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Girl Wrestler Beats Up The Boys
High Schooler Battles The Gender Barrier

POSTED: 2:31 pm EDT April 20, 2004
UPDATED: 3:28 pm EDT April 20, 2004

Girls have been playing traditionally male sports for years now. But a Seattle high schooler has just about knocked down the gender barrier.

Slideshow: Images Of Leilani In Action

On her prom night, Leilani Akiyama didn't look like a girl who gets in a lot of fights at school, as her date pinned a corsage on her red dress.

That's until you see on the wrestling mat.

"If they're pushing into you, like, as hard as they can, I can probably throw 'em right there," Leilani said.

That's exactly Leilani she did 14 seconds into a recent match against a male competitor. Leilani said she used the guy's natural aggression and strength against him.

She's also a master of leverage from spending 8 years, half her life, practicing judo.

Ranked second in the country in her judo gender bracket, Leilani recently beat the current national champ and has a good shot at the Olympics this summer.

But back to wrestling the guys, where she's unbeaten this season, except for an injury forfeit. She went to the state championships last year and pinned a guy.

But what about the boys who get beat by Leilani?

"Truthfully they do cry. I've seen guys cry," she said. "It's sad. … They're a guy and they did lose to a girl," she said.

"They're definitely a lot stronger 'cause they're guys," Leilani said.

But as Leilani has demonstrated over and over, the ref raises the arm of the winning wrestler, not necessarily the strongest one.

And while most applaud her, some unspoken resentment remains.

"I know a lot of the refs don't like me. That's another problem," she said. "I have to wrestle both the ref and the opponent."

For the record, she says she's only been in one real fight at school, in 4th grade, against a guy.

She remembers winning that fight with a quick judo throw, of course.

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High school female wrestler Akiyama to throw out first pitch at Seattle Mariners game

4/20/2004
John Miller/USA Judo

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 20, 2004) - The Seattle Mariners make a practice of recognizing youth and athletic achievers. Today they are honoring Leilani Akiyama's (Bellevue, Washington) impressive two-sport Championship run this March.

Akiyama won the title in the 52 kg (114.6 lbs.) division at the National High School Judo Championships on March 21 and came back just one week later to win the 118 lbs.-category at the USGWA National High School Wrestling Championships in Michigan.

Leilani's double title is all the more impressive because she won all of her Judo matches by "Ippon", the equivalent of a knockout in boxing, or a pin in wrestling - AND she won all her Wrestling matches by "pin", the equivalent of a knockout in boxing, or an Ippon in Judo. Either way - that spells CHAMP.

Akiyama will throw out the first pitch at the opening of the Mariners' home game April 20 in Seattle.

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Kristie Marano receives James M. Cooke Award as NYAC Athlete of the Year

4/20/2004
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

2003 World Champion Kristie Marano (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) will receive the James M. Cooke Memorial Award as the New York Athletic Club’s Athlete of the Year during a special awards ceremony this evening, Tuesday April 20.

She will be honored at the the 106th annual Quarter Century Club Awards Dinner at the historic New York Athletic Club, which is located on 180 Central Park South in Manhattan. The Quarter Century Club is one of the most prestigious groups within the New York Athletic Club. It comprises NYAC members who have maintained continuous membership for a period of 25 years or more.

Her honor recognizes her outstanding year, capped off by winning the gold medal at the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in Madison Square Garden in New York City in September.

The James M. Cooke Memorial Award winner is recognized as the NYAC Athlete of the Year. Other wrestlers to have received this honor include Gene Mills (1981), Bobby Weaver and Bruce Baumgartner (both 1985) and Kevin Bracken and Kerry McCoy (both 2002).

Kristie is only the third woman in NYAC history to be designated Athlete of the Year. (The others were track and field competitor, Dawn Ellerbe, and rower, Lisa Schlenker.)

Marano is also the first female NYAC athlete in any sport to become an individual world champion.

The James M. Cooke Athlete of the Year Award is sponsored by the NYAC Athlete's Fund. The Athlete's Fund is the charitable arm of the NYAC. Its mandate is to offer financial assistance to athletes attempting to qualify for the Olympic Games. In addition, it provides funding for the development of sports programs for inner city children.

The NYAC was founded in 1868 and, in the years since, its athletes have won 204 Olympic medals. Bruce Baumgartner has been among the most successful, winning a super heavyweight gold medal in 1984, a silver in 1988, a gold in 1992 and a bronze in 1996. NYAC wrestlers who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games were Kevin Bracken, Kerry McCoy and Charles Burton.

In 2003, Marano won her second career World title, capturing the 67 kg/147.5 lbs. division at the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. , Sept. 12-14. The win extended her U.S. record for most women's World medals to seven.

In the finals, she defeated Ewelina Pruszko of Poland, 7-1, helping the U.S. place second in the team race. Over the three-day tournament, Marano also recorded three pins and a 11-1 technical fall.

Marano claimed an individual gold medal at the Women’s World Cup in Tokyo, Japan, in October, helping lead the USA to the team title in an upset of host Japan. She also claimed a gold medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in February. Marano won silver medals at two other major events, the Sunkist Kids International in October and the Manitoba Open in Canada in February.

She competed at 63 kg/138.75 pounds during the domestic season, earning a silver medal at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev. in April and the World Team Trials in Indianapolis, Ind. in June. To secure her spot on the U.S. team, she moved up to 67 kg/147.5 lbs. and won a Special Wrestle-off in Colorado Springs, Colo. in August.

Marano was named USA Wrestling’s Woman of the Year in 2003, recognizing an outstanding woman for her contributions to the sport of wrestling.

Marano is a native of Albany, N.Y., where she competed in wrestling at Colonie Central High School. She also attended Hudson Valley CC in New York. This year, she became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete.