Refs would prefer not to be noticed. But matches don't always play out in ways that allow that to take place. Most of the time a ref is noticed it's because they're making the best call they can in a tough situation. The ref isn't trying to be noticed -- he/she is simply doing what they're supposed to be doing, and all the coaches, teammates, and fans, who see everything from the perspective of what they want, disagree or find fault with the ref, even if the refs are usually right, and the coaches, teammates, and fans are usually wrong.
Stepping off my soap box, let me address the refs in the Haines match. Locked hands is somewhat of a PITA. Every single dual I ref, there are coaches and fans calling for locked hands pretty much every time a wrestler is returned to the mat, etc. It gets pretty annoying, especially since in high school rules (and MS and youth), a wrestler is given reaction time (i.e., they can have locked hands when they hit the mat, and are given a second or so to unlock them). In college, the rules are a little different, in that there is no allowance for reaction time. (Which is why Matt Brown won his national title, when PSU's coaches threw the brick.) Other ways in which locked hands are a PITA include: 1) if you're working a 2-on-1, and your hands end up hitting each other, is that locked hands? (coaches scream for it; it's not generally called), 2) a wrestler takes down an opponent, and the opponent tries to kick free or jackrabbit away, and the offensive wrestler grabs the legs. If they lock their hands together, it should be called locked hands, but that often takes place underneath the shins, and is impossible to see for a ref, 3) most of the situations where it occurs are when an offensive wrestler is on top and has taken down an opponent or returned them to the mat, and the lock is across the chest which is either on the mat or just above the mat. (That was the situation in the Haines match.) Refs get pretty good at anticipating when or where locked hands occur, and will bend down, lean over, etc. to look for it. (You CAN NOT call it just because you think it's taking place. You have to visually see it to call it.) In the Haines match, I don't believe the refs were trying to make themselves noticed with the locked hands call. The assistant ref, who often has a better view of it than the head ref in many cases, is the one that first signaled locked hands in the Haines match. And once you signal it, you're supposed to hold that signal (as he did) until the technical violation is called, or the period ends and you mention it to the center ref. PSU challenged the call, and apparently (we didn't see it on the BTN+ telecast), there was a camera angle that showed that Haines did not commit locked hands in the situation, so the call was overturned.
The stalling call was legit. First off, the refs are not supposed to be looking at the clock (well, at least the center ref). Their primary focus is on the the match in front of them. The AR is supposed to check the clock and either count down the last 5 seconds, or call out time when the clock hits 0:00, so that the center ref can remain totally focused on the wrestlers.
@truth-and-reason gave a good explanation of the stall call. It was legitimate. In high school wrestling, the rules have not been changed to mandate mandatory stall calls anywhere near the way they have in college. Some people like the college changes, as it forces more stall warnings and calls, but there is a downside to it. In high school, I'm not making the call against Haines in that situation, but per college rules I would have to when the ref called it. You're not supposed to factor in anything about the time left in a period or the match when you make a stall warning or a stall call. And as I indicated above, the center ref isn't really supposed to even look at the clock. So basically, the ref made the correct call in this situation. Yet somewhat that's making him noticed? Also, Byers said at the time something along the lines of "oh no, Jamie George you can't make that call at that time." Ironhead if an excellent PBP announcer, and I chat with him at pretty much every PSU wrestling match I attend (which is very few, unfortunately). However, speaking from a ref's perspective, one of his biggest shortcomings as a PBP announcer is when he opines about what a ref should do, or whether or not they were correct in a call, or didn't call something when they should have, etc. In those instances, he usually sounds almost 100% like a fan, and not somebody that's giving an objective analysis of the situation. Again, I like Jeff, but that's one area of his PBP that I would modify if I could. In short, it's best to not go by what he says regarding the actions of refs in PSU matches.
