Cassy Herkelman is declared the first female winner of an Iowa state Tournament match after the boy she was to face cops out on "faith" grounds. Gimme a break!
Imagine a star wrestler who racks up a 35-4 record and is on his way to one of the best seasons ever, including being Iowa State Champion. Imagine then making it to the Iowa state championships and then....get this ....choosing to "default" to a girl wrestler because his religion (or Bible) told him to do so!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wrestler-joel-northrup-forfeits-cassy-herkelman-girl-iowa/story?id=12948252
This is what transpired with Joel Northrup who refused to face off against Cassy Herkelman (not exactly a behemoth - as the photo shows) who is a freshman from Cedar Falls and one of the first of only two girls to qualify in the 85-year history of the tournament.
The tragedy of all this, is that such a talented girl (in the 112 lb. weight class) was denied the golden chance to strut her stuff and show her talents in parlaying a 25-13 record. Despite that, the boy's default put Cassy's name in the record book as the first girl ever to win an Iowa state match.
The boy issued a statement through his school proclaiming "tremendous respect" for Herkelman, but also adding:
"Wrestling is a combat sport and it can violent at times. As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe it is appropriate fore 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 arenas."
But this is bollocks, because more and more girls ARE entering those arenas- thanks to the Title IX regulations- and this includes sports such as wrestling, baseball and football.
It's just a damned shame this kid invokes a religious excuse to wuss out. What? Is he afraid of getting pinned by this girl? That's what it sounds like!
What I'd like to know is where in the Bible (any Bible, including KJV) it says that a man can't confront a woman, or male confront a female, in a sport. I'd also like to know on what "faith" basis a boy is permitted to turn tail and run from a match, using religion as fallguy or crutch. And also how he gets away with merely a "default" and not full forfeit.
It is sad that as bible-bull and nonsense ramps up we can expect to see more and more of these sorry excuses to escape accountability. Here was the chance for Northrup to stand tall, and despite the uncomfortable situation, face it like a man- or at least an honor-bound male. Sorry, Joel, but escaping the match by using this sort of religious excuse isn't honorable and isn't enough to make us proud of you - at least many of us.
There will be or might be another chance for Joel to face Cassy, if both were to make the finals in the consolation bracket. (Since because Joel defaulted and didn't forfeit he's allowed to compete in the consolation rounds).
If that happens, let's hope that next time Joel mans up, and doesn't wuss out with more faith excuses and rationalizations.
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