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Suspension won't cost Land O'Lakes wrestler a match
By JAMAL THALJI LAND O'LAKES -- Matt Embry' six-week suspension was reduced to four by the Florida High School Activities Association on Thursday, meaning the Land O'Lakes' football standout will not miss any regular-season wrestling matches. "It's nice. Now I get to wrestle in the tournaments I would have missed," Embry said. Embry, one of the Gators' top linemen, was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct near the end of the Nov. 2 regular-season football finale against Wesley Chapel, which Land O'Lakes lost 18-0 at Wildcat Stadium. The referees told the Gators coaching staff that Embry had directed a profanity at them. After the game, the Land O'Lakes coaching staff was incensed by the officiating, and that was one of the incidents that angered them. But that suspension, mandated by FHSAA rules, ended Embry's football career. The senior was ineligible for the Nov. 8 playoff game at Ocala Forest, which Land O'Lakes lost 7-6. The suspension also carried over into the winter sports season, which would have meant Embry, a returning state-qualifier and the Gators' 215-pounder, would have missed the first three tournaments of the season. So Embry appealed the suspension, hoping for leniency from the FHSAA. The FHSAA faxed the good news to Land O'Lakes on Thursday. Gators wrestling coach Brett Murray said he was surprised when he heard about Embry's suspension. "I was blown away by it," Murray said. "It's totally unlike him and totally unlike his character. He's a very polite kid." Embry was the October student of the month, and his appeal stated that it was an isolated incident and that he had never been punished for a disciplinary problem before, Murray said. The appeal requested the suspension be reduced to three weeks. But Embry did admit he lost his cool on Nov. 2 and apologized for the incident. Late in the fourth quarter, quarterback Drew Weatherford fumbled into the end zone and Embry said he recovered the ball at the bottom of the pile. But Embry said when the officials cleared the pile, the ball had been taken from him by a Wesley Chapel player. The officials gave Wesley Chapel possession, and that's when the incident occurred. "The refs said they got it, but I had the ball," Embry said. "That's why I was so mad. I thought there were a lot of bad calls in that game and it got to me. When they took the touchdown away from me, well, I'm a lineman, I've never scored a touchdown before. "It kind of just got to me. I lost my temper. I said some things I really truly regret. But I didn't direct anything at anybody. If you look at the game film, it shows I'm walking away from (the referees.)" Embry is still ineligible to compete in the wrestling preseason. But now he will be eligible for three December tournaments. His eligibility will be restored Dec. 1, so he'll be able to compete in the annual Land O'Lakes Invitational. He will also be eligible for the Dec. 7-8 Pinellas Park Invitational and the Dec. 14-15 Lyman Invitational. If his suspension had not been reduced, Embry would not have been eligible until Dec.15 -- the second day of the Lyman tournament. "I'm a little bit happier," Embry said. "But I just wished I had gotten to play in my last (football) game."
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