Judge upholds ruling on Zuppo suspension

The player's family had sued the OHSAA in an attempt to allow him to play.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- So many strong feelings had developed in the Matt Zuppo case -- even a 74-year-old woman attended Friday's hearing at the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
"This is completely idiotic," said the woman, a Warren resident who chose not to give her name. "This is something that was taken care of long ago with just an apology."
The woman, whose grandchildren play football in the Mahoning Valley, believed the public attention might hurt Zuppo's chances at a college scholarship.
"This has gotten out of hand," she said. "Why waste the court's time, when it's something the school can handle? This should be between the school and his parents."
Apparently, it wasn't that simple.
Ruling
Judge Peter J. Kontos upheld the Ohio High School Athletic Association's suspension of Zuppo, Girard High's senior quarterback, for Friday night's game against Liberty.
Zuppo had been ejected from an Oct. 17 game against Hubbard for receiving a double unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which resulted from the use of profanity. According to Girard High officials, Zuppo had been grabbed violently by the head before he reacted.
"I've taken plenty of hits, mostly clean ones and some that were not. I accept that as part of the game," said Zuppo in a letter of apology released Friday to the media. "Yet, I had never let it affect my composure before, until [Oct. 17]. I can't take that back. I can only learn from it."
Citing the OHSAA's lack of an appeals process, the Zuppo family sued the body that governs Ohio high school athletics, hoping to overturn the suspension and allow the quarterback to play in the regular season's final week.
"It denies Mr. Zuppo an opportunity to make his arguments on why he should not have been suspended from the game," said George Gessner, Zuppo's attorney. "Until a hearing can be held, the plaintiff is denied due process by not being able to have a forum in which to pursue his appeal."
Defense responds
The law in Ohio, OHSAA attorney Steven Craig countered, is clear
"The decisions by the Ohio High School Athletic Association shall not be disturbed by courts," Craig explained, "unless there is a showing by the plaintiff that the decision is a product of fraud, collusion, mistake or arbitrariness."
None of that was involved, Kontos said, and that was why he ruled in favor of the OHSAA.
"We cannot allow frivolous appeals of all ejections. Fighting and acts of violence do not deserve an appeals process," said Mark Zuppo, Matt's father, in a statement released to the media. "There is a quantum leap between violent actions on the field and what my son did.
"The OHSAA needs to bridge that gap," he added. "Maybe they can spend some of the millions of dollars they have in the bank to set up an appeals process for those who feel they have been wrongfully accused."
richesson@vindy.com