Cael Sanderson --- Jeff Upson
                                                    WVU vs. PSU
                                                      12/11/2010



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                                          Rest In Peace Adam Frey                                             
May God be with your family and friends

     
    I have had very little exposure to District 3 wrestling up close and personal over the past couple of years due to being in Morgantown, WV.  I did however hear through the grapevine that the fan behavior at the South Central Regional AAA Tournament was a tad out of line.  Jeremy Elliott of the Patriot-News had a nice article pertaining to the fan behavior towards the Central Dauphin Wrestling Program.  Being a Central Dauphin High School graduate and CD Wrestling Alumni, I am slightly biased towards this issue but I will try to push that bias to the side.  The problem I have is that the “CD Bashing” occurred during the DISTRICT 3 Tournament; I can see Central Mountain fans, or District 11 fans being hostile towards CD at States but in our own backyard, really?  

    Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley are two large reasons why District 3 has the respect it does currently across PA and the USA.  They are not the only reason but they both certainly have helped launch District 3 to the spot-light.  In 2003 District 3 had a t-shirt that said “Respect All…Fear None”.  I was fortunate enough to inherent one of the shirts from former CD Star Thomas Shovlin when his biceps no longer fit into it.  I still have the shirt and take the message very seriously.  The slogan goes for both wrestlers and fans; do not fear your opponent but respect him.  As far as I am concerned CD has earned the respect of District 3, which does not mean you should run and hide, but give them the respect they deserve.

    I was at the EWL Championship finals in Morgantown on Sunday evening.  I could not believe how many former District 3 wrestler placed in the top 5, names like Eric Albright, Tyler Naumen, Rick Schmelyun, and Greg Lewis, to name a few.  I was sitting behind parents of a wrestler who was in the finals.  The two parents cheered for their son, yelled a lot, but never spoke badly of his opponent.  Their son ended up winning the championship, securing his spot at the NCAA Tournament.  Shortly after the match, the opponent’s father approached them and congratulated their family.  He had nothing but respect for the parents and their son, despite just watching his own son lose in a tight match.  He asked them if they would make the trip to nationals to watch their son, and wished them safe travels.  That is true sportsmanship shown by parents with class.  We college age kids are familiar with the term “Hater”, defined by urbandictionary.com as “A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success.”  Don’t be a ‘Hater’ and grow up District 3; start respecting the sport, wrestlers, coaches and officials.