Posted on 02/21/2007 7:12:38 PM PST by Pappy Smear
DES MOINES: Catholic high school wrestlers can't have ash on their forehead at the state wrestling tournament.
The competition starts tomorrow (Wednesday), which is Ash Wednesday. Catholics typically apply ash crosses on their foreheads in observance of the first day of Lent.
But Iowa High School Athletic Association officials say they must remove the ash since it could get into an opponent's eyes or mouths.
All wrestlers undergo a skin and nail check prior to competition.
Catholic priests say they won't challenge the ban because applying ash is optional.
However, if perchance this were something the Religion of Peace did, the wailing and gnashing of teeth would be heard far and wide, if the Iowa High School Athletic Association made them wipe it off.
And if I can digress, this is the big sporting event in Iowa--90,000 people expected for the 4 day event. Finals are televised statewide on a commercial TV network, if you aren't from Iowa, or Oklahoma, you probably don't understand. Good times!
Im a fundamentalist and I think this is stupid.
What about diseases in their sweat??
I remember when the Iowa girls played 6 player/half court.
I wrestled in HS in California, my son wrestled four years varsity on a team that won two league championships. He never got past regionals, I never made varsity. The dedication and work it take to reach this level of competition is astounding.
It is indeed hard to fathom the depth of dedication and support that is required, to those not somewhat familiar with the sport, which is possibly the toughest HS sport we have.
I think it is right to just let this one go. It is two optional things. Applying ash is optional and so is participating in wrestling. You have the option to not do either.
Look, my son was a varsity wrestler for four years in high school. Dislocated his shoulder once, and had a concussion.
It's a serious sport. You don't allow one side to wear anything the other doesn't, not lipstick, not grease, not ashes.
Hmmmm....high schoolers often have raging cases of acne. Throw in sweat, blood and saliva and you have a potent cocktail. Ashes should be the least of their worries.
You always hear stories from guys who wrestled:
Don't bathe for a few days
Eat lots of onions, garlic and other stuff designed to make your breathe and body smell
etc
The best one though was my friend was going to wrestle someone and the other guy had really bad acne. So bad that when they locked up he could feel things popping. He lost that match he was so grossed out.
I've been saying this ever since junior high. People who have never done it can't really appreciate how tough the practices and the matches are.
I'm sure their tough, I'd like to see some of those guys walk onto a practice football field called the "Rockpile".
Th first time down you come up with cuts and bruises. I hurt worse after practice on that field than in the games, and there was a time or two I was just one big bruise after a game.
We use to laugh when football season ended and about 10-12 football players would decide to give wrestling a chance. Half of them lasted a day and half again that lasted a week.
You never wrestled did you?
We had a couple of guys play both, but not many. I was happy to get a paying job through high school, farm labor was much easier than wrestling practice.
The guys should have the option of re-applying the ash after the match is over.
My 7 year old grand son is in a wrestling program, he takes it quite seriously.
I don't live near enough to him to watch any of his matches, I wish I did.
I don't think the issue is as much one of health issues as of the potential for cheating. A wrestler with ash on his forehead could try to get it in an opponent's eyes or nostrils, or the opponent could try the same. It's like pitchers not being allowed to have sandpaper or Vaseline on the mound -- not because they could hurt someone, but because they could give one team an unfair advantage.
As a Catholic, it's good to see there is a good reason why the ashes aren't allowed. This isn't anti-christian, it's pro-wrestler.
I've always wondered: Is it legal to cover yourself with a foul-smelling clear liquid before a match?
We've had a number of guys go straight from high school wrestling to the Marine Corps. They weren't even fazed by basic training.
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