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Rasmussen transcends gender on the wrestling mat — and she’s good, too
By Randy Anderson
The Free Press
BLUE EARTH —12/3/05
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In the storied history of high school wrestling in Blue Earth — a history that includes six team championships and a state-record 50 individual champions — a new chapter is being written by senior Kelli Rasmussen as the first girl to compete on the varsity team.
When Rasmussen takes the mat today for the season-opening Dick Maher Invitational, she does so as a returning champion of the tournament and looks to improve on last season’s impressive 23-9 record (which included a conference championship at 103 pounds).
Minnesota possesses one of the strongest high school wrestling traditions in the country, lagging behind only six larger states (California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Michigan) in participation. According to the National Federation of High School Associations, 8,677 boys wrestled at the varsity level in Minnesota last year; competing alongside them were 11 girls.
But Rasmussen is much more than a novelty in a traditionally male sport — she is, in the words of her coach, Randy Wirtjes, a “big part of the team” and a “very well-respected wrestler in the area.” Long-time Blue Earth wrestling coach, athletic director, and tournament namesake Dick Maher says Rasmussen is “extremely knowledgeable about the sport of wrestling; she is someone who knows exactly what she wants to do on the mat.”
What spectators at this weekend’s Maher Invite might not know is that Rasmussen will likely be the wrestler with the most national and international experience in the gymnasium. She has competed in major tournaments in Austria (Lady Austrian Open), Sweden (Klippan Cup) and across North America.
In April she made the podium in major tournaments in Missouri and California. In July she finished third at the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D., racking up seven victories (including falls at 55 seconds and 1:30) against one loss.
Earlier this month she was named Most Outstanding Female Wrestler of the meet after she won the 48kg title at the University of Regina Cougar Open in Saskatchewan. Rasmussen is ranked second nationally at 114 pounds among all female high school wrestlers. The current Wrestling USA poll has her ranked fourth nationally among women aged 17-20.
Rasmussen’s wrestling career started in second grade, when she accompanied her parents to her two older brothers’ wrestling meets. Her mother, Retha, remembers that Kelli was bored, and asked if she could wrestle, too: “I told her she could, but she better not cry if she lost.”
Kelli remembers her mother’s injunction as well, adding “I didn’t lose a lot, so I didn’t cry.” While Retha said she had hoped Kelli would have grown up to be a basketball player, she is justly proud of her daughter’s accomplishments in wrestling and appreciates the many opportunities to travel the world her wrestling success has brought her.
Wirtjes commends the entire Rasmussen family — particularly her “older brothers who pushed her along the way” — for supporting her as she has ascended the amateur ranks.
Rasmussen is also quick to praise her teammates for their support: “A lot of them have grown up wrestling with me and are used to me.”
She has rarely heard derisive comments from opponents or their fans, and says “the fact that I’m a girl really shouldn’t make a difference — I’m a wrestler.”
Wirtjes concurs: “It’s not like she’s a female in the wrestling room; nobody’s afraid to wrestle with her — she’s just part of the team.”
Kelli says “wrestling has been a part of my life for so long I don’t think I can leave it.” To that end, she is looking beyond the final season of her high school career and toward collegiate competition.
Currently there are seven colleges and universities in the U.S., and another 17 in Canada, that offer full-scale women’s wrestling programs. Kelli has looked into a number of them. She has also drawn attention from at least one men’s NCAA program.
Calling her an “excellent technician,” St. Olaf wrestling coach Sean Ahrar is “very interested in Kelli,” and is “open to the idea of giving her a chance to make the team.”
“I don’t care if it’s a girl or a guy,” Ahrar said, “I coach wrestlers.”
And then there is China. Women’s freestyle wrestling debuted as a medal sport at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Olympics are in Beijing. That would be the pinnacle for Rasmussen.
And having an Olympic wrestler developed through its program would be the crowning achievement for any Minnesota high school.
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FHS, CHS dominate in dual wins
By: JIM DONOVAN, Staff Writer 12/02/2005
The Frisco Raccoon wrestling team won 12 of 15 matches in its dual meet against Justin Northwest on Tuesday.
The dual was the first for Frisco where it only competed against a team from District 9-4A. If this performance is any indicator of what will follow in the district meet's this season, the Raccoons will be able to continue building the all-important momentum as the season progresses.
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Frisco was only defeated in the 103-, 125-, and 135-pound matches, all by pins.
In 12 of 13 Frisco victories, the Raccoons' representative won by pin, with Kaleb Richardson winning the 112-pound bout via forfeit.
The Lady Raccoons did not have any bouts at the Northwest dual, but they will be in action this weekend at the Tri-State Invitational at Lake Highlands High School.
Centennial's girls varsity team will also be participating in Lake Highlands on Saturday after beating Dallas Skyline in a close, 30-21, victory.
Last year the Lady Titans took second-place in the tournament.
"The girl's aren't to bad," said Centennial head coach Mike Eaton. "Not that I am making any excuses but we have some injuries and illnesses. We have just got some girls that are a little banged up right now."
The Lady Titans have gotten off to a strong but slow start, according to Eaton, but he says that he isn't worried about that and the girls should come around.
Right now Centennial is struggling to fill all of the weight classes, and it won't have a full competition roster until some girls get back from their respective injuries.
A struggle for both Frisco and Centennial's girls teams has been the fact that girl's wrestling in the state is not as competitive in the sheer number of teams as it is for their male counterparts.
Sometimes as many as half of the girls on the varsity teams can not participate due to there not being an opponent at the same weight class.
"That affects us from getting better," Eaton said. "You have to wrestle to get better, you can't just take forfeits. We need to get matches, and it hurts us if we don't."
Centennial's boys team was also in action on Tuesday night, and they crushed the Wylie Pirates, 84-4.
The Titans won 14 of 15 matches and looked good earning a pin in each of the 14 wins.
"It was a good match for us," Eaton said. "It's hard to say who looked good or not because all but one [wrestler] won a match."
The win showed Eaton enough that he now believes that the Titans are starting to take shape.
"They are getting there," he said. "The guys are starting to roll."
The head coach is hopeful that Centennial will be able to build on the momentum from Tuesday's win as they begin competition at the Richardson Round-Up tournament today.
They are slated to compete in three dual meets, two of which are against schools from Oklahoma. Based on how the Titans finish, they will be seeded in a tournament-style bracket which begins on Saturday.
"I don't know if they will be as deep as we are," Eaton said of Centennial's Oklahoma opponents. "But we are going to have our hands full."
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12/2/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
2005 World Champion Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) received a No. 1 ranking in her weight class in TheMat.com International Wrestling Rankings for December 2005.
This was the first international wrestling rankings published by a panel of independent journalists. Athletes and teams in the three Olympic wrestling styles (men’s freestyle, men’s Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle wrestling) were ranked by five respected international journalists.
TheMat.com International Wrestling Rankings list the top 15 wrestlers in the world in each weight class, as well as the top 15 nations in each of the wrestling styles.
Smith was the only U.S. wrestler to earn a No. 1 world ranking, taking the top position at 72 kg/158.5 pounds in women’s freestyle wrestling.
She was one of 23 U.S. wrestlers who received an international ranking. Included were 11 women freestyle wrestlers, eight men’s freestyle wrestlers and four men’s Greco-Roman wrestlers. Seven Americans earned rankings in the top three of their weight divisions, all who were World medalists in 2005.
The United States received a No. 3 ranking among teams in women’s freestyle wrestling, placing behind No. 1 Japan and No. 2 China.
In men’s freestyle wrestling, the United States received a No. 7 team rankings, as Russia was selected as the No. 1 nation. The U.S. Greco-Roman team was not ranked among the top 15 in their style, as Hungary received the No. 1 ranking there.
The U.S. wrestlers who are included in the Dec. 2005 TheMat.com International Wrestling Rankings are:
Women’s Freestyle
No. 1 at 72 kg/158.5 lbs – Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
No. 2 at 63 kg/138.75 lbs – Sara McMann (Iowa City, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
No. 3 at 59 kg/130 lbs. – Sally Roberts (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC)
No. 3 at 67 kg/167.5 lbs. – Katie Downing (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
No. 6 at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
No. 7 at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. – Kristie Marano (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
No. 8 at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. – Stephanie Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
No. 8 at 55 kg/121 lbs. – Tina George (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
No. 13 at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. – Patricia Miranda (New Haven, Conn./Sunkist Kids)
No. 13 at 59 kg/130 lbs. – Tela O’Donnell (Hartford, Conn./Sunkist Kids)
No. 14 at 55 kg/121 lbs. – Marcie Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids)
Men’s Freestyle
No. 3 at 74 kg/163 lbs. – Joe Williams (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
No. 3 at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tolly Thompson (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
No. 6 at 84 kg/185 lbs. – Mo Lawal (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC)
No. 8 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC)
No. 9 at 55 kg/121 lbs. – Sammie Henson (Flintstone, Ga./Sunkist Kids)
No. 12 at 60 kg/132 lbs. – Nate Gallick (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids)
No. 15 at 60 kg/132 lbs. – Michael Lightner (Norman, Okla./Sunkist Kids)
No. 15 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Tommy Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Sunkist Kids)
Men’s Greco-Roman
No. 3 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Justin Ruiz (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
No. 8 at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
No. 10 at 60 kg/132 lbs. – Joe Warren (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
No. 15 at 55 kg/121 lbs. – Lindsey Durlacher (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
Rankings will be published during the following months this season
*December 2005
* February 2006
* April 2006
* June 2006
* August 2006