GERALD K. "JERRY" MOORE
MEMORIAL SERVICE COLORADO
"PETER BRAUN REMEMBERS JERRY" addition and "Gallegos finds some closure"
 The Teacher and The Student
"MY NAME IS PETER BRAUN. I met Jerry 27 years ago, right after graduating from business school ... Jerry was able to admit when he made a mistake. At a High school wrestling match in 2003, in a match he refereed, there was a missed call. It was the State Finals at the Pepsi Center. The crowd of 20,000
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people booed. After watching the video, Jerry realized there was a missed call and he was devastated! Most people would have moved on, but not Jerry Moore. He called the (Gallegos) family. Then he drove to Montrose to apologize in person. He has been friends with the family ever since that day..."
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"Gallegos finds some closure"
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION, MONTROSE DAILY PRESS - COLORADO
Bill Swaim, published July 25, 2004
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION, MONTROSE DAILY PRESS - COLORADO
Bill Swaim, published July 25, 2004
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Excerpts of a letter from official Jerry Moore to the Gallegos family appears in italics throughout this story.
MONTROSE - It's strange sometimes how a simple face-to-face and dinner can solve even the most complex problems, and in the case of the Gallegos family and Jerry Moore, that's all it took to erase away nearly a year and a half of bitter feelings. The Gallegos family had been searching for closure after 4 1/2 phantom seconds cost Dustin Gallegos his first and only shot at a state championship at the Colorado High State Wrestling Championships in 2003.
The family finally found it as Gallegos came face-to-face with the lead official of that controversial match earlier this year for the first time since it all happened. Moore, 67, made a special trip to Montrose to take the Gallegos family (Todd, Tammy, Dustin, Taylor and Brandon), then Montrose High athletic director Gary Rawls, and Montrose High wrestling coach Jack Garrison and his wife Darcy out for a private dinner at Silver Jack Restaurant.
"I chose to take responsibility. I accept the blame myself for what happened," said Moore, who is the head referee of the Colorado Wrestling Officials Association. "I wanted to present him with a flip disc. It's something I did as an individual; it's not something I did as part of the Association (Colorado Wrestling Officials) or as part of CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association). Jerry Moore did this."
Moore presented Gallegos with an engraved flip disc similar to the ones given to state champions as well as a letter of apology.
"He had everything arranged: the meeting room, the seating planned in his mind, everything," said Todd Gallegos, Dustin's father and assistant wrestling coach at MHS. "And the remarks and stuff he had he kept in a paper sack and had intentionally wrapped it like that because he told Dustin 'this is not a gift for you, this is something you earned.' He didn't want to portray it as a gift." "It is unfortunate that there is no way to erase those 4 1/2 seconds that went beyond the expiration of the match. Although it takes a team of individuals to conduct a championship match, as the mat official I feel the ultimate blame falls on my shoulders. This situation illustrates that sometimes no matter how well prepared we are and how well we perform in a given situation, the outcome may not be what we expect or hope for."
Still haunted by the match, it was a meeting that Dustin wasn't ready to have.
"I didn't want to do it at first. It was too soon and too fast and they didn't even tell me at first, they just said we were having dinner at Silver Jack. Then I found out what was going on and it kind of just stunned me. I was about to leave," said Dustin, who is on scholarship and enjoying his time playing college soccer in Indiana. "I wanted to leave but I knew I had to face it. I stood up, shook his hand and made a couple of jokes. Sat down and we started talking from there. It was really weird, but after it all, I felt so much better. "Jerry is a great guy - I got to know him a little better. For him to be able to come and do that, it just shows he is a real man. It helped out a lot. It brought some closure but it will always haunt me. I've learned to live with it though."
The meeting also came as a relief to Moore.
"I thought the dinner went really well. Outstanding young man, outstanding family, bad situation," Moore said of the whole controversy. "A lot of things went wrong in that match and that falls on my shoulders. So it was more important for me to look Todd and Dustin in the eye." Todd Gallegos said Moore was able to put a little humor into the meeting to ease the early tension.
"One of the things Jerry said during this - he had Dustin across the table from him - and looked him in the eye and said, 'you know it haunts me everyday. This will haunt us forever but fortunately I don't have that long to think about it.' He was able to add humor to it," Todd said.
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The fact that Moore put himself out on the line, not worried about the possible consequences from CHSAA, which has stood firm in saying there was not enough evidence to warrant the many appeals MHS and the Gallegos family made to have the decision overturned, also said a lot to Dustin.
"It was shock. It's good to know he thinks the same way I do," Dustin said. "It's amazing he'd defy CHSAA. For him to do that, to throw everything on the line is incredible." Ironically, it wasn't the first interaction Moore had with the Gallegos family since the match took place.
"We have shared many interactions since the state championships and I feel I have found new friendships in your family. It is obvious that you have a deep love for Dustin and the rest of your children." The first chance meeting took place at the Rocky Mountain National Wrestling Tournament in 2003. "It was really ironic. We go to the Rocky Mountain Nationals, Dustin and Taylor didn't wrestle, but Brandon did," said Todd Gallegos, recounting the story. "I went and at this point in time I knew Jerry Moore wanted to speak with me and wanted to hook up with me at Rocky Mountain Nationals because he had some things he wanted to say. I had a lot of resentment at the time. I was still pretty furious but I knew I needed to face him face-to-face. I saw him officiate from time to time and he's a very, very good official and I was very impressed.
"It was just the luck of the draw - out of the 15 matches going on at one time - and Brandon goes up on his match and low and behold it's Jerry Moore. And for whatever reason I guess he hadn't really recognized me sitting in the chair and Brandon went out and wrestled an awesome match.
"At the end of the match Jerry shook his hand and as he raised his hand he asked him, 'boy you are a really good wrestler, where are you from? And Brandon said 'I'm from Montrose, I'm Dustin's brother.' Jerry's jaw dropped down and spun around and saw me in the corner and had this big old laugh on his face.
"So that was our first interaction, our first moment to come face-to-face since the match. Ever since then, I've had the utmost respect for him."
The Gallegos family also got some satisfaction at the 2004 state wrestling championships as Taylor took home a state title with his older brother watching in the stands. "Taylor winning. That was everything. I got to be there," Dustin said.
"Taylor went out there and just demolished the kid. It was more fun for me that Taylor won than me." "I sincerely apologize to Dustin and his family as well as to Montrose High School, as the memories of the joy that come with being a state champion have been denied him…"
If the fateful meeting did anything, it at least brought a mutual respect from both the Gallegos family and Moore. "It was all something we recognized. It doesn't change anything, but in our hearts we know and he knows and it meant everything," Todd said. "I had been telling Jerry that was a devastating time for us, for our whole family. And you hold some hatred in there, and for him to face everybody and do what he did, it let them all know what I had already figured out - that he is a really good man and a mistake was made.
"The only satisfaction we get to know is that the referee admits who won the match. We know and that is as good as it is going to get for us. Now we have Taylor and another state championship because Dustin is the first in our family to ever get there and he won that match, it was an incredible match, but he won it. It puts a little bit of closure to it."
"…I look forward to seeing you and your sons at future wrestling events and hopefully I will see Dustin from time to time as well. I wish him the very best in all of his endeavors."
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Page Created: October 5, 2021, Last Revised: October 13, 2021