Joel Northrup was a favorite to win the 112-pound weight class in Iowa’s state high school tournament this year. When Northrup was scheduled to face off against female wrestler, Cassy Herkelman, in the first round, his hopes to win a state championship changed in the blink of an eye.
Northrup refused to wrestle a girl because it went against his conscious and religious beliefs. He issued this statement through his school, “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.”
Herkelman did not feel insulted by Northrup’s decision.
“He had the right to make his own choice, and he made his choice, “ said Herkelman. “It’s not like he did what he didn’t want to do.”
Similar feelings were stated by Herkelman’s dad.
“That’s their belief, and I praise them for sticking to it. This is the biggest stage in wrestling in the state, I would say, and they stuck to their beliefs when it probably tested it the most,” he said. “It was probably a tough pill for him to swallow.”
Herkelman lost her following two matches and was eliminated from the tournament. Northrup was also eliminated completely after losing his first match in the consolation bracket.
This situation could never happen in a college sport because the NCAA does not have coed sports. Lewis Softball player Alex Washkowiak and baseball player Tom Helwich explained how they felt about letting members of the opposite sex play in their sport.
“I feel that men should not be allowed to play women’s softball just as women are not allowed to play men’s baseball,” said Washkowiak. “Although they seem like similar sports to non players looking in, they are very different and it would be really hard for someone who plays baseball to be able to succeed at softball. Men control most sports and fast-pitch softball is a sport that women have and it would be unfair if men were allowed to play.”
Tom had parallel feelings about allowing women to play baseball, yet for different reasons.
“I do not believe that women should be able to play men’s NCAA baseball,” Helwich said. “I just feel that it goes against baseball’s past. If there were to be a woman that played in the pros then maybe I could see a change, but until then I just don’t think it’s something that baseball needs.”
Washkowiak and Helwich also responded to the current equality of male and female NCAA sports.
“I do not think men and women sports are treated equally by the NCAA,” Washkowiak said. “I believe that men sports have greater opportunities than the female sports. For example, sport television channels rarely show girls college sports; their focus is on men’s college sports.”
Helwich disagreed with Washkowiak on this question. “Yes, I feel that the NCAA treats women’s sports equally to men. Each school has an equal number of sports between men and women. I just don’t see how it is unfair.”
“Although there are not many ways I can think of religion having an impact on the game, I would never let my religious beliefs impact anything about the game,” Washkowiak said about religion impacting her in softball. “The only way we show our religion during softball is by having a team prayer prior to the game.”
The Lewis Flyers baseball team will play a total of 18 games in March, which includes four games at home. Also, the Flyers softball team will start March off with ten games in different Florida locations.
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