The man who ran onto the mat and hit a Nyssa High School wrestler in January has avoided criminal charges from Idaho’s Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor.
Russell Brunson agreed on a non-prosecution agreement with the Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney, meaning that he will not face jail time so long as he sticks with the agreement he made with the prosecutor’s office, which was first reported by The Argus Observer. The agreement details that Brunson will not be allowed to attend Idaho high school sporting events for a year, will not be able to coach again at the Idaho high school level, not commit any new crimes and that he will be unable to appeal his suspension.
According to the Idaho Statesman, the original investigation from Nampa Police Department yielded a recommendation charges of battery and an injury-to-child misdemeanor, which could have yielded up to 18 months of jail time.
The incident happened in late January during a wrestling tournament at Skyview High School in Nampa, Idaho. During a dual meet between Nyssa (which is located in Eastern Oregon by the Idaho border) and Idaho’s Rocky Mountain High School, Brunson ran onto the mat and struck a Nyssa wrestler multiple times.
Brunson claimed he saw the Nyssa wrestler putting an illegal choke on the Rocky Mountain wrestler. The referee in the match did not indicate if the move in question was illegal. The referee was able to separate Brunson from the wrestlers quickly, as Nyssa coach Bobby De Leon came in to usher Brunson off the mat.
Brunson was an assistant coach at Rocky Mountain High School at the time. He resigned from his position following the incident. The Idaho District III Board of Control (which oversees the area on behalf of the Idaho High School Activities Association) quickly met and banned Brunson from attending any events for a year and banned him from coaching again.
Brunson is a former wrestler at Boise State and his website claims he was a state champion wrestler and All-American in high school.
-- Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng