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Grappling With Women's Wrestling

Mariah Burton Nelson. Ms. Arlington: Summer 2004. Vol. 14, Iss. 2;

Type the words "women" and "wrestling" into Google and you'll come
across so-called divas in bikinis and thongs. Keep going, if you dare, and
you'll learn about "private wrestling and domination sessions," naked
wrestling videos, erotic foot and muscle worship, and men who pay women to lift,
trample, pin, smother and spank them. Dig deeper and you'll sink into
Jello and mud.

"We just laugh at that stuff," says Sara McMann, 23, an athlete who
will likely represent the United States this summer in Athens, Greece, where
women's wrestling will be an Olympic sport for the first time. "But
people who meet us are shocked. They expect a wrestler to be a big, ogre kind
of girl with two teeth-or else the opposite, a WWE [World Wrestling
Entertainment] blond goddess. They don't expect normal everyday-looking
girls who love the sport."

McMann and her teammates love a sport that does not quite love them
back-at least not yet. Ever since the ancient Olympic Games, the sport has
symbolized male toughness and bravery. Theodore Roosevelt called
wrestling one of the "true sports for a manly race." And many still see it that
way.

Only six colleges offer women's wrestling. High school girls who
participate (about 3,800 of them now do, according to the National Federation of
State High School Associations) usually have to grapple against guys. Some
college men's wrestling coaches have created an adversarial relationship with
female athletes, lobbying against Title IX-which they blame for the widespread
cuts in their programs. (In order to comply with the federal gender equity
law, wrestling programs have too often been axed in favor of new women's
sports, but women's advocates have argued that football squads should instead
be cut.)

Even the national women's team coach harbored prejudices that he says
are typical of male wrestlers, and hesitated before accepting the job. "I
had reservations because I'd never been involved with women wrestlers
before, never paid attention," admits Terry Steiner, a national champion at the
University of Iowa and a former college coach. "I saw what I wanted to
see. I had a lot of ignorance and stereotypes."

Steiner's wife gave him a history lesson by relating a scene from her
own high school gym in the '6os. Fans were booing the female athletes, she
said, because they were playing basketball.

"She helped me realize that we're at the start of something new," says
Steiner. "If I really believe that wrestling can help shape who we
are-and I do-then why limit those lessons to half the population?"

In April 2002, a hesitant Steiner accepted the job. That winter, 22
elite female wrestlers established residence at the U.S. Olympic Training
Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. At the world championships that year, the
team finished 11th. The next year, they finished second. This summer, McMann
or competitor Kristie Marano will probably be joined on the U.S. team by
Patricia Miranda, Tina George and Toccara Montgomery.

About 80 countries sanction women's wrestling for international
competition. Women wrestle freestyle, originally known as "catch as catch can,"
which means you can grab any part of your competitor's body. Men wrestle both
freestyle and the older Greco-Roman style, in which athletes can only
grab the opponent's torso and arms.

What's the appeal? "It's the toughest sport," says McMann, who talked
with Ms. while driving 13 hours from Colorado Springs to St. Louis to watch
the men's NCAA wrestling championship. "The work ethic and discipline have
really changed me. Before, I was just going through the motions in
life. Now I believe I can do anything."

Steiner hopes the Olympics will produce a Mia Hamm or Mary Lou Retton
who will send millions of girls scrambling toward mats. He also wants the
team to win gold medals in all four weight classes. "But if the only thing I
do is help win medals, I have failed," he says. "This sport can teach you
so much. You have to face your fears, then come back from adversity. You
get humbled. There's nowhere to hide."

Along with the non-Olympic contact sports rugby and football, and the
two martial arts sports on the Olympic program, judo and tae kwon do,
wrestling helps redefine women. "In wrestling, you subdue opponents through
physical force," notes Mary Jo Kane, a sport sociology professor and director of
the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University
of Minnesota. "It's a radical departure from our traditional definitions
of femininity."

-MARIAH BURTON NELSON

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Wrestlers set to hit the mats at Shirk

By Andrew Petersen 7/8/04
sports@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- For Mike Manahan, it just made sense.
Manahan, the Olympia High School wrestling coach, collaborated with other area coaches and determined that Bloomington-Normal needed an annual summer wrestling tournament.

The Midwest Nationals, which could draw up to 500 wrestlers to the Twin Cities, begins tonight at Shirk Center with registration and weigh-ins from 6 to 9 o'clock. Matches get under way at 9 a.m. Friday and continue through Saturday afternoon.

The folk-style tournament is open to males and females ranging from sixth grade up to college and beyond. Participants will be placed in divisions based on age and weight.

"There's not a lot of tournaments in the summer particularly for girls and college guys," said Manahan, who is also the tournament chairman.

The tournament was set up by the Bloomington-Normal Sports Commission, the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association, the Illinois Coaches Association and Wrestling Aids.

"We figured we needed the best people around to put this thing on so we got retired coaches with 30 years' experience as well as Intercity coaches," Manahan said.

Highlighting the tournament, legendary wrestler and coach Dan Gable will deliver a speech to athletes on Friday afternoon. Gable was a two-time national champion and compiled a 181-1 record at Iowa State, won a gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics and coached the University of Iowa to nine straight national titles from 1978-'86.

"He's a hero and someone who everyone respects," Manahan said of Gable. "He's done it all."

Thanks to a partnership with Wrestling Aids, which distributes wrestling equipment to schools nationwide, the tournament has attracted attention across the Midwest. Tournament organizers sent out information to the Wrestling Aids mailing list, which includes 30,000 coaches and athletes.

Athletes from Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio have already pre-registered. Wrestlers from Oklahoma and Tennessee have contacted the Bloomington-Normal Convention and Visitors Bureau and are expected to register tonight.

Although slightly more than 100 wrestlers have pre-registered, Jeff Creek, the sports marketing manager with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said 300 to 500 athletes are expected.

"I got a call from a kid who's registered, and he said he's bringing about 10 other guys with him," Creek said. "There's going to be a wide range of people."

The registration numbers don't worry Manahan.

"It will take several years to get the word out," he said. "It's just going to take time to build."

Mike Haas, a senior-to-be at Normal Community High School, found out about the tournament from flyers and a camp at the University of Illinois. Haas said he is looking forward to the challenge.

"I just want to stay in shape and broaden my participation," he said. "If I place well, it will say something about my ability."

The event was first devised a year ago and organizers have met each month to continue planning. Creek said they are trying to emulate the accomplishments of the Country Youth Classic Golf Tournament, which draws golfers from across the country and the world.

Creek said he's not sure how much economic impact the tournament will have on the community.

"A year from now we'll be able to look back, but right now it's hard to tell," he said.

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Hedin an All-American in wrestling

Advertiser Staff 7/8/04

Three-time state champion Danyelle Hedin has been named to TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling first team.

Hedin, a 2004 graduate of Kailua High, was one of five Hawai'i girls to earn All-America distinction. She was honored in the middle weight (122 to 140 pounds) category.

Roosevelt's Sadie Kaneda was named to the second team as a light weight (100 to 121 pounds).

Three wrestlers were honorable mention selections: Kamehameha's Randolyn Nohara, upper weight (141 pounds and above); Iolani's Joleen Oshiro, light weight; and Punahou's Lauren Primiano, middle weight.

The All-America team is selected by a nationwide panel of wrestling experts. It is the only national all-star team for which female high school wrestlers competing on all four grade levels are eligible.