It seems like a lose-lose situation for the boy. If he wins, he beat a girl. If he loses, well then he got beat by a girl.
She Won By Default, Not By Forfeit
The boy scheduled to wrestle against her claimed a religious reason for not contacting her. Had he forfeited he would have been ineligible to continue. Instead he is credited with a loss and may continue in the tournament. He was considered the top wrestler at the 112 pound weight class and by taking a loss passed up the opportunity to be State Champion. There is a second girl in that weight class in the same bracket. She was pinned in the first round, so they may meet tonight or tommorow in the consolation rounds.
I wrestled in high school and I believe I would have wrestled a girl on the mat in front of a crowd.
Paul in PA
Second Girl, Loses Twice And Is Out
Megan Black was pinned twice and is out of the Iowa State toutnament. Her final record for the year is 25-15. At 112 these girls are not bulging with muscle.
Joel Northrup who defaulted to Cassy Herkelman in the first round had a 9-0 decision in the first consolation round.
Paul in PA
Herkelman's reasons for forfeiting seem to have more to do with his attitudes toward women than with the possibility that he might injure his opponent. My niece, who won the CA girl's state wrestling championship in her weight class at 18 and now, at 22, holds a couple of world titles in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, never worried much about kicking a guy's butt in a match when she was in high school.
CA, Has A Separate Girls Tournament
Cassy Herkelman is the girl who won by default over the boy Joel Northrup. It had nothing to do with injuring her, he said his faith said no to such touching.
It was his statement and he felt justified in making it.
Paul in PA
CA, Has A Separate Girls Tournament
> It had nothing to do with injuring her, he said his faith said no to such touching.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan [Black] and their accomplishments," Northrup said in a statement given to the media following his official forfeit. "However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times.
He goes on to make a vague mention of conscience and faith, but specifically cited combat and violence. He's free to choose his matches using whatever criteria he likes, but fear of hurting a delicate little girl would be met with derision by the women wrestlers I know.
He Also Would Not Wrestle Megan Black A Few Years Ago
She has no problem, and says at least he is consistent.
Paul in PA
> It seems like a lose-lose situation for the boy. If he wins, he beat a girl. If he loses, well then he got beat by a girl.
Do you think he was afraid he would pop wood during the match? I remember that age. A gentle breeze or a brush up against the door could set me off.
Oh and by the way... i think boys and girls should not compete in contact sports together.
That is a no win situation that the kid should not have been forced into.
At the beginning of the day, a show of hands would have been made to see who was willing to be matched against a girl. Then the ground rules should have been explained before the match began.
I am with this kid, I would not have fought a girl at his age and will walk away from a physical fight with one today.
I don't know much about wrestling, but
I know that if it comes down to mano a mano, plenty of the cowgirls around my neck o' the woods would not bat an eyelash about taking down a cowboy twice their size. The dudes may have some misguided macho feeling that they wouldn't or shouldn't harm a wee ballerina.
Hence, big edge to the ballerinas.
CA, Has A Separate Girls Tournament
I had to wrestle three girls during my HS career and had no issues. The last one was my senior year and I wrestled at 160lbs. She was tough and we went three rounds. The score was in my favor at the end 5-4 and I wrestled at state as well. No matter your opponents gender, you have to respect them as, and treat them as, a competitor. I think Jim hit the nail on the head in this case.
Iowa State Wrestling Tournament Update
After winning by default Thursday when Joel Northrup refused to wrestle her, Herkleman lost 5-1 to Indianola's Matt Victor in a Thursday night quarterfinal. In consolation rounds today Herkelman (21-14) was pinned by Jordan Jones and is now out of the tournament.
Minutes after Herkelman was eliminated, her first-round opponent, Joel Northrup lost, 3-2 in overtime to Tyler Willers. Northrup was ranked fifth at 112-pounds left the tournament after winning once and losing twice. He will not place in the top eight of the weight class.
Paul in PA
