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| When it became apparent that his opponent in the state tournament wrestling match would be a girl., e would be facing off against a girl, Joel Northrup, forfeited his match to her. As a Christian, Joel is serious about his faith, and so he could not in good conscience wrestle with a girl due to the manner in which a wrestler must grapple with their opponent.
If only we had more boys raised to respect the fairer sex as much as Joel has been. His parents are homeschooling him. but he has been allowed to wrestle with the Lin-Mar of Marion Iowa. So Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls was able to win her first match at the Iowa State High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2011.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan (Black, the tournament's other female entrant) and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. 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 of the high school sports in Iowa."
Linn-Mar Athletic Director Scott Mahmens did speak with the media, (Video above ) and said Northrup's parents are not at the tournament. Mahmens added that nobody from the school tried to influence Northrup, who is home schooled, to wrestle or not wrestle.
"He's a Linn-Mar Lion, and we're going to support what he's doing," Mahmens said. "Obviously his beliefs are more important to him (than a chance at a state title)."
His coach Doug Streicher did not speak with the media after the match.
What a terrible position for this poor kid. Who thought girls should be wrestling against.
Edited by yahooo 2/21/2011 20:55
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Iowa Wrestler Forfeited State Title Wouldn’t Grapple A Girl?
