in 1951 and he placed in one state tournament. He wrestled four years at the University of Utah and placed fourth one year in the conference con-ference meet. He returned to Vernal in the late fifties and he remarked the Uintah Uin-tah High School's wrestling team was almost disbanded. The coach of Uintah's Uin-tah's wrestling team in 1958 was Leo Conk, who was also the football coach and junior varsity basketball coach. Colton said, "I worked with the boys for two years. I was the unofficial coach. Our team had such wrestlers as Billy Murray, Ron Lewis, Lyle Southam and Leon Smuin. Conk would warm them up, and then I worked with the wrestlers and he coached the junior varsity hoop team. The year before the Utes didn't place too high and wrestling was all but dead. After we took the first state title in 1958 Leo Conk became real excited and he dropped his basketball team and devoted his winter to wrestling in 1959." Colton added, "I was running sheep near Steamboat Springs in 1959 and I bumped into the coach and he said that he had an opening in the Steamboat Springs tournament and we have tcen there ever since." Billy Murray captured first place in the state tournament from 1956 to 1958. He attended the University of Utah for two years and placed fourth in the Skyline Conference. Murray remarked. "I like to work junior high matches because the young kids need a little more help." "The wrestlers in Vernal receive terrific support from their families. It is a very rewarding program," said Maughan Colton. "Some young men are given a chance at a college education due to the sport of wrestling." ( -v I : V j ... ' y -x ) Jgg .JIIIIMlMIIHIlll'lw ' "" l rii I Y MURRAY, right, has been refereeing matches in the Uintah Basin area since 1966. Art Daley, left, bat-ties bat-ties Brent Hales. |
