ROARING SPRING - Two Central High School students who showed up at a wrestling match last week covered in black paint were removed from the gymnasium for what a school official called poor judgment.
The students had painted their bodies black in an apparent display of racism during a Jan. 5 wrestling match between Central and rival Tyrone Area High School.
The Tyrone team has at least one black wrestler on its squad.
A Central principal and Athletic Director Chuck Gojmerac immediately removed the two students and told them to either leave or clean off the paint, Superintendent Rodney Green said.
Green, who was present at the match, said the students removed the paint.
Additional disciplinary actions and meetings were held with the students, Green said, but he did not elaborate.
Gojmerac apologized to Tyrone Athletic Director Tom Coleman for the incident, which was handled "quickly and directly," Green said.
Gojmerac referred all questions to Green.
No further incidents occurred at the match, Green said.
A Tyrone spectator had complained about the incident, Coleman said.
As for rivalry between the schools, both are competitive, but such actions do not belong in competition, Green said.
A PIAA handbook available on the organization's Web site, www
.piaa.org, states a part of sportsmanship is not tolerating taunts whether racial, ethnic or sexist.
PIAA assistant executive director Melissa Mertz said incidents concerning fans are not generally reported to the PIAA and are handled at the school district level. Schools sometimes report an incident if it is severe, she said.
