In wrestling, forfeits are relatively common– whether for strategy, lack of bodies in a given weight class, or matchups. However, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania a few weekends ago, high school wrestler Matt Strunk forfeited a match to Lucas Ortiz in the Wilson Duals Tournament for an unusual reason– to give his opponent his 100th career win.
Why wouldn’t Strunk wrestle and make Ortiz win fair and square? This past November, with his win count at 99 and entering his senior season, Ortiz tore his meniscus. Although he wanted the 100-win milestone, Ortiz decided it would be better to get surgery right away rather than play through it, in hopes he could save himself for college.
The coach of the opposing team, who knew Ortiz from other wrestling events, talked to his team about what they wanted to do. Strunk, also a senior, volunteered to forfeit. As he mentioned to GameTimePA,
“Some of our guys know Lucas pretty well and said he’s a really good guy, so we wanted to do something for him…he’s a senior and was stuck on 99 wins and it was the right thing to do.”
Ortiz now has 100 wins in his high school career, an accomplishment only three others at his high school have. It couldn’t have been done without a team– specifically, the opposing team– in a true display of sportsmanship.
