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Maine's Rix Ready To Show She's More Than Daddy's Girl
By Kelly Finn, W.I.N. Staff Writer
For most young athletes, their first coach is also their parent. Be it mom or dad, that is where a child learns how to throw a ball or catch a pass. And in the case of Maine wrestler Deanna Rix, her father was the one who first taught her to wrestle.
Rix, named All-American and Girl’s High School Wrestler of the Year by Asics, officially closed out her high school career when the 18-year-old earned the Asics Vaughn USAW Fargo Junior National championship, July 30, in Fargo, N.D.
And her father, Matt, was matside … just as he did when he first started coaching his daughter as a four-year-old beginner back in Eliot, Maine.
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“It’s tough to separate sometimes from dad to coach,” Matt said shortly after Deanna scored a 10-0 technical fall over Bethany Harris of California in the 128-pound championship match. “We kind of made a pact together that when we’re in the room it’s coach and out here it’s coach.
“She has a hard time sometimes when I’m trying to coach her and trying to correct her on some things. I’m trying to motivate her and she sometimes can’t separate that from thinking I’m yelling at her. And I tell her, ‘I’m not yelling at you, I’m trying to motivate you. I’m trying to tell you what you’re doing wrong.’”
Although it can get difficult, their close father/daughter relationship makes their coach/wrestler relationship a good match.
“It helps me out a lot because we can go over moves at home if I don’t understand stuff,” Deanna said. “But it does get tough. He’s always pushing me as hard as I can. I prefer having him over somebody else being my coach.”
With her father serving as the head coach of the boys’ wrestling team at Marshwood High School, Deanna also made a name for herself in boys’ wrestling as well.
She is a two-time state freestyle champion in the boys division and won two out of three matches in Greco-Roman before an arm injury forced her to withdraw.
But it was a match last spring that really made people notice around the country as she placed second in the 2005 Maine boys’ state tournament at 130 pounds, losing in double overtime to Shane Leadbetter, who she had beaten twice before. Leadbetter earned the state title when he scored an escape with four seconds remaining in the overtime tie-breaker.
“It was exciting. I was upset because I lost, but second place was definitely good,”Deanna said. “I’d rather wrestle against guys. It’s more fun beating them.”
“This kid she wrestled, other than his mother and maybe his coach cheering for him, most were pulling for Deanna,” Matt said. “I was told it was the most publicized match in state history in Maine. It was phenomenal.”
(You can read the rest of this article by subscribing to W.I.N. Magazine. Either contact our office at 1-888-305-0606 or subscribe through this website by selecting the “Subscribe” section on our front page.)
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ONE VETERAN RETURNS, ONE MAY BE FINISHED
Pioneers Murata, Marano facing different directions after World Trials crossroads
By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor
They weren’t exactly pioneers of women’s wrestling, but Stephanie Murata and Kristie Marano were there for many of the first international awards earned by the American women.
Following the recent World Team Trials, Murata showed that she was not ready to retire while Marano’s days on the mat may be numbered.
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“I’m one of the last ones who’s still around when things started getting rolling,” said the 34-year-old Murata, who defeated Mary Kelly in two consecutive matches for the 112.25-pound championship, earning the native of San Mateo, Calif., her seventh trip to the World Championships. “I think there were about four other girls who were wrestling about five years prior to me starting.”
Murata, who won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships, was talking about the likes of Tricia Saunders, whose five world medals (including four gold) are topped only by Marano’s seven.
And based on the results of the recent Trials, where Marano, 26, lost for a rare time to Katie Downing, 25, in two matches for the 147.5-pound championship, the most decorated woman wrestler in American history may have a hard time returning. Marano has had her way with Downing before, defeating her in the 2003 and 2004 Trials.
At first it appeared that Marano had regained the touch that led to two gold medals — the latest coming in 2003 — when she jumped on top 3-2 in the first period of her first match in the Championship Series.
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Instead, Downing was able to pull down Marano’s head and eventually stack her back to the mat where Downing pinned her rival in 30 seconds.
“It kind broke the seal that I’ve been trying to break for the last couple years,” said Downing, a native of Indianapolis. “I was ready to go. Usually when she gets a takedown my mind would be saying, ‘Oh no, I messed up. Now how do I score?’ ”
A few hours later, Downing completed her sweep of Marano with a headlock and takedown to win the second match, 4-0, 1-0.
Murata, meanwhile, completed her victory with a cradle and two-point gut-wrench to defeat Kelly, who is 13 years younger than her victor, who has seen a lot of changes in women’s wrestling over the past ten years.
“I think it’s changed drastically,” said Murata, adding that she sees both technical and physical improvements among her foes.
“I think you have to be more technical than you used to be. The gap between everyone is slowly closing. Because of that you have to work on your technique instead of just being stronger and faster.”
The only women who had a bigger break between World Championships was 158.5-pound Iris Smith, 25, who earned her first trip to the Worlds since 2001 with a victory over 19-year-old Ali Bernard.
“It’s great to see more girls out there coming up,” said Smith, a sergeant in the U.S. Army and a member of the World Class Athlete Program. “I remember when I came up; there wasn’t as much.”
McMann also returns
When Sara McMann defeated Alaina Berube in two straight matches for the 138.75-pound world team spot, it marked the sixth straight year she will compete on the world stage. But the 24-year-old’s return to the Worlds was secondary to the fact that the native of Tacoma Park, Md., was even competing at all.
For this was the first time McMann competed on the mat since she won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens last August and the first time since the death of her boyfriend — former Arizona State wrestler Steven Blackford — on Sept. 3, 2004, when they were traveling together on Interstate 76 about 14 miles east of Brush, Colo.
McMann, who was training in Iowa City before the Trials, declined any interviews but was focused enough to first win the Challenge Tournament and then sweep a pair of matches from U.S. Nationals champion Berube, who forced each match to go three periods.
But in the end, McMann won the final period, 4-2, as she scored a one-point reversal, two-point exposure and one more for a hold to build a 4-1 lead with one minute left.
(You can read the rest of this article by subscribing to W.I.N. Magazine. Either contact our office at 1-888-305-0606 or subscribe through this website by selecting the “Subscribe” section on our front page.)
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Canadians rush to medal podium at World University Games in Turkey
Canadian Press
August 15, 2005
IZMIR, Turkey (CP) - Led by its women's wrestlers, Canada enjoyed a banner day Monday at the World University Games.
Canadians won seven medals, including three gold. Six came on the wrestling mat.
Freestyle wrestler Carol Huynh (48 kilograms) and Ohenewa Akuffo (72 kg) won gold while Lyndsay Belisle (51 kg) and Tonya Verbeek (55 kg) claimed silver and Breanne Graham (59 kg) and Stefanie Howorun (67 kg) earned bronze.
Gymnast Brandon O'Neill also won gold in the men's individual floor competition.
Prior to Monday's rush to the podium, Canada had captured just one silver and a bronze.
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U.S. women have four wrestlers still looking for bronze at 2005 World University Games
8/15/2005
John Fuller/USA Wrestling
Izmir, Turkey - Three U.S. women’s freestyle wrestlers will compete for bronze medals at the 2005 World University Games on Monday evening at the Ozel Yamanlar High School Sports Hall.
Those competing for bronze are Mary Kelly (Mahomet, Ill./Northern Michigan Univ./New York AC) at 51 kg/112.25 lbs., Marcie Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Univ. of Minnesota-Morris/Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Alaina Berube (Escanaba, Mich./Cumberland College/New York AC) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Sara Fulp-Allen (El Granada, Calif./Menlo College) will wrestle one repechage match to see if she will compete for a bronze medal at 48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Kelly pinned Francine DePaolo of Italy in the third period of her win. DePaola won the first period 1-0 after scoring a takedown, and Kelly won the second period 1-0 after forcing DePaola out of bounds. Midway through the third period, Kelly used a three-point throw to put DePaola on her back for the win.
In the semifinals, Kelly was pinned by Olympic gold medalist Irini Merleni of Ukraine.
Kelly will face the winner of a repechage bout between Maigorata Bucka of Poland and Zeynep Yildrim of Turkey in a bronze-medal match.
Van Dusen won her first two bouts, downing Maigorzata Kruza of Poland (0-1, 3-0, 2-0) and Kitti Godo of Hungary (1-0, 1-0) before losing in the semifinals to Olympic silver medalist Tonya Verbeek of Canada (2-0, 5-1).
Against Kruza, Van Dusen started slow, losing the first period, but she dominated the match from her feet in the second and third periods, scoring three takedowns overall.
She kept the pace slow versus Godo, who placed fifth at the European Championships this year. In the first period, Van Dusen scored a takedown. In the second period, she forced Godo out of bounds to win.
Verbeek was able to control the pace of the semifinal bout against Van Dusen. A two-point exposure in the first period was all Verbeek needed, and in the second period, after Van Dusen raced out in front with a 1-0 lead, Verbeek scored two takedowns and three exposure points to finish the bout.
Van Dusen will face So Ra Lee of Korea in the bronze-medal match.
Berube was dominant in her first two matches, defeating Maria Diana of Italy (5-0, 0-3, 6-0) and pinning Teodora Dimitrova of Bulgaria in 38 seconds.
In the first period against Diana, who placed seventh in the Junior World Championships, Berube used a five-point throw to end the period quickly. Diana battled back in the second period, forcing Berube out of bounds and then scoring two takedowns. In the third period, Berube scored a takedown and five exposure points to advance.
After pinning Dimitrova, Berube dropped a semifinal decision to Olga Khilko of Belarus (5-0, 3-1). Khilko placed sixth at the 2004 Olympic Games.
After Khilko dominated the first period, Berube scored the first takedown in the second period for a 1-0 lead. One minute later, Khilko tied the match with a takedown of her own, which also gave her tiebreaking criteria. Khilko scored two exposure points at the end of the bout as Berube was attempting to score.
Berube will face two-time Pan American Championships gold medalist Juliana Borges of Brazil in a bronze-medal bout.
Fulp-Allen lost her first-round match to Yuuri Funatsu of Japan (3-1, 3-0). Four of Funatsu’s six points came on takedowns, and most of those were created immediately after a whistle blew.
Because Funatsu earned a spot in the gold-medal match, Fulp-Allen will wrestle Filiz Cikikci of Turkey in a repechage match. The winner will compete for a bronze medal.
Ali Bernard (New Ulm, Minn./Univ. of Regina) lost her first-round bout at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. to Agnieszka Wieszcek of Poland (5-7, 3-2, 1-2). In the third period, Bernard took a 1-0 lead on a takedown, but a late takedown by Wieszcek tied the score at 1-1 and gave the Polish wrestler the tiebreaker advantage.
Wieszcek did not advance to the finals, though, which means that Bernard will not have a chance to compete for a bronze medal.
The women’s repechage and medal matches will take place at 5:00 p.m. local time in Turkey.
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U.S. women win four bronze medals in freestyle wrestling at 2005 World University Games
8/15/2005
John Fuller/USA Wrestling
Izmir, Turkey - Four of the five U.S. women competing in freestyle wrestling at the 2005 World University Games won bronze medals on Monday evening at the Ozel Yamanlar High School Sports Hall.
Winning bronze were Sara Fulp-Allen (El Granada, Calif./Menlo College), Mary Kelly (Mahomet, Ill./Northern Michigan Univ./New York AC), Marcie Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Univ. of Minnesota-Morris/Sunkist Kids) and Alaina Berube (Escanaba, Mich./Cumberland College/New York AC).
This was the first time that women’s wrestling was competed at the World University Games.
Fulp-Allen won a bronze medal at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. after she defeated Hyung-Joo Kim of Korea (2-1, 2-0). In the first period, Kim scored the first takedown, but Fulp-Allen countered back with two takedowns of her own. In the second period, Fulp-Allen controlled the movement, scoring her first takedown 45 seconds into the period and her second takedown just one minute later.
“I have to go home and work on what I did wrong (in the tournament),” Fulp-Allen said when asked of her performance. “I was glad to get more matches in, though, because that is really what I need to do, wrestle more internationally.”
To get to the bronze-medal match, Fulp-Allen had to win one repechage match.
In her repechage match, Fulp-Allen downed Filiz Cikikci of Turkey, who placed seventh in the 2004 Junior European Championships, (1-0, 5-1). In the first period, Fulp-Allen waited for the perfect time to take her first strong shot attempt – with only 12 seconds remaining in the period.
In the second period, Cikikci scored first with a takedown, but Fulp-Allen countered late in the period with a takedown and two, two-point rolls.
Kelly also had to beat a Turkish wrestler to get a bronze medal at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. Kelly defeated Zeynep Yildrim (1-0, 3-0).
In the first period, neither wrestler was able to gain an advantage. Yildrim won the coin toss to clinch first, but Kelly quickly cleared her leg and was able to finish a takedown of her own for the period victory.
In the second period, Kelly countered a Yildrim shot at the midway point by putting Yildrim on her back for three points. Those were all the points Kelly would need to come out on top.
“I just tried to wrestle a very smart match,” Kelly said. “I wanted to work to control the tie-ups, and for the most part I feel like I did a pretty good job of that.”
Van Dusen trailed So Ra Lee of Korea in all three periods at 55 kg/121 lbs., but Van Dusen still battled for a win by fall (1-3, 3-1, 1:59).
In the first period, Lee used rolled Van Dusen and held her for five seconds for a 3-0 lead. In the second period, Van Dusen used a two-point roll of her own with only 12 seconds remaining to force a third period. In the final stanza, Van Dusen trailed 1-0 with 13 seconds remaining before throwing Lee to her back and pinning her.
“There were some openings there,” Van Dusen said after the win. “She made a mistake and I caught her on it. I just knew that I needed to score at least one point to win. Anything that I was able to get after that was a plus.”
Berube also earned a pin in her bronze-medal bout. Berube pinned two-time Pan American Championships gold medalist Juliana Borges of Brazil in the second period at 63 kg/138.75 lbs.
In the first period, Berube scored a three-point throw midway through the period. With only two seconds remaining, Borges rolled Berube to her back, but was awarded only two points and Berube won the period.
In the second period, Berube began with a blast double-leg, taking Borges to her back for a 3-0 lead. Borges battled back, scoring a takedown and a two-point tilt before Berube reversed Borges and put her on her back for the fall.
“She was making a comeback, but she stepped too far there near the end. The opening was there, so I took it,” Berube said of her pin.
Overall, the U.S. women placed fourth as a team, behind Japan, Canada and Ukraine.
Greco-Roman competition will begin on Tuesday morning at 10:00 in Izmir. Four weight classes, 55 kg/121 lbs., 66 kg/145.5 lbs., 84 kg/185 lbs. and 120 kg/264.5 lbs., will be competed. TheMat.com will provide complete results.
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8/15/2005
John Fuller/USA Wrestling
Sara Fulp-Allen, El Granada, Calif. (Menlo College), 3rd place at 48 kg/105.5 lbs.
On winning a bronze medal:
“I’m happy to win a bronze medal. I made some mistakes in the first match and just really didn’t know how to counter what she was coming at me with.”
On what she learned at this event:
“I have to go home and work on what I did wrong. I was glad to get more matches in, though, because that is really what I need to do, wrestle more internationally.”
Mary Kelly, Mahomet, Ill. (Northern Michigan Univ./New York AC), 3rd place at 51 kg/112.25 lbs.
On winning a bronze medal:
“I felt like I wrestled well. In my second match, I went against the Olympic gold medalist. She was very strong, but that was a match I was glad to get in. Against the Turkish woman in the bronze-medal match, I just tried to wrestle a very smart match. I wanted to work to control the tie-ups, and for the most part I feel like I did a pretty good job of that.”
On the competition at the World University Games:
“There was some real good competition at all of the weight classes here, including mine. We had Olympic champions and other medalists all competing here. It’s very rare that at this time of year you can find this level of competition unless you are at the World Championships.”
Marcie Van Dusen, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Univ. of Minnesota-Morris/Sunkist Kids), 3rd place at 55 kg/121 lbs.
On winning a bronze medal:
“Obviously I came here to win a gold and I didn’t accomplish that, so I am a little disappointed. However, I think I wrestled some good matches and I did some good things on the mat. Any time you can get solid competition overseas, you need to jump at the opportunity.”
On pinning her last opponent:
“There were some openings there. She made a mistake and I caught her on it. I just knew that I needed to score at least one point to win. Anything that I was able to get after that was a plus.”
On the importance of these matches:
“I made some mistakes I need to learn from. Since I am not going to the World Championships this year, this is a good tournament for me to compete in to ensure that I continue to train throughout the year.”
Alaina Berube, Escanaba, Mich. (Cumberland College/New York AC), 3rd place at 63 kg/138.75 lbs.
On pinning Borges to win the bronze:
“She was making a comeback, but she stepped too far there near the end. The opening was there, so I took it.”
On the team’s performance in Izmir:
“I thought we all did a pretty good job of coming back. These are some resilient women. There was a tough field for us here to compete against, and all of us lost tough matches.”
