News
Fulp-Allen, Cox finish strong at state invite
By MARK FOYER 2/2/05
Half Moon Bay Review
No matter what happens at a wrestling meet, Katherine Fulp-Allen always looks for the positive.
When she came up second to Tatiana Padilla of Northview in the 108-pound weight category of the fifth annual Girls' California Invitational Wrestling Tournament Saturday, Fulp-Allen found the glass half full.
"The result showed me where I am right now," Fulp-Allen, a junior at Half Moon Bay High School said. "It pushes me to work even harder."
Fulp-Allen wasn't the only wrestler from Half Moon Bay in the tournament. Amanda Cox placed fourth in the 154-pound weight category.
Fulp-Allen's title match was never in doubt as Padilla, just a freshman, won with a second-round technical fall. She won with speed and strength.
"I had never seen her before," Fulp-Allen said. "But I heard she was a very good wrestler."
Fulp-Allen herself is a very good wrestler. She has won just about every meet she has entered. She was the tournament's top seed.
She did everything she had to do to get to the finals. She defeated Erica Blackman of Mt. Shasta, Terry Han of San Marino and Stephanie Gonzales of Hogan to reach the finals.
That got her to the finals with Padilla, the tournament's second seed. Despite the disappointment of not taking the tournament's top prize, Fulp-Allen can list lots of other positives.
"I got to see lots of wrestlers I know what it takes to make it to the finals here," Fulp-Allen said. "I also enjoyed watching Amanda wrestle. It was a good day."
Cox was just as excited with her showing. It was a change from what she did last year.
"My goal was to make it to the second day," Cox said. "Last year, I went 0-2 in the tournament."
Cox almost had a repeat of last year when she fell to Hannah Alojada of Valencia in the opening round of the tournament. But thanks to two byes and an injury default, Cox was wrestling on the second day, in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket.
That guaranteed a spot in the top eight.
She then picked up her first win of the tournament when she pinned Hogan's Stephanie Norman in the second round.
With the win, she was assured of a spot in the top six.
In her consolation semifinal match, she once again met Alojada. This time, Cox came out on top, with a third-round pin.
That guaranteed a spot in the top four.
"I knew what I did wrong against her the first time," Cox said. "I just couldn't get caught in a throw. Katherine taught me a few throws."
In her third-place match, she fell to Teri Milkoff of South El Monte. Milkoff won the match with a pin.
"I was going for finishing in third," Cox said. "I thought I could do it."
It just didn't happen for her. But she was just as happy for her accomplishments.
"I did great, considering how I did last year," Cox said.
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Girl power aplenty for Puyallup’s Conder
JON NAITO; The News Tribune
Last updated: February 13th, 2005 02:40 AM
Everywhere you looked at the 4A Region II wrestling tournament Saturday at Puyallup High School, something spectacular was happening.
While competitors shared the common goal of finishing in the top four to earn a bid to this week’s Mat Classic state wrestling championships in the Tacoma Dome, there were plenty of subplots mixed in.
For instance, Whitney Conder, a Puyallup freshman, became the first female wrestler to qualify for the 4A state tournament.
Conder pinned Bothell’s Ali Hadi to place third at 103 pounds. Afterward, Conder, who will compete for the U.S. national women’s team this summer, was beaming.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was little,” said Conder, who began wrestling at age 8. “This is what I’ve been aiming toward since I started wrestling with my dad and my brothers. Now I hope I can do well at state.”
The 103-pounds winner, Rogers senior Kraig Wilson, won his third successive regional. He was fourth at Mat Classic last year.
“This feels great,” Wilson said. “To win three in a row is something I wanted to do.”
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Female wrestler 'just one of the team'
BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star 2/15/05
If the media would treat Lisa Maslowsky the way most wrestlers treat the freshman from Tekamah-Herman, she could just wrestle.
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But Maslowsky is the subject of woman bites dog-type stories because she is just the second female in history to qualify for the Nebraska State High School Wrestling Championships.
Maslowsky has a respectable, but not glittering, 19-15 record this season. She placed third in her district meet last weekend and is one of 16 competitors in the Class C 103-pound weight class.
She also dyed her hair blond, like her seven teammates who also qualified for the state meet. It's a Tekamah-Herman tradition followed by her brothers, Justin and Ian, who competed in the state meet in 1999 and 1997, respectively.
"We've told Lisa that she has to be prepared for a lot of attention, but that this can promote wrestling, too," said Tekamah-Herman coach Brent Abrams.
Elaine Blessen, the first girl to wrestle in the state meet, knows what awaits Maslowsky on Thursday in the first day of the meet at the Devaney Sports Center.
"She's in for a ride," said Blessen, who competed in the 2001 state meet. "At times it can seem like two days of hell." She tried to blend in with the wrestlers by wearing her hooded workout sweats and sitting high in the Devaney Center seats between matches.
"It was crazy with the media and everybody else. Security people who won't let you go to your locker room, cameras everywhere, cameras and reporters all around the mat. Friends, family and dozens of people who you never met rooting against you, rooting for you and all you want to do is wrestle the way you know how."
Blessen, a senior studying pre-law at Nebraska, hopes to enter law school next fall. "I don't know if a majority of Nebraska will ever get over the ‘girl wrestler,' and understand that the Parade of Champions isn't just for boys."
Maslowsky isn't worried about the attention as much as she's worried about the competition.
"I don't think about being the second girl to wrestle in the state meet," she said. "I think about being one of 896 wrestlers and being one of the wrestlers on our team at state," she said.
Blessen, then a junior at Malcolm, lost her two matches in the 2001 state tournament. As a senior, she finished 16-11 but did not qualify for state.
Since then, the number of girls wrestling on high school teams in Nebraska has grown to almost 30.
Nationally, there are about 3,500 girls wrestling and about 250,000 boys wrestling at the high school level. Texas and Hawaii have separate meets for boys and girls, but the rest of the states mix the sexes on the mat because of court orders.
The Nebraska School Activities Association has no special rules for girls in wrestling. "Just a different weigh-in room and a different locker room and the rest is the same for boys and girls," said Bob Colgate of the NSAA.
"There was no big deal here when Lisa and Chelsea (Lisa's twin sister) came out for wrestling," said Abrams. "They've been wrestling for a long time. They've been in a lot of national meets. Chelsea has three national girls titles and Lisa has one and two runner-up finishes.
"They are good, technical wrestlers with solid techniques," said Abrams, who has coached for 27 years. "They practice against each other and they practice against some of the boys on our team. We have eight state qualifiers on this year's team and Lisa is a member of that team going to state. Simple enough."
Well, not that simple.
"Some guys, when you beat them, just walk away and don't shake hands like everybody is supposed to," Lisa Maslowsky said. "Hey, I'm a wrestler, too."
Some schools refuse to allow boys to wrestle girls. Lincoln Christian had a wrestler forfeit a match in last week's district because he was paired with a girl.
"It is our school policy," said Christian athletic director Kory Kavan. "Wrestling is an aggressive sport and the wrestlers are in awkward positions and we don't need to put a boy in that situation.
"This is unfair to the young man who desires to be honorable to God, his family, school, and respectful to women."
Maslowsky has won a few forfeits because of other schools' policies. But she doesn't like it.
"I love this sport as much as anybody," she said. "I love how you have to work hard, maybe harder than you'd think you could, to accomplish the goals you set."
As freshmen, it seems likely Lisa and Chelsea may have more opportunities to wrestle in future state meets.
Chelsea pulled a hamstring in a meet a few weeks ago and just missed making it to the state meet at 112 pounds.
Lisa, Chelsea's constant practice partner since the two were in kindergarten, lost her first match at the district meet but won her next three matches.
"I was pretty upset about losing and I was in danger of not going to the state meet," said Lisa. "Then my sister lost in consolations, so I tried even harder.
"I've been working hard on my switch and arm-bar series and the guys on the team have helped me build up a lot of strength this year," she said. "They treat me and my sister like teammates."
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Wins and losses sometimes merely tell part of the story
Allen Stein, Deering High School
2/15/ 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Well, it´s over. The Maine high school wrestling season ended Saturday with the conclusion of the state championships in Augusta.
After two months of conditioning, watching our diets and training hard, wrestling is done . . . well, sort of. The Maine champions will compete in early March at the New England tournament, which features the best high school wrestlers in the region.
To win a state championship, you first have to qualify at a regional tournament. At Deering High, we qualified four wrestlers and came away with three state champions.
Chris Smith won in the 112-pound weight class, beating Mount Blue´s Sam Webber in the final. In the 45-year history of Deering wrestling, Chris is the first freshman to win a state championship, giving him a chance to be Deering´s first four-time champion.
I won my second state championship at 103 pounds, beating Jake Badger of Noble in the final, and our captain, senior Andy Semple, won the Class A title at 171 pounds.
CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
As always, there were lots of exciting, inspiring stories at the state championships.
There was the excitement of watching Deanna Rix of Marshwood nearly become the first girl in the United States to win a state championship competing against boys. Rix lost to Shane Leadbetter of Sanford in the last four seconds of double overtime. It was a great match, and I think most people felt it was a shame one of them had to lose.
Rix´s teammate, Jon Hussey finished his season undefeated at 125, beating Noble´s Zack Hale, who won the championship last year. Hussey is only a freshman but already is one of the best wrestlers from Maine. I expect he´ll make a strong showing at the New England tournament.
For inspiration, nothing comes close to Zack Doucette, who won the 119-pound weight class. Doucette had a terrible ATV accident before the start of last season and was told he might never wrestle again. But after a year off, he rebounded and won Noble´s only individual title, helping the Knights win their seventh consecutive team title.
Winning a state championship is hard, but the pressure to repeat is enormous. Marshwood senior Colby Lamson already had won two championships, making expectations even higher. But he won a tough final against Dan West of Sanford in the 145-pound division and has a real strong shot at placing high in the New England tournament.
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Wrestling – it ain’t just for boys
By STEVE SNYDER
News Editor 2/10-/05
Lancaster High School has a new sport, and it’s already starting a winning tradition.
Wrestling was one of two sports, along with swimming, added to the Lancaster High School varsity sports mix for the 2004-05 school year. With seven boys and three girls wrestling at the District 19 meet in Allen Feb. 5, it’s already proving itself.
In fact, on the girls’ side, the start of that winning tradition was already guaranteed. The three female wrestlers — Randi Okray, Deshawn Simmons and Jaquise Taylor — all automatically won in what is known in wrestling as a “walkover,” not having any opponents.
But, while the boys had opponents to face, they were ready. In fact, James Harding Jr., in the 215-pound class, entered the district meet with a 14-1 record and the No. 1 seed for the meet.
Since the sophomore’s father, James Harding Sr., is Lancaster’s first-ever wrestling coach, he probably had an inside track on doing well.
Coach Harding talked about his team, and the three girls, along with the younger Harding and Brandon Lewis, told what interested them to lead them onto the mats in the inaugural season.
“I wanted to try something new,” Simmons said.
“And you can use all of your emotions.”
This sentiment was seconded by Taylor and Okray.
“When you’re tired at the end of the day, you can get rid of all your stress,” Taylor said.
Coach Harding agreed.
“That’s what we said in high school — take it to the mat,” he said.
All three, though new to Lancaster, were not new to high school sports. Okray and Simmons had played volleyball and track, and Taylor had been in volleyball, softball and soccer.
Okray said she also came out to counter one-dimensional images others might have of her.
“Everybody expects me to be Miss Prissy Prissy, and I wanted to show I could get dirty,” she said.
She said it had not been harder than she thought, and had other rewards.
“It is exciting, because you can see how strong you are,” she said.
Coach Harding confirmed that, saying that Okray had had her opponents on the mat in every tournament and match she had wrestled.
All three agreed that it was exciting to be wrestling. And that was even more true with being part of local history at the same time.
“It’s good to be the first girls wrestling,” Okray said.
Harding said it was good to have some female wrestlers come out and stick through the entire year.
“We’re on the ground floor,” he said. He noted that this gave him something on which to build.
The girls said they were gaining other things from wrestling. Simmons talked about self-defense skills that might be valuable in real life. Okray mentioned developing a sense of determination, and Taylor talked about the memories she would retain of being part of the first class of wrestlers.
On the boys’ side, Coach Harding said that wrestling was an appealing sport to many football players. Fitting between football and spring practices, it was a good way to maintain conditioning. And it did more than that, he said.
“It teaches you a lot about balance, control and self-discipline,” he said. This made it good for running backs or defensive backs, not just big linemen, he said.
Brandon Lewis, whom Harding said “has just a good a chance as anybody” in the 275-pound class, talked a little bit about what wrestling meant to him, as did James Harding Jr.
Lewis mentioned the techniques he was learning as well as getting in shape. And it has definitely done that.
“I didn’t think it would be that much work,” he said. But now, it’s had its payoff.
“I’m proud of myself,” he said.
Part of that self-discipline is watching one’s diet, Coach Harding said. That’s especially true for Lewis, in the maximum weight class. If he busts 275, there’s nowhere else to go; he can’t wrestle.
He said that he has about eight pounds of cushion and making weight has not been too hard, but does take some self-control.
“I just don’t eat so much. I don’t stay in the kitchen like I used to,” he said.
Harding Jr. talked about what it was like having the coach at home.
“Everybody else just goes home; my dad’s always watching what I eat,” he said.
But, like Lewis, he said maintaining weight, to stay in the 215-pound class in his case, is not too difficult.
On the positive side, he agreed that he has things to teach his fellow wrestlers as the coach’s son.
“I always help other people out. I was just helping David (Jackson) and David (Marshall),” he said.
In wrestling, unlike football, you cannot get videotape of your opponents from previous matches of theirs, Harding said. So being prepared for the unexpected is part of being a good wrestler.
“Even if you wrestled somebody before, they might have a new strategy,” he said.
Meanwhile, he too is taking something away from the mats.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “When you work hard and win it feels like you’ve done something.”
Meanwhile, his father is hoping to offer that same shot at fun and accomplishment to even more wrestlers in Lancaster in future years.
Harding was hired here from Hobbs, N.M., and likes the city and the high school.
“I had met (Principal Phillip) Randall. He told me what he wanted to do and showed me the plans for the new high school,” Harding said. “My wife and I rode around and thought this was a good fit. It’s got a small-town feel but it’s on the edge of Dallas.”
Harding wants to get youth programs in wrestling started next year at the junior high and upper elementary levels, part of building his program for the future.
“You have to have a vision for the future in wrestling,” he said.
And, it would appear he is working hard to share that vision with eager wrestlers.
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Girls Wrestling - Caprock vs Tascosa - Tascosa High School January 28, 2005
Tascosa 12 - Caprock 33
104
C- Crystal Valdez 6 (unopposed)
112
T- Angel Diaz 6
C- Lisa Martinez
121
T- Brandi Dickerson
C- Jinna Wright 6
130
T- Raven Gilchrist
C- Amenda Howland 6
140
T- Stephenea Hignight
C- Macy Alvarado 3
150
T- Tyra Taylor
C- Krista Guzman 6
167
T- Jennie Zeigler 6
C- Christine Rodriguez
185
T- Marissa Schrepel
C- Erica Martinez 6
View a gallery of 71 photos taken at Tascosa High School when the Caprock lady wrestlers met the Tascosa ladies.
As you view the Photo Gallery, each page will contain up to 20 small thumbnail images like the one on the right side of this page. If you want to see a larger image - click on the thumbnail image and a larger photo will appear in a new page. The large online photos will contain a watermark and the original photo resolution has been reduced in order to discourage printing the copyrighted images from the Internet.
Photos were taken by Marvin Morgenstern.
