Wrestling, like all other sports, has a list of fouls that can result in penalties to an individual athlete or the team as a whole. Some of these fouls are simply defined and have a minor penalty or even a warning for the first offense. Flagrant misconduct, however, is less rigidly defined and carries severe penalties.
Basic Definition
Under wrestling rules, flagrant misconduct refers to any behavior so offensive that the referee feels he needs to disqualify an athlete from competition. This is left to the judgment of the referee, since a comprehensive list of truly outrageous behavior would be impossible to compile. Unlike other fouls, coaches are not allowed to contest a flagrant misbehavior call during the course of a match. Instead, they must file a grievance with their athletic conference.
One-Time Offenses
Most flagrant fouls are one-time offenses, behaviors so unacceptable that all athletes know better than to do them. Some examples spelled out in USA Wrestling rules include the use of tobacco products, and intentionally biting and striking or kicking an opponent. Use of racial slurs is not listed specifically under the rules but usually is cause for a flagrant misconduct foul.
Escalating Offenses
If an athlete engages in moderately unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness, he will receive a warning or directly go to penalty points. If the athlete continues the behavior despite warnings and instructions to stop, a referee has the authority to call the sum total of his behavior flagrant misconduct, even if no single act would qualify for this penalty.
Penalties for Flagrant Misconduct
Any wrestler who commits flagrant misconduct will be disqualified from his match. If the wrestler wins a match, then commits flagrant misconduct afterward, he is disqualified from the finished match and his record is changed to a loss. All team points the wrestler won for his squad are eliminated, and the athlete will be removed from the premises. In most cases, the wrestler's team will be penalized team points as well. If there is no adult who can supervise the removed athlete, he will be confined to the coach's bench for the remainder of the competition.
Coaches and Spectators
It's possible for coaches or even spectators to be ejected from a wrestling match for flagrant misconduct. In the case of a spectator ejection, penalty points levied against the spectator's team are rare. In the case of a coach being ejected for flagrant misconduct, the team can lose three or more points from the team total.
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