Though it would be easy to jump to a side, this is not a matter of simple discrimination, or religious zealotry. At the core of the forfeit (and lawsuit asking that the transgendered athlete be forbidden from competing) is that the transgendered athletes is taking testosterone to help with the gender transition, something otherwise prohibited by in Texas high school sports.
Those opposing the transgender athlete's participation make a point about fairness: if a student who took these drugs and tried to compete would test positive for performance enhancers and be ineligible, why should an exception be made for those transitioning between sexes? The NCAA also tackled a few years ago, settling on the ruling that a female athlete may participate in female athletics during their first year of transitioning. After that point the athlete would no longer be eligible to compete on a women's team.
But here's the real crux, the athlete in question, Mack Beggs, wanted to compete against boys but athletic administrators in Texas, and later court rulings, compelled him compete against girls.
No doubt that transgender policy is a complicated issue that touches on a lot of hot topics, however this should have been a non-issue. A transgender athlete wanted to participate in wrestling, but due to a lack of understanding about the complex situation a handful of bureaucrats denied him that right, and possibly denied the right of fair competition to others.
Wrestling is too often about wins and losses. Every year we see news specials in the profiles of courage by some of our sport's disabled athletes and it stirs up in us a love of our sport and the equality among people it promotes. This isn't as stark of an example, but it's one which would require even more courage and would bang the drum of our sport's equality even louder than before.
A wrestling match is a meeting between two humans with the expectation of exchanging techniques, strength and grit. Competitors testing their work ethic and hoping for a positive outcome. Here, what could have been -- an acceptance of a match including a transgendered athlete in the gender of his identification -- would have shown the world our sport's most redeemable and admirable qualities, rather than our culture's most vile and basest instinct.
To your questions …
Jimmy Gulibon of Penn State nearly secured a fall against Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)Q: I feel like Flo's issues overshadowed the one glaring rules issue that took place in the National Duals finals match between Jimmy Guilibon and Dean Heil. We had a situation where a wrestler was put onto his back by another wrestler in an inescapable situation from neutral position (much like a jones' shin whizzer tilt) and exposed in criteria for a grand total of 20 uninterrupted seconds. Following the exchange, zero points were awarded in two similar exchanges. What constitutes "control" in situations like these? Is it purely a judgment call?
-- Bryan O.
Foley: The situation was obnoxious. The wrestler from Oklahoma State was pinned -- plain, simple and without argument. The area of his back necessary to call the fall was on the mat and the wrestler on top was in control of the situation. When compared to the "flash takedown" the control was even more evident, lasting (as you noted) for 20 uninterrupted seconds.
In wrestling, you are meant to stay OFF your back. This is universal and has a history that extends back more than 5,000 years. It's the heritage that binds our sport! That our wrestlers are putting themselves on their back for 20 seconds and not being called for a pin, but also WINNING the matches is simply embarrassing. I don't have a preference between the teams and think the world of both coaches, but it's an embarrassment to our sport that this match didn't end with an obvious fall call.
My hope is that the rules committee dives into this issue and ensures that the sport returns to a more logical rule set.
Q: What do you look to take away from the upcoming National Collegiate Open?
-- Glenn Y.
Foley: I'm all for this type of tournament. In international wrestling there are a number of ways for wrestlers to engage in top-level, end-of-the-season wrestling and I'm thrilled that this initiative is picking up more steam.
Q: I think that riding (maintaining control) is a valuable part of folkstyle wrestling that we should keep. That said, I agree that it needs modifying. But, rather than make things even more complicated (and difficult to understand), how about this simple rule change (to avoid "riding" including pushing your opponent out of bounds from the rear standing position):
If a wrestler goes out of bounds from neutral, penalty point (with disqualification after, say, 5 such penalty points). If both wrestlers go out of bounds from the top/bottom positions, restart neutral (with no escape point).
-- Irv O.
Foley: Sold. Think it should be like freestyle where there is a caution if more than two pushouts happen within quick succession.
Q: How many people were signed up to watch PSU/OKIE would you guess
-- @palhal_
Foley: You'd need to ask Flo, but I imagine between 5,000 and 10,000 would be a wide, but conservative estimate. The Facebook feed had 15,000-plus watching, though inevitably not all those would've been paying customers.
Q: So apparently Flo really dropped the ball with the PSU vs. OSU match. With that in mind, any chance InterMat expands into the world of streaming broadcasts? It's crazy that such a big match isn't picked up by someone bigger.
-- Ryan P.
Foley: I don't know of InterMat's plans for streaming, but they do a great job in the area they've concentrated their efforts -- rankings, event coverage and articles.
The PSU/OSU streaming blackout was an unprecedented failure on the part of FloWrestling. No question Flo is experiencing some managerial hiccups in their effort to ramp up their operations across sporting platforms.
While bad on its face, the blackout of the National Duals championships was compounded by Flo's lawsuit against Trackwrestling.com, which prevented the latter's plans to broadcast the match live on NBC -- an inconvenient side note when balanced against their ongoing criticism of NBC's lack of wrestling coverage by Flo personalities.
Yet … media commenting on media happenings can be gross and self-serving. I've chased this into the rabbit hole before and looking back I regret not using that energy to put more focus on the people, stories and trends in the sport that matter. Flo's faceplant is a big story, so there is room here to discuss, but I'll keep it brief.
Martin and the rest of the C-Suite are in this game to generate profit. This is not altruism, this is not love, this is money This week FloSports announced they'll be moving to a 60,000-square foot headquarters in Austin and hiring 175 additional employees over the next six months. That rapid expansion is being paid for, in part, by Flo's latest round of fundraising worth upwards of $20 million. That money creates a lot of pressure for Flo's management team and filters down to the brand's personalities whose job it is protect their company.
Simply put, Flo is a streaming and events company that failed to deliver the stream for the National Duals championship. For some this is another reason to cancel their Flo subscription, for others it's just seen as an embarrassing, but ultimately forgivable hiccup. I wouldn't advocate for cancellation, but I would use this moment to ask our community to refigure its longstanding belief that this is some sort of non-profit doing what is best for the sport. Flo is a for-profit business doing what is best for the ownership and investors and at $20/month there is quite the premium placed on their access and delivery of events.
Before you attack me as a socialist, I'm totally OK with this model (America!), but a focus on the bottom line means you should never mistake this endeavor as something altruistic. This is about money, your money, and if you're ticked off then the best way to make your voice heard, whether through social media or your pocketbook.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Working with a very gifted videographer this year to help bring more coverage of behind-the-scenes action from wrestling around the world. Check out this piece of the Klippan Ladies Open Training Camp
Abdulrashid Sadulaev gets married!
Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev was recently marriedNCAA allocations
NCAA qualifier allocationsQ: Have to discuss @magicman_psu. When last week's mailbag posted, he "looked good." Saying anything other than impressive is insulting
-- @josephmjamison
Foley: Please remember that David Taylor beat the 2012 Olympic champion and pinned the 2016 Olympic champion AFTER I finished the mailbag on Thursday. He was a total terror on the mats and proved that the USA could have a serious shot at contending with Abdulrashid Sadulaev at the World Championships.
Also keep in mind that DT will still need to wrestle past J'den Cox and that are still many more up-and-coming and proven competitors at 86 kilograms which could knock down medal expectations in 2017. That's a tall task and one that can't be circumvented by these early season wins.
Overall, I couldn't be more impressed with DT and all of Team USA. Taylor's was of the best weekend performances in recent USA Wrestling history.
Q: I don't know about you, but I was very proud of USA Wrestling and Iran Wrestling and how Team USA was received and has always been treated in Iran. Is there anywhere else in the world that could've happened in this type of political climate? Even the Iranian immigrants who I've met here in the U.S. love wrestling. Where else in the world do they express that type of love for wrestling? Carver-Hawkeye Arena gets passionate, but can you think of anywhere else and what is like?
-- Marcus R.
Foley: The politics of the day helped add a layer of intensity to the event that permeated into the press and into the atmosphere in the arena and on the mats. Wrestling in Iran is a big deal and when paired up with an important event you are always guaranteed an explosive and consequential event.
Russia certainly has a following for the sport which could produce some similar results. Dagestan, which is bidding to host the 2018 European Championships, will almost certainly be bubbling with excitement during the inevitable clash between Russian wrestlers overseas and those that wear the gold-striped singlet. The Yarygin, while missing the notes of international conflict, still can pack the house and create a raucous reaction.
Mongolians turn out for wrestling events in record numbers, complete with rowdy fans and chanting. Uzbeksitan was a packed house for the 2014 World Championships. Finland will be mad for the Greco-Roman finals this year at the Junior World Championships.
Q: I've been looking forward to watching the Women's Freestyle World Cup, but when I looked it up on the UWW event schedule it had competition dates listed (04-05 Mar, 2017), but no competition location. Is this a sign that the Women's World Cup isn't happening this year? It'd be a shame if it's not because I found the women's wrestling to be some of the most entertaining at the Olympics this last go around. If it is happening, any information about where we might be able to watch it would be great?
-- Dan L.
Foley: The Women's World Cup is one of my favorite events, too. The federation was looking for a host this year, but ran into a few hurdles with location and funding. It's not widely known, but the event organizer assumes almost all the costs for the World Cup event, including the $100,000 in prize money handed out to teams.
There is still time to find a host in 2017, but do know that there is already a host city for 2018, Tokyo!
Q: ISU had an awful dual meet season, going 1-12. There are certainly some talented wrestlers on the roster and some accomplished incoming recruits. What is a realistic timetable for the Cyclones contending for team trophies again?
-- Mike C.
Foley: The Cyclone turnaround will be contingent on a few factors.
First, is the ability of head coach Kevin Dresser to address and correct any team culture issues. The recent expulsion of full-tine tweeter Pat Downey and the stepping down of Kevin Jackson before year's end signals that the team is having some real issues. Dresser needs to balance a heavy hand with a modicum of compassion for the upheaval experienced by the athletes.
The next big indicator on future success is determining which athletes will honor their commitments to Jackson and which new recruits may now be added to the mix now that Dresser is the head coach.
Finally, the dual meet success will come down to who Dresser finds to staff his program. Will he bring over some of the Virginia Tech coaching staff? Or retain some members of the Iowa State program? That's a juggling act and one that will impact the time it takes him to succeed.
Overall, I think that ISU is a .500 dual meet team in the first year one and follow a pretty Dresser-standard five-year growth curve with a top ten finish likely by 2020 and top five by 2022.
Q: How are the Hawkeye faithful going to feel in a couple years when Iowa's lineup is basically a PA All-Star team? Won't have many local kids to root for.
-- Steve M.
Foley: I think you are basically trolling the Iowa faithful … but to be honest I don't think they'll mind so long as those guys are winning NCAA titles. Based on the some of those wrestlers it's impossible to think they won't be racking up the individual honors in the years to come.
Q: What weight class do you think will go last for the NCAA finals? Obviously, Kyle Snyder is an Olympic and world champion and that will appeal to viewers. However, I see 184 pounds, Gabe Dean vs. Bo Nickal, as the most compelling matchup and would like to see that as the grand finale. Both have been extremely dominant.
-- Mike C.
Foley: Absolutely Gabe Dean and Bo Nickal! Or, that's my vote -- the young startup vs. the grisly veteran is a matchup worthy of primetime.
What do you guys think? Vote in the comments!
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