In a crowded gym during practice in front of parents and coaches, the Buchanan High School wrestler tackled a teammate and executed a move his coaches taught him.
He inserted his fingers between the boy's buttocks.
It's called the "butt drag," in which a wrestler grabs a rival's butt cheek and puts fingers in the anus to get leverage. The move is widely used at matches around the country and has been around for decades.
But now it is at the center of an uproar after Buchanan High wrestler Preston Hill was expelled and charged with a sex crime for using it on a teammate.
"It just doesn't make sense," said Preston's father, Darren Hill. "His coaches taught him the move when he was in middle school. All the wrestlers use it and my son did it in front of his coaches at a school-sponsored event."
Clovis police, however, say 17-year-old Preston went too far. A police report says that at a July 15 practice, he molested a Buchanan freshman teammate by inserting his fingers deep into the boy's anus, causing him pain.
The boy's father, Ross Rice, said Preston is a bully who targeted his 14-year-old son because he stood up to Preston in an earlier encounter. Now, Preston's friends are teasing the boy at school, Rice said. The Bee is not naming Rice's son because of the allegation that he is the victim of a sex crime.
"Preston took it beyond a simple wrestling move," Rice said. "He crossed the line."
The Fresno County District Attorney's Office has charged Preston with sexual battery. His trial begins Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court.
The case has some scratching their heads.
Former Fresno State coach Dennis DeLiddo said the butt drag is a common move used by wrestlers all the time. "I've never heard this move used as being ugly or dirty," he said.
Read more of this story at FresnoBee.com
.jpg)
Comments