When facing a girl in high school competition, it is appropriate for a boy to forfeit?
According to my internet search, just 4.1% of boys who wrestle in high school continue to compete in any level of college. For girl wrestlers, the percentage is 2.9. For all high school athletes, the percentage who continue into college competition–at any level–is just over 7%.
That means the careers end with high school graduation for most youngsters who play high school varsity sports. For some, it’s no big deal. They never aspired to compete in college. But it’s a reality check for others.
From YouTube
From experience as a high school coach, I know that most teenagers compete to have fun and to support their school. Most also work hard to become better competitors. That’s true of both sexes.
Some high school girls chose to wrestle. I’ve coached girls at the middle school level and I’ve coached against girls on the high school level.
Because the number of female wrestlers is small, there isn’t normally a separate division for girls. They compete against boys except in states where state athletic associations have added girls-only divisions.
In North Carolina, I saw three girl wrestlers qualify for the 2019 Western 4A NC state regional tournament. That says girls can–and sometimes do–wrestle well. And in Virginia’s 2A division where I coached, I had a 126-pounder who lost three times to a girl who was team captain her senior year.
With that in mind, it didn’t surprise me when two girls qualified at 106 pounds in the Colorado state tournament. But on the first day of the tournament, Brendan Johnston, a 106 pounder, forfeited to Jaslynn Gallegos. On the second day (in his consolation round), Johnston forfeited to Angel Rios, to whom he had forfeited three times during the regular season.
DENVER, CO – February 23: The Classical Academy senior Brendan Johnston, left, shakes hands with Valley junior Angel Rios after he forfeited the third round consolation match in the Colorado State Wrestling Championships the Pepsi Center Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Special to the Denver Post)
Rios finished 4th, and Gallegos 5th, in the tournament. Johnston did not place. He said: “Wrestling is something we do, it’s not who we are. There are more important things to me than my wrestling. And I’m willing to have those priorities.”
In his junior year at that same state tournament, Johnston forfeited to a girl. “I think it’s possible to forfeit while still respecting them as athletes and competitors. I don’t want to disrespect the hard work these ladies have put in. They’ve done a lot of that too. Some people think by forfeiting I’m disrespecting them. That’s not my intention at all.”
Johnston followed this up by saying: “I guess the physical aggression, too. I don’t want to treat a young lady like that on the mat. Or off the mat. And not to disrespect the heart or the effort that she’s put in. That’s not what I want to do, either.”
Does Johnston deserve applause for his willingness to stand behind his conviction or are his intentions misplaced?
Like other sports, wrestling has regulations, rules, and a points system. In high school, there are fourteen weight classes, and wrestlers in the same weight class compete against each other. At times, a team may not have a wrestler in a weight class and must forfeit. And sometimes a coach will use a forfeit(s) to rest wrestlers.
However, the expectation of coaches and wrestlers is this: if a team weighs-in a wrestler, he or she is prepared to wrestle any competitor in that weight class. That expectation has implications when a boy goes up against a girl. If he wins, the sense is often that ‘he only beat a girl.” But embarrassment may follow if he loses to a girl–as my 126-pounder did.
As a coach, I never forfeited a match to a girl because of her gender. My teams and I respected any student who had done the work to face an opponent.
That’s why Johnston wouldn’t participate in any of my wrestling teams. My kids didn’t decline to wrestle an opponent because she is a girl. Girls have earned the right to be there.[/beautifulquote]
Johnston assumes he would beat girls. But that’s his guess. And while he says that he intends no disrespect, isn’t that exactly what he’s doing?
Females who compete against males are wrestlers. They deserve the same respect due to any athlete.
definitely true
good article