Because of his faith, state wrestling title contender Joel Northrup had to forfeit a match. It was either that, or wrestle a girl.
CNN A high school wrestler in wrestling-crazy Iowa forfeited a tournament match Thursday after refusing to grapple with a female opponent.
“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,” Joel Northrup said in a written statement, according to the Des Moines Register.
Northrup is home-schooled but wrestles as a 112-pound sophomore for Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa. He was a state title contender with a 35-4 record, CNN affiliate KCRG-TV reported.
His erstwhile opponent, Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls, advanced by default at Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena.
I don’t have an issue if girls wish to compete head to head against boys in most sports, but wrestling is a different thing. It is a little too….ummm…physical.
Northrup, for his part, makes it clear that he respects these girls and their athletic accomplishments, but he cannot in good conscience wrestle a girl.
“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. … It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most of the high school sports in Iowa.”
Good boy. There are some things more important than wrestling.
February 18, 2011 at 10:02 am
Praise God that there are still some real men in the world. I don't have words adequate for what I think about her parents and school officials that allow this nonsense.
February 18, 2011 at 11:16 am
God Bless this young man. There is still hope in our day when a (are you ready for the word?) VIRTUOUS young man rises to and adverse occasion. He may have lost a wrestling match but won something much greater and slam dunked the PC poltroons who put him up to this. Good work, brother.
February 18, 2011 at 12:14 pm
I agree with the previous comments. It gives one more hope for the future to see young people like this young man.
February 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Why can't girls wrestle other females??
You don't see women boxing men… this is lunacy to pit male against female. The real winner is the boy that refused to go along with it.
February 18, 2011 at 3:55 pm
"Praise God" was the first thing that came to my mind, too. I'm sure this young gentleman will come under scrutiny and criticism but he is doing the right thing! A young man who refuses to lock his arm through the crotch of a female "opponent" is refreshing, indeed.
February 18, 2011 at 5:10 pm
I wrestled in high school in the 103-pound weight class and I think I forfeited three times to girls due to my refusal to wrestle them. I was disgusted how everyone was encourage me to do it and take sexual pleasure out of it.
February 18, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Great kid, great family, great truth.
February 18, 2011 at 6:47 pm
@anonymous: Praise God there are still some real men in the world.
February 18, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Joel Northrup drives a Chariot of Fire
February 18, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Brendan-
a girl at my high school got to state on, basically, the fact that she was a girl– a lot of guys just refused to wrestle. (Most were doing it to be asses, but I sometimes wonder what the heck she was thinking.)
February 20, 2011 at 10:00 am
Seems like the next guy that had the chance, laid her out like a flopping fish…utterly humiliated her. She should bring a suit. He should have done the sportsperson-like thing and pretended for a while, just spinning her around and rolling to and fro with her like a cheap date.
February 21, 2011 at 4:36 am
The utterly misogynistic comment above is an example of the reasons why some poor girls feel the need to "prove" themselves by competing with men.
February 21, 2011 at 4:45 am
???
Some anonymous commenter points out that the guy who did the honorable thing (who is being attacked as a misogynist, I'll point out), and the guy who faced her on equal grounds wiped the floor with her, using terms that are commonly used for male on male sports, and that's misogynistic?
Count me among the women who doesn't think that pointing out that guys talking about interaction with women who wish to be treated as guys in the same terms that they use with guys indicates a hatred of women, but that may be because I was one of those gals who actually meant it when I said I wanted to be treated like a guy among my social group. (Much less hazardous with geeks, mind you.)
February 21, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Clare: Calm down, and start to think and reflect on what is going on in this awful upside down world we live in.
And with all due respect, glory in that beautiful gift of femininity you were given, and let men be men.