Hannah Skinner: Wrestler places second in national tournament
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West's Beatty makes mark in state, national events
Thursday, March 24, 2005
By JARROD ULREY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
If all goes as planned over the next couple years, West High School junior Catey Beatty will end up at Northern Michigan University or perhaps at one of the few other schools in the United States or Canada which offer scholarships in the sport she has grown to love.
In the meantime, she'd settle for a championship or two.
As a freshman, Beatty decided to come out for wrestling after talking with coach Brian Nicola -- and it's a decision she hasn't regretted.
Beatty finished sixth at 112 pounds in the City League as a sophomore and then third at the same weight at the league tournament this season. She finished sixth at the Division I sectional Feb. 12, however, to finish 18-17 for the season.
After the boys high-school season ended, she got ready for the event she had been waiting for -- the girls state tournament.
An open event held March 13 at Mount Vernon, Beatty followed a fourth-place finish last year by placing second at 117, as she lost 5-3 to Blanchester's Amanda Breezley in the final.
At the USGWA open national tournament held last weekend in Lake Orion, Mich., Beatty again finished second as she lost 6-4 to Michigan's Amnorina Porter in the 110 final.
"There's a lot more girls who go up there, and it's actually a big difference in competition (compared with the state girls tournament)," Beatty said. "There were about 20 girls at my weight and they were all built big and can wrestle. It was more physical and intense, just crazy up there.
"It felt pretty good to get second, but I just really wanted to get first for once. I just really wanted to win it this time."
Beatty was one of four girls from central Ohio who competed at the nationals, along with Mount Vernon's Renay Bakely (100), Lindsey Curry (110) and Vanessa Oswalt (144). She has gotten to know the members of Mount Vernon's team the last couple years. The Yellow Jackets are coached by John Brown, and there were three girls on varsity and almost a dozen who came out for the boys team this season.
"She had a pretty good tournament," Nicola said. "In the semifinals, she pinned a girl from California (Marissa Gonzales in 5 minutes, 32 seconds). This is really quite big."
Beatty opened national competition with an 18-3 win over Pennsylvania's Chelsea Fuller and then beat Maine's Kristi Pearse 7-5 to reach a semifinal.
"I pinned a girl from California in the semifinals who won her girls state tournament and the girl from Maine I beat got third in the state in the boys state tournament there," Beatty said. "(Wrestling against boys) really does prepare you. Guys are physical and they make you work. By the time you wrestle girls, you've gotten used to it and do better. Working with guys is really different. When you wrestle guys, you hate to say it, but to them you're just a girl and they don't expect anything from you. It's really great wrestling girls and it's so much fun. I'm just out there to wrestle."
At the state tournament, Beatty won her first three matches but ended up falling in the final to Breezley, who she has lost to two other times.
Grove City freshman Devan Quitter ended up third at 108 pounds as she went 3-1. She defeated eventual champion Samantha Price of Cleveland Heights 8-4, but fell to Curry in the round-robin pool. She wrestled junior varsity for the Greyhounds' boys team this year.
Central Crossing freshman Allie Ogden finished fourth at 124 after wrestling at 119 for the Comets' j.v. boys team.
West freshman Jessica Varney was pinned by Warren Western Reserve's Darian Lunne in 2:58 in the championship match at 143 and her sister, junior Sarah Varney, was pinned in 1:15 in the heavyweight final. Freshman Kate Futty ended up fourth at 143.
"Catey Beatty placed in her third USGWA state event since entering high school ," Nicola said. "She lost to Blanchester's Amanda Breezley, who is a returning folkstyle and freestyle All-American, and Catey had been wrestling extremely well.
"Jessica made the finals with a first-round injury forfeit and two pins before losing to Darian Lunne. Jessica could barely make it through a practice in our preseason but never quit. By February, she was in excellent shape and very mentally tough. Kate Futty was a j.v. 145 this winter and is an excellent volleyball and softball player."
The national tournament was in the folkstyle format, which is the same as high school and college, while the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals will be held in late July in Fargo and will feature freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Beatty was a member of Team Ohio last summer in Fargo at 119.
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Apodaca wins wrestling title, will go to nationals
By DAVID MORSE
For The Star 3/18/05
Fifteen-year-old Melissa Apodaca won the women's 138-pound weight division title in the United States Girls Wrestling Association state meet in Soldotna March 7 and 8.
The Chugiak High School freshman now has her sights on the USGWA National meet held in Lake Ontario, Mich., March 15 through 21.
Apodaca, who transferred to Chugiak from Skyview High in September, wasted little time in becoming part of the Mustang athletic scene, running cross country in the fall before joining the Chugiak wrestling team. She said she might also join the school's track team.
She also placed third in the collegiate open class in Soldotna behind former USA Olympian Tela O'Donnell of Homer and 2003 West High graduate Iris Mucha.
Apodaca, who wrestled at either the 130- or 135-pound divisions for the Mustang JV grappling team this year, said the highlight of the state meet was her semifinal match with Mucha, who serves as her coach.
"We both head butt. We both had three bruises on our foreheads after that one," said Apodada. Mucha, five years her senior, won the match.
The freshman said she had been around the sport since the age of 2, serving as the practice dummy for her two older brothers. Her father, Henry Apodaca, was on the All-Army Wrestling team in the 1970s, she said.
"It's just something our family does," she added.
Apodaca said she received financial assistance from the Eagle River VFW and has raised some funds herself.
Homer hosts girls state wrestling
March 9, 2005
Homer High School played host to the fourth annual United States Girls' Wrestling Association state championships Sunday.
The winners were Anchorage's Grace Wiggins at elementary 44 pounds, Soldotna's Hannah Hutchison at elementary 52 pounds, Anchorage's Jessica Hernandez at middle school 104 pounds, Anchorage's Josilyn Roberts at middle school 122 pounds, Wasilla's Kendra Nelson at high school 90 pounds, Soldotna's Michaela Hutchison at high school 112 pounds, Wasilla's Jamie McElroy at high school 125 pounds, Chugiak's Melissa Apodaca at high school 138 pounds and Homer's Tela O'Donnell at open 142 pounds.
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College Nationals 2005 Pictures
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On national level, second acceptable
AHS wrestler Skinner pleased with results at Michigan tourney
By Jeremy Heath
jeremy.heath@amarillo.com
Amarillo Globe-News 3/27/05
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Hannah Skinner: Wrestler places second in national tournament |
Amarillo High state wrestling champion Hannah Skinner usually isn't satisfied with anything less than first place.
She made an exception to that rule last weeknd.
The 138-pound senior finished second at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association National Championships at Lake Orion (Mich.) High School. She lost 2-1 to Oregon's Natasha Umemoto in the finals, losing on a stalling call late in the match.
Skinner, who splits her athletic time between the weight room and the softball diamond, said a national title would have been nice, but she's satisfied with how she wrestled in the tournament because she achieved a personal goal.
"It (the atmosphere at the tournament) was amazing," Skinner said. "I went in there with no expectations except to have fun. I had a blast."
Amarillo High senior teammate Clarissa Dalke finished 12th in the country at 165. Dalke finished second at the state meet, losing in the finals to El Paso Eastwood's Tressa Yokum, who has pinned 75 straight opponents and was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In the Crowd" last week.
Skinner and Dalke anchored a Lady Sandies team that was once incapable of filling every weight class in 2003-04 to a fifth-place place finish at the state tournament in 2004-05.
AHS head coach Charles Rose said Skinner's and Dalke's performances on a national level will help him recruit future wrestlers to the budding program.
"It's going to make a huge difference for our program," Rose said. "I think it could really get some girls interested in coming in."
Skinner said she is uncertain about her wrestling future. She said she has been offered opportunities to wrestle in college but won't make a decision until she sees something in writing.
Right now, she and Dalke are preparing for the April 9 Texas Dream Team Tournament at South Grand Prairie High School.
Skinner said she wants to make a good showing at the tournament, but even if she doesn't, she will be satisfied with her season.
"This entire year has been a blessing God has granted me," Skinner said. "I can't even explain it.
''He has blessed me so much in my wrestling, allowing me to experience the joy of winning."
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Teter earns national No. 1 wrestling ranking
By RON JOHNSTON 3/26/05
PARKERSBURG - Jessica Teter is hoping to make wrestling history at Parkersburg South.
The 14-year-old, 8th-grader from Edison Junior High School is planning to try out for the Class AAA defending champion Patriots next season when she's in the 9th grade. If she makes the team, she'll become the first female to do so.
"I'd like to make varsity, so I'm going to practice this summer," said Teter, who'll be wrestling in the 103-pound weight category. "But if I don't make it, then I'm hoping to wrestle junior varsity."
Teter may have to wrestle off against either Corey Matheny, David Dennis or Adam Metz - all boys.
"I've been around boys all my life, so I'm used to it," Teter said. "In fact, I think it's easier to wrestle guys than girls."
And, just because Teter's a girl, the guys had better not take her too lightly - because she's one tough cookie on the mat.
After finishing runner-up to Tony Jones of Williamstown in the 110-pound finals of the 44th Wood County Junior High Championship at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center on Jan. 29, Teter bounced back in a big way - at the United States' Girls' Wrestling Association event.
Last weekend (March 19-20), at Lake Orion, Michigan, Teter competed against girls in the 2005 USGWA Nationals (Middle School Division), and earned a No. 1 ranking in the nation in the 104.5 weight class with wins in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Sponsoring her trip to the Wolverine State were Shirt Factory & Sporting Goods; Jeff, Lisa and Matt Stevens; Noe Office Equipment; Freedom Towing; Eddie Miller; her grandpa; and Ed and Kathy Miller.
"I just went out there and did my best," Teter said. "I thought it was going to be a little bit tougher than it was. But the last match was really hard."
In the quarterfinals, Teter pinned Alisha Brown of Kansas. Then, in the semis, she earned a 16-3 major decision against Tayler Frederiksen of Kansas.
The finals turned out to be a classic as Teter rallied for a takedown in the closing seconds to defeat Randi Beltz of Maryland, 2-1.
"With 18 seconds left, she got loose, and then I just shot, kept spinning, and I got it," said Teter, who received a first-place medal for her efforts.
Not too surprisingly, one of Teter's biggest fans and supporters has been her older brother, Brian H. Teter, who was an individual Class AAA runner-up as a 171-pounder for Parkersburg South at Huntington in February.
"He's showed me moves and stuff at home," Jessica Teter said.
About 10 years worth of moves, since she started wrestling at 4-years of age.
An all-around athlete, on her resume, she's also played peewee football for the Warhawks, is a cheerleader and does gymnastics, and also competes in track and field, where she long jumps and runs the 1600.
In the classroom, Teter's GPA is between a 3.0 and 3.6.
Teter's first love, though, is wrestling, and someday - hopefully after competing at South -she's planning to be on the mat at the collegiate level.
Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, for instance, fields an all-women's grappling team.
For now, though, Teter is content in working out at the southside Patriot Junior Wrestling Club, just off Camden Avenue, and preparing for next fall's high school tryout.
"This summer, I'm just going to run and lift," she said.
Teter is the daughter of Brian E. and Nancy Teter of south Parkersburg.
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By Jim Evans
Daily Tribune Sports Writer
PUBLISHED: March 28, 2005
Hazel Park's Underdog Wrestling Club is more than tough enough
Us guys like to think we're tough. We lift weights. We sneer at people who cut us off in traffic. We spit into the wind. We wear black leather jackets, and hop on Harleys.
We fail to hold the door open for little old ladies. We mutter at the guy in front of us in the express checkout line for having one too many items. So what if it's a cane?
Oh yeah, us guys have squatter's rights on toughness. Oh yeah, us guys are totally delusional.
"We were at a tournament, and Audrey said to me `Look, that wrestler is a mommy!'" recalled Harold Bucher. "And I looked and there was a lady who was a national champion with a baby who couldn't have been more than six or seven months old. Her husband watched the baby while she wrestled."
Us guys could never handle giving birth. I heard once the pain is even worse than yanking out a nose hair. But giving birth and beating people on the wrestling mat, too? Heavens to Janet Reno, that is about as tough as a person can get.
There are some mighty tough young ladies hanging out at Hazel Park Junior High a couple of nights a week. They are members of the renowned Hazel Park Underdog Wrestling Club founded by Tom Davids in 2001.
Audrey Bucher is just one of seven girls who compete for the club. She's eight years old. The girls range in age from Ella Wilson, who is 5, to 16-year-old Katie McGhee. She's a junior at Hazel Park High School.
In between are Izzy Davids, 8; Bailee Powers, 9; Gabby Karam, 6; and Hailey Slivensky, 14.
There are upwards of 70 wrestlers in the club. The Underdogs are the reigning state AAU freestyle champs.
The girls recently competed in the United States Girls Wrestling Association National championships held at Lake Orion High School.
Bucher is the long-time coach at Berkley High School. He helps Davids and Mike McGhee with the girls' team. Davids was a state champion at Hazel Park High School, and later competed at the University of Michigan. McGhee is a former high school wrestler who is still involved in age group competitions.
"It took awhile to get accepted by the guys on the school team," said Katie McGhee, who's ranked seventh nationally at 144 pounds by the USGWA. "I think I had to work harder to prove to them I could take it."
McGhee has proven herself long ago. Her first victory as a Hazel Park High School junior varsity wrestler came last year at Avondale.
"I pinned him in the third period and it was really cool. It was the first time I had even beaten a boy."
Beating an opponent is definitely the point. There's another more important point, though: Beating back self doubt. There are still plenty of folks who say girls are not supposed to wrestle. They are supposed to be spectators, not participants. It is not girlish. It is not lady-like.
You tell me, what is a girl supposed to be like these days? What is a lady supposed to be like? Girls are catapulting into space. Ladies are dying on the front lines in the Middle East. They are running corporations and countries. There's not a CEO Barbie, is there?
Wrestling is just another opportunity for girls. Is there anything wrong with that, tough guy?
"I just look at it as an opportunity to get girls involved in something early," said Davids. "They learn to be competitive, they learn how to train and work toward a goal, and they learn to appreciate fitness. I want everyone who comes into the wrestling club, boy or girl, to take something positive from the experience. Some might become champions. Others might do better in school. Either way, it is a valuable lesson."
"But the female aspect of wrestling has really exploded. It has come a long, long way in just the last few years. The numbers are greater, the competition is better, and the techniques are much more advanced.
"The girls work hard. Wrestling is not an easy sport. We make them do the same things as the boys at practices. They do not want to be singled out," Davids continued.
"It's fun," said Izzy Davids, simply. "Arm and shoulders is my favorite move."
Arm and shoulders. Suger and spice. Sorry, not everything is nice in wrestling.
An arm menaces behind an opponent's head. Another comes across a prone body. A vice-like grip keeps everything tidy. Is there an American Girl doll who wears a singlet?
"I would go to tournaments with my Uncle Joe. I'd watch him and want to wrestle myself," said Bailee Powers.
Her signature move is the bear hug. Don't confuse it with hugging a teddy bear, though.
"Wrestling has been very empowering for Audrey," said Bucher.
Everyone in the Underdog Wrestling Club is tough. Both boys and girls. Get used to it. That's the message for us guys.
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The Quest for the State Title by the No. 1 Female Wrestler 02/12/2005