In a shocking turn of events at the Skyview Duals on January 20, Russell Brunson – an assistant coach for the Rocky Mountain High’s wrestling team – faced a lifetime ban from coaching in Idaho high school sports.
The reason? Because Brunson struck a freshman wrestler from Nyssa, Oregon, during a match against his son.
The incident, captured on video and shared with the Idaho Statesman, shows Brunson entering the ring and hitting the Nyssa wrestler at least three times.
This intervention led to the halting of the match to remove Brunson from the mat.
Niki Scheppers, a spokesperson for West Ada, confirmed that Brunson was not ejected from the tournament following the incident.
However, in a letter to the District Three Board of Control, Brunson expressed his belief that his son was in an illegal choke hold and was on the verge of passing out:
As a coach, the normal reaction would be to yell and point it out to the ref, but my reaction as a dad took it one step too far.
What would you do if your kid was getting choked out, just 2 feet in front of your face?
Brunson, who resigned from his volunteer coaching position the day after the incident, received the coaching ban from the board on Tuesday.
Craig Woods, the board president, emphasized:
There is no place for this type of behavior in high school athletics, and it will not be tolerated.
