Imagine how it feels for a teenage boy to get on a wrestling mat, in front of hundreds of onlookers, and compete against a girl.

Yes, it is 2011 and we are now 39 years into Title IX, so the idea of boys wrestling girls at the junior high and high school level isn't quite the novelty as it was 10 or 15 years ago.

Last week, one of Iowa's top 112-pound wrestlers refused to compete against a girl in his opening-round match at the high school state tournament in Des Moines. The story made national headlines and sent columnists all across America scurrying to their laptops, including Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, to voice their opinions.

Joel Northrup, a home-schooled 16-year-old sophomore who was competing for Linn-Mar High School, gave the thumbs-down to taking on Cassy Herkelman, 14, a freshman from Cedar Falls, at the Iowa state tourney. Northrup's statement, issued through his school, said that while he respected Herkelman's wrestling ability, his conscience and religious faith did not deem it appropriate for him to wrestle the opposite sex.

Last year, senior Paige Nemec (pic- tured) of Mantua Crestwood High be- came the first girl to qualify to the Ohio state wrestling tournament. (Photo by Bart Freidenberg)

Even if that meant him forfeiting his chances of winning a state title.

When you get to the state tournament level, you're wrestling the best of the best, and Northrup should have been up for any challenge. He took a 35-4 record into the tournament while Herkelman was 20-13 – with every one of her matches coming against boys.

She and Megan Black, from Ottumwa, were the first two girls to ever qualify to the Iowa state wrestling tournament, which started in 1926.

After she beat Northrup by default, Herkelman didn't last long in the tournament. She was pinned in her next two matches, but that's not the point. She competed and didn't back down from anyone, unlike Northrup.

Last year, senior Paige Nemec of Mantua Crestwood High became the first girl to qualify to the Ohio state wrestling tournament, which has been around for 73 years. And guess what, no one backed down from her.

Nemec, a 103-pounder, qualified in Division II and won her opening match, 3-0, over John Martin of Wapakoneta. Nemec lost her next two matches, 3-1 and 8-0, but she finished her wrestling career with more than 100 career victories.

Koester decisions female opponent
Two Eisenhower Middle School wrestlers, Brant Anderson and Tyler Koester, competed against girls this season.

Anderson, an eighth-grader who competes in the 142-pound weight class, wrestled a girl from Clyde at the Genoa Duals and pinned her in the first period.

“He didn't want to wrestle her, because it's a girl,” said Eisenhower coach Tony Resendez, who coached a girl a few years ago when he was the coach at Fassett Middle School.

Last Sunday, Koester wrestled a girl at the Ohio junior high district tournament in Bowling Green. Koester, who is also an eighth-grader, had a lot riding on this tournament – a berth in the state junior high tournament next month in Youngstown.

“Tyler handled it well,” Resendez said. “He did what he had to do to move on.”

Koester, 14, who competes at 176 pounds, went 1-1 in his first two matches before being paired against Kaitlyn Hoskins of Napoleon in the third round. A loss would have ended Koester's dream of making it to state, but he dominated Hoskins and earned a 9-1 decision.

“I was thinking, 'I'm not going to lose,' ” Koester recalled. “If I lose, I'll never live that down. I had my mindset that I was going to win no matter what.”

Koester admitted that had he lost to Hoskins, his teammates “probably would have made fun of me.”

Wrestling against a girl, Koester said, “felt weird,” and added that he couldn't afford to approach the match any differently than he would competing against a boy.

“I was trying to manhandle her, just like I would against anybody else,” he said. “I was trying to be careful. I wasn't going for the pin right away, but I do that with a lot of kids.”

Koester, 14, who competes at 176 pounds, prepares to wrestle Kaitlyn Hoskins of Napoleon in the third round of the junior high district tournament

Resendez said he doesn't instruct his wrestlers to differentiate between competing against a boy or a girl. The goal of any wrestler, male or female, is to win by any means necessary.

“You can't specify how to wrestle a girl,” Resendez said. “You have to wrestle a girl just like you would wrestle a boy. If you don't, then you're going to get caught. Little things can happen in a match, and all you have to do is catch somebody to pin them. If you're scared to touch a girl on the mat, bad things can happen.”

Koester took care of business and advanced to the state tournament, along with Eisenhower teammates Evan True (78 pounds), Caleb Nelson (110), Seth Geghen (114), Gabe Mendoza (124), Matt Stencel (132) and Kevin Witt (142).

“I had to win that match to go to state,” Koester said of his win over Hoskins. “I was going nuts inside. I've seen a bunch of girls wrestling this year and I was glad to get it over with. At the beginning of the match, she was feisty. When I took her down, it was pretty easy.”

I respect Joel Northrup's decision not to wrestle a girl at Iowa's state tournament, because he was merely abiding by his principles.

I also give props to Tyler Koester for qualifying to the junior high state tournament — no matter whom he had to defeat to get there.

Mark Griffin is a Press contributing writer.

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