Marty, Doc Brown and the DeLorean may not be involved, but the history of the Penn wrestling team's season has been rewritten.
Last week, the NCAA Wrestling Committee announced that results for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational - in which the Quakers participated, and placed 14th, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 - will not be considered for seeding in March's national championship tournament.
According to the committee, tournament officials did not properly conduct required medical examinations. The NCAA Wrestling Rules and Interpretations says, "A physician or a certified athletic trainer shall examine all contestants for communicable skin diseases before all tournaments and meets."
Penn coach Zeke Jones said that several coaches approached tournament director Mark Churella, Jr., about the forgone inspections.
"I think the tournament director felt that it wasn't an issue," Penn coach Zeke Jones said. "I think he made a mistake."
The precautions have been enacted in order to prevent Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a culprit in several recent hospital cases. The state of Minnesota suspended high-school wrestling competition for more than a week in 2005 and 2007 due to skin disease outbreaks.
"People need to take this seriously," NCAA Wrestling Secretary-Rules Editor Bob Bubb said in a press release. "It is in the best interests of the student-athletes, and it is in the rule book."
Jones is not sure that the sport's governing body made the right decision.
"My opinion doesn't mean a whole lot, but I think in the seeding, the bottom line is they are going to look at those results" anyway, he said.
Jones pointed out that, while a serious issue, the lack of examinations does not provide any competitive advantages and "doesn't have anything to do with the results out on the mat."
Instead, he suggests a warning to tournament organizers, and perhaps a fine, would have been more appropriate.
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