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Nordhagen is Back!

Canadian women shine at the 2004 Canada Cup of wrestling

Article by: Dr. Glynn Leyshon and Josip Mrkoci 7/16/04

At the 2004 Canada Cup of wrestling held in Guelph,Ontario, Canada , July 9-10, Christine Nordhagen from Alberta showed that she is still a force to be reckoned with by defeating her Canadian nemesis and arch-rival, Ohenewa Akuffo of Ontario, in the 72 kg class. In their previous meetings in 2003/2004 on two occassions Okuffo had dominated the six-time world champ Nordhagen but this time it was different. Using a variety of techniques, starting with an early and impressive shoulder throw for three points, Christine rather easily ran up a superior decision of 10 - 0. It was an especially promising win for the veteran performer as the Olympics are on the near horizon and female wrestling is on the program for the first time. This might well be Christine’s swan song and it would be fitting and right for the Canadian Hall of Famer to cap her career with an Olympic gold medal.

During this match spectators were treated to a quick lesson in how to run up points with tilts; Nordhagen used them to great advantage and soon had Akuffo in trouble. It was, however, the initial and early shoulder throw that set up the match and Okuffo never recovered her focus afterward. Forced then to press to catch up Okuffo abandoned her setups and that made her vulnerable to Nordhagen’s vast selection of attacks which Akuffo’s pressuring made possible.

Following the final matches at the Canada Cup, Christine said to the media that she would still wrestle competitively after the Olympics, but won't be around to compete in 2008.

"I know I'm not going to be wrestling in the next Olympics. I'm 33 years old and I've had a great career. I don't want to end it right after the Olympics but I know for sure I won't be wrestling four more years."

Only two team members of the Canada’s four women’s Olympic team won golds. Nordhagen of Alberta won at 72 kg. Tonya Verbeek an Olympian from Ontario wrestling at 55 kg defeated Hatsumi Nakanishi of Japan in the finals by a superior score of 11-1 to win the other gold medal. The other two Olympians did not fare as well. Olympian , Lyndsay Belislie, 48 kg. of British Columbia wrestled a weight class up at 51kg where she placed second to Japan’s Hitomi Sakamoto. Olympian, Viola Yanik , 63 kg. of Saskatchewan did not wrestle well at this tournament and as a result she place third in her weight class. The other Canadian women capturing gold medals were Angela Mott at 48 Kg. and Emily Richardson at 59 kg.

The women’s final placings was strictly between Canada and Japan with Canada coming out on top with four gold medals and Japan capturing three golds. A team from USA placed third. With four Canadians qualified for Athens, this was a good warmup for the Canadian women’s Olympic wrestling team.

In the men’s division the competition was dominated by Cuba and Iran with the Cubans showing why they have a legitimate shot at a handful of medals at the 2004 Olympics. Daniel Igali , 2000 Olympic champion was the only Canadian Men’’s Team member to make the finals at 74 kg. of the 2004 Canada Cup. Igali struggled early in the event, including an early near-fall scare against Japan in which Daniel was caught on his back and had to scramble to recover and go on to win that match. In the final, however, Igali was unable to get on track and lost a tight 3-0 match versus Ivan Fundora of Cuba and Daniel had to settle for a silver medal. Fundora is Cuba’s 2004 Olympic Team member.

RESULTS

2004 Canada Cup of Freestyle Wrestling

2004 Canada Cup of Freestyle Wrestling
Guelph, Ontario, CANADA
July 9-10

Women / Femme

48 kg (5)
1. Angela Mott - Smithers W.C. / Canada
2. Carol Huynh - Burnaby Mountain W.C. / Canada
3. Hana Askren - USA
4. Ashley McKilligan - Burnaby Mountain W.C. / Canada
5. Laura Skopelianos - London-Western / Canada

51 kg (9)
1. Hitomi Sakamoto - Japan
2. Lyndsay Belisle - Burnaby Mountain W.C. / Canada
3. Sarah White - Burnaby Mountain W.C. / Canada
4. Miranda Dick - Burnaby Mountain W.C. / Canada
5. Terri McNutt - London-Western / Canada
6. Audrey Pang - Team Impact / Canada

55 kg (6)
1. Tonya Verbeek - Brock W.C. / Canada
2. Hatsumi Nakanishi - Japan
3. Brit Laverdure - U of Calgary W.C. / Canada
4. Erica Sharp - U of Calgary W.C. / Canada
5. Laura McDougall - U of Calgary W.C. / Canada
6. Jessica Lamina - USA

59 kg (7)
1. Emily Richardson - Burnaby Mountain W.C. / Canada
2. Breanne Graham - U of Calgary W.C. / Canada

3. Sayuri Watanabe - Japan
4. Amy Dyck - Saskatoon W.C. / Canada
5. Justine Bouchard - Strathcona W.C. / Canada
6. Jennifer Chu - USA

63 kg (7)
1. Ayako Shoda - Japan
2. Helen Hennick - U of Calgary W.C. / Canada
3. Viola Yanik - Saskatoon W.C. / Canada
4. Nikola Hartmann - Austria
5. Kim Noakes - Guelph W.C. / Canada
6. Stefanie Shaw - USA

67 kg (2)
1. Eri Sakamoto - Japan
2. Stefanie Howorun - Hamilton W.C. / Canada

72 kg (9)
1. Christine Nordhagen - U of Calgary W.C. / Canada
2. Ohenewa Akuffo - Guelph W.C. / Canada
3. Marian Gastl - Austria
4. Toni Copeland - USA
5. Rachelle Pinet - Club du lutte acadia bathurst / Canada
6. Meaghan Wilton - Guelph W.C. / Canada

Outstanding Canadian Female Wrestler - Tonya Verbeek - 55 KG
Outstanding Foreign Female Wrestler - Ayako Shoda - Japan - 63 KG

Team Standings
1. Canada - 61 pts
2. Japan - 42 pts
3. USA - 11 pts
4. Austria - 8 pts

Canadian Olympic Women's wrestling team (from left to right)

Tonya Verbeek-55kg., Lyndsay Belisle-48kg., Viola Yanik-63kg., Christine Nordhagen- 72kg.

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Mills grabbing chance to throw off the stereotypes

By Sarah Potter 7/8/04

JOANNA MILLS likes to shock. So much so that she does it at will. Every time the 19-year-old meets someone new, jaw-dropping disbelief is virtually guaranteed. Mills, you see, simply doesn’t look like a woman wrestler. The preconceived perception that females grappling in the ring is more freak show than sport will be dispelled in Athens, where women’s wrestling is included in an Olympic Games for the first time.
Mills tackles the myth. “I’m well-placed to challenge it because I’m so girly and small,” she said. “I’m a total contrast to what people expect and if that shatters some illusions it’ll be good.”

She competes in Guelph, Ontario, tomorrow, in the Canada Cup, one of the sport’s largest events. Most of those qualified for Athens will be there, giving the British No 1 a taste of what she is going to miss. A shoulder injury sustained at the World Championships in New York 16 months ago ended her Olympic chances.

“I snapped this Greek woman down and felt a terrible agonising pain,” Mills said. “I looked down and my right shoulder was where my elbow should be. I ended up having surgery to have it pinned.” This, she accepts with a shrug of her 5ft 4in frame, is not a description likely to trigger queues of girls wanting to join the sport. “But I feel brilliant now,” she said. “The shoulder is not an issue. I’m fit and ready to move on.”

Fighting in the 51-kilos category, Mills must be at her best to progress in the Canada Cup against professional opponents from Greece and the United States. “Those countries are flying high,” she said. “But the real queens of wrestling are the Japanese. They’re also incredibly beautiful women. Not as muscular as most, but they whip everybody’s arse.”

Each round of competition has three two-minute bouts, with 30-second breaks in between. “It’s like gymnastics,” Mills said, “because it flows. Male wrestling can be aggressive, ‘I’m the big man here’ sort of attitude. But the women’s competitions are very loose and flamboyant. Each move is worth a certain number of points but you can win outright by getting a pin. It’s not done on a countdown. As long as your shoulder blades are down, it’s a pin.”

Winning by such an emphatic margin was not why Mills remembers her first competition so vividly. “It was in Bolton in 1998,” she said. “It was unfogettable because of what I was wearing. I hadn’t been wrestling for very long, so I didn’t have my own singlet to fight in. I had to wear a boy’s one. They go up the chest, whereas a female’s goes round the side. I looked rather ridiculous, but I won.”

Growing up with two brothers who wrestle meant that she was not the novice her opponents expected. Gordon, 14, and Stephen, 17, had been taking their sister to their training sessions at the YMCA in Manchester for several years. “I’m very close to my brothers but we love to fight each other,” Mills said. “I didn’t know there were competitions for women. Before I discovered such a thing existed it was just a case of going to the YMCA, flirting with the boys, having a little tussle and going home.”

Elizabeth and Iain Mills, who run a residential care home in Manchester, have no misgivings about her chosen sport. “They’re very liberal,” Mills said. “They’ve never said I can’t do something because it’s meant to be for boys. We criss-cross the threshold of what male and female roles are supposed to be in our house all the time.”

Mills opted for Manchester Met University, where she is reading Spanish and Cultural Studies, so that she could continue her training. “Dad’s very sporty and went to Germany once with the television programme, It’s A Knockout, so he had a grounding in the grappling sports,” she added. “He helps me with my strength work, but I’m also fortunate to be coached by Nikolai Korneveve. He’s a Russian who was given a contract by our governing body ahead of Athens.”

If dedication alone could win medals, Mills would already be a champion. “When I’m at university I get up at 5am to train for two hours,” she said. “My friends think it’s all a bit bizarre and they’ve come along to watch me, just to see what it’s all about. But I can see an opportunity at the end of this. I’ve got a drive to win and in four year’s time I believe I will be flourishing as a wrestler. I desperately want to be part of an Olympic Games, it would be the cherry on the cake. Nobody could misunderstand that.”

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Japan women lead charge

JEREMY WALKER, Asahi Shimbun News Service 7/13/04

Female athletes will outnumber the men on the Japanese Olympic team. The goddess Athena will no doubt smile approvingly from the heights of Mount Olympus.

One month from today, Japan's medal hopefuls will march into Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the XXXVIII Olympiad. The goddess Athena will no doubt smile approvingly from the heights of Mount Olympus.

For the first time in history, female athletes will outnumber the men on a Japanese Olympic team.

And that's not the only first: Japan is sending more athletes to Athens than it has in any previous Games. A delegation of more than 500 will be in the ancient Greek capital-313 athletes will be supported by an entourage of coaches, doctors, nutritionists and other technical staff in their quest for Olympic glory.

``With one month to go, we are very optimistic about our performance in Athens,'' said Kenji Nishimura, a deputy director of the Japanese Olympic Committee. ``We feel we can win three or four gold medals in sports such as judo and women's wrestling. We also have strong chances in team sports-baseball, softball and synchronized swimming.

``Our goal is to win 25 medals, with at least 10 of them gold.''

Five-time world champion wrestler Kyoko Hamaguchi will lead the Japan team as flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony.

Wrestling was one of the main events in the ancient Olympic Games. Women in those times were not allowed to watch-because the male wrestlers were naked-much less compete.

Fast forward 2,700 years: Everyone has their clothes on, and women's wrestling makes its Olympic debut in Athens with Hamaguchi the hands down favorite to win gold in the 72-kilogram category.

``The Olympics are very special,'' Hamaguchi said after the Japan wrestling championships last winter. ``I think a gold medal in Athens would be worth 100 world championships.''

Joining Hamaguchi in the medal hunt will be Saori Yoshida (55 kg) and the pin-down sisters of Kaori (63 kg) and Chiharu (48 kg) Icho.

``It's encouraging that Japan won five gold medals at the women's wrestling world championships last year,'' Nishimura said. ``And in three of the four weight categories to be contested in Athens.''

---------------------------------------------

Wrestler Patricia Miranda SHE'S TOUGH--AND WILLING TO GO TO THE MAT TO
GET WHAT SHE WANTS;

Byline: Pam Lambert. Vickie Bane in Colorado Springs
Publication: People
Issue: July 26, 2004 Vol. 62 No. 4
Publication Date: 07-26-2004
Page: 81Section: 2004 Olympics

Wrestling boys was rough for Patricia Miranda, the only girl on her
high school's team, but nowhere near as tough as her battles off the mat.
Competitors taunted her. Opponents' parents berated her. Even her own
father lined up against her: He once threatened to sue the Saratoga, Calif.,
school district for allowing her to wrestle. "That was the wrong thing to do,"
says Miranda, now 25. "Trying to make me quit basically assured that I
wouldn't."

Or maybe it was the right thing to do, if you want to stoke the
competitive fires of an Olympic athlete. For Miranda kept her nose to the mat, and
next month in Athens, in the 105.5-lb. weight division, the fierce 5-ft.
dynamo will represent the U.S. at the first Olympics to include women's
wrestling. "I'd say pound for pound, she's our best women's wrestler," says John
Fuller, spokesman for USA Wrestling, "She's so tough, so strong--and
trains so hard."

On her way to Athens, the young wrestler has had to grapple with her
share of difficult family issues. Her mom, Lia, died suddenly of a brain
aneurysm when Miranda was 10. That left Jose, her Brazilian immigrant father,
grief-stricken and in charge of two boys and two girls. "Suddenly I had
four children ages 5 to 11," he says. "I had my hands full trying to juggle
things." At age 13, Miranda, who was not particularly athletic,
discovered wrestling when she went to a tryout on a whim. "I think the thing that
hooked me," she remembers, "was that I was not very good at all." And
her physician father believed his kids should devote all their time to
academics. Eventually, though, when he saw how unhappy Patricia was at
the prospect of not wrestling, he agreed to a compromise: If Patricia--a "C
and D" student, she says --got straight A's, she could join the team.

She has since become an academic all-star--as well as a two-time world
championship silver medalist. From Saratoga High School she went to
Stanford, where she earned a B.S. in economics, a master's in
international policy--both with honors--and admission to Yale Law School, which she
deferred until this fall. In high school she wrestled boys her own size
and won often. At Stanford, where again she was the only woman on the team,
"I just got beat up--it was four years of losing." With the lightest
weight class for collegiate men 125 lbs., she had to wrestle opponents who
consistently outweighed her.

Yet it wasn't all struggle and loss. She and Stanford teammate Levi
Weikel-Magden started dating. "We connected and it was something so
rare that I thought, 'I'm not going to let that pass me by,'" she says.
Weikel-Magden, now 25 and a law student, is spending his summer in
Colorado Springs so that he can help her train. "We wrestle and work," he says.
"I know that doesn't sound like fun, but when we do it together, it isn't
bad." Miranda works out five days a week, wrestling three hours a day in
addition to regular weight training and running. To maintain her weight, no fast
food--ever. The last time she ate at her beloved McDonald's was in high
school.

As usual, Miranda faces an uphill battle in Athens. The competition in
her weight class could include two reigning world champions: Ukrainian
Irini Merlini and Japan's Chiharu Icho. But don't tell Miranda she can't win;
in her mind she already has. "This is my one shot," she says. "You know,
dude, I'm starting law school the week after I win."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Olympian spreads her hope

By Heidi Pederson 7/10/04

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Six years ago, Toccara Montgomery thought she was just another high school wrestler.

STAR-TELEGRAM/IAN MCVEA
Toccara Montgomery, left, believes she has a stranglehold on a medal at the Summer Olympics. Montgomery demonstrates a move on Chelsea Rowntree.

STAR-TELEGRAM/IAN MCVEA
Montgomery knows the drill necessary for success, having wrestled in high school and college en route to the Athens Games.

Montgomery, who grew up in Cleveland, took up wrestling as a sophomore, competing on her coed high school team. She never imagined that one day she would be competing in the Olympic Games.

But that's exactly what she will be doing next month in Athens as a member of the U.S. women's wrestling team. The 21-year-old earned the spot by winning the 158.5-pound class at the U.S. Olympic Trials in May.

Montgomery wants today's female high school wrestlers to realize they are capable of achieving such goals. Montgomery is sharing her message with Texas girls this week at a wrestling clinic she is giving at Frisco Centennial High School today.

"For a while after I started, I felt like I was below average," Montgomery said. "I had friends asking me, 'Why are you doing it? You say it's really hard, and you haven't won a match yet. I had no idea one day it would lead me to a chance to get to the Olympics."

Montgomery is one of a generation of athletes who have helped women's wrestling establish a solid foothold. The 2004 Games will be the first to include women's wrestling as a medal sport. Several women's college teams have been created, and there is now a girls division in the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships, the most prestigious junior tournament in the country.

Texas and Hawaii are the only states where the governing high school organization has a girls wrestling division. More than 1,000 girls wrestled for 149 girls teams in UIL competition this past season.

After high school, Montgomery began wrestling for Cumberland College in Kentucky on a full athletic scholarship. Balancing the demands of elite athletics and a full-time class load hasn't been easy, but she has thrived under Cumberland coach Kip Flanik. Her career highlight was earning a silver medal in the 2001 world championships.

Flanik and Montgomery are very optimistic about her medal chances in Athens.

"I'm thinking my chances are anywhere between 95 and 99 percent," she said. "I think by competing hard I can win a gold medal."

Not too long ago, Montgomery would never had expected to utter that statement. Flanik hopes the girls attending the Frisco clinic absorb that message.

"Toccara doesn't come from a family with a ton of money," Flanik said. "She's no different than so many of these girls here. So many of them have the ability to do well. They just have to make the right decisions."

Toccara Montgomery girls wrestling clinic

• Who: Open to all female wrestlers

• Where: Frisco Centennial High School, 6901 Coit Road, Frisco

• When: Starts at 9 a.m. today and ends at 5 p.m., with two one-hour breaks

• Cost: $75 per athlete

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WRESTLING INSIDER;CLEVELAND HEIGHTS GRAD;MAKES U.S. WOMENS TEAM

Plain Dealer Publishing Co. 6/23/04
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)

Former Cleveland Heights wrestler Tina George, one of the few girls who
have started on an area high school boys wrestling team, made the USA
women's world team a second straight year by recently winning the Women's World
Team Trials in Rochester, Minn., at 123.25 pounds.

The 12th World Championships will be Sept. 12-15 in Boden, Sweden. Last
year in Poland, George was pinned in her first-round bout.

Kip Flanik, George's assistant coach at Cleveland Heights who now
coaches at East Tech, says he has been training a high school junior who is better
than George was as a junior.

Her name? Toccara Montgomery, who weighs 138 pounds.

"I knew Tina George would be a world-class women's wrestler," Flanik
said. "Toccara could be even more outstanding. She already finished second in
the National Folkstyle Tournament among 325 competitors in Lake Marion
[Mich.], and was named most valuable wrestler in her last two tournaments in New
York.

"The other main difference between Tina and Toccara is that Tina had
family support for finances. Toccara needs financial support. Women's
wrestling will be an Olympic sport in 2004. I have no doubt Tina George will be
on that team. I think Toccara Montgomery could be, too, if she gets some
financial backing."

---------------------------------------------------

Montgomery vs. Marano is the new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling Members-Only website

7/16/2004
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling has updated its new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling's Members-Only website.

The featured match this week will be the deciding match of the Toccara Montgomery vs. Kristie Marano Championship Series at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in freestyle wrestling.

The series was held in Indianapolis, Ind. Posted is the second match of the Championship Series. Montgomery won the first match, 9-6 in overtime, coming from behind for that win. An athlete needed two victories to earn the spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, so Montgomery had to win a second time to advance to the Athens Olympic Games.

This was a battle against two of sport’s great champions. Montgomery is a two-time World silver medalist who was named FILA’s Women’s Wrestler of the Year in 2001. Marano has won seven World medals, the most of any U.S. woman, including a pair of World gold medals.

Montgomery quickly rose through the U.S. women wrestling ranks while still in high school, coming out of Cleveland, Ohio. By the end of her senior year at East Technical High School, she made her first U.S. team. Later that year, in the summer of 2001, she won her first World silver medal.

She followed her high school coach Kip Flanik to Cumberland College, which has one of the nation’s women’s varsity wrestling teams. Montgomery, who has completed her junior year in college, has been the top athlete in women’s college wrestling since she has entered.

She has claimed many of the highest honors in the sport. Montgomery boasts four U.S. Nationals titles and three World Team Trials titles. She was a 2003 Pan American Games champion, as well as a 2003 World Cup champion. She boasts a pair of Junior World silver medals, as well.

Once the IOC announced that there would be four Olympic weight classes, and FILA identified the actual divisions, Montgomery quickly moved into the highest weight class at 72 kg. She had been competing at the weight below, but immediately changed to the new division and built herself up for success there.

Montgomery has developed a healthy rivalry with Japanese star Kyoko Hamaguchi, a five-time World champion. Hamaguchi defeated Montgomery in the World Championship finals in New York City in the fall of 2003. A few weeks later, Montgomery beat Hamaguchi at the World Cup, held in front of a stunned Japanese crowd in Tokyo.

A finals showdown in Indianapolis between Montgomery and Marano was unexpected. For the past three seasons, Marano had been wrestling at 63 kg/138.75 lbs., another of the Olympic divisions. That was where Marano was supposed to wrestle in Indianapolis.

Marano started her star-studded career competing at the highest weight class, then at 75 kg/165 lbs. She switched to wrestling full-time from judo, where a knee injury had hampered her ability to compete. She was also a high school wrestler in her native Albany, N.Y.

Her first year on the national scene was very successful, with a U.S. Nationals title and a World silver medal. For four years in a row, Marano reached the finals of the World Championships and won a silver medal. Among the athletes who defeated Marano at that division was Japan’s Hamaguchi.

Marano’s first World title came in 2000 in Sofia, Bulgaria, competing at 68 kg/149.75 lbs. In 2001, she did not make the World team, as Montgomery made her first team.

During the fall of 2001, the IOC announced that women’s wrestling was going into the Olympics and the weight classes were later identified. Marano, who was in tremendous condition, chose to drop to 63 kg/138.75 lbs. in her quest for Olympic glory. In 2002 and 2003, she lost to Sara McMann in the finals of the World Team Trials. In Special Wrestle-offs each year, she then moved up to the non-Olympic weight of 67 kg/147.5 lbs. and made the U.S. team. In 2002, she won a World bronze medal. In 2003, on her home mats in New York City, she claimed the World gold medal again.

At the 2003 U.S. Nationals, Marano made the finals against McMann again, and she won the title, pinning McMann. That placed her at the No. 1 seed at the Olympic Trials at 63 kg. However, at the Olympic Team Trials, Marano was not able to make weight, and moved up to 72 kg, having to compete in the Challenge Tournament. It was a climb of almost 20 pounds in weight. Marano won that Challenge Tournament to set up her showdown with Montgomery.

The athletes have a contrast of styles. Montgomery has a power game, with strong athletic skills and instincts. Her “blast double” is among the best in the world. Marano, who has a strong influence from judo and Greco-Roman wrestling, is comfortable in upper body situations and with throws. She has also mastered the basic positions of wrestling, which helps in close matches. Both are fierce competitors, hate losing and have confidence in themselves.

When Montgomery was able to win a close battle in match No. 2 at the Olympic Trials, she earned a spot on the historic first U.S. Women’s Olympic Team, while Marano was unable to reach that goal. As both are still young, there could be another chance for them in the 2008 Olympic Trials.

This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history.

Posted in the archive section of the Members Only webpage is last week’s 2004 Joe Williams and Joe Heskett bout in men’s freestyle. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.

USA Wrestling has done a complete redesign and expansion of its Members-Only website, providing all USA Wrestling members with an impressive new resource stocked with interactive learning tools and entertaining features.

This on-line resource is available free of charge only to current members of USA Wrestling, one of the most exciting benefits of joining the organization.

USA Wrestling members will only need to enter the number from their 2003-04 membership card into an entry form, and the exciting new Members-Only page will become available to them.

RECENT BOUTS OF THE WEEK PLACED IN ARCHIVE
2004 Joe Williams vs. Joe Heskett men’s freestyle match
2004 Eric Guerrero vs. Mike Zadick men’s freestyle match
2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Lee Fullhart men’s freestyle match
2004 Dennis Hall vs. Brandon Paulson men’s Greco-Roman match
1996 Townsend Saunders vs. Pat Santoro men’s freestyle match
1988 Mark Fuller vs. T.J. Jones men’s Greco-Roman match
1988 Nate Carr vs. Andre Metzger men’s freestyle match
2004 Jared Frayer vs. Eric Larkin men’s freestyle match
1987 Bill Scherr vs. Greg Gibson men’s freestyle match
1992 Dennis Koslowski vs. Andrzej Wronski men’s Greco-Roman match
1989 Jim Scherr vs. Makharbek Khadartsev men’s freestyle match
2003 Sally Roberts vs. Marianna Sastin women’s freestyle match
1996 Melvin Douglas vs. Mike Van Arsdale men’s freestyle match
1988 Ike Anderson vs. Buddy Lee men’s Greco-Roman match
1996 Tom Brands vs. Jang Jae-Sung men’s freestyle match
2004 Eric Larkin vs. T.J. Williams men’s freestyle match
1992 Rodney Smith vs. Cecilio Rodriguez men’s Greco-Roman match
1988 Rico Chiapparelli vs. Lukman Jabrailov men’s freestyle match
2003 Kristie Marano vs. Ewelina Pruszko women’s freestyle match
1999 Stephen Neal vs. Andrei Shumilin men’s freestyle match
2003 Cael Sanderson vs. Sajid Sajidov men’s freestyle match

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Women's wrestling makes Olympic debut

By Jim Caple 7/15/04
ESPN.com

Don't bother telling Tela O'Donnell any jokes about women wrestlers.
After seven years in the sport, she has already heard them all.

Tela O'Donnell (in blue) wrestles in the 65-kilo/121-pound class.

"Sometimes they're not too classy with their comments, which is unfortunate,'' the 21-year-old wrestler said. "They always say something about mud-wrestling. Somebody recently said some pretty unnecessary comments and I thought, 'Why would you say that?'"

Let them have their cheap laughs. The final punchline belongs to O'Donnell -- she's going to wrestle in the Olympics. The woman from Homer, Alaska, is going to the land of Homer, along with three other American women wrestlers -- Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann and Toccara Montgomery. The U.S. women stand an excellent chance at medaling -- three of the four Olympians won silver medals at last year's world championships.

While wrestling has been an Olympic sport since Socrates watched from the cheap seats, this is the first time for women's wrestling at the Games. That might come as a surprise to most U.S. fans, who probably weren't even aware women competed in the sport.

"We have a great elite level team but our development team is below other countries,'' U.S. women's coach Terry Steiner said. "Women's wrestling is still not accepted in the high school systems here, while Canada has it in most high schools and 19 colleges. It's generally more accepted than it is here in the U.S. That's where our efforts have to pick up at the grass roots.

"It's a matter of changing attitudes. It's a sport that not only is not accepted in general, it's something that's not even accepted or respected in its own sport. Doing well in the Olympics can be a great catalyst for our sport.''

Like all women wrestlers, O'Donnell, who wrestles in the 65-kilo/121-pound class, knows that only too well. When she first wanted to wrestle in eighth grade ("I wasn't so good at volleyball"), she had to petition the school board for permission. And even then, the board only granted her the right to participate in workouts, not actual tournaments.

"People would ask why I would go to all that trouble and work if I couldn't wrestle in a tournament," O'Donnell said. "And I would say, I just like wrestling.''

O'Donnell's teammate, Patricia Miranda, can appreciate that. She wrestled at Stanford even though the school doesn't have a women's program, wrestling instead on the men's team (she was 1-7 in college-only matches -- her only victory was by forfeit). Then again, it's not like she had a lot of alternatives, though. Only six colleges offer women's wrestling.

Steiner says that many coaches resent women's wrestling out of fear that it will cut funding for the men's programs at the collegiate level, where the sport is already challenged enough.

"Some dislike it from that point. And some think that a women's place isn't on the wrestling mat,'' he said. "Some people ask, 'Why women's wrestling?' I turn it around and ask, 'Why not?' Everyone who's in coaching believes in the sport of wrestling. It gives us experiences, life skills and lessons they can take on to rest of their lives. If we believe in that, why do we want to limit the sport to half the population?

"I ask them, 'Do you have a daughter? What if she wants to follow in your footsteps? Would you want her to go through the same ridicule and harassment these women have?'"

Indeed. Wrestling is a grueling sport, demanding strength, discipline and training rarely matched by other sports. The women not only had to endure all that but also they had to put up with narrow-minded people saying they shouldn't even be on the mat. Compared to that, the Olympics are just another challenge to be conquered.

"It almost makes the women wrestle that much harder and push that much harder,'' O'Donnell said. "And not just because of them, for yourself. You never want to use that excuse, 'I'm a girl, I'm weaker.'

"The girls who take it seriously win their respect.''

And if they perform well in Athens, they could win even more.

"Hopefully, more people will see it and see that women can wrestle, too,'' O'Connell said. "It will give other people the opportunity to wrestle and find that is a good sport for them.''

Jim Caple is a senior writer at ESPN.com.