A child's effort

Jason and I (thanks to my parents who were this way) have always put more weight on our kids' effort than their grades. Grades alone don't tell us what kind of student one is and they certainly don't tell us the sort of kid they are. If one of the boys gets a C and he worked hard to get that C, then we're proud of him. If another got a C and it was because he didn't finish his homework or slacked off on his studies, then that's a problem. We just want them to apply themselves and then do their very best.
Last week, Timmy came home with his report card and had an F in science. We knew it was coming cuz the teacher had sent something home the week prior letting us know. Tim is our boy who has to work the hardest in school. It just doesn't come easy to him...never has and probably never will. He has to work twice as hard as Tyler to get half the grade. So, here's the thing with this F. Because he got a grade lower than a C-, he is suspended from wrestling for 2 weeks. This really sucks. Plain and simple. We are always pretty supportive of the school and it's policies, but this time I'm a little annoyed. I just feel like they need to take into account the student as a whole, not just that letter on his report card. He has no missed homework, he got a B for effort, and he's a good kid...we have no behavior problems with him. He struggles with tests. It's his test grades that have contributed to the F. So, because he's a student who has a hard time testing (as a lot of them do) but he is doing his best, he gets wrestling taken away....something that he is good at and really enjoys. Last night we found out that the final four playoffs are on Tues. He is suspended until next Monday so he'll miss his teams playoffs. Am I the only one who thinks that just sucks!? In fact, the team was 5-0 going into last week and they lost both matches they had on Tues. and Thur. because Timmy and another boy in Timmy's same position, had to give up forfeits in their weight class. So, they ended the season in second place with 5-2. He cried so hard last night about missing the playoffs. I know I'm the mom so I'm biased, but I swear if this was about him not doing his homework or having behavior issues or anything else, I would be totally supportive of the school's decision...I just think this falls into the 'not fair' category. Let's take away the one thing where the kid has some confidence and does well and embarrass him because everyone knows why he's sitting out. He just didn't need this. He's been having such a tough time at school with those couple kids I've talked about....now this. I'm taking my son's side on this one. I'm considering going to the school tomorrow and talking to the asst. principal. Not saying it will change anything...but I think it's important to make my thoughts known. Someone's gotta put another perspective out there for them to think about.....why not me?