Difficult loss for Scott in semifinals
Coleman Scott’s attempt to make the U.S. National Team and compete in the Rio Olympics came to an end in a semifinal bout marked by confusion at the end.
Scott, a graduate of Waynesburg High School and Oklahoma State University, believed he defeated Tony Ramos in the semifinals of their 57kg (126 pounds) bout of the Olympic Trials in Iowa City, Iowa, Sunday afternoon.
The bout ended in a 4-4 tie and Scott rose up after time expired with arms raised, apparently believing he won the match. Scott took Ramos, a graduate of Iowa and wrestling for the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, down with five seconds remaining in the match to tie it.
Even the announcers for NBC declared Scott the winner of the match, which would have sent him into the finals. A win there would have secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.
Ramos asked the referee to check the scoring and he walked over to the official scorer, where it was determined Ramos won the bout by criteria (two takedowns to Scott’s one).
The USA Wrestling Freestyle Rule Book states, “In case of tie by points, the winner will be declared by successively considering the highest value of holds, the least amount of cautions and the last technical point(s) scored.”
Ramos’ victory sent him into the finals, where he found former Iowa teammate Dan Dennis waiting.
Dennis won the first two bouts of their best-of-three series to advance to the Olympics, taking the first, 2-1, and winning the second by major decision, 10-0.
Scott, an Olympic bronze medalist at 60 kg (132 pounds) in freestyle wrestling at the 2012 Olympics in London, took a 1-0 lead (passivity) with 58 seconds remaining in the first of the two three-minute periods, then stretched it to 2-0 when he drove Ramos out of bounds with four seconds left in the period. Ramos appeared ready to go down 4-0 when Scott, wrestling for the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, shot in on a single leg but Scott slipped and Ramos had an easy takedown to tie the match.
With 1:04 remaining, Ramos slipped around Scott, snagged his right ankle and took him down for a 4-2 lead. Scott got the opportunity to tie the bout after a restart, which are done in the neutral position, when he slipped around Ramos and took him to the mat. The buzzer sounded and that was when the confusion began.
Once it was sorted out, the two wrestlers congratulated each other on the mat, shook hands and departed.
Following the bout, John Yates, Scott’s coach at Waynesburg, tweeted a picture of himself with Scott that read, “Congratulations to Coleman Scott on a fabulous career!”
Scott was a three-time state champion at Waynesburg High School and an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State. He finished his career at Waynesburg with a 156-12 record and four WPIAL championships.
Scott took over as head wrestling coach at University of North Carolina last August after serving as interim coach. He joined North Carolina as an assistant in 2014.