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Bloody start to competition

Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer 4/22/04

Indianapolis -- Just as the wrestlers took to the mats for their one chance to make the U.S. Olympic team going to Athens, Eminem's voice filled the RCA Dome:

"You've only got one shot, so use it or lose it ..."

It was an appropriate theme song for the American men and women who are grappling for a chance to call themselves Olympians.

Only the Greco-Roman and freestyle winners of Friday's preliminary and quarterfinal rounds advance, each with the dream of facing the national champion on Sunday. Only the victors of a best-of-three matchup on Sunday are invited to the Olympic team. This year, women will wrestle freestyle for the first time in an Olympiad.

The stakes meant competitors were giving their all -- even their blood.

Thirty seconds into a bout between 1996 Greco-Roman silver medalist Dennis Hall of Wisconsin and Joe Betterman of New York, officials were stuffing tissue into Betterman's nose to stop it from bleeding. Hall executed a gut wrench and flipped Betterman, they tangled nearly off the platform, and in one move gone awry, Betterman's teeth sank into Hall's forehead. Officials wrapped gauze around Hall's head, waited until Betterman was done spitting blood, and let the match resume until Hall won, 8-0.

"That scared the hell out of me, I thought I split this side of my head open," said Hall, his lips colored dark red with blood.

"He's a good scrapper for a young kid, but I should have finished him off sooner," said Hall, 33.

The Bay Area is home to many of the women who are gunning for Olympic gold.

Sara Fulp-Allen, 19, bested Elizabeth Torres of Hawaii, 7-5. Fulp-Allen is coached by her father, a two-time Olympian who leads one of only six women's collegiate wrestling teams in the country at Menlo College.

Her mother, a former gymnast, videotaped her daughter so the family could dissect all the moves later in their hotel room.

"Wrestling is a family affair for us," said Joan Fulp, adding that Sara's younger sister is a high school wrestling champion.

Fulp-Allen wrestles in the 105-pound division, and if she's successful today, she will face national champion Patricia Miranda of Saratoga, who is favored to win a spot on the Olympic team.

Clarissa Chun of Hawaii, ranked No. 2 after Miranda, also won her match Friday.

"I'm excited at the thought of wrestling Patricia," she said. "I learn and get better every time I wrestle her."

Kristie Marano of Colorado Springs, the 138-pound national champion and most decorated woman in wrestling, didn't make weight by one pound and was forced to give up her bye to the Sunday finals and enter the preliminary rounds in the next larger, 158.5-pound weight class.

Despite the nearly 20-pound difference between Marano and her competitor, Elena Mena of Minnesota, she still racked up a 10-point lead so officials called the match in her favor as a technical fall.

"I was surprised I didn't make weight, but the lower weight class has been hard for me," she said. "But it doesn't matter if I sit out or wrestle for two days. I'm happy either way."

Briefly: Cael Sanderson, who went undefeated with a 159-0 record at Iowa State, jumped to a 10-point lead over Andy Hrovat of New York and won by technical fall. ... Some of the most crowd-pleasing throws came from Greco- Roman wrestler Glenn Garrison of the Army, who flipped his two competitors in the 145.5-pound category to advance.

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Walnut Creek wrestler falls short of Olympics

By Jay Heater 4.22.04

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

INDIANAPOLIS - Walnut Creek's Grace Magnussenhad gone to some
extraordinary lengths to keep her Olympic dream alive, but she had to face the fact
Friday night that her wrestling career will not be capped with a trip to
Greece this summer.

Magnussen lost to No. 2-ranked Tela O'Donnell 14-3 in the second round
Friday in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the RCA Dome, a loss that
leaves her no chance to advance to Sunday's championship round.

Despite the loss, Magnussen still had a chance to finish at least
third. She begins competition in the losers' bracket today.

She remains active for another day because of a stunning comeback in
the first round. Trailing Oregon's Danielle Hobeika 6-3 with the final
seconds of their 121-pound match ticking away, Magnussen registered a one-point
takedown, then locked up Hobeika's right leg and turned her shoulders
to the mat for a two-point near fall at the buzzer to tie the score.

Thirty-eight seconds into overtime, Magnussen won the match 7-6 with
another takedown.

Her loss to O'Donnell quickly burst her hopes that she could build on
her stirring comeback. Today she wrestles for the final time in her
competitive career.

"The Olympics have been my dream for a long time," said Magnussen, who
won a silver medal at the 2002 Pan Am Games. "On Thursday it kind of hit me
that this is it for me. I'm not sure if I am going to be sad, happy or
relieved when it is over, but I'm proud of myself that I came back (against
Hobieka)."

Magnussen's dream took a hit earlier this year when she had surgery to
repair torn meniscus in her right knee. An Ygnacio Valley High School
graduate, Magnussen returned to training only two weeks before the U.S.
National Championships in April and she failed to finish in the top
eight, which would have qualified her for the trials.

Instead of giving up, the 25-year-old Magnussen spent almost $1,000 to
get on an airplane so she could participate in the women's qualifier in
Brockport, N.Y., on April 16-18. She won the event to earn her trials
berth.

At 25, she said this would be her only shot at an Olympic berth. "I
want to concentrate on my career," she said.

With a degree in dance education from San Francisco State, Magnussen is
ready to begin teaching dance, which has taken a back seat to wrestling
for years. "My dance teachers always have said that if I concentrated on
dance as much as I do wrestling, I would be an awesome dancer," she said.
"But wrestling is really No. 1 for me right now."

At least for one more day.

NOTE: Stanford grad Patricia Miranda is ranked No. 1 in the 105.5-pound
class so she won't compete until Sunday. All the 2004 national
champions received a bye into Sunday's championship finals with the winner being
determined by a best two-of-three series of matches.

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road to athens
Slamming stereotypes
Female wrestlers struggle for respect, recognition for emerging sport.

By Michael Pointer
michael.pointer@indystar.com
May 21, 2004

Patricia Miranda has been taunted. She's been harassed by male teammates. At times in her wrestling career, she's been the subject of sexual chants from boys in the crowd.

One time, after beating a boy in a high school match, she was scolded by his mother.

"She just went off on how inconsiderate it is to wrestle her son because of what it had done to him," said Miranda, 24, a favorite to qualify for the Olympic team at this weekend's U.S. Olympic Trials in wrestling at the RCA Dome. "It was a lose-lose situation for him, and he was scarred for life.

"I said, 'You're willing to deny half the population this opportunity just because he lost to a woman that outworked and outprepared him?' "

Such stories are common among the 62 female wrestlers competing in the dome starting today. Finally, these "survivors," as their coach calls them, get the ultimate shot to prove they belong.

For the first time this summer, the Olympic Games will include women's wrestling. Supporters hope the exposure will give the sport -- which has struggled to take root in the United States and remains the object of derision -- a much-needed boost.

"What we need right now is some Olympic heroes," U.S. women's Olympic coach Terry Steiner said. "We need some incredible people accomplishing incredible things and being role models for all people."

Participation levels low

The United States has been sending women's teams to the world wrestling championships since 1990, but there wasn't an official women's national program until Steiner, a former NCAA men's champion at the University of Iowa, became the first full-time coach in 2002. The Americans have fared well since then, winning medals in all seven weight classes at last year's World Championships in New York and finishing second to Japan in the team standings.

But Steiner and other wrestling leaders are concerned about the slow progress among high schools and colleges.

There were 3,769 female high school wrestlers in the United States last year, according to surveys done by the Indianapolis-based National Federation of State High School Associations.

That's a huge increase from the 200 reported in 1991. But it is only slightly more than half the number in hockey (6,628), another relatively new girls sport in which boys have participated for years. And it's minuscule compared with fast-growth women's sports like soccer (301,000).

Hawaii and Texas are the only states whose high school governing bodies sanction girls wrestling. California and Washington held nonsanctioned state tournaments this year.

In most states, including Indiana, girls have to wrestle on boys teams if they want to participate. Indiana High School Athletic Association Commissioner Blake Ress said none of the IHSAA's member schools has inquired about adding girls wrestling teams. Assistant Commissioner Bobby Cox, who oversees the state tournament, estimated the total number of female competitors in the state at fewer than 20.

Things are even tighter at the college level, where there are only six varsity teams in all divisions.

There hasn't been much demand, officials said, and the fact that the number of NCAA men's wrestling programs dropped from 363 in 1982 to 222 in 2003 hasn't helped, either.

Many men's wrestling proponents have been critical of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that called for equal opportunities in college athletics for men and women. They say they agree with the principle but point out that because football uses so many scholarships, lower-profile men's teams, including wrestling, have been dropped at many schools to bring the scholarship totals in line.

Steiner sees opportunity in Title IX. The more schools that add women's wrestling, the fewer that will drop men's, he said.

"When you look at it on a grand scale," he said, "women's wrestling can help save men's wrestling."

But USA Wrestling spokesman Gary Abbott said women's wrestling is not a remedy for men's.

"We're not using women's wrestling to protect men's wrestling," he said. "That's the wrong reason. We're developing women's wrestling to create opportunities for female athletes and to develop the best Olympic teams that we can."

Stronger in Canada

Internationally, the sport seems on solid footing. Forty-one countries sent at least one wrestler to the women's world championships last September in New York.

Japan is the United States' chief competition. China has also won a world championship, and the sport is growing in Eastern Europe.

Abbott points to Canada as a good example to follow. The northern neighbor has a population roughly one-ninth that of the United States, but 17 of its colleges sponsor women's wrestling.

"They're ahead of us on the developmental level," Abbott said. "It's a smaller country with a different political structure, and it's been easier to get it in."

Abbott said much of USA Wrestling's emphasis will remain on expanding the number of college programs. But he added that the number of youth and middle-school programs designed strictly for girls also needs to grow.

Many girls are comfortable and have success wrestling against boys up until about 12, Abbott said. After that, the boys become more physical, and girls are more likely to be stigmatized.

"When they see someone come home with an Olympic gold medal, and watch them win and see how they act in their interviews, it should help us," Abbott said. "It's not automatic, but it makes it a lot easier for those parents and people working on the community level."

The struggle for acceptance is felt perhaps most deeply on the personal level.

Indiana native Katie Downing, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., is competing this weekend in the 158-pound weight class (one of four women's weight classes), with an outside chance of making the U.S. team.

Like Miranda, the graduate of Pendleton Heights High in Madison County wrestled against boys in high school. Downing said it was easier for her because she had participated in judo against boys since the third grade. Still, she got more attention for her gender than her accomplishments.

"It got frustrating to feel like I always had to prove myself all over again, every new place I went," she said.

Downing, 24, who wants to be a college coach someday, said she doesn't think prospective high school wrestlers are bothered by the close physical contact with boys. Rather, it's more the expectations of friends and peers.

"I think it might be more what people would think," Downing said. "That's what starts to matter."

Miranda, the top-ranked American at 105.5 pounds, said she was harassed by older male teammates when she joined the team as a freshman at Saratoga (Calif.) High. She credits her coach, Lloyd Asato, for helping her through that.

"He said, 'Hey, you're going to have some battles, but I'm not going to be one of your battles,' " she said.

Steiner said that kind of attitude from a coach is a must.

"Right now, the people that are in charge of wrestling are men," Steiner said. "For the sport to grow, we have to change the mind of the coaches."

At Stanford University, Miranda came up with a plan.

She was on the men's team for four years but didn't compete in a match until her senior season, when she went 3-13. It was tough, but she survived by setting little goals. If she wasn't pinned, she considered it a victory.

"It's not like I ever wanted to be a banner child for equal opportunity," said Miranda, who will enter Yale Law School this fall. "It never was a huge priority. I just got addicted to how character-building a sport this is and how much it gave you a chance to be honest with yourself and accountable."

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Hopeful out to prove wrestling not just a man's world

By Mac Engel 4/22/04

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS - Somewhere there is a young man, probably 19 or 20 by now, who carries the reminder of not only losing, but losing to a girl. In wrestling.

Suekoilya (pronounced "Sequoia") Shelly doesn't remember much about the boy today, but she remembers how he took it. She was attending a wrestling camp at the University of Oklahoma, and specifically recalls that her match against this boy wasn't much of a match.

"He did OK with losing," Shelly said. "He was one of the few guys I beat up there that was OK being beat by a girl."

Whoever, or wherever, that boy is, he can feel a little more secure knowing he wasn't defeated by just any girl. There are plenty of young men who have lost to Suekoilya Shelly. Although her name may stand out today because of its unique spelling, it might stand out in the future because of her wrestling ability.

"I expect her to be one of the real big names in women's wrestling in the future," said Kip Flanik, Shelly's Cumberland (Ky.) College coach. "She's that good."

An infant in a sport that's preparing for its biggest baby step, Shelly has an outside chance at qualifying for the world's biggest sporting stage: the 2004 Summer Olympics. Although a long shot to reach Athens, Shelly is part of a generation that hopes to one day be recognized as pioneers in this country. Randi Miller, a former Martin High School standout, is also competing for a chance at the Olympics.

This summer will be the first time women's wrestling will be an Olympic event.

Beginning today, Shelly will compete at the three-day U.S. Olympic wrestling trials in Indianapolis for a chance to join Team USA this summer. Only 19 and having wrestled for about five years, her chances of making it to Greece are low; only one woman will reach Athens in each of the seven freestyle weight classes.

"In 2008, she has a great chance," Flanik said of Shelly, who's competing in the 138-pound freestyle class.

Shelly never envisioned this when her older sister, Carmen, asked (OK, begged) her to give wrestling a shot as a freshman at South Grand Prairie High School. In Suekoilya's mind, wrestling was smackdowns, throwdowns and chairs breaking over heads. Girls wrestling has been sponsored by the University Interscholastic League since 1999-2000, and only six colleges or universities sponsor women's wrestling nationwide, none in Texas.

So when Carmen looked at her younger sister as a potential wrestler, she didn't think, "She is the one, and she is good."

She looked at her sister and said, "We need wrestlers."

"At the time, we were just starting the program, and we needed all of the girls," Carmen said. "I talked her into doing it. And I noticed from the beginning she was good."

Suekoilya, who would transfer to L.D. Bell High School as a sophomore, also noticed from the beginning that women's wrestling wasn't universally accepted. Their mother, Precious Bougrine, was skeptical of girls wrestling.

"We had to ban her from the matches for a while because she would scream out, 'Don't hurt my baby!'" said Carmen, who has given up wrestling and will be a senior at Baylor.

As boys are prone to do, they teased Suekoilya and her teammates. Some girls did, too. Suekoilya doesn't roam around like The Incredible Hulk. She is strong, but wrestling has never been considered feminine.

Even if Suekoilya, who was voted Most Outstanding Girls Wrestler at the UIL state meet in 2003, was beating some of the boys, it didn't shut everybody up. Only when she did it long enough, and well enough, did those jokes cease.

"The jokes happen, but it wasn't too bad. It helped that I did [participate in] color guard, too. That's really girly," Suekoilya said. "I guess after a while the guys were too afraid to make fun of me."

It's hard to make fun of a person who puts herself through the same hell that any wrestler does: long workouts followed by crash dieting in hopes of making weight. It's also not easy making fun of a person who won a state title as a senior in high school.

Now after completing her freshman year in college, the jokes are a memory. Wrestling is a means to a higher education, perhaps even a shot at representing her country one day.

Women's wrestling is part of Suekoilya's identity.

One day, the identity of women's wrestling might prominently include Suekoilya.

"Years from now," Flanik said, "she will be one of the people we will remember."

Years from now, there will be an older man, maybe 27 or 28, who will brag he lost to Suekoilya Shelly.

U.S. Olympic wrestling trials

Today-Sunday, RCA Dome, Indianapolis

At Stake: Seven men's freestyle spots, seven men's Greco-Roman spots and seven women's freestyle spots at the Summer Olympics in Athens.

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Olympic debut provides boost

Competing on big stage will shine light on sport

By Tom Reed 5/21/04

Beacon Journal staff writer

When Tina George walked into the Cleveland Heights wrestling room in 1996 and told the coaching staff she wanted to compete against boys, Kip Flanik could feel the machismo building inside of him. ``I remember thinking, `How long will we have to put up with this?' '' Flanik said.

Eight years later, Flanik is the wrestling coach at Cumberland (Ky.) College. The women's wrestling coach at Cumberland College.

Flanik believes women have earned their place on the wrestling mat. He wonders when other male coaches and competitors will reach the same conclusion.

Perhaps women's wrestling will gain a new level of acceptance after the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where females will compete for first time.

Two women favored to make the United States squad are from Cleveland. George and Toccara Montgomery (East Tech) were ranked first heading into their respective weight classes at the U.S. Wrestling Olympic Trials that began Friday in Indianapolis.

``I encourage (girls) to give it a try,'' said George, 25, the U.S. National champion at 121 pounds. ``I wanted to give it a try when I was in high school, and I am still wrestling. I tell them about taking that chance and exploring it, just like soccer and softball and other sports.

``Also, just because you are a wrestler, you are not trying to be a man. You can be a woman wrestler.''

There are more than 2,500 women involved in USA Wrestling. Each season, more girls are finding their way onto high school teams.

There were 3,769 girls wrestling in 34 states during the 2002-2003 school year, said National Federation of High School Associations spokesman John Gillis. That's a dramatic increase from 112 wrestlers in 1991. Hawaii and Texas hold separate state tournaments for girls wrestling.

``Tina and Toccara are pioneers,'' said Flanik, whose college is one of six that boasts a women's wrestling program. ``They are the ones who have helped open doors for others who have followed.''

Flanik coached both in high school. He was an assistant at Cleveland Heights, where George became a varsity starter as a senior and won two matches while enduring some trying initiations. George reportedly was choked and slammed to hardwood gym floors.

Flanik's admiration for George prompted him to invite girls to try out for the team once he became coach at East Tech.

Montgomery wrestled for Flanik and has followed him to Cumberland College.

``I owe most of my wrestling to Kip Flanik,'' said Montgomery, 21, the U.S. National champion at 158.5 pounds. ``He got me started and gave me all of the opportunities that the guys had.''

Each has flourished on the national and international stage. Montgomery finished third in the 2004 FILA Olympic Test Tournament in Greece. George, a U.S. Army specialist who trains in Colorado, placed second in the same event in her division.

By capturing U.S. National titles, neither George nor Montgomery have to wrestle until Sunday's Olympic Trial finals, where they must win a best 2-of-3 championship round to advance to Athens.

``If they wrestle to their potential, I think both of them will make the (U.S. Olympic) team,'' Flanik said. ``If they wrestle to their potential, I think both of them will be Olympic medallists.''