High school wrestler refuses to wrestle girls

[KnitShoni]

It's a sport. These social norms do not apply. You fight to win no matter who your opponent is. You can't be the best if you refuse to face any and all opponents.

Thank you!

And, aren't wrestling matches divided by weight class? If that's the case here, he's not much bigger than she is, if at all.

[Plaidman]

This thread has proven that fans of a sport demand that the stars give up everything, even their own beliefs just so they can watch them play.

Kinda sad. Would you be willing to give up your own beliefs so easily?

[Ginger Tea]

Kinda sad. Would you be willing to give up your own beliefs so easily?

Nothing to do with wrestling but I was thinking about it last night and that quote just reminded me.

Would a Jew, Muslim or Vegan/Vegetarian play minecraft seeing as the main and quickest way to eat to regain health is to eat a pig. You can grow crops but that takes time and none of the other animals give meat, Cow's hide for armour and Chickens feathers for arrow's, although they do lay eggs sometimes.

It's just a game, but it doesn't give you much leyway for those opposed to virtual bacon.

[Plaidman]

Nothing to do with wrestling but I was thinking about it last night and that quote just reminded me.

Would a Jew, Muslim or Vegan/Vegetarian play minecraft seeing as the main and quickest way to eat to regain health is to eat a pig. You can grow crops but that takes time and none of the other animals give meat, Cow's hide for armour and Chickens feathers for arrow's, although they do lay eggs sometimes.

It's just a game, but it doesn't give you much leyway for those opposed to virtual bacon.

Wow. Big difference between the two. The game is just a video game. It isn't real. Him fighting a girl is flat out a sin in his religion. He could fight a ficitonal female like the characters of Dead or Alive no problem.

Your minecraft quote is like saying people who play Grand Theft Auto will have no problem running people over or beating hookers to death.

[KnitShoni]

This thread has proven that fans of a sport demand that the stars give up everything, even their own beliefs just so they can watch them play.

Kinda sad. Would you be willing to give up your own beliefs so easily?

From the article: Though most states require girls to wrestle boys, California, Hawaii, Texas, Washington and Tennessee sponsor girls-only high school wrestling tournaments.

I'm getting from this that Iowa requires the girls to wrestle boys, as it does not sponsor girls-only wrestling. If this the case, I'm sure he and his family knew this going in. Why would you join a sport that requires you to have familiar contact with the opposite sex if your religion prohibits this?

[crashhelmet]

From the article: Though most states require girls to wrestle boys, California, Hawaii, Texas, Washington and Tennessee sponsor girls-only high school wrestling tournaments.

I'm getting from this that Iowa requires the girls to wrestle boys, as it does not sponsor girls-only wrestling. If this the case, I'm sure he and his family knew this going in. Why would you join a sport that requires you to have familiar contact with the opposite sex if your religion prohibits this?

There were 2 girls in the entire tournament. That's why they're forced to wrestle each other. You can't exactly hold a tournament with only 2 competitors. As the popularity of wrestling increases amongst girls in Iowa, the numbers will increase and they'll have their own tournament. Until then, they wrestle with the boys.

When you go into a tournament, you have no idea who you're going to face until you see your name on the board or you're called to the mat. Him boycotting the entire tournament because there were girls wrestling would be an entirely different issue than him forfeiting his one match.

[Hyena Dandy]

I don't respect his decision, but I respect him as a person, and I think he handled it very maturely. He felt he couldn't wrestle a girl, so he dropped out. He didn't go to the media about it or brew up a firestorm about how he had to do it. He didn't demand they change the rules. He just said he didn't feel right doing it, and forfeited the match.

[Greenday]

Its a sport, but its not a professional sport, and its not like its his whole life.

I don't think he wants to be the best, I think he wants to enjoy himself. That's why I played sports in highschool.

It's a team sport, and while this tournament was a solo thing, if I'm playing a competitive sport and I have a teammate that's there only to have fun instead of winning, I'm going to be pissed at them screwing me over.

This thread has proven that fans of a sport demand that the stars give up everything, even their own beliefs just so they can watch them play.

Kinda sad. Would you be willing to give up your own beliefs so easily?

If my beliefs will prevent me from being able to fully play my sport, I wouldn't play the sport period. It'd be like a pacificist trying to play football or boxing. It makes no sense for them to do it.

Him fighting a girl is flat out a sin in his religion.

That isn't at all what he said. He said it's against his religion to be close intimately with a woman pre-marriage. Which is fine, if that's what your religion says and you want to follow that, whatever. But wrestling is not intimate contact and he just let sexism get in the way.

[Plaidman]

That isn't at all what he said. He said it's against his religion to be close intimately with a woman pre-marriage. Which is fine, if that's what your religion says and you want to follow that, whatever. But wrestling is not intimate contact and he just let sexism get in the way.

Read up on his religion. Men and Women are seperated. They are not suppose to compete against each other.

[Greenday]

Read up on his religion. Men and Women are seperated. They are not suppose to compete against each other.

That wasn't the reason he himself gave.

[Mikkel]

Read up on his religion. Men and Women are seperated. They are not suppose to compete against each other.

Which religion? None of the articles I have read said so. I assumed some variation of Christianity because of his name.

[linguist]

Which religion? None of the articles I have read said so. I assumed some variation of Christianity because of his name.

It says in the article linked in the OP that he's Pentacostal.

[Mikkel]

I wonder how I missed that. That explains it.