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103 pounds of fight
Golden's Sauer is first girl to reach boys state tourney
By Scott Stocker, Rocky Mountain News
February 14, 2006
Dennis Schroeder © News Golden's Brooke Sauer and fellow senior Ryan Sprackling practice their moves Monday afternoon. Sauer, 18, will be the first girl to compete in the boys state tournament Thursday at the Pepsi Center when she takes the mat opposite her 103-pound opponent. |
GOLDEN - Brooke Sauer remembers one day in particular when she had to beg her father to take her to a wrestling practice.
And now, as his daughter prepares to make history this week in the 70th annual boys state tournament at the Pepsi Center, Dave Sauer is more than pleased he gave in.
On Thursday, Sauer, a 103-pound senior from Golden, will become the first girl to participate in the boys state tournament. Making it all the more meaningful for the Sauer family is the fact Dave Sauer is Golden's head coach.
The first round in Class 4A begins Thursday at 7:15 p.m., and Sauer's first match is against freshman Jeremy Aguero of Pueblo South (25-8). Win or lose, she will be wrestling again Friday.
Brooke Sauer (26-12), 18, helped lead Golden to a fourth-place team finish Saturday in the Region III tournament held at Grand Junction High School. The Demons qualified six wrestlers, the most in coach Sauer's six seasons at the school.
"That one particular practice, when I was younger, was on my birthday and I wanted to go because Kyle Sand (Arvada West's unbeaten, four-time state champion) was going to be there," said Sauer, the lone senior in her weight class at state. "We've known him for about 10 years and, for some reason, I had to beg dad. He gave in.
"But I was kind of a tag-a-long when I was little and around wrestling my whole life. Qualifying for the boys state tournament makes me feel good in a sense that I have come a long ways. I guess this is just in my blood."
Needless to say, Dave Sauer is proud of his daughter.
He fondly remembers working with former Brighton and Pomona coach Jimmy Johnson in their junior program and watching his daughter while holding practice.
"I would say, 'Why don't you just stay home?' But she would come along," Sauer said. "I would look down and she would be rolling around with the other kids."
Dave Sauer, who was a state qualifier when he wrestled for Golden (1975-1977), realizes this is a historic moment.
"Brooke is also here because of these other five guys (on the Golden team)," Sauer said. "They have worked their butts off with her and they all share in this, every bit of it. The year is not over and she has another tournament and she has higher goals. I'm just extremely happy and proud of her."
Brooke Sauer, who had a 19-21 record last season and finished sixth in the region, credits her teammates for much of her success. And her teammates are glad they could contribute to her success.
"We have all wrestled with her," said Ryan Sprackling, who is ranked No. 9 in the state (33-3) at 140 pounds and will work with Sauer through this week's practice sessions. "As for techniques, Brooke probably has better moves than anyone on our team. She has to because she is not quite as strong as the others."
This season, Sand wanted to lend a helping hand to Sauer. While home at Thanksgiving, he went to the Golden wrestling room and spent the practice session with her.
"It was one of the best practices I've ever had, really amazing," said Sauer, who started wrestling in the eighth grade. "Kyle made me realize that I can have what it takes. That practice helped push me over the edge. He helped me realize that it doesn't make any difference who you are, you can do it."
Actually, state and national competition is not new to Sauer. She has been a state runner-up at the past two girls state tournaments (a club sport in Colorado) and also wrestled in the Fargo, N.D., freestyle nationals last summer.
"Freestyle has really helped Brooke," said her dad. "She is fine on her feet. I think half her wins this season have been by pins, so she does well on the mat, too."
Wrestling was sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association in 1936. There have been several girls wrestle on boys teams over the past 10 years but never one to reach the state tournament.
Last year, 17 girls nationally qualified for boys state tournaments and six placed.
On Feb. 4, Michaela Hutchison of Skyview High School in Soldotna, Alaska, became the first girl to win a high school title in a boys state tournament. She won at 103 pounds and finished with a 45-4 record.
"It was nice to see a girl win a title," Brooke Sauer said. "I would like to follow her, but being the first (to qualify for the state tournament) in Colorado is a great accomplishment."
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'Golden Girl' First To Qualify For State Tourney
(CBS4) GOLDEN, Colo. 2/14/06
"My first goal is to score and make that guy remember me and hopefully win a few and see how it goes." |
The Colorado state high school wrestling tournament starts Thursday night with the first female qualifier ever in the event's 70 year history. Brooke Sauer of Golden High School will be taking to the mat with the boys.
"When did it hit you?" CBS4 Prep Sports Specialist Marcia Neville asked Sauer.
"I think Sunday morning when I woke up and I was like, 'Whoa,'" Sauer said.
Sauer wrestles for her dad, Dave Sauer, who is Golden High's wrestling coach.
"I'm more proud of the fact that she got what she worked for, she has worked her tail off," Dave said.
His daughter is making Colorado history at a time when other female high school wrestlers are doing the same thing across the United States. In Alaska last weekend, a girl became the first female to ever win that state's wrestling championship.
"(A) bunch of kids at school, teachers, everyone asked me about it 'Hey, did you see the Alaska girl?'" Sauer said. "I said 'Yeah' and it did kind of push me a little bit to show that I would like to get up there and get some recognition, too."
She is now setting her goals higher than just making it to the state tournament.
"My first goal is to score and make that guy remember me and hopefully win a few and see how it goes," Sauer said.
(© MMVI CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Campbell Co. girl will be first at state wrestling meet
By Jody Demling
jdemling@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Priscilla Brownfield is set to make history this week.
The senior at Campbell County High School will become the first female participant in the State Wrestling Championships.
Brownfield will compete in the 103-pound weight class in the three-day event that starts Thursday in Frankfort. She'll face Whitley County's D.C. Evans in the first round.
"This has always been my dream ever since I started," Brownfield, who started wrestling two years ago, told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "I set a high goal for myself. Now if another girl comes along she'll say, 'Wow, I have to go that much farther.' "
Brownfield, who was seeded fourth in the Region Six Tournament at Simon Kenton on Saturday, finished third. She beat Scott High eighth-grader Steve Supe 3-2 in the consolation semifinals, then edged Simon Kenton's Robbie Vaughn 5-3 to capture third place.
Brownfield will wrestle at the University of the Cumberlands.
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WRESTLING INSIDER - A disappointing finish for Grapevine senior
By HEIDI PEDERSONStar-Telegram Staff Writer 2/14/06
Grapevine senior wrestler Desiree French certainly didn't expect her season to end the way it did. French dislocated her left elbow Feb. 3 and had to drop out of the Region 2 girls meet. Had she competed, she would have been the favorite to win the 128-pound class.
French won the District 10 title and was 26-3 overall. She was wrestling with a teammate at a Grapevine practice when the injury occurred. French said she was trying to prevent her teammate from completing a move and then felt the elbow give out.
At the hospital, a doctor told French that her season was over, Grapevine coach Albert Lujan said.
"All she cared about was the state title. That was the first thing she said," after the diagnosis, Lujan said. "She's worked so hard. It's very tough to take."
French is wearing a brace on her arm and said it will be 8-to-10 weeks before she is able to return to practice. She said she might wrestle freestyle in the summer.
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SHE'LL PIN YA ; Female wrestler loves the sport and has the strength to be great at it
KIERA HAY Journal Staff Writer. Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, N.M.:
Feb 12, 2006. pg. 9
Asked to cite her favorite high school sports memory, Vanessa Lucero
responded by recalling a tough wrestling match against the son of Mel
Rael, her coach at West Las Vegas. The crux of the account was that Lucero
pinned Rael's son during triple overtime.
It's a nice story, although perhaps not what the typical New Mexico
prep sports fan would expect to hear. Lucero is, after all, "the girl who
scored the touchdown" during a 2003 West Las Vegas football game against
Pojoaque. The then-freshman ran the ball in from the 1-yard line to became the
first female in the state to score a touchdown in a varsity football game.
Lucero gained instant fame, becoming something of a media darling with
appearances on national talk shows such as NBC's "Today" show.
Lucero said she's proud of her touchdown. It's just that wrestling is
the sport she holds most dear to her heart.
And Lucero's accomplishments as a grappler, not to mention what she has
the potential to accomplish within the next few years, could very well
relegate that touchdown to also-ran status for even the most diehard sports
fans.
Just don't expect Lucero to stop breaking gender barriers anytime soon.
Due to a lack of female wrestlers in the state, the high school junior has
spent her prep wrestling career competing mostly against males.
In 2004 and 2005, she became the first female to win a medal at the
state wrestling championships. The 103-pounder accomplished the feat by
placing sixth at both tournaments.
This season, Lucero has amassed a 26-6 record, with just two of her
wins coming against females.
"This has been my best season yet in high school," she said.
Rael believes Lucero will likely be seeded second in her weight class
when the state tournament rolls around next weekend.
The reason for Lucero's success, according to Rael, is a combination of
strength and good technique.
Rael said Lucero has worked hard to bring her body to a level where she
feels she can physically compete with males.
"She's not a typical female on the mat. She has the strength of a
male," he said.
In addition, "there hasn't been a wrestler in the state who can compete
with her, technique-wise," Rael said.
Lucero admitted that many of her male opponents don't like wrestling
against her. She's grown used to verbal taunts before matches, especially if
her opponents are wrestling her for the first time.
She said she's learned to answer the provocations by winning on the
mat.
In one particularly vivid account, Lucero recalled competing at the
2004 Rocky Mountain Nationals, a national wrestling tournament held in
Denver. She overheard an opponent telling his coach he had his match against
Lucero "wrapped up" because he was competing against a girl.
Not only did Lucero win the match, she accidentally broke her
opponent's ribs.
Confronting sexist attitudes is one of the things she enjoys most about
wrestling against males, Lucero said.
She considers herself something of a role model for girls interested in
the sport and is happy that an increasing number of females are becoming
interested in the sport.
"There's a lot of girls now," she said.
Lucero has one more year of high school competition, then hopes to move
on to college wrestling. She's already in contact with some programs in
California.
"She could probably walk into an NCAA women's program now and be ranked
in the nation," Rael said.
The Lady Don even has Olympic aspirations -- possibly as early as the
2008 Beijing games.
Yet despite the honors and awards, Lucero said she ultimately wrestles
for one reason -- she loves the sport.
"I just think it's fun, and if you're mad, you can take it out on the
other person," she said with a smile.