Cedar Falls freshman Cassy Herkelman made Iowa wrestling history Thursday when she became the first female wrestler to win a match at the state tournament. She did so when her opponent, Joel Northrup, defaulted on their first-round match rather than face a girl.
Northrup, a home-schooled sophomore wrestling for Linn-Mar, was considered one of the favorites to win the 112-pound weight class. After defaulting his first match, however, he now must wrestle in the consolation bracket.
“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,” Northrup said in a statement, referring to Herkelman and Ottumwa sophomore Megan Black, the first girls ever to qualify for the state tournament.
“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.”
It would be hard enough to lose to a girl, but losing to a home-schooled girl would be even worst. I bet the girl is a really good wrestler, but having a guy wrestle a girl is too much pressure on the guy. First off, by wrestling, even though it’s a sport, I’m sure he’s gonna feel a bit weird having to brush up on her lady parts, even by accident. Second, if wins, he gets teased for beating up a girl by his friends. If he loses, he’ll never live it down.