We need high school wrestling for females

Two female wrestlers qualified for the high school state tournament this weekend and the tournament is getting a lot of national media coverage. One of the female athletes, Cassy Herkleman from Cedar Falls, won the first ever match by a female at the state tournament after her opponent forfeited. He cited his personal faith as the motivating factor for his decision.

As you know, I am a "man of faith." I consider my personal relationship with God to be the most important thing in my life. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins (and the sins of all mankind) and that He is our only provision for eternal life. I also believe the Bible is God's inerrant word. I was never in the position of the wrestler from Lin-Mar High School, so I cannot say what course of action I would have taken.

Over the past seven years, I have become increasingly more involved in women's wrestling. Twice I've been a coach for Team USA at the World Championships, have attended many international, national and local women's wrestling events and have organized camps for females from the Olympic Training Center to local high schools and youth clubs. In the arena of women's wrestling, I believe that I have one of the most relevant opinions on the matter of "faith" and women's wrestling in the United States.

This young man was making a decision based on conviction of his personal faith. To this, I applaud his decision. I'm sure it was a very difficult decision and by choosing not to wrestle, he faces consequences. In this case, he is not allowed to win a high school state championship. I would imagine this was a goal of his and many people believed he was the favorite to win this season. I don't think this was a haphazard decision because there was a lot at stake for him. I believe wrestling is the ultimate metaphor for life. I teach my athletes that wrestling is about making difficult decisions and standing up for what you believe is right no matter what the consequences are. In the end, it's you (the individual) standing alone in the middle of the circle forced to trust your convictions. It appears this kid did exactly that. Life lesson learned: there's more to life than wrestling.

There's another side to this story, though, the one of Miss Herkleman. Unfortunately, this one gets missed all too often because she's already flooded with media attention. What is being applauded by the boy's choice to forfeit is his "respect for women." However, from the female athlete's perspective, the exact opposite is what is communicated. It needs to be said that there are a large number of chauvinist individuals who mask their distaste for female wrestling by claiming their "respect for women" when, in fact, they don't at all, especially wrestlers. Stating they "respect women" gives them a free pass to disregard the work of the female and mistreat her as an athlete. We need to call their bluff. The female athletes that I train have stated in very emotional ways time and time again that this act is the most disrespectful thing someone could do to them as an athlete. They have trained, overcome many adversities and obstacles and that all goes unnoticed when the wrestling community gives a free pass to individuals to simply forfeit to them. These females are following the same guidelines, rules and procedures and they want to compete. By the time one reaches the state tournament, certainly both athletes are putting themselves in a position to compete and assume the risks.

Clearly, there is a major gap in communication if the boy believes he is respecting women in a decision that ends up leaving women feeling disrespected at the highest degree. This is the number one reason I believe state associations need to step to the plate and take these decisions away from kids.

All of this media attention proves the time is right for every state association in the United States to offer a state-sanctioned women's wrestling option. I maintain that the only thing that is consistent across the entire world in terms of growth in women's wrestling is separating the boys and girls. As long as they are together, female participation is NEVER going to grow and we'll continually be faced with situations like the one in Iowa. As long as we judge how good a female athlete is by how well she does against boys, we will not advance the sport. Regardless of who is right in the above matter, someone suffered and someone is hurt...all in the name of wrestling. "Build it and they will come" - if we add women's wrestling, women will show up. I promise. Until that time comes, I believe we must respect each athlete as an athlete, regardless of gender. It's time that state associations take the next step.