A high school wrestler from Iowa and favorite to win the 112-pound class at the state tournament, Northup walked away from the mat without laying a finger on his opponent, Cassy Herkelman, a female wrestler from another school.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan (Black) and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times," Northup said in a statement. "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."
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than 6,000 girls - compared to nearly 275,000 boys - competed in wrestling in the last school year. California, Hawaii and Texas offer girls-only high school tournaments, but most states require girls to wrestle against boys.
Northup, who was 35-4 and competed as a member of the Linn-Mar wrestling team, did not forfeit the match but instead defaulted; the distinction is important because by defaulting Northup is still eligible to wrestle in consolation rounds.
Scott Mahmens, the athletic director at Linn-Mar, said that the school supports Northup's decision. "Obviously his beliefs are more important to him (than a chance at a state title)," Mahmens told the Des Moines Register. Northup is home-schooled but wrestles with the Linn-Mar program.
Herkelman advances to the second round of the tournament and will wrestle again on Friday.
Her father told the Associated Press that he understood Northup's decision.
"It's nice to get the first win and have her be on the way to the medal round," Bill Herkelman wrote in a text message to the AP. "I sincerely respect the decision of the Northup family especially since it was made on the biggest stage in wrestling. I have heard nothing but good things about the Northup family and hope Joel does very well the remainder of the tourney."
While Northup and Herkelman made headlines for not wrestling, Megan Black and Logan Ryan made history for getting on the mat Thursday.
According to the Register, Black and Ryan became the first male-female competitors to face one another in Iowa's state high school wrestling tournament, which began in 1926. Ryan, ranked No. 3 in the 112-pound weight class, pinned Black in 52 seconds. Black lost in her consolation round match to Andres Gonzalez later on Thursday.
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