Feb 17 - Iowa wrestler defaults rather than face girl

DES MOINES, Iowa, Thu Feb 17, 01:07 PM

An Iowa high school wrestler who was one of the favorites to win his weight class defaulted on his first-round state tournament match rather than face one of the first girls to ever qualify for the event.

Joel Northup, a home-schooled sophomore who was 35-4 wrestling for Linn-Mar High this season, said in a statement that he doesn't feel it would be right for him to wrestle Cedar Falls freshman Cassy Herkelman. Herkelman, who was 20-13 entering the tournament, and fellow 112-pounder Ottumwa sophomore Megan Black, who was 25-13, made history by being the first girls to qualify for the state tournament. Black was pinned quickly in her opening round match.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times," wrote Northup. "As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa."

There were several thousand fans on hand Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena, but many were watching other matches when the referee raised Herkelman's hand to signal her win. There was a smattering of cheers and boos from the crowd before Herkelman was whisked into the bowels of the arena.




Tournament organizers declined to make Herkelman available for questions. Her next match is Friday.

In a text message to The[..]ociated Press, her father, Bill Herkelman, said he understands Northup's decision.

"It's nice to get the first win and have her be on the way to the medal round," Bill Herkelman wrote. "I sincerely respect the decision of the Northup family especially since it was made on the biggest stage in wrestling. I have heard nothing but good things about the Northup family and hope Joel does very well the remainder of the tourney."

Linn-Mar athletics director Scott Mahmens said the school would not penalize Northup for defaulting. Because he defaulted and didn't forfeit, Northup is eligible to compete in consolation rounds. Black will also compete in the consolation rounds.

Wrestling is hugely popular in Iowa, and this is the first time girls have qualified for the state tournament, which began in 1926.

According to the National Federation of State High School[..]ociations, just more than 6,000 girls competed in wrestling in 2009-10 - compared with nearly 275,000 boys. Though most states require girls to wrestle boys, California, Hawaii and Texas now sponsor girls-only high school wrestling tournaments.

Iowa wrestler defaults rather than face girl - Forbes.com

Good for him

I feel him, man. !! would've been cake.

i bet he lost the match but got the[..] [pic]

he should of bodied her to teach that hoe a lesson...i ain't down with this crazy "girls could do it too" !! when it comes to high school sports...like girls on the football teams [pic]

I wrestled in high school and it's !!ed up that girls can wrestle. I was the only one out of my friends that never wrestled a girl. Nothing good comes from it though. You beat and her and you get made fun of. You lose and forget it, don't come to school the next week.

not to mention it's just really weird. and for the people who will come in and say "is she hot?" .. not many girls are hot who wrestle, no makeup, spandex and !!.. no thanks.

I wrestled in high school and faced a girl...need less to say !! that i aint losing put that !! in the half nelson quick

then pinned her next was like [pic]

!! been on hard to she was ugly tho..

Girls should not be playing with the guys. Just let them go ham on the other girls.

^^ this.....[pic]

that uniform is too tight to be wrestling girls. they would be getting poked all in the back side.

My friend's son (10 years old) had to face a girl in a jui jitsu tourny, and i was feeling reluctant for him to fight--kinda like dude...

But a few seconds into the match I was jumping up and down telling him to choke that !! out!

He won :celebrate0:

I pinned a girl in 10 seconds when I used to wrestle haha

She started crying after [pic]

Would have been the perfect opportunity to turn heel

haha i couldnt wrestle a chick in those tight wrestling attire unless I was wearing a steel cup. If I got hard that !! would be so obvious lol especially with my 9 1/2 inches

I wrestled in HS in texas there are two brackets boys and girls

[pic]

[pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic]

wats funny is that he brought up religion. What does religion have to do with this?

I wrestled a girl in hs...!! was moaning when I pinned her[..] I understand why he didn't want to cuz if he would've lost he'd never hear the end of it