Funfrawl

Some of the Ridgeview Wrestling Club wrestlers participated in the Gibson City Funfrawl today.  Unfortunately, Jeremy doesn't have his coach's card yet, so he couldn't be down on the floor with his wrestlers.  That was really stinky and tough for him, but fortunately there were 6 other coaches who were able to help our kids.  There were several hundred people at the meet, but it was really well run.

Caeden tried on his new headgear...but ended up wearing Daddy's old gear he wore in high school.

These 2 are more than just a little bit alike.

It was a tough morning.  As Caeden stepped on the mat for his first match, Jeremy realized his opponent was a girl.  I was not happy.  

I love the sport of wrestling, but I don't understand why parents would let their daughters participate.  Is it just to prove the point that "girls can do anything?"  Fine; girls can do anything they want...But that doesn't mean they should.  I can understand teaching daughters to defend themselves, but I don't agree that this is the place to do that.  What does that teach my son, when he has to step on a mat and try to beat a girl?  That he is supposed to dominate her?  Not okay!!  How do I teach my son to never give up, but at the same time teach him to be gentle with girls and never fight them or hurt them physically when one is staring him down across the mat?!  Why would anyone put their daughter in this situation on purpose?  And why don't they think about what it's teaching the male opponents when they are going against one another?  

Jeremy might disagree with me, but I believe the gentlemanly thing for the male opponent to do would be to shake her hand and explain that he respects her too much to wrestle her.

However, we hadn't discussed the possibility of this situation, and Jeremy wasn't on the mat with Caeden.  So, he didn't know what to do, other than to wrestle.  My heart broke watching it.  Fortunately, Caeden was not hurtful.  Neither did he win.  He was very upset afterward and wished that he hadn't had to wrestle a girl.  He was ready to quit and go home.  We did not allow that.  

He lost his second match as well, which Jeremy said was because he wasn't in it mentally.

After his second match, I got Caed some lunch and some of his energy was restored.

His third match was right in front of us, so I was finally able to get a few photos.

Caeden was feeling much more confident by this time.  He  said he "had the fire."

And he won.

And even though it nearly killed him not to be at the side of the mat for each of his little guys, Jeremy was still Coach.  

This little kindergarten guy, Jhett, pinned all 3 of his opponents while smiling through every match.  It was really fun to watch him have his heyday.

All the Ridgeview wrestlers learned important things today.  So the tournament ended well, and we are grateful for learning and growing.