It’s already old news at this point, but three of Penn’s top wrestlers — Rollie Peterkin, Cesar Grajales and Matt Dragon — were suspended on the eve of the Keystone Classic. We reported the suspensions in our recap of the event, but coach Rob Eiter did not reveal anything further. I’ve since dug up some more information on this news.
First of all, the original version of the Penn Athletics statement, which was sneakily buried at the bottom of their preview of the tournament, read as follows:
“The University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the indefinite suspension of wrestlers Matt Dragon, Cesar Grajales and Rollie Peterkin for a violation of University policy.”
That version has since been edited, and now reads:
“The University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the suspension of wrestlers Matt Dragon, Cesar Grajales and Rollie Peterkin for a violation of departmental policy.”
Note the deletion of the word “indefinite” before suspension and the change from “University policy” to “departmental policy.” I do not know the reason for these changes, nor the time between the original posting and the edit, but I’m trying to figure that out. Based on my analysis of these changes (which might mean absolutely nothing), it seems likely at this point that these three stars of Penn wrestling won’t be seeing the mat this season. Without the term indefinite, and especially considering the conscious removal of the word, the suspensions are presumably definite. And with no qualifier of “indefinite” and no specific length given for the suspensions, that seems to me like it means they will be out for the season (and by extension their careers).
Of course this is mostly speculation right now, though my preliminary reporting has given me more confidence in this assessment. It remains to be seen whether that is actually the case, and it will probably be a few weeks before any more information surfaces.
As far as the cause of the suspension, it seems to be a result of a currently unknown incident that occurred a few weeks ago, but the announcement was only made just recently. However, it might have been instituted before its announcement, since none of the three culprits competed at the Binghamton Open last weekend. All three have also been removed from Intermat Wrestling’s rankings list. Previously, Peterkin was ranked sixth in the 125-pound weightclass, Grajales was seventh at 149 and Dragon was 17th at 157.
Keep checking The Buzz and thedp.com for more information as I try to get to the bottom of all of this.
Tags: Cesar Grajales, Matt Dragon, Rob Eiter, Rollie Peterkin
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November 24th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Noah -
If your assessment is confirmed, it is tragic for these three wrestlers and program; and it’s handling a black mark in the manner announced by Weightman Hall. The story is already out and the reasons speculated on at the Mat.com wrestling blog. What a sad demise of a once great program!
Any connection with the demise of Penn BB, or just one of those coincidences?
EN
November 24th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I have two problems here
1) The fact that there is a problem and these men had to be suspended. Obviously there is an issue, and it is being dealt with. This is a black mark on the program
2) The fact that AC had to reword their press release shows how far the professionalism of the AC staff has fallen . This is BASIC PR. Media Relations 101. Getting words right has to happen the first time. Shame on Mahoney. He is a paid professional. The way they have handled the announcement is purely Mickey Mouse. Is Bilsky’s press office really this amateurish? Boo.
Good job by Noah for picking up on this gaffe out of Weightman. One of many.
FOJL
November 24th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I have been told that these boys will be charged with Aggravated Assault
November 24th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Yes, FOJL, you probably were told by my article: http://thedp.com/article/3-wrestlers-charged-assault
November 25th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Noah -Thank you for the link. This validates the rumors that had been circulating in the wrestling circles. Exellent reporting!
FOJL
November 25th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Noah -
Posted on your article, but worth posting here as well:
Wrestling Forum Input
Two quotes from the wrestling.com forum on this personal and program tragedy, which I hope prove true:
“gimpeltf said ‘Please don’t presume they were the main cause of whatever happened. I have no inside info but if they were one of the primary participants, I would think they would have been arrested earlier on. It’s possible they were present and identified later.’
‘that’s a really good point. i was reading on the wrestlingreport forum about this and a person close to the program (who would not comment on the situation) said that the three wrestlers told him this would be handled quickly and they would be back wrestling soon. what i took from that was that it may have been a misunderstanding or a wrong place at the wrong time kind of situation’”
Here’s hoping!
EN