A Colorado high school wrestler recently decided to forfeit a match in the state high school tournament, because he was scheduled to wrestler a female. This isn’t the first time a story like this has hit the news, but what is newsworthy is the boy’s reasons for not wanting to wrestle a girl.

First, we should make it clear that 17 states have now sanctioned a separate girls division in high school wrestling, however, Colorado is not one of those states. So, in states like Colorado, the girls compete in the same leagues as the boys. In my opinion, I would think a 120-pound boy would have an advantage over a 120-pound girl, but then again, I would probably be considered sexist for even having that thought.

The student, Brendan Johnston, told KDVR television that he forfeited the match because, “It’s so physical… physically close. I don’t think that’s really appropriate with a young lady. It’s also very aggressive and I’m not really, I guess, comfortable with that,”

In another interview, Johnston said, “I don’t want to treat a young lady like that on the mat, or off the mat,” he told the Denver Post. “And not to disrespect the heart or the effort that she’s put in. That’s not what I want to do, either.”

Ah-ha, chivalry is not lost.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnston obviously did a good job raising young Brendan, and he has learned that tussling with a female on a mat and trying to pin her into submission is not the appropriate way to treat a young lady.

He was also aware enough to not pass judgement on the girl and made no comment regarding whether she should even be competing against boys.

As it turned out, there were two girls Johnston would have faced in the state tournament and he forfeited both matches, including a third-round consolation match that ended his high school career.

He concluded his interview with the Denver Post by saying he doesn’t regret his decision, “Wrestling is something we do, it’s not who we are, and there are more important things to me than my wrestling, and I’m willing to have those priorities.”

Good for you, Brendan Johnston.

ORU AT SUMMIT TOURNAMENT

The Oral Roberts University basketball teams head to the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this weekend, and I will be there to report on the team. As always, I’ll be doing double-duty while also playing in the ORU Pep Band.

The ORU women (No. 4 seed) will face Western Illinois (No. 5 seed) in the first round on Sunday at noon, while the No. 5 ORU men will open play Sunday at 6 p.m. against No. 4 North Dakota State.

If the women win, they will face the winner of the game between No. 1 South Dakota State and No. 8 Purdue-Fort Wayne, on Monday at 12:00 p.m.

If the men win, they will play Monday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the South Dakota State (No. 1) – Western Illinois (No. 8) game.

For continuous updates of all the ORU games from the tournament, follow me on Twitter @JeffBSports. You can also follow the ORU Pep Band experience on Twitter @ORUPepBand.