I grew up with the impression that wrestling was a 'pagan' sport. Neither Lynden Christian nor Calvin College ever had a wrestling program. The rationale was never explained to me, and I just presumed that it was an 'unChristian' thing to do. I later learned that such a spiritual giant as Jim Eliot was a wrestling standout for Wheaton, and wrestling certainly has a biblical precedence as a sport. I even married a high school 'mat maid.' However, a childhood moral conscience is hard to break and I never encouraged my sons to consider the sport. But a few years ago, while my guard was down, our youngest started softly expressing interest in the barbaric sport. I tried very hard to stuff my biases and instead supported any athletic ambition in my progeny. Going to matches, I felt like an incompetent supporter, as I didn't know the first thing to yell, beside "Go Calvin". These last three wrestling seasons have been a learning experince for me. It has been a good experience for Calvin as well. He ventured off into uncharted territory for a Bulthuis, developed lots of valuable friendships and learned a bunch of things about himself and the techniques of effective wrestling. The district tournament today was probably Calvin's final match as he does not plan to continue in high school. He pushed the Bulthuis' wrestling genetics to the limit and won one match and avoided pins in two others. Calvin, you did a wonderful job in wrestling and taught all of us a thing or two.
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