Fletch on Local Wrestling Coverage

If you happened to turn your television on to Georgia Public Broadcasting last weekend, you might have caught three exciting hours worth of GHSA Traditional Wrestling championships Saturday night. For the first time ever the GHSA wrestling championships hit the GPB airwaves, and it was quite a success.

Over the years, GPB has partnered with the GHSA to air football championships as well as basketball championship games, but this was its first stab at wrestling. In addition to the three hours of live coverage on television, the event received broadcast via the internet on gpb.org/sports, and if you missed the championships, you can watch the replay on gpb.org/sports or follow the link on gaprepnews.com. You may be seeing more wrestling in the years to come on GPB as Georgia Public Broadcasting and the GHSA have agreed to extend their partnership for another five years. For more information, check out a fantastic article about the extension on www.scoreatl.com or follow the link on gaprepnews.com.

High school wrestling was in the national news last week, not for the GHSA championships airing on GPB but for an Iowa sophomore defaulting because he did not want to face a girl in the first round. The 16-year-old boy was the fifth-ranked wrestler in the state in his weight class, but he chose to default rather than face her because “as a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner.” That was Joel Northrup’s point of view on why he shouldn’t face a female, but for some reason ESPN.com’s Rick Reilly decided to take him to task for not wrestling, saying that religion should have nothing to do with wrestling this girl.

Reilly pointed out in an article for ESPN.com, “Body slams and takedowns and gouges in the eye and elbows in the ribs are exactly how to respect Cassy Herkelman. This is what she lives for. She can elevate herself, thanks.” Northrup and his father and coach decided to default the match and were not hiding behind religion. It was their decision and they went with it. It is a tough spot for both Northrup as well as the girl. Perhaps Iowa can do a better job next time of separating girls into their own sport/class/competition. It would likely be awkward for ANY boy to face a girl at that age and the IHSA (if there is one) should have thought about that in its state’s most popular sport. Wrestling is to Iowa what football is to Georgia. You’d think that Iowa would have planned this out and perhaps if Girls Wrestling was offered, more girls would enter into the tournaments.