By MICKEY ALVARADO

An investigation is being conducted involving an incident of contact that took place at Tecumseh High School's Philip Jaimes Memorial Wrestling Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 23, where a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) wrestling official, Erich Schifter, grabbed a wrestler by the throat during a heated match.

A portion of the potentially inappropriate contact was video taped by the Tecumseh Herald and after viewing the clip, Tecumseh High School Athletic Director, Griff Mills, indicated that an investigation would be initiated.

"I've never had to deal with a situation like this before," said Mills of the incident.

Mills added there would be an investigation over the next couple of weeks to determine if there was inappropriate action and he would contact the MHSAA to report the event.

The incident happened during the championship final between Tecumseh and Woodhaven. Tecumseh senior Tim Elkins and his opponent grappled their way out of bounds and were stopped by a whistle. After the official separated the two, Elkins attempted to go back after his opponent and was stopped by Schifter. The official can be seen in the video with his hand gripping the throat of Elkins while backing him up and yelling, "No. You don't misbehave on my mat! Don't misbehave on my mat!"

While being backed up by the official, Elkins can be heard pleading, "Let go of my throat! Let go of my throat! Let go of my throat!"

Elkins was disqualified and the individual match win went to Woodhaven. When an athlete or coach is disqualified, an official report must be submitted to the MHSAA and actions taken against the violator. In all sports, students and coaches who are disqualified from a contest for unsportsmanlike conduct are disqualified for the next competition.

The director of the MHSAA, John Johnson, said that if the school submits a report to the MHSAA the incident would be investigated.

"The school can contact us with any concerns regarding this and then we would follow up," said Johnson.

He added that he would be making a follow up call to his person in charge of officiating to clarify what the MHSAA rules are for breaking up confrontations. 

Schifter was honored by the MHSAA in 2008 as a 30-year official from Ann Arbor.

If there is a substantial allegation concerning an official's misconduct, failure to adhere to the "Athletic Code for Officials," or regarding the official's mismanagement of contests or persistent misapplication of playing rules, the official may be censured, placed on probation (no tournament assignment), suspended, or refused registration in one or more sports for one or more years. It is similar for violations of a regulation of the MHSAA handbook: the official may be censured, placed on probation, suspended, or refused registration in one or more sports for one or more years. Such actions may be taken by the MHSAA executive director and are governed by the due process procedure of the MHSAA, as published in the current MHSAA handbook.