Iowa Wrestler Joel Northrup: A true gentleman - overcoming selfish parents

This is not what victory looks like!

This boy did an admirable thing and did it with grace. The girls parents on the other hand? They should be ashamed, their happiness in her "victory" shows their distorted view of reality:

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- 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 Northrup, 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 Northrup. "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 Associated Press, her father, Bill Herkelman, said he understands Northrup'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 Northrup family especially since it was made on the biggest stage in wrestling. I have heard nothing but good things about the Northrup family and hope Joel does very well the remainder of the tourney."

Linn-Mar athletics director Scott Mahmens said the school would not penalize Northrup for defaulting. Because he defaulted and didn't forfeit, Northrup 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.

Read more: Sports Illustrated

Really? Girls wrestling with boys? Has feminism really lost its mind? Wait - don't answer, that was rhetorical. How stupid, to make a young man with morals and principles choose them over his sport like this. The girls parents, the Iowa HS Athletic Association, and everyone involved with this mess should be ashamed.

And for those of you about to argue: "The girls qualified though!" So? This isn't an argument about that. I have no doubt there are some killer female athletes. I just don't think boys and girls should compete against each other in most sports, especially ones like wrestling where the physical contact is so intimate and touchy. Yes, I know gay boys probably compete, but they are the ones having to make the decision and deal with any uncomfortableness.  When a girl competes any guys that don't believe boys and girls should have such intimate contact are forced to make moral decisions that shouldn't be an impediment to the sport.

I applaud Joel Northrup and hope some Homeschool group or Christian organization awards him some sort of award or scholarship for his decision.

UPDATE:
So apparantely Mr. Northrup, Joel's dad, has gone on record with the DesMoines Register, explaining how his son came to the decision to default on his match:

The father of Linn-Mar wrestler Joel Northrup said the choice not to wrestle Cassy Herkelman at the Iowa High School State wrestling tournament today was a family decision — and an “agonizing” one, at that.

“We spent a couple of days agonizing over this,” Jamie Northrup told The Register this afternoon when asked about his son, who defaulted his first-round match at 112 in Class 3-A rather than wrestler Herkelman. “And just giving to Joel to really allow him to make the decision.”

Instead of wrestling Herkelman, the younger Northrup — a sophomore who took a 35-4 record into state and was considered one of the top contenders in his weight class — left the mat and issued the following statement to the press:

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for [Cassy] and [Ottumwa's Megan Black, the other state qualifier] 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 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.”

With Joel defaulting, Herkelman, who was chronologically the first girl wrestler to qualify for state since it’s been sanctioned by the Iowa High School Athletic Association, therefore became the first girl to have her arm raised at state — which took place at approximately 9:12 a.m.

Joel’s father is a youth pastor at Believers In Faith Church, a non-denominational church in Marion, as well as a volunteer chaplain with the United States Army.

“Joel made the decision that he felt was the right decision,” Jamie Northrup continued. “And it aligned with his beliefs and his values and conscience.”

Do you see that? The decision was agonizing! As he put it in his statement:

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for [Cassy] and [Ottumwa's Megan Black, the other state qualifier] 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 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.”

This wasn't about not thinking that girls can compete or are at a boys level, it is about conscience and faith. But feminist-liberal school officials don't care about things like conscience or faith. 

What a shame - this poor boy had to act like a man because a bunch of adults acted and thought like children.

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