FITCHBURG, MA — The organizers of one of the premiere off-season high school and middle school wrestling tournaments in the region are apologizing to wrestlers, parents, coaches, and referees for prematurely ending their 2024 event.

The annual Bay State Wrestling Tournament abruptly ended on July 13 after a power outage delayed the event, and many volunteer referees left after a long day even though all the matches had not been completed. At the end of the tournament, which has been held for nearly four decades, organizers tried to figure out what to do. Many were upset the event shut down before completion — including dozens of wrestlers competing in finals and consolations bouts with parents and coaches driving hundreds of miles to attend and even spending money on hotel rooms.

Kevin Cummings, the executive director of Bay State Games, said the organization spent several days working on a resolution after the issues at the event. After several days of complaints and social media posts, as well as allegations about finances and mismanagement, the organization issued a statement taking full responsibility for the debacle.

Also Read

“We recognize we fell short at this year’s event, we acknowledge our mistakes, and for that we deeply apologize,” the statement said.

Organizers said the event had “significant issues” that impacted participants who were “rightfully upset” they could not complete it. The organizers said registration fees would be refunded to all wrestlers who were unable to complete their competitions.

“At the time of event stoppage, an option to reschedule was discussed, but further research and feedback have shown this is not a viable option,” the statement said.

The organizers stated, after seeing all of the comments online and while working on “a reasonable response to this situation,” they also needed to clarify “a few important points.”

First, while there was “a great deal of scrutiny regarding our volunteer wrestling officials,” they “were not responsible for what took place,” they said.

“Many stayed well past their original schedule,” the org stated. “While unpaid, officials are provided several amenities and many return year in and year out because they love the sport of wrestling and wish to give back to the sport.”

The organization said volunteerism had been “a cornerstone of the organization,” with referees supporting the tourney from the beginning.

“We are extremely grateful for those officials who, in some cases, volunteered for over nine hours (at the event),” the statement read.

This point, too, was echoed by Colin Pacelli, the director of the Massachusetts Wrestling Officials Association. He said officials were happy to be at the event and enjoyed supporting the sport. At the same time, he said referees needed to be rested for safety reasons and to ensure fair competition. Hundreds of referees were requested to volunteer, as they have for years and do for other sports.

“It’s a combat sport,” Pacelli said, “you need officials to be at the top of their game.”

Organizers said electrical issues in the afternoon, a result of “tournament mismanagement,” also hampered the event. Four mats were shut down for about 90 minutes until the problem was identified and fixed.

“According to KAP Tournament management representatives,” the statement said, “the pace of the meet was trending similar to 2023 up until outages caused significant delays.”

There was also a flood of last-minute signups — more than 250 registrations were received within the five days before the event, which increased the overall size of the competition by about 15 percent from 2023.

“We were unprepared for the unprecedented magnitude of entries so close to the competition’s start, and we apologize,” the statement said. “We have already discussed measures to ensure this does not happen should we be able to continue this event in the future.”

While specifics were not stated, other tourneys shut down registrations once they reached the optimum amount of competitors.

Bay State Games also challenged statements about its finances, saying it incurred “significant expenses” for venues, insurance, awards, food and drinks for volunteers, and other expenses.

“Revenue generated from all events support all of the Games’ programs which in addition to over 30 sports, includes college scholarships, internships, an ambassador program, and a sports medicine program, many of which benefit all participants, including wrestlers,” the org said. “No individuals profit from this event.”

The org also said the debacle would not mark the end of the wrestling program.

“Our goal has always been to promote and grow all sports, including wrestling,” they said.

Pacelli said it would not be the end of the program. The Bay State Games were very popular and generated a lot of support and revenue for the organization, he said. Moving it to Fitchburg was tough on many people, Pacelli said. More officials, not less, are needed, he said, calling the lack of referees a crisis.

“Without officials for any sport, you don’t have competition,” he said. “(Participants) get hurt.”

Part of the sport is volunteering, but there were also limitations for officials. The wrestling officials association is focused on an expectation of perfection and then improving on that, “which is a wild concept,” with safety being paramount, too, Pacelli said.

“An adjustment needs to be made (going forward though),” he said.

Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.