Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
One hundred twelve pound Cassie Herkelman is a historic figure in Iowa high school sports. Though Iowa has allowed girls to compete against boys in wrestling for two decades, Cassie is the first to win a match in Iowa’s legendary state wrestling tourney. The problem, for some, is that she won by forfeit.
Her opponent Joel Northrup, a home schooler who wrestles for Linn-Mar High School, cited his religious faith as the reason for the decision not to answer the referee’s call to “wrestle.” In a curiously polished statement for a 16-year-old, Northrup said: “As a matter of conscience and 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.”
Northrup prefaced his remarks by saying, “‘I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan [another female wrestler who qualified] and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times.”
Northrup may continue in the double elimination tourney through consolation round matches but can finish no higher than third. Henkleman advances.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, slightly over 6,000 girls competed in wrestling in 2009-10 – compared with nearly 275,000 boys. California, Texas and Hawaii have girls-only wrestling while most other states allow combined competition.
The incident raises several issues: Would it have been fair to ban Northrup from future matches under notions of sportsmanship for forfeiting with no medical reason? Should home-schoolers have the benefit of participating in public school sporting events? Is Northrup a prisoner of conscience or a vestige of Victorian attitudes of chivarly that women are somehow physically and emotionally unworthy of competing against men in physical sports? Should girls and women’s sports be “separate but equal”?
The episode calls to mind the poignant and fact-based film, Chariots of Fire, set during the 1924 Olympics when UK runner Eric Liddell refused a scheduled heat because it fell on Sunday. The strictly religious Liddell was portrayed as heroic in the movie. What are your feelings about Northrup?
Source: Mail Online
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Nal,
I am all for a team expelling a player for refusing to compete if they so choose. After all, forfeiting a match is by definition ‘conduct detrimental to the team’, but I don’t agree that the opponent’s rights are being violated – they are being awarded the victory in redress for any harm done to them. It seems perfectly just to me…
GG,
It’s nice to know you guys have some standards.
Slarti:
OK, what if a Muslim refuses to wrestle a Jew because of religious beliefs? If a white person refused to wrestle a black person, they would be kicked them off the wrestling team. Their bigotry would not be tolerated. Yet if the bigotry is religiously based, it is tolerated.
The rights of their opponents are being violated. Their opponents are not being allowed the same opportunity to compete as other contestants. So, I’m modifying my previous comment. If he doesn’t want to wrestle a girl, he should be kicked off the team. He’s depriving her of the opportunity to compete based on her gender. We wouldn’t tolerate that nonsense if it were based on race, we shouldn’t tolerate based on gender.
There is currently a criminal case in California in which a high school wrestler is accused of sexual battery for a “butt drag” in which coaches have said “accidental or deliberate” anal penetration may occur.
I’m with Slarti——and since when is it news that some home-schooled kids are being fed extreme religious indoctrination?
Nal,
I don’t see any slippery slope here – if someone refuses to wrestle an openly gay person and accepts that they must forfeit as a result, that action, however narrow-minded, is their right. Surely no one should be forced to participate in a sporting event against their will, right? If it became a repeated issue then the school would be free to reconsider letting him participate on the team, but I really don’t see the harm here – I’m all for letting narrow-minded people demonstrate their narrow-mindedness (as long as it doesn’t infringe on other’s rights). It makes them easier to use as cautionary examples…
rcampbell,
(b) wouldn’t be an issue as wrestling is by weight class…
From espn:
“”If it’s his religion and he’s strong in his religion, then I just respect that,” [Ms.] Black [another young lady in the tournament] said. “Obviously, everyone can be pointing fingers at him. He, at least, is true to his beliefs and you have to respect that. It takes a lot for a 15- or 16-year-old boy to do.”
Marth Stetzel, a mother from Perry who had two sons in the tournament, said she had no problem with Northrup’s decision.
“We’re really raising kids that are going to be bigger than wrestling, and if it’s something that he believes strongly in — which is not necessarily what I would do — you’ve got to respect a kid like that,” Stetzel said.”
These two women summed it up as far as I am concerned; but I’ve been trained to be tolerant of other people’s beliefs, even if “not necessarily what I would do”.
rcampbell asks pertinent questions which the swtories on this i’ve heard thus far are mute. This leaves his reasons open to guesswork and in that sense makes his original declining statement suspect. My take is that it was directly about inappropriate contact between males and females. If that is the case we deal with yet another absurdity of some fundamentalists. The fact that the sport is wrestling adss the ironic effect. This is simply because the amount of so-called
“inappropriate touching” if two males compete in wrestling is huge.
Many holds involve the arm or leg of one wrestler over the crotch of another. How gay is that? I’ve wrestled in High Scool Gym classes, watched HS wrestling and watched Olympic Wrestling on TV. Were I gay I could see scenes of a possibly pornographic nature. Were I a homophobe I would see “Godless”
behavior. It is no coincidence that this is overlooked by those engaged in the sport when male v. male is involved. However, this young Christian, in whose wrestling career has no doubt had contact with his male opponent’s genitalia, fails to extrapolate the silliness of his position. To fundamentalists which is the greater “sin” when it comes to being in contact with another’s body parts?
Buddha is Laughing:
Just so you know, michellefrommadison is not on our payroll. And we would not want her.
Although we think she is using sarcasm to denigrate Egyptian culture and mores. We think she is doing it the wrong way.
A couple of “may a thousand fleas infest your armpits” would be more appropriate.
I’m not sure I understand the young man’s religious objection. Is the concern that his holy book forbids him from wrestling against the girl because of….
a) what he believes to be inapprpriate male/female phyical contact?
b) a disparity of body size and thereby a concern for the girls’ safety in the match?
c) the girls being in the competeion at all?
d) other
e) all the above
I believe that in some states students who are home-schooled can compete on public school athletic teams. I agree with Nal. I have no problem with it. In fact, I’m in favor of it. Why should those children be deprived of participating on local sports teams? I think it’s a good way for home-schooled students to learn more about their community and to get to know their peers–and maybe to strike up some friendships.
His actions.
Mr. “Northrup was a state title contender. He was 38-4 last year placing third at 103 pounds as a freshman. Northrup is ranked fifth with a 35-4 record.” easterniowasports.com
Where is the evidence that he was afraid?
excellent point nal……
Buddha….I have stayed away from the martial arts just for that reason….too much work…
I’ve got no problem with him being home-schooled and being on the high school wrestling team. I assume that his parents pay taxes that support the public school system.
If he doesn’t want to wrestle girls because of some
sillyreligious reason, and is willing to accept the forfeiture, that’s his decision.What if he refused to wrestle a openly gay opponent for religious reasons? Damn these slippery slopes.
Combat sport? In all the martial arts classes I have taken over the years, there have always been females in the classes and they participated in sparring and tournaments like all the other students. And *gasp* some of them were even instructors. Prowess in martial arts has less to do with genitalia than it does with conditioning and skill. Indeed, one of the very reasons for the training is to teach a smaller person how to defend themselves against a larger attacker. He was simply afraid. Afraid his machismo would be damaged by having a public thumping by a girl.
This poor kid is being fed divisive B.S. “Religious reasons?” Unless this boy if from some other country, chances are his “religion” calls for women to be treated as property, and this should not be rewarded in any fashion.
As Yankee asked, how does a home-schooler earn the right to compete in a public school setting?
Wait. He’s a homeschooler, but he’s on the local high school wrestling team?
He takes the hits where he sees them… He is treating her different based on religion…. I could see an infringement or adoption of religion if he is allowed to not have the forfeit loss stand…it was a voluntary choice he made based on his beliefs….Not hers…. She on the other hand has engaged in this sport and should be treated like any other player…
If Joel Northrup is sincere in his statement and why shouldn’t he be ? I find that to be a good thing.