Rather than face girl, wrestler defaults

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DES MOINES, Iowa -- 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.

“
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.
”
-- Joel Northup
"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 and Northup were 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 Associated 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 Associations, 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

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=6131909

where else but iowa?

what are your guys thoughts on this one

We had a girl our wrestling team, but I never really considered her part of the team since she never put in the work and only wresled maybe 3 matches total.
I remember one time she got slammed by this dude and the whole crowd boo'd and she rolled around like she was hurt. It was a perfectly legal move.

But did he get some?

I just saw this. I think it sucks to put a guy in this situation. A friend of mine had to face a girl in high school and I felt so bad for him, if he wins, he beat a girl. If he loses, he got beat by a girl. That's just a lose lose for any boy, that's not far. My friend literally didn't know what to do he kind of just let her win, you could tell he wasn't trying to win he was just trying not to hurt the girl.

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The three high school wrestlers that have been the center of national attention have all lost in the consolation round of the state tournament.

On Wednesday, Joel Northrup of Linn Mar defaulted his first round match to Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls.

Herkelman and Megan Black, of Ottumwa, were the first girls to wrestle in the state tournament in its 87-year history.

Herkelman went on to the quarterfinals where she lost to Matt Victor of Indianola, 5-1.

In consolation round two, Herkelman was pinned by Des Moines North's Jordan Jones in 1:21.

Northrup won his first consolation round match by winning a 9-0 major decision over Glenwood's Same Jameson. In his next consolation round match, Northrup was pinned by Pleasant Valley's Tyler Willers at 3:50.

Black was pinned in her first match by Bettendorf's Logan Ryan in 52 seconds. In the consolation round, she was pinned by Mason City's Andres Gonzalez in 3:15.

The tournament continues through Saturday in Des Moines.

We use to try to prove a point that they didn't belong, no mercy.

Joel Northrup, left, and Cassy Herkelman at the Iowa state wrestling tournament.