FOX 8
A dad in North Carolina was charged with simple assault after storming the mat at his son’s wrestling meet.
A father was arrested and charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct after he stormed onto the mats at a high school wrestling meet and tackled a student who had been wrestling his son (per FOX 8). The incident went down in Kannapolis, NC last weekend.
Video footage from the wrestling match shows what happened. It starts with a wrestler from Southeast Guilford High School performing an illegal move, a slam, on a wrestler from Hickory Ridge High School. After the wrestler from SGHS stood up he was blindsided by Barry Lee Jones, the HRHS wrestler’s father, by what looked like a football tackle.
Both Jones and the high schooler hit the ground as bystanders gasped. Fortunately, the wrestler was not injured during the incident.
Jones was arrested by officers from Kannapolis Police Department soon after. He was booked into Cabarrus Coutny Jail t and given a $1,000 bond.
Sharon Contreras, the Superintendent of Schools for Guilford County, said the incident was “very unfortunate”.
“It just shows a society that I feel sometimes we’re just losing all decorum,” continued Contreras. “I want to say that the parents from that high school wrote us a lovely letter saying they were equally appalled. It’s not who they are as a community. And I certainly apologize to the students at both high schools who experienced that, particularly the student who was attacked.”
Southeast Guilford High School’s wrestling program shared a letter they received from the Hickory Ridge wrestling team parents. It read:
To all the SE Guilford parents, coaches, team members and administrators,
WE ARE DEEPLY SORRY.
We want you to know that we experienced the same nightmare WITH you yesterday. We are in shock, horror and disbelief by the inconceivable action of one parent on a wrestler. We don’t understand it nor would we ever condone it.
Though our parents review the HRHS code of conduct in pre-season mandatory parent meetings, this parent chose to disregard the code and, for that, we are ashamed. His action does not reflect the beliefs of the parents or the HRHS wrestling program.
To the parents of the wrestler who was tackled — we wholeheartedly apologize.
Sincerely,
The parents of the HRHS wrestling team
Simple assault is punishable by 30 days in jail in North Carolina, if it is a first offense. If a defendant has prior convictions the sentence can increase to 60 days and also carry a fine of up to $1,000.