Virtue Helps Wrestling Teams Impress

Over the weekend, two SportsLeader wrestling teams had some amazing success on and off the mat.

The last time the Ohio State wrestling team beat Iowa in 1966, Woody Hayes was still the Buckeyes' head football coach.

Archie Griffin had yet to play a down for OSU, let alone win two Heisman Trophies.

The United States was in the middle of the Vietnam War under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

And everyone, including the coaching staff, involved with the OSU wrestling team had yet to live in a world that saw their school win against Iowa.

That all changed last Friday night though, after the No. 7 Buckeyes toppled No. 2 Iowa, 21-9, at St. John Arena.

The virtues that they have been focusing on over the past fee weeks were Self-Less, Iron-Willed and Humble.

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For St Xavier High School, they have not had much wrestling success against Elder High School in quite a while. That changed as well with a 45-30 victory Saturday night.

I had the pleasure of attending the St Xavier match with my son and I was so glad I was able to bring him - because he witnessed a lot of virtue.

There were some questionable calls/no-calls by the referee throughout the match. The crowd got rather upset a few times but I was so impressed with the coaching staffs from both schools. All of the coaches involved were class-acts. 

They handled themselves so well even my eight year old son noticed. "These coaches don't scream at the ref even when all these people do."

During one particular wrestling match at 152 pounds, the Elder wrestler got injured. The St Xavier wrestler, Joe Heyob, went over to the Elder bench, took a knee and reached out to the injured competitor. I don't know what he said, but the action spoke volumes. I personally had never seen that before. Virtue = Strength in action.

Again, my son noticed. "That was really nice of Joe, wasn't it, Dad."

It once again showed me how everything matters. A regular wrestling match can turn into a tremendous learning experience, even for our younger fans in attendance.

Transforming the culture of sports ...

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