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Wrestling event set to go
77 DAYS UNTIL THE OLYMPICS

By Mark-Alexander Pieper
Pacific Daily News 5/29/04

More than 35 of the region's top wrestlers will hit the mats today and tomorrow for the 2004 Oceania Wrestling Championships taking place at the Guam sports complex.

Dozens of competitors from Japan, Australia, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia arrived on island earlier this week and spent the time sparring and dropping weight for their weigh-ins yesterday.

Among the competitors in the event are Guam wrestlers Michael Colfax and Jeff Cobb, who will represent Guam later this summer in the Olympics, and five-time 97-pound-class Women's Freestyle Wrestling world champion Shoko Yoshimura from Tokyo, Japan.

Neal Kranz, Guam Amateur Wrestling Association president, said a decision was reached this year that the Oceania Championships will no longer be an Olympic qualifying event.

Kranz, however, said rule changes are just part of the natural development of the sport and this weekend's contest will serve as a means to "keep developing and keep growing wrestling in the area."

Colfax, who wrestles for Missouri Valley College, said he is happy to be home to compete and added that while the Oceania competition is no longer an Olympic qualifier it will be a hard-fought competition.

"Right now it's pretty much for bragging rights," Colfax, 20, said jokingly. "But it's really going to be a lot of fun and a good place to get experience."

Colfax, who went to school in Japan, also translated for Yoshimura. Yoshimura, 35, said that she is competing in the Oceania competition to have fun and spend time with other wrestlers after she recently lost her Olympic spot in the finals of the Japan nationals.

Yoshimura said she looks forward to competing and observing the three local girls who will wrestle in the championships, so that she could help to show them what it takes to get to the world-class level.

"(I) plan on showing them some techniques and giving them some tips on how to improve," Yoshimura said through Colfax's translation.

A world champion in 1989, 1990, and 1993 to 1995, Yoshimura said she became involved in the sport 18 years ago when a friend invited her to a practice. Yoshimura said part of the reason she came to Guam also was to try to help boost the recognition of women's wrestling on Guam.

"(I) want to show the girls that just because you are a girl, you don't have to settle for less -- you can achieve more and get a lot of recognition out of this sport," she said.

Regional meeting

Yesterday's preparations for the tournament also included a meeting for the leaders of the region's wrestling associations with FILA President Raphael Martinetti. FILA is the world international wrestling federation.

Martinetti was on island only for a day and declined to be interviewed. Kranz said his presence was a great opportunity for the various wrestling associations in the region to air out their concerns.

"It's the first time the FILA president has come to the region and it's wonderful for us because he's been able to see first hand the challenges we have and give us direct advice on how he sees the future of the sport growing here," Kranz said.

Among the ways to grow the sport will mean having more regional competitions with numerous competitors, Kranz said. A method to accomplish this that was discussed is to increase the coordination of "multi-tournament" events.

Kranz said those are events where two or three different events can be held in the same area and time period -- to cut down travel costs.

"We've gone through a lot of discussions with (Martinetti) and I think there's a lot of good things to come for the region," he said. "Plus, they are trying to diversify the sport and take it in a direction that makes it more exciting and accessible to people."

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Christine Nordhagen going for Olympic gold in women’s wrestling

By IAN BUSBY -- Calgary Sun
April 10, 2004

Walking down the hallways of Ernest Manning high school in Calgary, Christine Nordhagen-Vierling commands respect. On a regular school day, she's Ms. Nordhagen, physical education teacher and assistant wrestling coach. Usually, no one is wise to her other life as an Olympic gold-medal favourite in women's freestyle wrestling.Move over to Manning's wrestling team practice and it soon becomes apparent she's no ordinary math teacher. Once the students realize she'll be competing at the Athens Games, their ears perk up, wanting to hear tales of world-class grappling events.

"They think it's cool," said Nordhagen-Vierling, who took a leave of absence to prepare for the Games but still coached the team.

TEND TO LISTEN BETTER

"I usually mention that I'm on the national team because then they tend to listen a bit better.

"That makes them think I know what I'm talking about, so I don't get the 'this is how I do it.' Sometimes it's easier to tell them so they trust what you have to say."

Twelve years ago, there was no dream of Olympic glory for the then Christine Nordhagen.

The native of a tiny Norwegian community called Valhalla Centre was a University of Alberta student.

Only by chance did she discover wrestling.

She took a participation class through her physical education courses and was the only woman there.

When the class ended, the instructor suggested she join the university club team. Not knowing what to expect, she took a friend along with her and the two were shown the basics of the sport.

A few months later, Nordhagen competed at her first national championships. Two years later, she grappled at the world championships for the first time, losing in the final to a woman with more experience.

During the next 10 years, Nordhagen won six world titles, while women's wrestling became a growth sport.

Fast forward to 2001 for another victory, although this one didn't happen on the wrestling mat -- rather, the International Olympic Committee added women's wrestling to the slate for Athens.

The announcement came just in time for Nordhagen-Vierling, who is entering the twilight of her career in 2004 and will be 33 at the August Games.

"For me, this is special," she says.

"I was a pioneer of women's wrestling in Canada. The very first national championship was in 1992 and I was there.

"I was there at the very beginning. This is neat because I was there at the beginning of the world championships and now the beginning of the Olympics ... It's a good ending to my career."

However, she's not retiring after the 2004 Games.

Originally, Athens was to be her swansong but she didn't want the pressure of ending her career on a winning note.

"I was going to retire but I had a long talk with one of the coaches and he suggested not doing that," she said.

"He said, 'Why don't you just keep wrestling afterward and finish when you want to finish?' I thought that was great advice.

"It will be my only Olympics, I know that. But I want to enjoy the whole experience. I know I will be wrestling tough and I'll be training hard. I'm not teaching now, which is great because I have the time to get the training in. I will prepare myself in every possible way to get the gold medal."

It was in that U of A club Nordhagen met Leigh Vierling, a fierce competitor and Greco-Roman wrestling national champion.

Vierling became Nordhagen's mentor and partner, while he continued to compete.

They were married in 1999.

On the wrestling mat, Vierling is the boss and the athlete in Nordhagen wouldn't want it any other way.

"There's no head-butting because he's got a lot of knowledge. Whatever he says to do, I'll do, because it's worked," Nordhagen-Vierling said.

"I have the utmost confidence in him because he made me a six-time world champion.

"If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would be in this position. He's very diligent and so much of a perfectionist."

Vierling is the Canadian Olympic team's head coach, so he'll be at his wife's side every step of this journey.

There will be 12 women competing in Nordhagen's 72-kg weight class at Athens, so she'll need to win two matches to get out of her pool, then two more for gold.

The margin for error is small at the Olympics but she says she's confident because she's beaten each of the major contenders at one point or another.

Still, Athens is going to be her only shot at gold.

"I'm trying to say, 'Go out there and try your best.' I really want to win but it's not all about the winning," she said. "This has been a great ride and I'm very fortunate to be in this situation."

TRAILBLAZER

Nordhagen-Vierling is an Olympic gold-medal favourite in women's freestyle wrestling.

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No Olympic spots for Valley women

Thursday, May 27, 2004
By Chris Allen/Sports Editor

INDIANAPOLIS -- A couple came close, but in the end none of the current or former Missouri Valley College wrestlers were able to land berths on the first American women's squad during the Olympic Team Trials last Friday through Sunday at Indianapolis.
The five athletes currently affiliated with the Valley program were grouped into two of the four weight classes, with sophomore Stephany Lee of Honolulu, Hawaii, coming closest to a spot on the team. Lee won her first two matches in the 75 kilogram class, beating former Lady Viking Satrinina Vernon of the Gator Wrestling Club in the semifinals -- coming from behind with a takedown and throw in the second period for a 3-2 decision -- to reach the championship round.

However, Lee ran into New York Athletic Club veteran Kristie Marano, 25, the U.S. Senior Nationals champion at 63 Kg and two-time World Cup gold medalist. Marano recorded three throws, the last coming 12 seconds into the second period and resulting in a pin 22 seconds later.

Marano lost the best-of-three challenge match by a pair of decisions to Toccara Montgomery, 21, of Cumberland College (Ky.) -- twice a world silver medalist and winner of the U.S. Collegiate Nationals March 20 at Marshall.

The other Valley grappler to get past the first round was graduate student Leigh Jaynes of Burlington, N.J., ranked seventh among U.S. Senior women. After defeating former teammate Tina Arnds, 5-3, Jaynes was eliminated from contention in the 63 Kg quarterfinals, came back to win two matches and was beaten by ex-MVC wrestlers Kaci Lyle and Tori Adams to finished in sixth place.

Arnds, senior Mollie Kieth (63 Kg) and sophomore Kelly Branham (72 Kg) were each out of the tournament in two matches.

The Gator club's Clarissa Chun of Honolulu, a freshman on the Lady Vikings' inaugural group in 1999-2000, made it through the 48 Kg bracket into the challenge match. Chun led 3-2 against Sara Fulp-Allen of Menlo (Calif.) when a fleeing call with five seconds remaining forced an overtime, Chun getting a two-point exposure 2:27 into the extra frame for the victory.

In the challenge match against the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club's Patricia Miranda, 24, who had stopped Chun on a technical fall in the national finals, Chun went ahead on a takedown 40 seconds into the contest and was tied 2-2 heading into the second period. However, a Miranda takedown and gut wrench gave her a 5-2 lead, which Chun was unable to overcome during a 6-3 loss.

In the second tilt, Miranda was in command from the start -- scoring three takedowns, one to the back, during the first period for a 5-0 lead en route to a 10-0 tech fall in 4:51.

Miranda, Montgomery and the Sunkist Kids' Sara McMann, 23 -- three of the four Team USA members for the Summer Games at Athens -- are all highly experienced international wrestlers. Tela O'Donnell, 23, of the Sunkist Kids, who won the MVC International Tournament in '03, is also among the American entries.

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