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Pint-sized pioneer

Herndon female wrestler overcomes stereotype, accident to make history

By BRIAN McNALLY 2/25/05

Examiner Staff Writer

Jeff Mankie/Examiner Firen Gassman, a freshman wrestler at Herndon (Va.), will compete with the boys at the Virginia AAA state tournament at 103 pounds after placing third at last week's Northern Region Tournament.

It was the intensity of the place that struck her, hundreds of the state's best wrestlers gathered together in one spot with several thousand fans watching their every move.

The Group AAA state tournament is the pinnacle of high school wrestling in Virginia and Firen Gassman, then a seventh grader watching older brother, Kelby, compete in February of 2003, was taken by the whole spectacle, determined from that moment to make it there.

There was just one problem. Gassman, 15, is a girl and no female wrestler had ever qualified for the state tournament in Virginia. But obstacles never stopped her. That would be made clear nine months later, when she spent three weeks in the hospital following a camping accident.

Now a freshman wrestler at Herndon, Gassman is preparing to make history. After placing third at last week's Northern Region Tournament at 103 pounds, she will be on the mat at Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake with the rest of the state's best, joining Kelby Gassman, a 17-year old Herndon junior who placed second in the Northern Region at 130 pounds.

"It was never a specific goal of mine when I was really young, more like a dream," said Firen Gassman, who picked up the sport at age eight when younger brother Reid, now 13, started wrestling. "But when I was watching Kelby and all the wrestlers there at states I just said, 'I hope I'm here when I'm in high school. I want to be here.' It wasn't just a blind goal anymore because I had something to shoot for. I always knew I could do it."

Over the years Gassman would occasionally face opposition from other wrestlers and coaches, some of whom would forfeit matches rather than wrestle a girl. But any lingering criticism has been limited, especially among local coaches and athletes in Northern Virginia. She has trained at Gunston Mat Club in Alexandria and worked extensively with Robinson assistant coach Rick Jones during the offseason.

"It was never an issue because our team already knew Firen and to them she's not just a girl, she's a wrestler," said Herndon coach Tyler Andersen. "It wasn't until she won [the district championship] that I realized just how special this is. She deserves all the attention she is going to get."

Gassman's success on the mat has played a role in that acceptance from teammates and competitors. She earned her way to states with a 43-8 record and won the Concorde District Tournament, becoming the first female wrestler in Virginia to win a district title. That came on the heels of Virginia/USA state championships last summer in the 98-pound Greco-Roman and freestyle categories and a trip to the prestigious Junior National Tournament in Fargo, N.D.

"I've been wrestling Firen for a long time," said West Springfield (Va.) freshman Dan McCluskey, who won the Northern Region 103-pound title last week and beat Gassman, 8-4 in December. "Even though she isn't as strong as a lot of the guys, technique-wise she's as good as anybody. But there is a lot of pressure to wrestle her because you're expected to win."

Gassman, for one, understands the pressure her opponents face.

"That's why I really appreciate the boys who will wrestle me because it's a lose-lose situation for them," Gassman said. "If they win they were supposed to and if they lose they get made fun of. So they either come out really timid and back off or they come out aggressive and prove they can handle it. I like that aggressiveness because it makes me a better wrestler."

Wrestling means even more to Gassman after almost losing her life in a camping accident in November of 2003 on a family trip near Shenandoah National Park. Gassman was pouring white gasoline onto a campfire when it spilled onto her upper body. Flames quickly engulfed her, leaving third degree burns on her chest and neck and second degree burns on her face. But the quick action of her brothers put the fire out and likely saved her life. She was rushed to the University of Virginia's burn trauma unit in Charlottesville, Va., asking doctors on the way to the emergency room how long she'd be in the hospital.

After all, she had a wrestling meet that weekend.

"She never even shed a tear," stepmother Jenni Brown-Gassman said.

After a three-week hospital stay, Gassman's first order of business on the drive home was to make an appearance at Herndon's wrestling practice. Swathed in bandages -- "like a mummy," according to her stepmother -- Gassman was forbidden from actually taking part. So she became an impromptu assistant coach, getting on her hands and knees to demonstrate moves to her teammates, blood occasionally seeping through the bandages.

When she was younger, Gassman played soccer and field hockey, did some cheerleading and gymnastics. But all she really wanted to do was wrestle. Now she finds herself on the brink of a situation as unique as her name, given to her when her father, Duane, was smitten by a character named Firen in a children's book.

Fittingly, it's about a girl who chases the moon.

"There is always going to be people who say girls shouldn't be on the mat and I realize it's always been a male sport," Gassman said. "But it isn't that way anymore. Women can even wrestle in the Olympics now. I don't mind the attention. It's good for women's wrestling and lets girls know they can do anything."

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Pint-sized pioneer - Herndon female wrestler overcomes stereotype, accident to make history

By BRIAN McNALLY
Examiner Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 11:39 PM EST

Herndon High School freshman Firen Gassman's determination has taken her to the pinnacle of state competition in the male-dominated sport of wrestling. She'll compete with the boys at the Virginia AAA state tournament at 103 pounds after placing third at last week's Northern Region Tournament. Jeff Mankie/Examiner

It was the intensity of the place that struck her, hundreds of the state's best wrestlers gathered together in one spot with several thousand fans watching their every move. The Group AAA state tournament is the pinnacle of high school wrestling in Virginia and Firen Gassman, then a seventh grader watching older brother, Kelby, compete in February of 2003, was taken by the whole spectacle, determined from that moment to make it there.

There was just one problem. Gassman, 15, is a girl and no female wrestler had ever qualified for the state tournament in Virginia. But obstacles never stopped her. That would be made clear nine months later, when she spent three weeks in the hospital following a camping accident.

Now a freshman wrestler at Herndon, Gassman is preparing to make history. After placing third at last week's Northern Region Tournament at 103 pounds, she will be on the mat at Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake with the rest of the state's best, joining Kelby Gassman, a 17-year old Herndon junior who placed second in the Northern Region at 130 pounds.

"It was never a specific goal of mine when I was really young, more like a dream," said Firen Gassman, who picked up the sport at age eight when younger brother Reid, now 13, started wrestling. "But when I was watching Kelby and all the wrestlers there at states I just said, ‘I hope I'm here when I'm in high school. I want to be here.' It wasn't just a blind goal anymore because I had something to shoot for. I always knew I could do it."

Over the years Gassman would occasionally face opposition from other wrestlers and coaches, some of whom would forfeit matches rather than wrestle a girl. But any lingering criticism has been limited, especially among local coaches and athletes in Northern Virginia. She has trained at Gunston Mat Club in Alexandria and worked extensively with Robinson assistant coach Rick Jones during the offseason.

"It was never an issue because our team already knew Firen and to them she's not just a girl, she's a wrestler," said Herndon coach Tyler Andersen. "It wasn't until she won [the district championship] that I realized just how special this is. She deserves all the attention she is going to get."

Gassman's success on the mat has played a role in that acceptance from teammates and competitors. She earned her way to states with a 43-8 record and won the Concorde District Tournament, becoming the first female wrestler in Virginia to win a district title. That came on the heels of Virginia/USA state championships last summer in the 98-pound Greco-Roman and freestyle categories and a trip to the prestigious Junior National Tournament in Fargo, N.D.

"I've been wrestling Firen for a long time," said West Springfield freshman Dan McCluskey, who won the Northern Region 103-pound title last week and beat Gassman, 8-4 in December. "Even though she isn't as strong as a lot of the guys, technique-wise she's as good as anybody. But there is a lot of pressure to wrestle her because you're expected to win."

Gassman, for one, understands the pressure her opponents face.

"That's why I really appreciate the boys who will wrestle me because it's a lose-lose situation for them," Gassman said. "If they win they were supposed to and if they lose they get made fun of. So they either come out really timid and back off or they come out aggressive and prove they can handle it. I like that aggressiveness because it makes me a better wrestler."

Wrestling means even more to Gassman after almost losing her life in a camping accident in November of 2003 on a family trip near Shenandoah National Park. Gassman was pouring white gasoline onto a campfire when it spilled onto her upper body. Flames quickly engulfed her, leaving third degree burns on her chest and neck and second degree burns on her face. But the quick action of her brothers put the fire out and likely saved her life. She was rushed to the University of Virginia's burn trauma unit in Charlottesville, asking doctors on the way to the emergency room how long she'd be in the hospital.

After all, she had a wrestling meet that weekend.

"She never even shed a tear," stepmother Jenni Brown-Gassman said.

After a three-week hospital stay, Gassman's first order of business on the drive home was to make an appearance at Herndon's wrestling practice. Swathed in bandages - "like a mummy," according to her stepmother - Gassman was forbidden from actually taking part. So she became an impromptu assistant coach, getting on her hands and knees to demonstrate moves to her teammates, blood occasionally seeping through the bandages.

When she was younger, Gassman played soccer and field hockey, did some cheerleading and gymnastics. But all she really wanted to do was wrestle. Now she finds herself on the brink of a situation as unique as her name, given to her when her father, Duane, was smitten by a character named Firen in a children's book.

Fittingly, it's about a girl who chases the moon.

"There is always going to be people who say girls shouldn't be on the mat and I realize it's always been a male sport," Gassman said. "But it isn't that way anymore. Women can even wrestle in the Olympics now. I don't mind the attention. It's good for women's wrestling and lets girls know they can do anything."

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Gassman Finds a Welcome Mat
Herndon Freshman Is First Girl to Wrestle in State Tourney

By Andrew Levine
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page D01

When Firen Gassman said she wanted to join a youth league wrestling team with her younger brother, her mother told her that she didn't know where the registration office was. Firen, then 9, looked it up in the phone book.

When Jenni Brown-Gassman told her daughter she didn't know how to get there, Firen took out a map and directed her mother to the office. Then she marched in to fill out the registration forms on her own.

Firen Gassman will become the first female wrestler to compete in a Virginia High School League state championship meet when she represents Herndon Friday. (Len Spoden - For The Washington Post)

Six years later, Gassman is a freshman at Herndon High School, and her priorities have remained the same -- she just wants to wrestle. Today, she'll do that at the highest level of high school wrestling, when she becomes the first girl to compete in a Virginia High School League state championship meet. Gassman finished third at 103 pounds in last weekend's AAA Northern Region tournament and will be one of 224 wrestlers shooting for a state title today and tomorrow at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, Va.

One of 224 -- that's how Gassman would prefer people thought of her. Not as a ground-breaker or a novelty on the wrestling mat.

"I'm hoping eventually it will be less shocking and there will be less publicity," Gassman said. "I don't feel any extra pressure being a girl. I feel a little embarrassed sometimes because I get all this attention, and I want my teammates and my coaches and everyone else who works really hard to get publicity."

Gassman (43-8) also became the first Northern Region girl to win a district title when she won the Concorde District 103-pound championship two weeks ago. Last summer, she became the first girl to win the Virginia freestyle and Greco-Roman championships. A girl has never made Maryland's public school wrestling tournament.

Since Gassman started wrestling, she has beaten the boys at every turn -- from the youth leagues to national-level tournaments. That success, combined with her gender, will continue to draw publicity, whether she likes it or not.

"Firen's success is going to send shockwaves through the wrestling ranks," said Wayne Martin, the former coach at Great Bridge High who helped build the Wildcats into a team that has dominated Virginia AAA competition over the past 18 years. "I keep telling people it's only a matter of time. It just takes someone like Firen to break through."

After Gassman joined younger brother Reid in youth leagues, older brother Kelby tried the sport, too. Soon, Jenni was piling the children into her car for the hour-long drives to practice every day.

"Before practice on Saturday mornings, she'd be waiting at the foot of the stairs," Brown-Gassman said. "You'd think maybe once in a while she'd forget."

Said Firen, "I thought it wasn't fair that the guys got to do all the cool sports."

Gassman won the first tournament she entered, a precursor of things to come for the pig-tailed blonde. After two years with the Rattlers youth team, Gassman joined the Southern Maryland Wrestling Club, which has helped produce several top area wrestlers.

"She picked up the technique very quickly," said Rick Jones, Gassman's coach at the SMWC. "She does not get overwhelmed by technique, and not too many kids are going to be that way. She was willing to sit there and drill and drill and drill."

The transition into a male-dominated sport was a smooth one, Gassman, her coaches and parents said. No coach ever told her there wasn't a place for a girl. Not everyone was supportive -- at a tournament a few years ago, the friends of her opponent chided him for losing to a girl, for instance.

The opponent responded, "Why don't you go wrestle her?"

Opponents are forced to respect Gassman because they really don't have a choice in the matter. Unless, of course, they prefer to lose.

"I expected to see what everybody else saw in her," said Langley's Michael Bowman, who defeated Gassman, 4-0, in the regional semifinals last Friday and has trained with her since fifth grade. "I knew she'd come out as strong as she could. I prepared for her like any other wrestler."

Said Jones: "Technique-wise, she's as good as any of the boys in her weight class. The only thing that they've ever had over her is strength."

While Gassman is at times uncomfortable with her notoriety, she is aware that her success is uncommon. Elementary school-age girls show up at her tournaments and want to talk to her after her matches. They want to be the next Firen.

"I really want to be thought of more for my skill than being a female," Gassman said. "I do want it to be an inspiration for other girls that thought they'd try it. I know I worked hard for six years to achieve my goal. I'm just like everyone else, trying to wrestle and have fun."

It showed in October, right before the start of the high school season. She suffered second-degree burns on her face and third-degree burns on her chest and neck in a campfire accident. As she lay in her bed in the intensive care unit, she turned to the doctor and asked, "How long is this going to take? I have a tournament in Charlottesville this weekend."

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Woody Trying for a First

.washingtonpost.com 2/24/05

Arundel 103-pound freshman Nicole Woody will try to make history at the
Maryland 4A/3A East Region meet this weekend at South River by trying
to become the first girl to qualify for Maryland's state tournament. She
became the first female to place in the top three at the Anne Arundel County
Championships last weekend.

Woody, who is 6-1 on the varsity level after going 19-1 wrestling on
the junior varsity for most of the season, will be one of eight wrestlers
vying for four berths in the state tournament. Woody is seeded seventh and
will face Mervo freshman Lamone Wilson, the second seed, in the first round.

"I want to show other girls that they can compete against boys so more
girls will come out for wrestling," Woody said. "I don't think about it as
making history. I just want to show girls that it can be done."

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

Wresting: Woody opens new world as county's first female place-winner

By RON SNYDER, Staff Writer 2.25.05

Arundel wrestling coach Billy Royer is convinced a member of his team will compete on the world stage during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The wrestler he thinks will be there is not one of his county champions or state title contenders, but 103-pound freshman Nicole Woody.

The 16-year-old Woody has already established herself as one of the top female junior wrestlers in the country when last summer she won the 95-pound national title in the U.S. junior women's nationals in Fargo, N.D. In that tournament, she won each of her five matches with technical falls.

Then last week, Woody gained a measure of respect among area male wrestlers when she took the spot of teammate John Kotsis and ended up finishing third in the 46th annual county wrestling tournament at Annapolis. Woody opened the tourney with a major decision over Broadneck's Josh Tabor, dropped a close 6-3 decision to Chesapeake's eventual runner-up Sonny Scardina before wrestling back to earn a decision over South River's Matt Tomitz and an 8-0 major decision over Annapolis' John Graham in the consolation final.

In the process, Woody became the first female wrestler to automatically qualify for the region tournament. She will be the seventh seed in the Class 4A-3A East region when the tournament begins tomorrow at South River. She is one of five female wrestlers, including South River 112-pound senior Emily Duckworth, to advance to the various region tournaments this year in Maryland.

"Nicole has brought a lot of excitement to our team," Royer said. "I have no doubt she will be in the Olympics. With her work ethic, nothing but a major injury could stop her."

Woody started wrestling seven years ago while living in Calvert County. She came up in the Southern Maryland Wrestling Club and credits coaches Rick Jones and Bruce Gabrielson with teaching her the fundamentals of the male-dominated sport. She also has a family pedigree in the sport, as older brother William, 24, wrestled competitively, along with a number of her uncles.

"I just love wrestling," said Woody, who also tried her hand at judo before taking to the mat. "You go out and work really hard, which makes the feeling even better when you win."

Prior to coming to Arundel, Woody had been home-schooled. When her family moved to Odenton prior to this academic year, Woody enrolled at the West County school. Making the transition to public school has been an easy one for Woody, who already knew Royer and a number of the wrestlers from junior league and summer camps.

"Everyone already knew me and I just couldn't wait to be a part of the team," said Woody, who has a combined 23-2 record (6-1 on varsity) while wrestling mostly on junior varsity this year.

Teammate Devon Gillett, the reigning 112-pound county champion, said Woody acts like and is treated like any member of the Wildcats' squad.

"She works as hard as all of us and does everything we do," Gillett said. "She understands the 'Arundel way' and is very aggressive on the mat."

Woody's wrestling exploits have not been limited to Anne Arundel County this season. She recently returned from a seven-day trip to Moscow and Siberia where she wrestled with former Olympic and world team members in a number of international competitions. Although she lost both matches, Woody said she took a lot away from the experience.

"I tried to soak everything in, but after a while it all became a blur because there was so much I could learn," said Woody, who will travel to Sweeden next month and California in April for the world team trials.

South River coach John Klessinger said he was impressed with how well Woody performed in the county tournament, and knows she is more than just a female trying out for a male team.

"She has pretty good technique and knows how to wrestle," Klessinger said. "Some girls come out for the team, stay on JV for a year, and that's it. Girls like Nicole and Emily have been coming up the ranks for a while and are just part of their teams now."

Duckworth, unlike Woody, just began wrestling in high school. Duckworth went 1-3 her freshman year, and wrestled on JV for two years before breaking into the varsity starting lineup this year. She is currently 12-15 and will be the seventh seed at 112 in the Class 4A-3A East region tournament.

Duckworth, who is also a member of the track team and has garnered some college attention in that sport, said she doesn't remember why she went out for the team three years ago, but knows why she has stuck with it.

"There's no better feeling than walking off the mat after a hard-fought match when you've won," said Duckworth, who along with Woody has competed for the Maryland national team. "It shows all the hard work in practice paid off."

Duckworh, like Woody, has been embraced as a part of her team, something not always easy for females to do in high school wrestling. Duckworth said she became a lot more accepted as part of the team her sophomore year.

"There was a girl on the team who quit before I came , and I think they wondered if I would stay," she said. "When I came back my sophomore year, they respected me for it."

Klessinger said most of the questions he gets about Duckworth being on the team comes from those not associated with the program.

"Some people outside still question it, but Emily is part of the team. She's contributed to the program, won some matches for us and understands her role on the team."

Royer said he is convinced that that accomplishments of girls like Woody and Duckworth, along with the increased female interest in the sport because of the Olympics, will eventually lead to a high school girls wrestling program in Maryland.

"Nicole gets girls interested in wrestling," Royer said. "She's a great role model and leads by silent example on this team."

While Woody hopes to one day bring home a gold medal, she first has some more immediate goals to accomplish first.

"I don't just want to make states, I want to place," she said. "I won't be satisfied if I don't."

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

Hammond Cruises for Old Friend

By Jon Gallo and Rich Campbell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 27, 2005; Page E12

Arundel freshman Nicole Woody became the first female to advance to the 4A/3A state tournament when she defeated Broadneck's Josh Tabor, 17-4, in the consolation semifinals. No female had advanced to states in any classification until Woody and Jade Hendricks of 2A/1A Western Tech did so yesterday.

"It's pretty cool being one of the first two girls to qualify for states," Woody said.

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Raiders wrestlers aiming for history

By Randy Sharer 2/25/05
rsharer@pantagraph.com

"I think we want to make some upsets this weekend at state," said BHS junior Tyler Johnson (40-2 at 103 pounds). "We're satisfied with going there, but I think we can do more."

The key to upsetting Glenbard North will be collecting bonus points in the form of pins, technical falls and major decisions.

"If you know you're better than your kid, you've got to go out there and pin them or try to tech fall them to get bonus points," Johnson said. "That's what it will come down to. A decision is not going to cut it, I don't think."

Johnson hopes to earn six team points against Glenbard North's Caitlyn Chase (21-15), the first girl to qualify for the individual state tournament.

Johnson pinned her in 58 seconds at the Nov. 27 Conant Invitational where she became his first female opponent.

"It was different, but you've just got to go out there," he said.

Each team has seven individual state qualifiers. That total was a school record for BHS.

The top Raider at Champaign was sixth-placer Justin Hale (38-7 at 145). Other BHS qualifiers were Johnson, Brett Robbins (43-1 at 135), Gianni Ontiveros (40-8 at 140), Nick Alvis (34-7 at 152), Troy Clark (24-7 at 160) and Brian Temple (38-4 at 215).

Robbins and Temple have battled illness this week. BHS also has a 2004 state qualifier in Steve Robbins (34-6 at 171).

"I don't anticipate many lineup changes for us," said BHS assistant coach Adam Richards. "Maybe a couple here or there."

Glenbard North is led by a trio of state fifth-placers in Vince Ramos (41-8 at 130), Jon Isacson (36-7 at 140) and Matt Smith (28-3 at 171).

Other Panther qualifiers are Chase, Jon Ranck (37-7 at 135), Brian O'Connor (36-7 at 135) and Tony Dieppa (33-6 at 160).

"Glenbard North is an extremely tough team," said Richards, noting one national poll has Glenbard North in the top 25. "We're going to have to wrestle our best dual of the year to beat them."

Bloomington's only losses came in December to No. 3 New Lenox Providence, 45-22, and No. 9 Elite Eight entrant Granite City, 44-20. The Raiders' 19-match winning streak includes a 30-29 win over No. 7 Chicago Marist Jan. 22.

Glenbard North has placed third three years in a row and took second in 2001. It is in the Elite Eight for the eighth time.

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

History-making season ends for BHS in Elite 8

Purple Raiders fall to Glenbard North

By Randy Sharer 2/27/05
rsharer@pantagraph.com

DEKALB -- Bloomington High School's milestone wrestling season ended in the quarterfinals of the Class AA dual team state tournament Saturday, but it's coaches hope the experience becomes a stepping stone to future success.
The No. 14-state ranked Purple Raiders fell to No. 4 Carol Stream Glenbard North, 36-29, at Northern Illinois University's Convocation Center.

"The kids hadn't been here before," said BHS coach Mark Gardner, whose team ended with a 22-3 record. "It was just the next step. You can't go past this step until you get to this one.

"Hopefully this will be a turning point in the program and they'll be able to see what is attainable."

The Intercity, Big 12 Conference and regional champion Raiders already had attained a lot, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time and advancing a school record seven to the individual state tourney.

But Glenbard North also had seven state qualifiers including three medalists to one for BHS.

"They are flexible enough in their lineup -- they bumped some kids up and that made some real tough match-ups for us," Gardner said.

Glenbard North went on to upset No. 2 Chicago St. Rita in the semifinals, 27-22, before falling to No. 1 Orland Park Sandburg in the final.

Glenbard North's quarterfinal began at 130 where its state fifth-placer, Vince Ramos, pinned Evan Lancaster in 2:21.

Brett Robbins (44-1 at 135 pounds) tied it for BHS by pinning Louie DiGioia in 5:21.

"We knew Brett Robbins was going to be tough," said Glenbard North coach Matt Hahn. "We thought our best shot was to wrestle Louis DiGioia at 135 and bump all our guys up."

The strategy paid off as the Panthers won three of the next four weights, the only loss coming to Gianni Ontiveros (41-8 at 140) in overtime, 6-4.

"I was hoping we would split those matches," said Gardner, who saw state sixth-placer Justin Hale (38-8 at 145) lose to Glenbard North's three-time state medalist, Jon Isacson, 13-5.

The Panthers also watched John Malizzio edge Nick Alvis at 152, 4-2, before Tony Dieppa downed Troy Clark, 17-3, to take a 17-9 team lead.

"They have good kids where we have good kids," lamented Gardner. "They won more of the close ones than we did."

The only other winner for BHS was Brian Temple (39-4 at 215) who notched a technical fall over Reno Manuele, 15-0, to pull the Raiders within 24-14 with five weights remaining.

Glenbard North regained control at 275 as Gino Heredia pinned Luke Maurer in 4:46. Maurer took a 2-0 lead into the final period.

"Luke was going for bonus points for the team," Gardner said. "He was trying to help the team out. He wasn't going to be satisfied just sitting on top for a win. That said a lot about Luke."

Glenbard North's 30-14 lead allowed Caitlyn Chase, the first female individual state qualifier in Illinois history, to wrestle conservatively against Tyler Johnson (41-2 at 103), who had pinned her earlier in the season, but had to settle for a 3-1 win.

"I'm sure that's what her goal was, to keep the match close and she was able to do that," Gardner said. "You get a team down and the team that's down has to go and score bonus points and that changes the whole complexion of the match. She can make you come to her as opposed to an even match-up."

Glenbard North clinched the dual with a pin at 112 and then forfeited the final two bouts.

"We came to compete and we just didn't get it done today," said Robbins, who finished with a school record 176 career wins against nine losses. "I'm proud of us, but just getting here wasn't our goal. We wanted to place."

Next year BHS will return 10 men from Saturday's lineup and four have won sectional titles.

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

Lampe dismisses pressure of state wrestling meet

By Kareem Copeland 2/25/05
Wausau Daily Herald
kmcopeland@wdhprint.com

Role model. Hero.
These are words people are use to describe Alyssa Lampe. So you'd think the Tomahawk junior would be feeling a little pressure, right?
Not quite.

"After last year's experience, I don't really feel the pressure," Lampe said.

Lampe became the darling of the Wisconsin sports media last year after becoming the first girl to win a match at the WIAA state wrestling tournament. She had been virtually unknown as she quietly made a run to state in her sophomore year.

But now, she's not surprising anyone.
Lampe (103 pounds) has been ranked in the state's Division 2 top 10 nearly all season. She has racked up a gaudy 40-6 record, and has qualified for state for the second consecutive year even with people gunning for her all season. Hatchets co-coach Bob Skubal said that she is definitely marked - people are hoping to wrestle the best matches of their lives and using her as a measuring stick because of her success.

"There are kids that their coaches tell them about me and I have no idea who they are," Lampe said. "They know everything about me and I know nothing about them. So, it's a little bit tougher."
If that isn't enough stress for a high schooler, she is now being asked to be an ambassador for the sport. Skubal said that he has noticed a lot more female wrestlers on teams this year. Megan Johnson wrestled nine varsity matches for Tomahawk this year and, according to Skubal, there are five or six females on the middle school team and more in the elementary school.

"I never thought that I'd be someone's role model in that way," Lampe said. "It's just hard to see myself in that position."
Many coaches have asked Lampe to speak to their athletes about what she has gone through.

"She's been very open, talking to people," Skubal said. "She didn't have that. She had no other female to talk to and find out what's going on."
The fact that she is willing to take that time is a tribute to the type of person she is. Lampe was shocked and a little uncomfortable with all of the attention she received at state last year. She was the only athlete to have a news conference. Lampe is naturally soft-spoken and said that she simply tells other females to, "just keep working hard, stick with it, get better, I guess."
In between pep talks, Lampe has set some awfully high goals. She said when the season started, she just wanted to get better than last year and finish in the top six in Madison. But as the season progressed, she now has her eyes on a state title.

"You look in that little girl's eyes, oh my God, if she weighed 195 pounds, she'd be in the NFL, I guarantee it," Skubal said. "I told her this when she was in sixth grade, she's my hero. I admired what she was doing then, I admire her more now.

"I'm going for a marvelous ride with this young lady."
The next part of the ride begins today at the Kohl Center in Madison. If Lampe can reach the medal stand she will become the first female in state history to accomplish that feat. If she does that, it means she will probably get another news conference and set another example of how gender does not determine ability.

No pressure, right?

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WIAA STATE WRESTLING: Bobby Wunnicke honors brother by advancing to finals in Division 2

00:00 am 2/27/05
Rob Hernandez Wisconsin State Journal

Tim Wunnicke had two sons leave the Kohl Center between sessions of the WIAA Division 2 state wrestling tournament Friday afternoon at the Kohl Center thinking they were both in the semifinals.

Imagine the Dodgeville assistant coach's dilemma about an hour later when he returned to the hotel and had to tell his sons that only one of them would compete at night.

A scoring error discovered after T.J. Wunnicke's quarterfinal match at 112 pounds turned the sophomore's apparent 10-8 overtime victory into a 9-8 loss to Adams-Friendship's Tim Baumel.

It killed T.J. Wunnicke's dream of joining his brother Cole as a four-time state champion, but gave his freshman brother Bobby the motivation to win his semifinal match on a second-period pin and put a Wunnicke in the finals for the sixth time in seven years.

"At first, I felt . . . sorry for him," Bobby Wunnicke (38-2) said of his brother. "But you just have to do it for him right now. That's what I'm doing."

T.J. Wunnicke, a transfer from Ithaca where he won the Division 3 state title at 103 last season, led 8-1 late in the second period when Baumel used a reversal and a three-point near-fall to make it 8-6.

Wunnicke, bothered by the sudden turn of events, drew a caution and two subsequent warnings for stalling, the last with under 5 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 8 and force overtime where he got the takedown and walked off the mat 38-1.

At that point, referee Kirk Layer of Richland Center approached the scorer's table and the scoring error was discovered. Baumel earned one point for each warning, but - because they Wunnicke's the second and third penalties - should have received two points for the second stalling warning and avoided overtime.

"I think it was a referee's error; it was a coaches' error; it was the table's error," Dodgers coach Matt Webster said. "It was everybody's fault except the two kids wrestling."

Said Tim Wunnicke: "Go back to my hotel room sometime and try to keep one kid up for a big match and tell the other kid, 'I'm sorry, you got beat.' I tell you what, I cried."

But T.J. Wunnicke wasn't the only area wrestler battling mixed emotions.

Clinton's Joe Clothier, last year's state champion at 135, lost in the semifinals at 140. That's also where Lodi's Nick Ziegler (135) and Sugar River's Scott Fahey (145) lost their first matches of the season, making semifinal survivors like Wisconsin Heights' Kyle Reeve (119), Belmont-Platteville's Travis Droessler (125), Westfield's Kendall Vogel (135), Mount Horeb-Barneveld's Adam Brager (160) and Prairie du Chien's Mike Lenzendorf (heavyweight) appreciate even more the opportunity they still have to compete for a state title.

"You can lose at anytime," said Reeve (48-2), who won the state title last year at 112. "I went about 81 straight matches and then lost to (Lodi's Jake) Madigan at regionals. So it can happen at anytime. A good wrestler takes his lumps and keeps on moving."•

Division 1: Stoughton's Nelson finds a way Stoughton's Rick Nelson isn't quite sure how he reached the finals of the WIAA Division 1 state individual wrestling tournament.

But the senior does know what he will have to do in order to win a state championship.

"It's going to take a lot of focus," said Nelson, who competes at 160 pounds. "Before the state tournament started, I told myself that I just wanted to get back. Now I want to try and win it all."

Nelson reached the finals with a 5-3 victory over Kettle Moraine senior Billy DraGonetti Friday at the Kohl Center.

"I don't know how I have been able to do this," Nelson said. "I guess that everything is coming together for me at the right time."

Nelson (40-9) will face a familiar opponent in the finals in Portage senior Kevin Nolan.

Nolan (45-2), who won a state title at 152 last year, reached the finals with a dominating 15-3 victory over Marshfield junior Joel Krasselt.

"During the year I thought about the possibility of repeating as state champion a lot," Nolan said. "It's an important thing to me."

Nolan defeated Nelson 16-3 in their only meeting this season, which came in the semifinals of the Badger Conference tournament.

Along with Nolan and Nelson, DeForest 125-pound junior Sergio Mireles (30-1) and Verona sophomore 145-pounder Ben Sarbacker (47-3) will also wrestle for a title.

Mireles, who defeated Waupaca junior Justin Teppo 4-3 in the semifinals, will face Wausau West junior Josh Kyle.

"It's just another match," Mireles said. "I have a goal and that goal is to be a state champion."

Mireles was runner-up at 119 pounds a year ago when he competed for Madison East.

Sarbacker (47-3) defeated Holmen junior Jordan Gerardy 7-2 in the semifinals and will face Wisconsin Rapids junior Kevin Tritz (46-1).

"It's exciting to get to the state finals," Sarbacker said. "But I want to stay focused. It's just another match and you have to minus out all the distractions and take it as just that ... but my goal is to win it." - Mike Kaebisch •

Division 3: Gevelinger, Fiedler avoid disappointment Mineral Point's Matt Gevelinger walked off the wrestling mat alone, the last Pointer standing at the end of an up and mostly down Friday at the Kohl Center.

The 171-pound senior advanced to his second straight WIAA Division 3 state title match, beating Athens' Darren Drewek 14-3 and salvaging what otherwise could only be considered a heartbreaking opening day of the individual state tournament for the Pointers.

Mineral Point had seven qualifiers and five who ended up with a chance to advance to today's state finals. But Gevelinger and 130-pounder Curtis Fiedler were the only ones to break through.

"It really (stinks)," Gevelinger said. "That's not very politically correct, but those guys have busted their butts. It really is bittersweet."

The "them" included brothers Greg (125) and TJ Burke (160) and senior Cory Sokol (135), each of whom lost semifinal matches by the slimmest of margins.

"We were so close," Mineral Point coach Scott Schmitz said. "We got beat by good kids. It's nothing to be ashamed of. We fought all the way to the bitter end on all of them."

That list almost included Fiedler, who scored an escape point with 3 seconds left in regulation and rode out Wrightstown's Kurt Bloemer to earn a double overtime criteria decision.

"I was a little nervous going into (overtime) thinking, 'Could I ride him or couldn't I?'" said Fiedler, the state runner-up at 125 pounds last year. "Luckily, I came out on top."

Sokol, the 2003 champion at 112, wasn't as fortunate in his attempt to regain his crown after missing last year's state meet because he came in overweight at sectionals.

Elcho's Reilly Brigham scored an overtime takedown for a 7-5 win that ended Sokol's quest.

"They always say the second one is harder to win than the first one," Sokol said. "You have to take them whenever you can get them. They're not easy to come by."

Schmitz said despite the disappointments the final two years, Sokol, who has a chance to become the program's winningest wrestler, has already left his mark.

"He's going to be known as a state champion from Mineral Point," Schmitz said. "And that's what counts."

Gevelinger would like to join that company, and has amends of his own to make after having to default out of last year's title match at 160 after dislocating his left elbow.

"I'm just thankful that I was given another opportunity," Gevelinger said. "I was taught to take advantage of my opportunities. I'm going to work hard (tonight) to see if I can." •

Tomahawk's Lampe hopes for improvement Tomahawk's Alyssa Lampe, who last year became the first girl to qualify for the WIAA state wrestling tournament, wants her second appearance to be more memorable than her first.

The Hatchets' junior is still one win away.

Lampe won her opening match for the second year in a row, beating Luxemburg-Casco freshman Adam Zehren 13-6 in the Division 2 preliminaries at 103 pounds. She lost her quarterfinal match 12-1 to Bobby Wunnicke of Dodgeville, sending Lampe (41-7) to the wrestlebacks where she will face Freedom's Kyle VanCamp (41-5) for the right to wrestle for fifth place.

"I'm trying to test myself and see what level I'm at," said Lampe, who was pinned twice after last year's win and did not place. "Anything that's (on the) podium is a lot better than last year." •

Daggett breaks ground Cambridge junior Robert Daggett made history Friday, becoming the first wrestler from his school to reach the state finals.

Daggett (44-2) beat Brookwood's Andy Doyle 6-4 in the Division 3 semifinals at 103 to clinch at least a second-place finish. That will make him the highest-placing Blue Jay in tournament history, bettering brother Brian's third-place finish in 1993.

"At the beginning of the year when I wrote down goals for wrestling, I wrote down state champ and it's going to come true," Daggett said. "It's going to be crazy." •

Brager interested observer Adam Brager had no sooner dispatched Luxemburg-Casco's Dennis Reckelberg 15-8 in the Division 2 semifinals at 160 than the Mount Horeb-Barneveld senior found a seat about five rows above the Division 1 mat and watched rival Kevin Nolan of Portage advance, too.

They will be on adjacent mats tonight wrestling for state titles after putting each other in position to do so. Braeger beat Nolan in the finals of the Bi-State Classic and the finals of the Badger Conference meet with Nolan winning their dual clash in between.

"It's was interesting (watching) because ... we respect each other a lot," Brager said. "We've grown up wrestling each other. It's good to see both of us make it in the final." •

FOUR photos of the match she WON against Adam Zehren 13-6 (Click for larger image):

TWO photos of her second match she LOST against Bobby Wunnicke 12-1 (Click for larger image)

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Lampes gather in Madison to support wrestlers

By Kareem Copeland
Wausau Daily Herald 2/26/05
kmcopeland@wdhprint.com

MADISON - Like Sly and the Family Stone said in 1971, "It's a family affair!"
The Lampe clan stormed the Kohl Center on Friday to watch Tomahawk juniors Anthony and Alyssa become the first brother-sister combination in the state (and the nation, Anthony said) to win their opening wrestling matches in a state tournament.
And after Alyssa became the first girl to win a WIAA state match in 2004, the trip to Madison is becoming an annual pilgrimage.
"It's nice. My sister-in-law said since the kids are teenagers now, this is the family vacation," their mother, Judy, said.

Judy and her husband, J.W., beamed the smiles of proud parents as they watched Anthony and Alyssa win their matches within 10 minutes of each other. The entire Lampe contingent could be heard roaring all the way from the front of section 220, on the second level and near the corner of the Kohl Center.

"It's pretty unique," J.W. said. "This is more special (than last year), in my opinion. I'd just as soon (the media) didn't give (Alyssa so much attention last year). We always wanted her to be treated like any other."
Alyssa was the only athlete who was treated to a news conference at the 2004 state tournament. But the fact that she is being treated as any other wrestler this year is a tribute to her success. Even though she still gets the loudest cheers from the crowd, no one is surprised when she wins.

"She's happier this year," Judy said. "She doesn't have all the cameras around. She didn't even get to come sit with us in the stands last year."
You'd think that Alyssa would have given her brother a heads-up about what the state experience would be like since Anthony had never qualified. But the two never even spoke about going down as a pair until it happened last week at sectionals. Alyssa said they usually don't talk about wrestling and that when they are together, they're usually watching television.

Anthony agreed that they hang out with different crowds, but still seemed like he would have enjoyed a little information about walking out of the tunnel into the bright lights.

"She didn't do anything. I'm like, 'Thanks, I'm going to go down there not knowing what's going on,'" Anthony joked. "It's really mind-blowing how many people are cheering, how many eyes there are looking at you. It was really nerve-racking."
As mild-mannered as Alyssa comes across, she didn't hide how ecstatic she was to have her brother experience this with her.
"I get excited when he wins," Alyssa said. "It's great because I can watch him and have someone to warm up with that's close to my weight. I just watch him and say, 'I can do that too,' he does his (moves) so fluidly."
In the quarterfinals, Alyssa lost her 103-pound match against Dodgeville's Bobby Wunnicke before Anthony (119) upset Lodi's Jake Madigan (42-1) to move on to the semifinals, where he lost.

J.W. already was satisfied before the two stepped foot on the mats for their second matches.

"It already has been a perfect day, anything else is gravy," he said. "You don't want to be greedy, just enjoy it. I told them before we got here, 'You win with class, you lose with class.'"
The Lampes have come a long way since Anthony and Alyssa wrestled their first meets in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the family lived before moving to Wisconsin. But things have stayed eerily similar.

"This is what we've been doing since they were kids," Judy said. "Every Saturday and Sunday we set up blankets in the corner at (different) tournaments. It was like an indoor picnic."
Well, they're still in the corner and the picnic's a little bigger. But it's still a family affair.

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Freedom’s Van Camp gets even with Lampe

By Tom Goff 2.27/05
Post-Crescent staff writer

MADISON — Since losing to Tomahawk’s Alyssa Lampe at the Oshkosh on the Water Classic in December, it has been tough for Freedom’s Kyle Van Camp to deal with the fact that he lost to a girl.

His friends and classmates probably will never let him forget about it.

But he’s hardly alone. The Hatchets’ 103-pound junior is a special young lady and a pioneer in Wisconsin high school wrestling. Last year, she became the first female to qualify for the WIAA state individual wrestling tournament, winning her first match at state and finishing with a 33-11 record. This year, she was 40-6 coming into the tournament, and Van Camp was one of her victims.

He may never be completely able to remove that stigma, but at least he got even. Van Camp edged Lampe 4-3 Saturday morning in a Division 2 consolation semifinal at the Kohl Center.

“It feels great,” said Van Camp of his win. “I got a lot of that (teasing) at school, because she’s a girl. But she’s a lot different. She’s strong and she knows what she’s doing.”

The difference in the match was that Van Camp wrestled much more aggressively. He took her down twice, allowed only a couple of escapes and a penalty point for stalling late in the third period and, according to Freedom coach Mike Buechler, was lucky he didn’t get another one, which would have tied the match and sent it into overtime .

Still, Buechler thinks that Lampe is legit.

“She’s tough,” he said. “She’s a two-time state qualifier. She hasn’t placed yet, but she’s right there. If she comes back at the same weight class next year, she’ll do well.”

Van Camp, also a junior, may not have seen the last of Lampe, either.

If they are at the same weight next year, possibly 112, they could meet again in the Oshkosh tournament, or perhaps at state again.

“If we do, she’s going to want revenge next time,” Van Camp said.

In the fifth-place match, Van Camp lost to Jase Langkamp of Lancaster 7-3 to finish his season at 42-6.

Freedom had two other place-winners. Josh Schumacher (43-5) took third at 189 and Adam Bonikowske (21-4) was fifth at 171.