Where is college wrestling's outrage now?

It's been two weeks since college wrestling heard all about the supposed horrible antics of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team.

Even though I did not see any of the "extra-curricular" action from the finals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, multiple accounts noted former Iowa national champion making a "self-gratifying" motion with his hand, which drew criticism from ISU head coach Kevin Jackson at a press conference the following day. Jackson even called out Hawkeye assistant Terry Brands for his behavior during the dual in the same press conference.

Now, admittedly, have no idea if anything happened due to where I was positioned for one and trying to track down interviews from other sources for the latter. That applies for the taunting clap gesture allegedly made in the direction of the Iowa bench by the Cyclones' defending national champ Jake Varner. Again, not saying any of this happened or it didn't, I just didn't witness any of it.

It's interesting that Brands and Metcalf were thrown under the bus and hardly anything was printed about the moments after Varner's match. It also blows my mind that a bigger deal isn't being made of what happened in Iowa's recent duals against Oklahoma State and Purdue.

Wrestling is a sport unlike any other. The situation is so intense, so intimate for competitors and fans. There is more electricity, intensity and raw emotion than just about anything one can do. This extends to all involved.

It goes without saying about what's at stake for wrestlers and their coaches, who are matside. You also have parents and family in the stands who are emotionally invested having travelled and sacrificed to help provide the wrestlers with the opportunities to get to this level. Don't forget the fans who live and die with the team, twisting in their chair during each scramble. The passion, one unmatched by any other because the sport demands such a physical nature without promise of fame or monetary gain. from each element can boil over.

Here's my question: Have the critics been as loud and similarly appalled by recent gestures and actions by other wrestlers? I certainly haven't heard as many, but my wife has always accused me of being hard of hearing.

Metcalf, who is forever linked to his push of Darrion Caldwell at the end of last year's 149-pound final at the NCAA Championships, was on the receiving end of a knee to the head in a match where he was attempting to pin Purdue's Nick Bertucci. Two knees blatant enough to cause the referee to stop the match, call flagrant misconduct and disqualify Bertucci.

A video of the Bertucci/Metcalf incident can be found at www.youtube.com

How Metcalf kept from exacting revenge immediately I don't know. I would have wanted blood in return for having been cut open. In the words of White Goodman from the movie Dodgeball, "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood." He did point a couple times while leaving the mat. Maybe he said something terrible, but from my view it was a reasonable reaction to what happened and more restrained than most people would have been.

Had it been the other way around you can bet the trumpets would sound and the villagers would be trying to break into Carver-Hawkeye Arena with pitchforks and torches, wanting to tear down the Hawkeyes. I don't see the same level of outrage and, actually, name-calling, that would have been directed toward Iowa.

Speaking of gestures, Oklahoma State 197-pounder Alan Gelogaev showed the Iowa crowd exactly where he thought the Hawkeyes should be ranked, which was  "No. 1", and then displayed that to the Iowa crowd after his 3-2 decision over Luke Lofthouse in the Hawkeyes' 19-16 win over the Cowboys.

Again, it didn't get as much attention as other gestures. This was done in front of nearly 11,000 fans with one mat in the center of a nearly full arena instead of a partially full dome with a number of others mats with competition going on simultaneously. Of course, in a photo of the motion, you can see me in the background with my head down so I missed this at the time as well.

Do I condone any of these? No, but I certainly can understand how they occur. Tempers rage, emotions get out of hand and sometimes we do things without thinking (This coming from one of the biggest idiots in the history of sports when it comes to sportsmanship so I try not to be hypocritical). However, if you're going to call foul on one make sure you're consistent and call foul on them all.