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Local wrestlers among state's golden girls; [N Edition]

Kevin Gemmell. The San Diego Union - Tribune. Feb 6, 2005.
People: Harris, Bethany, Jauck, Jessica
Author(s): Kevin Gemmell
Document types: INTERVIEW;
Column Name: COMMUNITY SPORTS
Section: ZONE


Copyright SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY Feb 6, 2005
Bethany Harris and Jessica Jauck lead double lives.

In one life, the seniors join friends in roaming the campuses of their
respective high schools -- Harris at Valley Center and Jauck at Ramona
doing whatever it is teenage girls do.

In the other, they don singlets after class and are two of the state's
premier female wrestlers.

Friends since they met four years ago, the pair finished one-two last
week in the 132-pound division of the girls state wrestling championships in
Vallejo. Harris defeated Jauck 3-0 in the final to claim the title.

"Jessica has been wrestling for a long time and she's got some good
moves," said Harris. "She can catch you at any time, so I knew I had to wrestle
smart."

It was the second time in as many weeks the two met in the final of a
tournament. Harris topped Jauck 6-2 two weeks ago in state qualifying.

"I think one of the hardest things is that we practiced together over
the summer and in the off season," Jauck said. "It's hard wrestling your
friend, but I have no regrets about the match."

The pair's collision course seemed unlikely a month ago. Jauck was
undefeated and tearing up the 132-pound class. Harris was just
returning from an elbow injury that had sidelined her most of the season. She was
struggling to cut weight and finished fifth at 126 pounds in the Napa
Girls Classic in mid-January, a tournament Jauck won at 132.

That's when Harris opted to compete at 132 for the rest of the girls
season. The decision paid off when she handed Jauck her only two losses of the
year.

"I've wrestled a lot of people who have been my friends," Harris said.
"You are friends before and after, but they are your opponent on the mat."

Harris and Jauck are more than opponents and friends. They are
trailblazers -- participants in a niche sport within a niche sport. Both have dealt
with the prejudices that accompany being a girl in what traditionally has
been a guys' sport.

"Jessica has done real well in a sport that's dominated by
testosterone," said Ramona High coach Steve Koch. "She's put up with other coaches
forfeiting against her so their guys wouldn't have to face her. She
could have whined about it, but instead she used it as motivation to make her
better."

Jauck, a wrestler since age 10, said she's seen the public become more
accepting of female wrestlers, but there are prejudices.

"There are still a lot of coaches and refs who really don't like it,"
Jauck said. "Some of them are just mean about it. But it's getting better."

Unlike sports such as basketball and soccer, San Diego Section schools
don't have separate wrestling teams for boys and girls. The females train
with the males, and some girls actually compete against boys. Others wrestle
only against girls.

To expand the opportunities for females, some girls-only tournaments
have been established, such as the state championships.

Harris wrestles varsity for the Jaguars, which means often going
against the boys. Jauck wrestled junior varsity last season at Ramona but has only
competed against girls this year.

Harris' goal before the season was to qualify for the San Diego Section
masters tournament, from which wrestlers advance to the state meet. She
said the elbow injury was a setback, and she's still not in peak shape.

Both said they are stronger and better for having trained against the
guys.

"I get beat up in practice," Jauck said. "You learn quickly not to do
certain things because these guys will pin you any chance they get.
It's been a great experience working out with them."

Both plan on wrestling in college next year, possibly together at
Cumberland College in Kentucky.

"It's such a fun and addicting sport," Jauck said. "There is a great
sense of team camaraderie and there isn't a lot of girl drama. But sometimes
I do need some girl time."

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Roberts vs. O’Donnell is the new “Bout of the Week” on USA Wrestling Members-Only website

2/10/2005
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 is the Sally Roberts vs. Tela O’Donnell women’s freestyle match from gold-medal finals at 59 kg/130 lbs. at the 2005 Dave Schultz Memorial International Open in Colorado Springs, Colo. this past weekend.

This match paired off two No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the nation. O’Donnell, a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team at 55 kg/121 lbs., moved up in weight to compete at this tournament. Roberts, a 2003 World bronze medalist, earned the No. 1 spot at this non-Olympic weight class in a World Team Trials event over the summer.

These athletes know each other very well, both on and off the mat. They are former teammates at Pacific Univ. on its women’s wrestling team. They are both U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athletes. They have been roommates. They practice together, and at many competitions, they drill with each other for warm-ups prior to their matches. Roberts and O’Donnell are friends, but when they faced each other in the finals of the Dave Schultz International, they really went hard after it.

Sally Roberts has developed into one of the nation’s best women wrestlers. She attended Federal Way High School in Washington state, and was on the boy’s wrestling team. She was also a very talented swimmer in her youth. However, Roberts chose wrestling for college, and initially attended the Univ. of Minnesota-Morris and its women’s varsity team. She transferred to Pacific Univ. in Oregon to continue her college career, where she continued her progress on the national level.

While a college student, Roberts was a placewinner at the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials, and did well at the age-group competitions. Based upon that success, Roberts was included in the first group of women wrestlers who became resident-athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Since joining the program, she has improved and her achievements have expanded.

Roberts earned a spot on the 2003 U.S. World Team that competed in the Freestyle World Championships in Madison Square Garden in New York City. She wrestled with dominance, losing just one match in the semifinals, and captured a bronze medal. Her victory in the third place match against Mariana Sastin of Hungary included an exciting throw that appeared in newspapers across the nation.

Roberts competes at a non-Olympic division, and moved up to 63 kg/138.75 pounds for the 2004 Olympic Trials, where she placed fifth. She dropped back to her regular division and earned a spot as the No. 1 athlete at 59 kg for the year. Her achievements include a gold medal at the 2003 World Cup, as well as a gold medal at the respected Ivan Yarygin Memorial in Russia just a few weeks ago.

O’Donnell is a native of Homer, Alaska, and grew up in a log cabin in the woods. She wrestled in junior high school and high school, and won the USGWA National folkstyle event. She also wrestled on the national age-group levels while still in high school, placing in a few major freestyle competitions.

Her college career started at Pacific Univ., where she was a teammate with Roberts. She made a big name for herself that first year there, including an impressive win over veteran Tonya Evinger of Missouri Valley at the NAIA National event. After placing fifth in the U.S. Nationals and the World Team Trials, O’Donnell was accepted into the U.S. Olympic Training Center resident program, along with Roberts and other teammates from Pacific.

In 2003, O’Donnell won the U.S. National Championships at her division, but lost to veteran World medalist Tina George in the 2003 World Team Trials. In 2004, George defeated O’Donnell in the U.S. Nationals finals. However, at the Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis, O’Donnell had a spectacular effort. She won the Challenge Tournament then defeated George in two straight matches to make the Olympic Team. She was one of the four women to compete on the historic first U.S. Olympic Team in women’s wrestling in Athens, Greece.

O’Donnell placed sixth at the Olympic Games in Athens, losing a match to the eventual silver medalist Tonya Verbeek of Canada in her pool, then was eliminated in the wrestlebacks. After returning from the Olympics, she had a strong showing at the 2004 World Cup, winning a silver medal. She chose to compete up one weight class at the Dave Schultz Memorial, after a busy fall season competing in a number of tournaments both in the USA and abroad.

The Roberts vs. O’Donnell match was very wide open and exciting, and was a crowd-favorite during the championship finals. The bout was extended to three periods, and both athletes opened up their offense. This will be a match that any wrestling fan can enjoy, especially with the effort and skill shown by the competitors.

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 web page was a 1999 Stephen Neal vs. Aydin Polatci men’s freestyle match from the World Championships in Ankara, Turkey. 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.

The web page is still available for all to view and sample for a short time. This will allow those not familiar with the site to enjoy the contents and become familiar with the features.

Once the sampling period ends, 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. At that time, USA Wrestling members will need to enter the number from their 2004-05 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
1999 Stephen Neal vs. Aydin Polatci men’s freestyle match
1992 highlight video of U.S. Olympic Wrestling team in Barcelona, Spain
1988 Andy Seras vs. Mike Mann men’s Greco-Roman match
1992 Kevin Jackson vs. Rasul Khadem men’s freestyle match
1992 Chris Campbell vs. Puntsag Sukhbat men’s freestyle match
2000 Garrett Lowney vs. Gogi Koguachvili men’s Greco-Roman match
1988 Randy Lewis vs. Stepan Sarkissian men’s freestyle match
1996 Kurt Angle vs. Abbas Jadidi men’s freestyle match
1990 Chris Wilson vs. Arsen Fadzeav men’s freestyle match
1990 John Smith vs. Stepan Sarkissian men’s freestyle match
2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men’s Greco-Roman gold-medal matches
2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men’s freestyle gold-medal matches
1990 Bill Scherr vs. Alexei Golovko men’s freestyle match
2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Moon Eui Jae men’s freestyle match
2004 Rulon Gardner Olympic semifinals and finals men’s Greco-Roman feature
2004 Sara McMann vs. Stavroula Zygouri women’s freestyle match
2004 Toccara Montgomery vs. Kristie Marano women’s freestyle match
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

It looks like a free preview this week. Click here
http://themat.com/membersonly/boutofweek.asp and then click scroll
down to the bottom where it says 'click here to view'. Click on there and
view the video for free. Long download time....

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Padilla on top of her game

Female wrestler continues family tradition

By John Honell , Correspondent 2/9/05

Freshman Tatiana Padilla of Northview High recently won a state high school wrestling championship at 110 pounds. It isn't the first state title in the family. State championships are a family tradition.
Padilla also holds the state title at 100 pounds in Greco-Roman wrestling and her brother, Chris Lopez, won the boys state title at 171 pounds in 2000. He is currently attending Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri on a wrestling scholarship.

"That was awesome,' Lopez said. "I'm so proud of her and the goals she has set for herself. She is the hardest working, not only girls, but any wrestler I've seen. She's on a different level from most, she has different goals than others.'

Although Padilla has been wrestling since she was 3 1/2 years old, it isn't the only sport in which this all- around athlete excels. She was one of the leading runners on the Vikings cross country team and will be a pole vaulter on the track team this spring.

"I really like swimming,' she said. "I swim all the time but they want me to do pole vault even though I've never done it before.'

Padilla wrestled junior Katherine Fulp-Allen, who was 26-0 against girls and ranked first in the country for the state championship two weeks ago. Padilla won on a technical fall, 16-0 in the second period.

"Fulp-Allen wrestles against college girls,' Northview coach Dave Ochoa said. "Tatiana has been wrestling against boys and no 16-, 17- year-old boy wants to get beat by a 14-year-old girl. The physical challenges boys present helped her.'

Padilla has filled in on the boys team and has an 11-3 varsity record against boys.

"A lot of parents tell me that matches against Tatiana are the best their kids have wrestled all year,' said Padilla's mom, Lisa.

The founder of this family tradition might be Lisa's brother, Fred Myers.

"Fred used to wrestle at Mountain View,' Lisa said. "He brought a flier home for a youth wrestling club and I took Chris to that. After that we helped start "The Grapplers,' another youth club, at Northview. I'm the current president.'

A goal of winning a state championship as a freshman may seem like a stretch to many, but it isn't even close to being the ultimate goal for this well-focused student athlete.

"I think that was good,' Padilla said of her state title. "That still wasn't my biggest goal since I still have three more years here. Winning Nationals in Michigan was one of my goals at the start of the season.'

Her ultimate goal is to represent the United States in the Olympics and be on the gold medal stand one day.

"I watched all the women wrestle in the Olympics,' she said. "We had to tape all of them since none of the women made it to prime time. We got a second and third and I was like, I want to be the first to win a gold medal.'

Padilla's Greco-Roman championship came in the boys division and is an indication of her upper- body strength.

"It's totally different from what we do in high school,' she said. "You can only use your upper body. You can't touch legs or trip your opponent, it's a penalty. You can only use your arms to throw.'

Padilla has a 3.5 grade-point average and credits her sports activity and her mom with helping to manage her time to get school work done.

"Other kids say 'oh, I wish my mom was like your mom,'' she said. "I really like school work but my mom makes me get everything done. If I don't I can't talk on the phone.'

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Wolves' Forrester lets her actions on the mat do the talking for her

By BUDDY PINKSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/11/05

] Good-natured grins aside, Tia Forrester appears to be about to slam Buford teammate Nick Harford during practice

Some high school wrestling teams chose to forfeit rather than face
Buford's 103-pound entry this season.

But the tactic often backfired. The Wolves would simply move their
scrappy little freshman into a heavier class, often coming away with a victory
that caused even greater embarrassment.

Most of those opponents don't have to worry anymore about avoiding Tia
Forrester. She's in the state tournament, and they're not.

Forrester, part of a family in which wrestling has become a way of
life, qualified by placing fourth in the Area 4-AA meet last week. She is one
of six Buford wrestlers in the state tournament today and Saturday at
Toombs County High School in Lyons.

She has compiled a 33-16 record, winning several times against
112-pounders. When a team forfeited at the smallest weight, Buford coach Christian
Hunnicutt defaulted there, too, moving Forrester up so she would have a
chance to compete.

"Some coaches said their [103-pound] kid refused to wrestle a girl,"
Hunnicutt said.

To Forrester's father, there was another obvious explanation.

"I'm certain a few of them didn't want to get beat by her again," Scott
Forrester said.

But her father can understand opponents' unease at the notion of
inter-gender wrestling. He was the first naysayer when his daughter
wanted to compete in an activity that does not have a girls-only division in
Georgia. So, for Tia, it's either wrestle against the boys or don't
wrestle at all.

Tia came to her dad as a fifth-grader asking to participate in the
sport that her father and younger brother, Scottie, enjoyed so much. She had
been attending practices and every match, watching her male kin train at
home and absorbing every nuance.

"I didn't think it was a good idea at first," Scott Forrester said. "I
didn't think she would do as well as she has. It took about a year, but
she begged and begged and finally wore me down."

Tia joined the Buford youth program in sixth grade. With constant
exposure to the sport at home, it didn't take long to start winning.

Her main tutor, Scott Forrester, wrestled at North Gwinnett High School
from 1982 to '85 and in the Army from 1986 to '89. He was drawn back into
the sport when Scottie joined the Buford community program seven years ago.

Now the Forresters have a wrestling mat in their dining room and a
well-outfitted exercise gym in the spare bedroom. Scottie, a 125-pound
eighth-grader, and Tia wrestle with each other and their father every
day. The house is a regular workout site for teammates and even friends from
other schools. Their mother, Marie Forrester, is the Wolves' team mom,
attending every practice to observe and supply food, drink and
assistance with equipment.

While more girls have been taking up the sport, including three who
were in the Area 4-AA tournament, their participation is still a novelty in
Georgia, and many boys are thrown off by the prospect of wrestling a female.

"It's usually the inexperienced guys," Hunnicutt said. "They'll come
out kind of tentative against Tia. Then when they're on their back, you can
see the look on their face that says, 'Oh my gosh, I'm getting beat,' and
they try to flip a switch.

"Sometimes it's too late."

Senior teammate Yvan Banag finds some reactions amusing.

"If they beat her, they act like they won the state championship," he
said. "If they lose, they look like they're going to cry."

One victim last year decided to call it quits. He lost to Forrester in
a JV-level tournament and turned in his uniform that night.

Opponents who show her disrespect are making a mistake.

"I get mad," Tia said. "It makes me want to wrestle harder."

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She's no pushover

Greylock junior pins hopes on wrestling success

By Brian Sullivan 2/11/05
Berkshire Eagle Staff

Nikki Darrow of Lanesboro, a junior at Mount Greylock Regional High School, will compete today in the Western Mass. Division 2 tournament that is being hosted by Mount Greylock. She is ranked No. 2 at 112 pounds. Photo: Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff More Pictures

LANESBORO -- Nikki Darrow offers no real explanation. But somewhere between the sixth and seventh grades, her athletic coordination somehow disappeared and rendered her helpless in the mainstream sports she had hoped to be part of as a newcomer at Mount Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown.
"All of a sudden, I became horrible at things like soccer," said Darrow, a Lanesboro resident who is now a junior at Mount Greylock. "Absolutely nothing was working for me."

Well, there's nothing like a big brother to step in and solve life's little problems. Shaun Darrow, who had wrestled at Mount Greylock, suggested to little sister that she do the same.

Welcomed by team

The shy seventh-grader, who still weighed less than 100 pounds soaking wet, figured she would give it the old high school try and see if she liked it.

"The team welcomed me," she recalled.

Oh, how far Nikki Darrow has come.

Heading into today's Western Massachusetts Division 2 tournament that is being hosted by Mount Greylock, Darrow is ranked No. 2 at 112 pounds behind Mount Everett's Jeremy Wolfe. If the draw turns out as expected, Darrow and Wolfe would wrestle for a Western Mass. title tomorrow night.

If that happens, then Darrow will have to work through a mental hurdle. She defeated Wolfe as a ninth-grader, but has since lost seven straight matches to the Everett standout. In Western Mass.competition, Darrow finished second two years ago and fourth last year.

Darrow has won 116 high school matches during her stellar career and would like to earn a Western Mass. individual title this weekend. That goal didn't seem possible after what proved to be a painful seventh-grade campaign in which she was banged around pretty good.

"After that first year, I decided I was going to come back and not get beat up," Darrow said. "I lifted [weights], worked out and when I came back, I was ready to wrestle."

Darrow started to get better, but there was a price to be paid. She suffered a dislocated elbow in the eighth grade and broke her collarbone during her freshman year. She persevered, though, noting that she had always been strong athletically.

National aspirations

A defining moment in Darrow's career came during her eighth-grade season, when during a meet in Essex, Vt., she met people who informed her of the comings and goings of girls' wrestling at the national level.

Having posted a strong career record against the guys, Darrow was incredibly intrigued with the notion of wrestling opponents of the same gender. And while she has made a name for herself in the state at the high school level, Darrow has risen to be a nationally recognized competitor in girls' wrestling events.

Darrow has so impressed people in wrestling circles that she has been courted by Northern Mich-igan University, which has on its Marquette, Mich., campus an Olympic training facility for wrestling and other sports.

"People who train there have the Olympics on their minds," said Darrow, who is not far enough along at Greylock to actually be offered a scholarship.

Northern Michigan is one of 15 schools in the U.S. that support women's wrestling programs. To that end, Darrow harbors dreams of getting a chance to compete for a position on the 2008 Olympic women's wrestling team.

Darrow said she is starting to earn recognition in women's wrestling circles.

"People are starting to know me and I'm getting to know a lot of the girls who are No. 1 in their weight classes nationally," she said. "Before I was the hunter, but now I'm the one who is the hunted."

When Darrow finishes competition in this weekend's Western Mass. tournament, she will have the state high school tournament to contend with before she begins to focus on her national girls' wrestling slate in the spring and summer.

"It's been pretty much all wrestling all the time for the past two years," said Darrow, who competes for the coed TNT wrestling club of Rotterdam, N.Y.

Tough campaign

Darrow said she is bracing for a tough campaign. At age 16 1/2, she will be elevated nationally into what will be an open women's class. The minimum age for this division is 17, but Darrow said she can compete with the approval of a doctor.

Also, the women's weight classes are not grouped as tightly as the boys' divisions. Darrow will take her 5-foot, 6-inch frame and 112 pounds into a 121-pound division.

Darrow is cautiously optimistic, but at the same time realistic about her upcoming spring and summer.

"This year could be a rough one," she admitted. "But it will be a year where I can see where I'm at. I know I've got a lot of work to do.

"An Olympic wrestler at 121 pounds is where I would like to end up some day. But 121 pounds is not a weight that I would be cut at. But the next lowest weight for women is 105 pounds and there is no way I'm going that far down."

Darrow's lifestyle follows a narrow path. The high school season is quite busy and the off-season is even busier. She travels to New York to train and is involved with the TNT program four days a week. That doesn't count traveling to tournaments on Fridays, competing on weekends, and coming back on Mondays.

The upside to that schedule is that Darrow has competed all over the United States and, if nothing else, has expanded her knowledge of geography.

"I've never second-guessed myself about getting into wrestling," Darrow said. "Not since the seventh grade, at least. But there are times that are tough. I miss my friends, especially when they're getting ready to go out and I'm heading to practice."

Darrow knows she is no Jackie Robinson. Girls competing in high school wrestling, although rare, are not necessarily pioneers. Still, she hears the murmurs occasionally and knows that a "girl" on the mat with a guy is not everyone's idea of what the sport should be about.

"There are people who still think that way," she said. "I hear it. The only way for me to answer is to go out and show what I can do."

Losing to a high-quality wrestler like Darrow is no shame to most of the competitors she faces in high schools. The guys actually handle it quite well.

Certainly, the young Greylock wrestlers who are boys learn the ropes quickly because they spar and practice with Darrow. It makes sense because they are of similar weights.

"I've beaten guys and girls who have been my friends," Darrow said. "It's not hard to put that friendship away while you compete."

Darrow said that while she enjoys winning, a match that lasts for all three two-minute rounds usually is more satisfying than a quick pin.

"A quick pin usually means it wasn't that competitive of a match," she pointed out. "But if you go six minutes, you know you are going to use every muscle in your body. Those kind of matches can take their toll, but they are good for you."

Excited about tournament

With a hefty national slate scheduled for spring and summer and Olympic trials in the back of her mind, you might think that Darrow doesn't consider the Western Mass. championships such a big deal anymore.

Well, you couldn't be more wrong.

"I definitely get excited about Western Mass.," she said.

So Darrow will concentrate on the present and aim for a successful Western Mass. weekend. With the talent she possesses, there's no reason Darrow can't pin her hopes on not just a good weekend, but a long and storied career in her sport.

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Two Selinsgrove wrestling trying to bridge gender gap

By Harold Raker
The Daily Item 2/11/05

When Selinsgrove senior Mike Lengel picked up his 100th career victory in front of the home fans against Montoursville on Jan. 19, his milestone was nearly overshadowed by a first-year varsity wrestler.
Just a few minutes after Lengel got his 100th win, albeit on a forfeit, one of his teammates came within seconds of notching career victory No. 1.

So how could one win be nearly as significant as 100?

The Seal who nearly pulled off that milestone was sophomore Shuntil Snyder.

The Seals’ 103-pounder is one of two girls competing on the varsity squad this year.

Snyder led most of the way against the Warriors’ Brett Freund before the latter tied it at 7-7 with a third-period reversal, then scored a late three-point nearfall to win it.

"(Coach Todd) Myers kept telling me for about 25 seconds ‘Get up, get up and get out,’’’ Sny-der re-called.

She did get out, but they went off the mat. On the restart from the referee’s position, Snyder said, "I tried for a reversal, but he caught me in a pancake and put me on my back for three points and that’s how it ended.’’

Moments like that have been rare for the two female wrestlers, Snyder and junior 112-pounder Brandy Ringer. But they have provided hope that their struggle for success and even acceptance will some day be rewarded.

Although they might be considered trailblazers in the male-dominated sport, that’s not what it’s about for Snyder and Ringer.

Women’s movement pioneer Gloria Steinem would not consider either of them as a poster child for the cause.

Ringer and Snyder say they would not participate in wrestling if they didn’t love the sport.

"It’s a really tough sport," Ringer said. "It takes a lot of discipline and you have got to like the sport to be here.’’

Snyder said she occasionally hears the catcalls from the bleachers, people saying that she is only wrestling to prove a point "and that’s not it.’’

"The only reason I play sports is because I love sports. I don’t play softball because I don’t like it. I used to play basketball, but I didn’t have fun doing it, so I thought, ‘Why not wrestling?’ ’’

Snyder also participates in soccer in the fall and track and field in the spring.

Myers, who also coached another girl wrestler, Jen Pastore, at Selinsgrove, agreed that neither the girls nor the coaching staff are looking to prove a point.

He noted that Pastore, an exceptional athlete who still holds school throwing records, did well in junior high, but switched to basketball after two years because she couldn’t compete at the high school level. She ended up doing very well in basketball, he said.

Myers said another girl is wrestling in the Selinsgrove junior high program.

The coach said that some colleges have started women’s wrestling programs and have money available for it. Three women worked out with the Lock Haven University wrestling team last year and one of them, Sara McMann, won an Olympic silver medal in the women’s competition. The other two were also Olympic caliber wrestlers and all three received stipends from USA Wrestling.

Myers joked, "When Title IX comes down to the high school level, we will be in good shape. We’re doing our part for Title IX.’’

The coach said girls wrestling is on the rise, although he doesn’t expect it to come to high school, unless it arrives as a club sport.

However, he has encouraged Snyder and Ringer to take part in the girls state wrestling tournament held annually in Lancaster and governed by the National Federation of High School Coaches.

Ringer said she won’t be able to compete this year because of a schedule conflict, but Snyder said she plans to participate.

Ringer and Snyder receive forfeits many more times than they actually wrestle (Ringer is 9-22 and Snyder is 4-8), so the opportunities for that coveted first win are limited.

Nevertheless, it is a goal that keeps them striving to learn all they can about the sport.

Snyder said, "At first, I didn’t have any personal goals, but as the season went on and I got more experience, I just worked on getting up, standing up from the referee’s position, because I was on the bottom a lot, and trying to stay off my back.’’

She said she has improved both on the bottom and on top as the season went along.

Snyder’s season was delayed by a knee injury sustained during soccer season. She missed the first four weeks, returning to the lineup Jan. 19 against Indian Valley.

Because she and Ringer are out-muscled by every opponent, technique and speed are vital, they said.

"When I’m on the bottom, when the whistle blows, I try to get right up. It’s natural instinct, I guess,’’ Snyder said.

Ringer added, "It’s tough. They have the advantage with their strength and so you have to have more technique and work harder at that.’’

Ringer recalled a match against a Mifflinburg wrestler when she was a freshman where her own mistake cost her a chance at a victory, and it has been hard to forget the experience.

"I was winning going into the third period and he ended up beating me by two points,’’ she recalled. "I was really upset that night because I knew I could have beat that kid. He wasn’t more skilled than I was.’’

Indeed, Myers recalled a comment by an Indian Valley coach this year that indicated how far the girls have come in the sport.

"He was smiling when the girls were wrestling and he said afterward ‘I wasn’t laughing at the girls, but watching the girls I saw that they have better hand control than my guys do off the bottom and they just did some really nice things.’ ’’

Myers said it helps that there are two girls, and close enough in weight class that they can work out with each other. But they also work out with the boys and, Myers said, they have been well accepted by their teammates.

Sophomore 125-pounder Corey Trawitz, a first-year varsity wrestler, works out with Ringer and Snyder, admires them for their work ethic as well as their courage in for competing in wrestling.

"I thought it took a lot of courage to do that, because a girl wrestling with a bunch of guys, that’s got to take guts to do that kind of thing,’’ Trawitz said.

"I try to help them get better. I don’t throw them around the mat. I let them do whatever they want because, if you pin them right away and they can’t do whatever they want, they’re not going to learn the sport,’’ he said.

"You kind of let them do their thing, let them go and give them resistance, and help them along,’’ Trawitz said.

Trawitz said it was exciting the night Snyder nearly won against Montoursville.

"I was just in awe. Wow. That match just got me. I thought she had it,’’ he said.

"She’s come so close in so many matches . It’s within her grasp,’’ Trawitz said.

Teammate Aaron Ernest, a freshman 119-pounder who also works out with the girls, said, "I thought she had him. She just couldn’t last it out.

"We’ve never had a girl win a match here at Selinsgrove, so that’s pretty exciting because either of them could be the first.’’

Ernest added, "I try to help them with their technique and a little of everything.’’

While Trawitz said he was never apprehensive about having girls on the team, Ernest admitted it made him a bit nervous at first "because I had never wrestled a girl.’’

He said he quickly overcame that nervousness and came to accept them as teammates.

And that’s all that Snyder and Ringer ask.

That, and a couple of wins.

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Glenbard North dominates at Leyden; Mount Carmel rolls

January 9, 2005BY SETH SCHWARTZ

Glenbard North was at peak performance Saturday in Franklin Park when it rolled up 294 points to win the Leyden Invitational. Conant was second with 195.

"After [winter] break is when we start to go harder in our workouts,'' Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. "We wrestled tough all the way through from 103 on up.''

The Panthers won the first seven weight classes and were 12 of 13 in the final round.

Caitlyn Chase (103), Danny Monaco (112), Jon Ranck (125) and Matt Smith (171) had majors, Brian O'Connor (135) a decision, Mark Schultz (119) a technical fall, and Vince Ramos (130) and John Malizzio (140) had first-period pins.

Matt Smith (171), who dropped down from 189 and muscled his way to a pin and technical fall, is looking for a strong finish to the season.

"I am a senior, and this is my last chance,'' Smith (13-0) said. "We're pushing it hard in practice now.''

Leyden's Jordan McCabe (145), who was voted the meet's outstanding wrestler, beat Glenbard North's Jon Isacson 6-0.

McCabe (23-2) rode out Isacson in the second period and got an escape to begin the third period. McCabe caught Isacson and put him to his back for four points with 35 seconds left.

"Riding him out was the key,'' McCabe said. "After that I could feel him gassing and I was confident I could win. He tried to throw me, but he was off balance. I used a pancake and I knew that was it.''

Highland Park's Louis Gouletas (189), who missed a month with a leg injury, had two falls and beat New Trier's Chris Soper 14-2 to improve to 13-1.

"Louis is an athletic kid,'' Highland Park coach Griff Powell said. "He wrestles like a 152-pounder. He's good on his feet, has good technique and is good on top. If he keeps it up he has a chance to get Downstate.''

Dominic Marella (160) and Ryan Drake (275) showed they can compete with the best in their class. Marella (26-1) had three falls -- the longest going 4:32 in the final. Drake (275) beat Mundelein's Cesar Solorio 9-3.

"Dominic had a great offseason,'' Conant coach John Kane said. "His shots are a lot better and he's stronger. He's been wrestling well all year.''

Drake (25-1), in his first full varsity season, has shown veteran skill and savvy.

"For a heavyweight Ryan is very mobile,'' Kane said. "His leg shots are very effective and he has incredible strength.''

Other winners were Stevenson's Jeremy LaPlante (152), who beat Conant's Prentice Phillips 9-5, and Mundelein's Mike Avalos, who pinned Stevenson's Jordan Sloan.