A high-school wrestling coach has received a severe penalty after going one step too far to protect his son.
On Jan. 20, assistant wrestling coach Russell Brunson of Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho, interrupted a match and appeared to strike an opposing wrestler who had Brunson’s son pinned in what Brunson regarded as an illegal and dangerous choke hold, according to the Idaho Statesman.
On Tuesday, the Idaho High School Activities Association’s District Three Board of Control issued a lifetime ban. Henceforth, Brunson may not coach any IHSAA sport or activity.
The Board of Control also banned Brunson from all IHSAA sporting events for the remainder of the current school year and next year.
A 27-second video posted to YouTube last week captured the moment Brunson intervened on his son’s behalf.
A freshman wrestler from Nyssa High School in Nyssa, Oregon, had Brunson’s son pinned face-down on the mat.
Eleven seconds into the video, the Nyssa wrestler used his left arm to place Brunson’s son in a choke hold. Brunson immediately pointed at the wrestlers while the referee stood watching.
The referee then got down on his hands and knees for a closer look.
Was this the right punishment for the coach?
But Brunson leapt onto the mat and grabbed at the wrestlers as the referee’s whistle blew. Brunson then made three quick punching moves in the direction of the Nyssa wrestler.
Seconds later, another adult — identified by The Oregonian as Nyssa coach Bobby De Leon — ran onto the mat. By the time he arrived at the scuffle, however, Brunson already had walked away with both hands raised.
“Hey! Get out of here!” a surprised fan yelled at Brunson from the stands.
Meanwhile, the Nyssa wrestler got up and walked to the middle of the mat, showing no obvious ill effects.
The next day, Brunson resigned his assistant coaching position, according to the Idaho Statesman.
Officials in both Oregon and Idaho reacted the way bureaucratic automatons always do.
“We are collaborating with the family, athletic associations, school district officials and, if necessary, law enforcement to investigate this incident,” Nyssa Athletic Director Joshua De Anda wrote in an email to the Idaho Statesman. “Both Nyssa High School and Nyssa School District are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our students.”
Board of Control President Craig Woods used the standard outrage template in a letter to Rocky Mountain High.
“The board felt the actions of coach Brunson were egregious and unacceptable,” Woods wrote. “There is no place for this type of behavior in high school athletics, and it will not be tolerated.”
Meanwhile, Brunson apologized for his behavior while explaining its extenuating circumstances.
“My initial reaction (as you’ll see from the video) was correct,” Brunson wrote in a letter to the Board of Control. “I yelled that he was getting choked and tried to show the ref. But in the last 2 seconds, I was wrong.”
The father then added that he had felt “scared” for his son’s safety but also remorseful about his violent intervention.
“If I could go back and replay those 2 second of my life, I would. But unfortunately, it’s too late,” he continued.
Finally, Brunson provided a link to a second video taken from ground level. Marley Jaxx, a filmmaker and video content expert, posted the video to her Facebook page.
That second video, 14 seconds in length, showed the unmistakable choke hold from behind the referee.
“Hey! He’s choking! He’s choking!” a frantic voice can be heard saying.
The video then showed Brunson’s intervention and what looked more like a desperate slap than a punch.
“Russell did not punch a kid in the head. This is not an act of violence. This is a parent acting out of instinct and fear,” Jaxx wrote as part of a lengthy post.
The ground level video stopped after what looked like Brunson’s second swing at the Nyssa wrestler. That swing did not appear to connect.
According to his personal website, Brunson helped found a successful software company, ClickFunnels.
A 2019 video on her YouTube channel showed Jaxx overjoyed when Brunson gave her a prime speaking gig at his Funnel Hacking Live conference.
Brunson’s website also touted his success as a state-champion high-school and nationally-ranked college wrestler.
In other words, Brunson should know an illegal choke hold when he sees one.
“I saw my child in a potentially dangerous position and reacted rashly. I have reached out to the (Nyssa wrestler’s) family directly and sincerely apologized for my inappropriate reaction,” Brunson wrote in a text message, according to the Idaho Statesman.
In hindsight, no doubt Brunson wishes he would have stayed off the mat. Or, at minimum, perhaps he wishes he would have tried to physically separate the wrestlers without swinging his arm.
That swinging action cost him all of the ensuing trouble. He should not have done it.
On the other hand, let us not forget what actually transpired. A father saw his son struggling to breathe and intervened to save him.
“Not one of us can say what we would have done in his position because we do not and never will have access to that exact moment in time,” Jaxx wrote on Facebook. Indeed.
Assuming the young Nyssa wrestler suffered no injuries, and if his family accepts Brunson’s apology, then perhaps we should hope that mercy will prevail here.
After all, the last thing anyone ever needs is for the bureaucratic automatons to get more involved.
