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'I look up to you'
Hilton Head High's first female wrestler garners few wins, plenty of fans
BY RYAN O'CONNOR, The Island Packet
Other stories by Ryan O'Connor
Published Sunday, February 8th, 2004
Pinned on a bulletin board in Andrea Dryden's bedroom is a drawing she holds close to her heart.
It was given to her by Griffin Bradley, the younger sister of Hilton Head High School wrestler Logan Bradley, following a wrestling match against James Island at the Battery Creek Duals in mid-January.
The drawing was of Dryden in her singlet with the words "Go Seahawks" bannered across the top. The artwork was nice, but what Bradley scrawled on the back stuck with Dryden -- the words "I look up to you."
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Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
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"It was really cool. It shocked me," said Dryden, a senior who this season became the first female varsity record in Hilton Head High history.
"This has made me a stronger person," Dryden added. "I don't doubt myself any more."
Throughout the year, wrestlers, coaches and fans have offered encouragement, including Spring Valley's Tyler Thompson, one of the top-ranked wrestlers in Dryden's 103-pound weight class, who approached her between matches at December's Stratford Duals tournament.
"He came up to me and said he wanted to see me wrestle," Dryden said. "That was pretty cool. ... He asked me how I was doing this season. That surprised me."
The cheerleader-turned-wrestler also has earned the respect of her teammates and her coach, John Hollman.
"I can't put into words the amount of respect and admiration I have for that girl," Hollman said. "She has gone through and endured more than thousands of male students that have gone through this school."
The decision
Dryden was never a wrestling fan. She rarely watched the sport. Didn't know much about it.
That was until she started dating Alex Piper, who graduated last year after winning a 2003 state championship and setting the school's all-time victory record.
"I rarely watched (wrestling) before him," Dryden said. "I wanted to support him, so I was always out there. I knew what (wrestling) was, but that is about it. I knew the basics."
The more Dryden watched Piper, the more she wanted to try wrestling herself.
After mulling the decision for nearly six months, Dryden decided to give it a try and informed Piper and Hollman of her decision.
"I wasn't really sure what to believe, because she did come to the freestyle practices that took place during the off season," Piper said. "Her and another girl started to learn some of the basics, but was just kind of for fun and games. They didn't attend any tournament. After that, she was telling me that she was going to go out for the regular team next year. And I believed her, but I wasn't sure if she would still do it when the time came around. I always thought she was capable of doing it, but I'm not sure she believed she could do it because I always talked about how hard it was on me and that no girls have ever made it past the first two days of preseason conditioning."
Dryden not only endured preseason drills, she earned the starting spot at 103.
The season
The Seahawks' home-opener. Fans crowd the bleachers. Craning their necks to see senior standouts Chris Newton and Matt Spado.
And, to see a certain first-year wrestler.
"It was nice to have that much support," Dryden said. "It's hard to get into a sport that is predominately male."
Surrounded by teammates, and with coach John Hollman in her face barking encouragement, Dryden made her way to the scorer's table, then the mat, serenaded by the loudest ovation of the night. A few fans held up hand-painted signs that read, "We Love You Andrea."
Dryden lost by technical pin, 16-1, to Goose Creek's T.J. Thatcher, but Dryden found victory even in defeat.
After all, Dryden was making history.
"Mrs. (Obie) Schramm (mother of two Seahawk wrestlers) said to me, 'You're out there. You're the one doing it. That's enough. That's all you need to do,' " Dryden said.
But Dryden didn't consider the job done. Those first few matches weren't enough. She wanted to improve. She wanted to win.
"Everyone has doubts. Every athlete comes to a point where they are sick of losing," Dryden said. "But it made me want it more, to work harder to achieve my goal."
Then, it happened.
During the Stratford Duals on Dec. 19, Dryden won her first match, other than by forfeit, when she defeated North Myrtle Beach's Mike Lavender.
"It felt good," Dryden said. "I was not so much surprised, I was just glad it happened."
That victory merely fueled her desire for more wins.
"I have noticed a big improvement (in her wrestling)," teammate Calvin Murray said. "She has gotten a lot quicker with her techniques. She has gotten a lot better."
To help improve her techniques, Dryden turned to Piper.
"I gave her a lot of advice, and I knew it would be hard for her to take it all in, in the first year," Piper said.
"I told her stuff like work hard in practice and drill with someone who is better than you and will force you to work hard and get better. When I was in town during breaks, that's when I helped her the most because I could work with her one-on-one.
"Coach Hollman has a lot of other guys to worry about, so it's hard to get one-on-one help with everyone. She would tell me stuff that she couldn't do, and I would show her the right way and correct her problems. She would go out and do it during practice, and I would say, 'I told you so,' or, 'Yeah, that's how you do it.' "
Though Dryden hasn't won on the mat since that December match at Stratford, she has impressed plenty of opponents.
"She's not too bad for her first year," said T.J. Hall, a 103-pound wrestler from Summerville. "She is pretty good."
Lessons learned
Dryden is asked what she has learned about herself this season and leans back in her chair, staring at the table when a smile appears on her face. It's a smile of pride, a smile of accomplishment.
"This has been everything I have expected and more," Dryden said. "I wouldn't change anything. I really mean that."
Her only regret?
That she waited until her senior year to give wrestling a try.
Dryden's historic run will end soon -- she didn't advance out of this weekend's Region 8-AAAA individual tournament, and the 11-11 Seahawks open the state team tournament Monday. She hopes her legacy will live on, though. This season, she joined the likes of golfer Reilley Rankin and soccer player Beth Keller, who played with the boys at Hilton Head High at a time when girls teams for their sport did not exist.
"I would never discourage anyone from doing it, because no one discouraged me," Dryden said. "They knew I could do it."
Five words on the back of a child's picture told her that. Those five words made it all worthwhile.
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2004 Region 3 Girls Wrestling Finals
Region 3 qualifier for Girls State Championships 01/31/2004
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Physical challenge
Bayshore grappler tests herself against male foes
MIKE HENRY 2/10/04
Herald Staff Writer
BRADENTON - Bayshore High sophomore Brittanny Garrick spent part of Monday in the training room instead of running laps with her teammates on the Bruins' wrestling team.
"I hyperextended my knee Thursday (in the Manatee County Tournament), and I made a deal with the trainer that I wouldn't wrestle Saturday," Garrick said.
Instead, the 15-year-old donned a uniform and headgear and competed at an eight-team area tournament at Sarasota High. Her knee wasn't the only thing hurting Monday; Garrick's right shoulder was sore, forcing her to the sidelines for a couple days.
But if the 125-pounder has her way, she'll be back in the wrestling room today to begin preparations for Saturday's Class 2A-District 11 tournament at Manatee High.
"Finishing the season will be a reward in itself. I'm proud of that," Garrick said.
"Brittanny is stubborn," said her friend, Alison Wright, a statistician for the wrestling team. "The more you tell her she can't do something, the more determined she is to do it.
"Wrestling definitely seems like a Brittanny thing," added Wright, who said Garrick's example has inspired her to try out for the team next year. "It suits her personality.
"She is not a 'girlie-girl, I broke a nail - big, fat, hairy deal' girl," Wright said. "She wants to get out and pin one of the guys."
Garrick has one pin against a wrestler from Englewood Lemon Bay for her lone victory. But in most of her 20 matches, she's fallen victim to the natural order of things - that is, the fact most 15-year-old boys are stronger than 15-year-old girls.
"The big difference between Brittanny and the guys she wrestles is muscular strength," Bayshore coach Trevor Johnson said. "Boys have testosterone, girls have estrogen, and when you get to the teenage years, boys are a lot stronger." But Johnson thinks Garrick can become a decent high school wrestler if she sticks with it.
"She gets in good positions and does everything right, but she's not strong enough to get the moves," Johnson said. "As her technique continues to improve, I think she'll be a wrestler to be reckoned with next year or the year after."
Garrick's interest in wrestling was piqued through her friendship with Bayshore 135-pounder David Van Metre and his cousin, Damian Van Metre, who graduated from Bayshore last year.
"I thought it would be cool and more challenging than the other sports I was thinking of playing, like volleyball and softball," Garrick said. "I used to skateboard with my friends, so it's not like I'm not used to doing stuff."
Garrick tore an Achilles tendon last year skateboarding, and her mother, Kathi Garrick, worries she will get injured wrestling. She also has asthma, which causes her to tire toward the end of a full three-period match.
But for now, Garrick is having fun spreading her wings and testing herself beyond the norm.
"I've always had a real high pain tolerance. I downplay every injury," she said.
Johnson and Garrick's teammates admire her pluck, resolve and the improvement she has made since the beginning of the season. From all accounts, so do the majority of her opponents; Garrick said the entire team from Port Charlotte was in her corner at one tournament.
"Having a girl on the team was definitely not something I went looking for," Johnson said. "The ones who have come out in past years wanted me to take it easy on them.
"But if I'm going to have a girl on the team, I'm going to expect her to do the same things everyone else does. Brittanny has never asked for anything else, and it's been a pleasure to coach her," Johnson said. "It's a credit to her to make it through four months with all you have to go through."
"She is tougher than most girls I know," said 119-pound Daniel Sapuppo, who practices moves with Garrick.
"She knows the moves," said 215-pounder Shane Hamm. "Guys who are physically stronger can muscle her, but Brittanny works just as hard as the rest of us. She's a fighter who doesn't quit."
If her injuries keep her from competing Saturday, Garrick vows to return next year tougher, stronger and capable of holding her own. She plans to work out in the summer with an aunt who is a bodybuilder to improve her chance of success.
"It's hard to explain why I like it, but there's an adrenaline rush that comes with wrestling," Garrick said. "My ultimate goal is to get my name on the board in our gym by winning district or qualifying for state."
Judging from her determination, those objectives seem within reach.
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Reenie Belamide
School: Hogan
Sport: Wrestling
Weight Class: 116
Grade: 12
Won the Region II
tournament in Stockton
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No practice makes perfect for wrestler
By RHONDA REASON-THOMAS, Times-Herald correspondent 2/3/04
No practice, no problem. One day before the first-ever Region II girls wrestling tournament, Hogan High School senior Reenie Belamide and a few teammates skipped practice to attend a senior snow trip in the mountains.
Their coach, Ric Manibusan, was only expecting his team to show up in the top three of the tournament winners.
But when Belamide snowballed her first two opponents with pins, it became possible that Hogan had a chance to win the first section wrestling title with one more pin.
In the final match, Belamide's pin on Vallejo's Elizabeth Bustamonte helped the Spartans pull a major upset in the first-ever section tournament. She also won the individual title for the 116-pound weight class.
Tournament participants were top wrestlers from the Sac Joaquin and Central Joaquin sections.
After trailing throughout the tournament, Hogan defeated Vallejo 102-101 at Stockton's Edison High School. Belamide iced her first two opponents scoring near falls and reversals before nailing them on the mat with pins.
Before pinning her second opponent, Ashley Sage of Vallejo, Belamide had to work through the toughness of her young opponent.
"She was pretty strong," Belamide said of her opponent.
"Being Jaime Sage's little sister, I expected her to be strong. She's fast, too.
"I think she knew the type of shots I was going to take, so I tried to use different moves. I did a front headlock and duck under to pin her in the first round," she said.
During the finals match against Bustamonte, Belamide thought the snow trip and day off from practice might be catching up with her.
"She put me on my back a couple of times," Belamide said. "My last match was really sloppy, because I didn't practice the night before and went on the senior snow trip. That really hurt me in the tournament."
Bustamonte had a 14-7 lead on Belamide at one point in the match. Then the loud voice of Manibusan prompted Belamide into further action.
"Time was running out. I got her into the Peterson by catching her arm and rolling her to her back, then I heard my coach yelling, 'I don't want points, I need you to pin her!' she said.
From the Peterson, Belamide rolled on top of Bustamonte for the win.
Manibusan was happy for the success of the Spartans and agreed that Belamide put up a tough fight in the final match.
"Ms. Bustamonte was well prepared for the match. She scouted Reenie very well and took advantage of it," Manibusan said. "The only thing we could do is to keep our composure and when Reenie pulled it off, it was great."
Over the years of coaching Belamide, Manibusan has watched her competitive spirit grow along with her talents.
"When the competitive spirit gets in them, you have to get them to strive a little bit more," he said. "Reenie understood that and she pulled it off, knowing that she needed to give a little bit more. It showed that she can dig in deep and make things happen," said Manibusan.
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Tam High girl wins state wrestling crown
By Jason Wilson , IJ correspondent 2/8/04
VALLEJO - Anne Campbell spent much of yesterday perched on the bleachers at Vallejo High, spectating at the California Girls Wrestling Championships.
Sitting is pretty much all Campbell did Friday as well. A junior from Tamalpais wrestling in the 237-pound division, she could only wait because there weren't enough wrestlers in her weight class for two days of wrestling. It was more like a wait class.
Even when she finally made it the mat, Campbell got in a little more than 3 minutes of mat time. Those minutes, however, were enough to make her a state champion.
Campbell won both her matches by pin to claim the 237-pound title last night. There were just .2 seconds left on the clock in the first period when Campbell pinned April Frank of Mesa Verde of Citrus Heights for the title.
"Yes, it was most definitely worth the wait," Campbell said.
Campbell was one of five Marin wrestlers competing at the meet but the only one to reach the finals. Freshman Kristen Esterheld finished fourth at 197 pounds, but Kristina Koenning (Novato, 122 pounds), Kelly Coplin (Redwood, 116) and Karin Fisher (Redwood, 100) were eliminated in their first matches of the day in the consolation bracket.
The event featured 196 wrestlers from 96 schools across the state.
Yesterday's title match was the second time this season that Campbell (10-2) has pinned Frank. The two had split a pair of matches this season, the most recent of which was won by Frank when Campbell said she "made a bit of a mistake and (Frank) fell on me. I need to make sure that doesn't happen again."
It happened again, but this time it was Campbell who came out on top. As they grappled on their feet late in the first period, Campbell made a move that sent both of them to the mat. Campbell got the takedown, and worked Frank onto her back for the pin before the end of the round.
"I don't remember what happened. We fell side-by-side. I pinned her first." Campbell said. "That's what we do."
Campbell said she had a plan going into the match but didn't do a very good job sticking to it.
"I've been working on some moves - I seem to always go for the head and arms. I wanted to mix it up a bit," Campbell said. "But if that is what keeps working, we'll take it."
Campbell needed just 1:10 to pin Chelsea Barakman of San Leandro in the semifinals.
"It could've turned out really bad," Campbell said. "She had my head and tried to twist me down. When we went down I kind of rolled back (into a headlock). When we hit the mat, I was seeing little dots of light in front of my head."
Campbell was won all 10 of her matches by pin this season.
While Campbell won the state title, but it isn't the same as winning a competition for her school. The California Girls Wrestling Championships is not a sanctioned California Interscholastic Federation event, and while the Marin competitors supported one another and helped each other over the past two days, it's an individual and not a team event.
Campbell said that a win during the coming Marin County Athletic Tournament, which will include both genders, would be significant because it would be for the team, not just her. The MCAL finals will be in two weeks at Drake High.
"The state championship is for me. MCALs is for the team," Campbell said. "The guys will see that and it will affect the team."
Esterheld, who won both of her matches Friday, went 1-2 on the final day. She was bounced into the consolation bracket after being pinned by Vanessa Gutierrez of Gilroy 1:13 into the second period of their semifinal bout. Esterheld bounced back in the consolation semifinals, pinning Ashlee Mikaio of Bear Creek 21 seconds into the third period for a berth in the third-place match.
Esterheld, however, couldn't counter the bulk and experience of Heather Green of Los Banos. Green, a senior, defeated Esterheld 14-2 in the third-place match. Esterheld was aggressive at the start, but the shorter Green was able to use her lower center of gravity and experience to win the match.
"I feel pretty good. She is a senior and I am a freshman, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad," Esterheld said. "But I do."
Esterheld suffered a mat burn near her eye during the match and was lying in pain after Green aggravated a previous shoulder injury with an illegal hold in the second period. A visibly angry Esterheld was more aggressive in the second period, but her three attempts to bring down Green with leg whips didn't meet any success.
But Esterheld has three more years to find her way to the finals.
"Coach (Paval Gutari) taught me a lot ... told me I wrestled smart," Esterheld said. "I made a lot of friends during the season."
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Wrestling: Lee not lacking for Volunteers
By Bryan Adams 2/9/04
Special to the Express-News
High school wrestling has slowly gained popularity in San Antonio, and not just with boys.
William Luther/Express-News) |
Lee , the only school at Saturday's District 30 Tournament to have a wrestler in all 10 weight classes, captured the district girls title by edging Judson 129-96.
Lee coach Bobby Allen said the number of girls on his team has doubled every year the past four years.
"We just keep getting more girls and keep getting better," Allen said. "A lot of our girls go out and recruit other kids to be on the team. They look for what they want and whom they think can help us. They know what it takes, they look for it and they go get them."
Reagan finished third with 53 points, followed by Madison (40) and MacArthur (23).
Lee's girls won five gold medals and qualified eight for the regional tournament, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Blossom. Churchill won the boys competition with 199 points to MacArthur's 169.
Leading the way for the Volunteers was senior Nina Loera (25-5), who wrestled at 148 pounds in a "must-win situation." Loera defeated Reagan's Brittany Jones, whom she had never beaten, 17-2.
"I made a promise to my grandma, before she died last year, that I would win district, regionals and state," Loera said. "It feels great to be going back (to regionals), but it feels good to win for her."
Loera, who played volleyball her freshman year, said she took up wrestling to keep in shape during the offseason. She liked it so much she quit volleyball to focus on wrestling.
"More girls are starting to see that it's a fun sport," Loera said. "Our school isn't really good in other sports, but a lot of people respect our girls wrestling team."
Also winning Saturday from Lee were Cristina Aguilar in the 95-pound class, Dannyell Walker (128), Lisa Obregon (215) and Sarah Schumacher (138).
"Girls wrestling is building year after year," Schumacher said. "My freshman year we had about five girls and now we have a full team with depth. It's really great to see that."
Kim Hernandez, a senior 110-pound wrestler at Judson with a 25-0 record, captured her third-straight district title. Hernandez, who finished second at state last year, dropped 18 pounds and two weight classes this season.
Hernandez said there were 23 girls in her division at regionals last year and 10 the year before.
"Girls wrestling is definitely on the rise," Hernandez said. "Any girl who's thinking about it, I'd tell them to do it and prove that it's not just a man's sport."
Also standing out for Judson's girls team was Casey Attrip (12-0), who wrestled in the 165-pound division, winning her fourth district championship when she pinned Lee's Sharon Greenhill 34 seconds into the match.
"When I was a freshman we had three girls," Attrip said. "Now we have about 15. A bunch of the girls who came out their sophomore year didn't even know we had a team their freshman year. The word is getting out."
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Hold on region not out of reach
By Kathleen Kavanagh, Globe Correspondent, 2/9/2004
CANTON -- Girls' high school wrestling is grappling for recognition in the Northeast, as dedicated coaches and gritty and talented young athletes attempt to put the sport on the map.
The performances at yesterday's second annual Girls' New England Wrestling Championships at Canton High School indicate a bright future for the sport.
"I do see a growth," tournament director and Canton wrestling coach Tom Bartosek said of the sport. "The quality of competition has definitely gotten a lot better. We had three All-Americans out there and it's fantastic to see that competition. It's good for the other girls to see what they can shoot for."
Most of the 39 competitors wrestle for mostly male high school teams. For some, yesterday was the first time they wrestled another female. The event is a rare but much-deserved opportunity for the wrestlers, said Robert Shaw, USA Wrestling's girls' director for Connecticut.
"The girls who are here [wrestle] despite all the barriers. They struggle through and do it anyways, and that's desire," Shaw said. "We're trying to create the opportunity for them to do it without some of those battles, so that more girls can get involved."
Shaw believes the debut of women's wrestling at this summer's Olympics in Athens will lead to more all-girls wrestling events.
"Some of the girls here are likely to be in competition for the 2008 Olympics," Shaw said.
Three former All-Americans advanced to finals yesterday, including Lanesborough's Nicole Darrow, a sophomore at Mt. Greylock Regional, who won the trophy for 119 pounds after pinning Milford's Amber Wing in just 20 seconds.
"I got a single leg on her and she went to stand up after and I just went for the cradle and took her right over," said Darrow after making the fastest pin in the finals.
Wing pinned two opponents in lengthy battles en route to the finals, but was no match for Darrow.
"Nicole's just very, very good, very strong," Shaw said. "[A fast pin] looks good, but that's not where you see the skill. You see the skill when you see them compete against someone of equivalent skill and they're able to stand up to it."
Such a match came in the 150-pound class, a battle of former All-Americans that ended with Greenfield junior Elena Pirozhkov defeating Stefenie Shaw of Waterford, Conn., by decision, 7-0.
Amy Whitbeck, an eighth-grader from Duanesbury, N.Y., won the middle school outstanding wrestler award.
Darrow shared outstanding high school wrestler honors with Dianna Acors of Charlton, N.Y., who prevailed in the 101-pound class by pinning North Quincy's Caitlyn Miller in 3 minutes 55 seconds.
"To be able to all get together and wrestle against each other is a great thing," Acors said. "I tell the guys all the time that wrestling girls is a lot harder than wrestling guys. The girls are always going at it so hard to try to beat the guys, that when it's girl versus girl, they just go all out."
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Pins and ponytails Wrestling no longer limited to boys - just ask Mainland’s 2 girls on team
By COURTNEY McCANN For The Press, (609) 272-7210 2/10/04
When LeAnne Petosa decided to join the Mainland Regional High School wrestling team her freshman year, she went with two male students who also were signing up. The coach gave her two papers for her friends.
Then she asked for one for herself.
"I'm not really sure what his real reaction was," Petosa said. "He just stopped and looked at me, but he was cool with it."
Petosa, now a sophomore, was one of the first female wrestlers to compete for the Mustangs.
"(The coaches) said to me that other girls had signed up before," Petosa said. "I was the first to make it through a year and keep with it."
Petosa found some company this season when sophomore Christina Persiano joined the team.
"I had no reaction because we'd had a girl on the team last year," Mainland coach Clayton Smith said. "It was just another wrestler coming out for the team.
Both Petosa and Persiano were involved with karate for many years and used that as a segue into wrestling.
"In seventh grade, I started karate and my friend would take me off to the side and show me types of karate-style wrestling moves," Petosa said. "I knew that Mainland had a team so I decided to go out."
Persiano, who is a first-degree black belt in karate, trained in karate as well as jiu jitsu prior to joining the team.
"Karate gives me an advantage," Persiano said. "It helps my technique."
Dance has also helped Petosa.
"Karate toughens you up because if you can take those punches you can take everything else," Petosa said. "Dance helped me with balance. When I'm in an awkward standing position or guys try to take out my feet I'm able to balance myself."
The two girls also had to deal with being accepted by the other wrestlers on the team.
"At first I got random remarks about what I was doing on the team," Petosa said. "Once they saw I was dedicated, they'd come to help me and show how to do this and that. They're like big brothers."
Petosa's presence made it a little easier to accept Persiano when she signed up the following year.
"They just treat me the same as the other guys," Persiano said. "(Leanne and I) are able to share the same experiences."
Petosa is wrestling at 125 pounds at the junior-varsity level. The popularity of that weight class for male wrestlers makes it difficult for Petosa to gain experience but she is currently training to get into the varsity lineup.
Persiano wrestles at the less dominant 103-pound class for the junior varsity and varsity. The sophomore has earned several wins for the junior varsity and is now 2-3 at the varsity level. Persiano also took second place in the Arthur O. Marinelli junior-varsity tournament held in Egg Harbor Township in December.
"I was surprised that I placed that well," Persiano said.
When it comes down to it there are few special exceptions made for female wrestlers by referees.
"There aren't really any special rules," Petosa said. "When (the other wrestler) picks us up, the ref will watch a little closer so we don't get slammed down."
In training, the girls practice against each other, but neither are afraid to go up against the guys.
"It's not just those two and then the rest of the team," Smith said. "On days when LeAnne is out sick, Christina just wrestles with whoever. They're just wrestlers on the team."
The two Mustang wrestlers aren't looking to make headlines or be treated any differently than their fellow wrestlers.
"People usually ask why I wrestle," Persiano said. "I just tell them that it's because I like it and I'm good at it."
"If people can be inspired, that's great. But I don't want to be looked up to as some girl trying to make a statement," Petosa said. "You do your thing, I'll do mine, and if you want to join me, that's great."
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MI, Akiyama earn historic victories
2004-02-08
by Brandon Cossel
Journal Reporter
RENTON -- Mercer Island ran away with the team title and Newport's Leilani Akiyama became the first girl to win a Kingco wrestling title at the 3A Kingco championships Saturday.
``I finally made it,'' Akiyama said of her Kingco title, which came after a pair of Kingco final defeats the last two seasons. The Knights' junior was in control for most of her final match, a 7-0 decision over Liberty's Daniel Hanks at 112 pounds.
``Wrestling has to be my favorite sport,'' said Akiyama, who also has 21 national and 10 international judo titles. ``I basically wouldn't trade it for anything.''
She did, however, downplay the importance of being the first female league champion.
``I don't really think about it anymore,'' she said. ``There are so many other girls out there that are so much better than I am. All I can do is just get better.''
