I think I agree with JTE. I didn't think it through very well when I posted earlier. Your comment is absolutely correct in that the wrestler would be getting cheated out of mat time. Since it is an exhibition, I would handle it one of two ways based on how we come across exhibition matches in Central Washington.
1) If I'm at Cascade High School in Leavenworth on one mat with 2 or 3 exhibition matches before the varsity dual (or even with 6 or 7), then I would let wrestler A leave the mat without raising his hand, and leave the decision with the coaches...if they want to cancel that match so that it never existed (since you didn't blow the whistle, and no wrestling actually occurred), and arrange another match, I would allow it.
2) If I am at Eastmont High School with 2 mats and 4 schools going full speed, and something like this pops up in the middle, I would raise the kids hand, make him sign his bout sheet, record the match time, and leave it to the meet staff to sort out the rest. The reality of this type of scenario, however, is that it would probably take 45 minutes for them to get the next match sorted out anyway.
I always try to apply the rules in such a way as to allow wrestling rather than prevent it, but since the main issue with the 45 minutes is safety, I worry about the possibility of a lawsuit if the kid were to get injured in the subsequent match (even though he never wrestled the first match). The coach or parent could always argue that there was an error with the bout sheet, or that the wrong wrestlers reported to the table...both of these items would render the exhibition match nonexistent and the 45 minute rule would not apply...if the wrong wrestlers reported and they wrestled, then I would be strict about the 45, but since there was no wrestling, it is best to be reasonable...it is just an exhibition match, right?
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