Jeremy Aguero, Pueblo South's 103-pounder, controls Golden senior Brooke Sauer on Thursday. Sauer became the first Colorado girl to wrestle at state. (Post / Karl Gehring
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SHE'S REALLY JUST ONE OF THE GUYS
Home News Tribune Online 02/18/06
STAFF REPORT
Perth Amboy High School senior Ana Hernandez is like many of her classmates. She's a 4.0 GPA student and one of the captains of her team. What makes her a little is she's a wrestler and a pretty successful wrestler at that. She is a two-time defending United States Girls Wrestling Association New Jersey State champion and eyes a third title next month.
"Off the mat she's reserved and mature," Perth Amboy head coach Mike Giordano said. "On the mat, she's very tough. I wish some of my guys had her ability, her heart and her desire."
"I didn't even know what really wrestling was," Hernandez said. "Then I heard this girl wrestled, Tychelle (Mullins, sister of the Panthers' Westly Mullins-Frederick), and I thought, "I didn't know girls could wrestle.' "
Hernandez filled out the papers and went to practice.
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Wrestling: Broadneck gets the upper hand
By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer 2/18/06
Broadneck responded in the role of favorite at the 47th Anne Arundel County Wrestling Tournament, taking the lead after the first day of action. However, perennial contender Old Mill is breathing down the Bruins' back. Top seeds Mike Vakas (135), Xavier Rathlev (152) and Mike Vandeven (160) all made it through to the finals for the Bruins, who left Annapolis High last night with 141 1/2 points. Third-seeded Abe Hunter scored a mild upset of Severna Park's second-seeded Joe Greco at 145 to give the Bruins' four finalists. Coach Marc Procaccini's club has seven other wrestlers alive in the tourney. Old Mill is only 11 1/2 points behind in second and goes into today in great shape. The Patriots have six finalists and 12 total grapplers still capable of scoring points. All four of Old Mill's top seeds - Greg Saumenig (112), Justin Sobleskie (140), Jon Sillaman (215) and Justin Faithful (275) won their semifinal matches last night. Dallas Evans (125) also advanced as expected while fifth-seeded Timmy Lubuglio (130) pulled an upset. "I was real proud of the effort tonight. To get six guys into the finals is great, although not unexpected," Old Mill coach Jim Grim said. Lubuglio pinned top-seeded Derek Furman of North County with 23 seconds left in their semifinal bout. "We didn't think it was an upset. Timmy's a good wrestler who got a low seed because he's been injured," Grim said. There were few surprises as the top two seeds in nine of 14 weight classes are scheduled to meet in the finals. Severna Park's Zach Shreve (130), Meade's Ben Harvey (140) and Greco (145) were the only second seeds to go down, falling to the No. 3 man in the bracket, which is never a surprise. Arundel 103-pounder Nicole Woody, the first female in state history to be seeded No. 1 in a county tourney, advanced with a 15-9 decision over Jamie Claytor of Northeast. She will have to avenge a regular season loss to Severna Park's Marcus Monroe to become the first girl to win a postseason tournament of any sort in Maryland. Teammate Justin Bowser won both his matches yesterday to tie the Anne Arundel County career record for wins. Bowser, who is seeking to become a rare four-time county champ, can break the mark of 138 set by Old Mill's Doug West in 2002. "It would be a big accomplishment to have that record," said Bowser, who knows West well. "Hopefully, that win will be a steppingstone to my fourth county championship, which I think is an even bigger deal."
Team Standings
1, Broadneck 141.5. 2, Old Mill 130. 3, Severna Park 114. 4, Arundel 113.5. 5, South River 94.5. 6, Chesapeake 83.5. 7, Northeast 64. 8, Annapolis 58. 9, Meade 35. 10, North County 23. 11, Glen Burnie 17. 12, Southern 8.
Semifinal Results
103: Woody (AR) d. Claytor (NE), 15-9 Monroe (SP) d. Murphy (BN), 9-5 112: Saumenig (OM) mj. Herzberg (SP), 17-6 Bosque (CH) p. Graham (ANN), 4:21 119: Ester (AR) d. Reed (BN), 10-3 Haney (NE) mj. Scardina (CH), 16-6 125: Bowser (AR) tf. Byrd (ANN), 20-2/4:17 Evans (OM) d. Smith (SP), 6-0 130: Lobuglio (OM) p. Furman (NC), 5:37 Fenton (AR) d. Shreve (SP), 9-6 135: Vakas (BN) tf. Gelety (CH), 18-3/6:00 Nelson (SR) p. Otwell (NC), 1:59 140: Sobleskie (OM) d. McCauley (SR), 7-1 O'Keefe (CH) d. Harvey (ME), 4-2 145: Graham (ANN) mj. Box (OM), 10-0 Hunter (BN) d. Greco (SP), 4-0 152: Rathlev (BN) mj. Lomax (CH), 8-0 Shum (SP) d. Poore (SR), 6-4 160: Vandeven (BN) p. Stewart (CH), 1:18 Massie (SP) d. Sheldon (NC), 1-0 171: Spadaro (SP) mj. Williams (AR), 13-3 Graham (SR) d. Nork (BN), 9-3 189: Travis (AR) mj. Thrift (BN), 21-9 Elliott (SR) mj. Brown (OM), 10-1 215: Sillaman (OM) d. Stith (GB), 12-6 Mulligan (BN) d. J. Planz (SP), 2-1 2OT 275: Faithful (OM) d. Houck (ME), 11-4 Nestor (NE) d. James (BN), 6-1
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Saturday, February 18, 2006
JEFF SMITH
SALEM -- It didn't surprise Misty Corwin that she was the subject of much conversation Friday, culminating with an enthusiastic introduction before her semifinal match.
The 15-year-old understood she had no control over the attention for being the first female wrestler in Oregon history to ensure herself a spot on the medal award stand.
But if the Waldport sophomore had her way, she simply would be known as a wrestler -- no prefix needed.
"I don't really feel any different or look at myself as a girl wrestler," Corwin said after taking care of many skeptics by pinning her first two 103-pound opponents in the OSAA Class 2A/1A wrestling tournament at The Pavilion at the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
And though she was disappointed after her semifinal loss by pin in 1:38 to Culver junior Michael Williams, Corwin still was able to flash a smile when reflecting on her first experience at state.
"I think I proved to everybody that I'm a lot tougher than they all thought," said Corwin, a district champion who could place as high as third and no worse than sixth today. "I heard that a lot of people thought I would go two-and-out."
While Corwin provided a unique storyline, the team competition remained familiar. Six-time defending champion Nyssa (137.5 points) is on its way to a seventh consecutive state title, which would set a 2A/1A record and equal the all-class record.
The Bulldogs qualified five wrestlers into tonight's championship matches, including top seeds Nick Hartley (140), Braden Bair (189) and Bobby DeLeon (215). In all, nine of the 14 top seeds advanced to the finals.
Nyssa coach Luke Cleaver opened the day by watching Corwin pin Bulldogs sophomore Jon Nicholes in 5:03.
"She's very, very good," Cleaver said.
Corwin, a three-time girls national champion as a sixth-through-eighth grader, made more believers out of people with a 43-second pin of Myrtle Point freshman Chancy Johnson in the second round.
"I was really excited after that match because I knew that no matter how she does from there, she's walking home with a place at state," said Bobbi Corwin, Misty's mother, who also was proud of son, Paul, a finalist at 171 pounds.
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Monroe freshman reaches semis in debut
By Mike Cane and Scott Johnson
Herald Writers 2/18/06
TACOMA - Sam Ottow has been a Mat Classic regular for a dozen years. But on Friday he finally made his debut as a competitor.
Ottow, a Monroe High freshman, first attended Mat Classic, the state's all-classification wrestling tournaments held at the Tacoma Dome, in 1994 to watch his oldest brother compete for the Bearcats.
It seems Ottow picked up a few tips over the years.
Competing in the 112-pound weight class, Ottow won two close decisions Friday at Mat Classic XVIII to advance to the semifinals of the 4A tournament. He topped Tahoma's Kevin Tao 5-2 in the first round and outlasted senior Gabe Gassman of Curtis 5-4 in his quarterfinal bout.
"They came out tough," Ottow, who improved his season record to 35-2, said of his opponents. "But I kind of handled it and got over my nerves."
Monroe coach Justin Springer said Ottow wrestled a bit more conservatively than normal and battled first-time jitters.
"He realized once he started wrestling that this is different than watching (from the stands)," Springer said, noting that Ottow's victories weren't picture perfect. "But he found a way to win." Ottow's next opponent is talented University sophomore Brian Owen, last year's 103 state champ. Owen cruised to the semifinals with a 16-0 technical fall and a third-round pin. Ottow once trained with Owen at a camp, but it will be their first official bout.
"I got nothing to lose," Ottow said. "I just got to go out and do my best."
Settling the score: Mat Classic wouldn't be the same without the help of Joe and Kathy Kubec, parents of Marysville-Pilchuck senior wrestler Kenny Kubec, who on Friday advanced to the 130 semifinals. The elder Kubecs helped build the massive hand-operated, regularly updated scoreboards that have been used the last three years to display team point standings for fans. Asked if he's ever had an urge to get his parents to bump M-P up higher on the list, Kenny Kubec smiled and said he tried but they wouldn't cooperate.
Coach honors: Before the start of the evening session Bellingham wrestling coach Brian Smith presented the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Association's State Coaches of the Year awards. The winners were: Olympia's Rockey Isley (4A), Kelso's Bob Freund (3A), Scott Jones of Lakeside-9 Mile Falls (2A) and Lake Roosevelt's Steve Hood (A/B).
Kelso's Sitch aims for fourth title: Kelso senior Brandon Sitch (160) continued his quest to become just the fourth four-time individual state champ. Sitch, who had a pin and a major decision Friday to reach the 3A semifinals, would be the first Washington wrestler to achieve the feat since Burke Barnes of Lake Stevens (1999-2002). The other four-timers are Pat Connors of R.A. Long (1991-1994) and Martin Mitchell of Tonasket (1998-2001).
Three semifinalists for Cedarcrest: Three of Cedarcrest's four state participants advanced to the Final Four in the 3A tourney. Sophomore Ty Howard (112), junior Dan
Claussen (135) and senior David Howard (152) all won their first two matches to reach the semifinals.
Don't I know you?: Anyone who has wandered by the Everett High School wrestling room in recent years might recognize the match-up in one of the 215-pound semifinals of the 4A bracket.
Justin Boyce and Parker Burns are EHS teammates who wrestle against each other every day.
But just because Boyce promises "an all-out brawl" in their meeting today, don't expect much animosity. The duo has become good friends over the years and each credits the other with making him better.
"We both push each other all the time," said Boyce, who won the state title at 189 pounds last year. "He's a really good wrestler, so it's always like a state match in practice every day."
Burns, a junior who is a year behind Boyce in school, has won his share of battles at practice. But he still hasn't beaten his older teammate in tournaments, where Boyce holds a 12-0 head-to-head record.
Still, Boyce isn't expecting an easy afternoon.
"I hate wrestling him because he always knows what I'm going to do," Boyce said. "So it's just really hard to wrestle him."
She got game: With a first-round match against a female opponent, many high school wrestlers would be brimming with confidence.
But Mariner 103-pound junior Woo Song Do wasn't scheduled to go against just any girl.
Do had to open his state tournament against Puyallup's Whitney Condor, who entered the tournament with a 30-5 record and realistic shot at winning the state title. Condor beat him 13-7 before losing her second-round match and falling into the consolation bracket.
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A lasting North Coast tradition
by Jackie Christensen, 2/18/2006
........The Loggers were league champions in 1999 and 2000, and featured outstanding individual wrestlers such as Jeff Brink, who placed seventh in the State Championship in 1998, and is currently wrestling for the Marines, as well as Kaci Lyle.
Lyle, who is probably the best known wrestler from the H-DNC, is a female wrestler who graduated from Eureka High in 2000, and currently resides in Colorado Springs, Co. She is a member of the U.S. Women’s Wrestling Olympic team, a three-time U.S. Nationals runner-up who placed third in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Though the popularity of high school wrestling has fluctuated throughout the years, peaking in the late 1990s, one thing has remained the same for the last 35 years, and that’s the tradition.
There have been many speculations about the decline of wrestling’s popularity, but no one can say for sure.
What we do know, is that with people like Van Duzer, Cheek, Perry, Adams, England and Moorehead, who are all still very much involved with local wrestling, it’s only going to get better
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Girls take barriers to the mat
By TED MILLER
P-I REPORTER 2/18/06
TACOMA -- Amoebas slivered out of the primordial ooze 4 billion years ago. Half immediately pulled on blue sweatshirts and started fighting. The other half donned pink sweaters and talked about their feelings.
It's been that way, more or less, ever since.
Oh, we learned, as ages crept by, that the world is better when women as well as men are allowed to pursue their happiness without constraint. That women and men should have equal opportunities to work and play sports and become ranting ideologues of every hue.
Still, even the most liberal-minded men and women understood there were differences among the genders beyond physiology. Different skill sets. Like if someone needed to take down the saber-toothed tiger or lift the heaviest boulder or deliver a butt whupping; that was still a guy's business.
At least until this cataclysm in ponytails walked into the Tacoma Dome and announced that they -- yeah, a couple of shes -- intended to win 4A state wrestling titles, and the pundits rebutted, "Maybe."
Puyallup High School senior Whitney Conder and Olympic sophomore Camie Yeik have tossed aside copies of "The Feminine Mystique" and replaced them with three-quarter nelsons and cross-body rides.
Both split their first two matches. And then Conder pinned Yeik with 20 seconds left in the wrestle-back nightcap. She can still finish as high as third today.
Rag on women's sports if you insist. Snicker about the Seattle Storm. Grunt about butch women with your beer resting on your potbelly while Googling Paris Hilton.
But it's pretty hard to patronize a wrestler placing at state, which Conder did last year, finishing sixth. Yeik figures to do so over the next two years (if the WIAA doesn't put the brakes on that dream; more on that in a bit).
Moreover, these aren't singular athletes, mutant females treading where no girl has before or will again.
Approximately 4,000 girls were among the nation's quarter-million high school wrestlers last year, and at least 20 states have seen girls advance to state tournaments. Six placed last year.
Perhaps you heard about Alaska's Michaela Hutchison? She made national news as the first girl to win a state championship two weeks ago. A girl has finished second in Maine two years in a row. Alyssa Lampe is among the 103-pound favorites at this weekend's state meet in Wisconsin.
Girls have been joining boys wrestling teams fairly regularly over the past decade. That they win matches is not a revelation. The lighter weight classes are often filled by young, physically immature, inexperienced boys. Only four of the 64 103-pound wrestlers in the Tacoma Dome Friday were seniors, and three of those won their regions, including Conder.
But achieving an elite level of success is something else entirely. It means that a girl joined the boys and dedicated herself equally to a demanding sport and honed her technique with hours in the weight room and endless drills in dank wrestling rooms.
And then the girl won. Straight up.
It's competition at its most fundamental level in the world's oldest sport. Only with a girl prevailing with a regularity that couldn't have been anticipated not too long ago.
For those older than 25 who wrestled in high school, this has to be fairly stunning. When I graduated high school in 1987 as a football player who unremarkably dabbled in the sport, I'd never heard of -- much less saw -- a girl wrestling.
The very idea of facing a girl in a wrestling match, particularly with a clear prospect of losing, makes me glad to emerge from a decade that littered America with Quiet Riot, acid-washed jeans and John Hughes films instead of women willing to scrap.
There is an age gap here, though, and that's a good thing. Wrestlers growing up today mostly shrug about the prospect of facing a girl. Mostly.
It's still hard to find a male enthused by the idea. It's a no-win situation for them, and Yeik even admitted that, for the most part, it's a no-lose for the girl.
But having faced girls throughout their careers, boys have learned that wrestling a girl isn't much different than taking on a guy.
Other than the grief one's buddies might offer up.
"If I would have lost," mused Enumclaw freshman Jason Gray, who beat Conder 13-6 in the second round, "my teammates would have really given it to me."
Partly because of the general discomfort over boys wrestling girls, the WIAA is trying to start an all-girls state championship, similar to what already exists in Texas and Hawaii. If that comes to fruition, girls won't have the option to face the boys, which doesn't thrill Yeik.
"That's dumb -- there's no reason for that," she said. "We won't get better wrestling girls. I would be very mad if I had to wrestle only girls."
Yeik's right. It seems counterproductive to preclude girls from seeking the highest level of competition.
It's difficult to imagine from our present perspective, but perhaps we're working toward a future in which gender doesn't create preconceived notions about what a person can do. Performance will be the only thing that matters.
That sounds evolved. The only problem will be trying to figure out what to wear.
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Conder’s championship dream takes a fall
TODD MILLES; The News Tribune
Published: February 18th, 2006 02:30 AM
The start was awful. The ending was not much better.
Puyallup High’s Whitney Conder saw her bid to become the first girl to win a state wrestling championship end in the Class 4A 103-pound quarterfinals at Mat Classic XVIII on Friday.
That did not prevent a mass of spectators from crowding the west side rail to watch Conder, a senior, take on Enumclaw High ninth-grader Jason Gray. It was the most-anticipated matchup of the session.
Gray, not your average freshman wrestler, set the tone early en route to a 13-6 victory. He led 12-0 early in the second period.
There were no what-ifs afterward. Conder, punished by Gray’s arm-bar moves in the first two periods for three near-falls, was soundly beaten.
“I just got caught. There’s not much I could do about it,” Conder said. “I knew a little bit (about him), but I’d never seen him wrestle.”
Conder, the South Puget Sound League South Division champion, won her first match by defeating Mariner’s Woo Song Do, 13-7, setting the stage for an all-SPSL showdown with Gray.
Gray might be in his first Mat Classic, but he is no stranger to top-notch competition. He has been a youth champion in Pierce County League tournaments and has competed in various national events.
“My hometown wanted me to win,” said Gray, who pinned Bremerton’s Billy Richardson at the 4 minute, 17 second mark in his opening match. “Everybody else wanted her to win, I think.”
Conder and Gray waited on the edge of the mat for the second session to begin. Conder knelt, then pointed to the sky. She gave her coach, Bryan Bartelson, a hand-slap before the action started.
Gray danced around, shot and took Conder down for a 2-0 lead 10 seconds into the match. It was a sign of things to come.
He rolled Conder over on her back, scoring three more points for a near-fall, and led 5-0.
“It was a really good start for me,” Gray said. “But there was a ton of pressure on me. The whole Tacoma Dome was watching.”
Conder, wearing a white cap and socks with “Puyallup” stitched on them, could not shake the arm-bar moves of Gray. She was turned high a second time for a near-fall, and trailed 7-0.
Conder’s first point came on an illegal hold by Gray. She scored a reversal at the end of the second period to cut the deficit to 12-3.
She opened the third period with an escape, then followed with her only takedown, but it was too little, too late.
“Anybody can win a match, anytime, any day,” said Conder, who lost at this juncture last season to University High’s Brian Owen – who went on to win the 4A state title at 103.
A wave of attention came Conder’s way the past month, especially in the last couple of weeks after Skyview High’s Michaela Hutchison of Soldotna, Alaska, became the first girl in the country to win a state title.
Hutchison made the 103 finals two consecutive seasons, and beat Colony’s Aaron Boss, 1-0, for the championship Feb. 4 at Chugiak High School.
Skyview coach Neldon Gardner said he first read about Conder in an online article Friday morning, and said he was pulling for her to match Hutchison’s feat.
“I’d tell her to relax and wrestle like she has,” Gardner said. “I know here, when Michaela wrestled, the boys saw her as just a wrestler. Gender had been put aside, and has been the last eight to 10 years.”
For much of the season, Conder downplayed the boy-versus-girl angle of her wrestling.
She wanted to be known as a wrestler first.
“I’m not that disappointed,” Conder said. “I kind of wanted to win, and there’s not really anything I can do about it now.”
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Conder loses, eyes third place
By Sandy Ringer 2/18/06
Seattle Times staff reporter
TACOMA — Whitney Conder's goal is still within reach, but she will not become the first Washington girl to win a state wrestling title.
Conder, a Puyallup senior, lost 13-6 to Enumclaw freshman Jason Gray in the 103-pound quarterfinals of the Class 4A state meet Friday. Gray jumped to a 12-0 lead and nearly pinned Conder twice.
"I got caught, and there wasn't anything I could do about it," she said.
Gray was all smiles after the match.
"I just tried to go after her and treat her like a man," he said.
Conder placed sixth in last year's tournament, the highest finish by a girl in state history, and she said her goal this weekend was improving on that. She kept that goal alive by coming back to pin Olympic's Camie Yeik, the only other girl in the tournament.
It was the first time that two girls wrestled each other at state.
Conder is now assured of a top-eight medal.
"I've got my eye on third," she said.
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Grapplers ready for Mat Classic
By JOHN BECERRA, JR. Staff Writer
Feb 18 2006
Spartans have tough draws in their matches, while Lyons is ready for the girls invitational.
It’s the biggest and brightest tournament in the state.
And the busiest.
“There’s about six different matches going for each classification,” Brian Robert said.
“It’s a completely different situation than a regular tournament,” fellow senior Ian Brooks said. “It’s perfectly organized, though.”
“But there’s a lot riding on the matches,” Robert said. “Coaches can get out of hand and argue with the refs.”
Don’t forget parents, fans and anyone else who travels to the Mat Classic every year to cheer for their favorites.
The 18th edition, held at the Tacoma Dome yesterday and today, is one of the most popular state tournaments aside from football and basketball.
Four Bainbridge wrestlers qualifed for the tournament, while Anna Lyons was chosen for the girls invitational.
It’s her second time participating in the invitational, as she wrestles in a round-robin style with three other female wrestlers in her weight group.
Last year, she finished third.
“It (last year) was OK, but I expect better this year,” she said.
The senior struggled this year wrestling at 130 despite dropping 5 pounds.
“I’m hoping to go out on a good note,” she said. “I should get first in my weight group.”
Also hoping to go out on a good note are seniors Robert and Brooks.
But both are in tough quarter brackets.
Brooks faced off against Leif Woldseth from Franklin Pierce in the 152-pound category, while Robert got Reid Chivers, a highly touted freshman out of Bellingham in the 160-pound category.
“My first round guy barely lost to one of the top guys (in the state) by a point,” Robert said. “He’s supposed to be really tough and there’s a lot of talk about him in the papers.”
If Robert gets past him, he’ll have the challenge of his life – facing off against three-time state champion Brandon Sitch from Kelso, who is favored by many to make it four in a row this year.
“It’s kinda bad luck on my part,” he said.
If Brooks gets past his man, he’ll take on number one seed Derek Driscoll from W.F. West out of Chehalis.
Both are still hobbled by injuries, but co-head coach Britton Johnson said Brooks is “95 percent” and Robert is “80 percent” going into this weekend.
“I wish Brian and Ian were a little healthier,” he said. “They’re a couple of maniacs on the mat.”
Freshman Eli Narte and sophomore Matt Ritualo don’t have it any easier.
At 103 pounds, Narte draws Black Hills freshman Jim Belleville, who is ranked number one in their weight class.
Ritualo takes on Mount Si’s Kyle Heath at 119 pounds. If he made it past him, he’ll have to deal with Josh Berkenmeier from R.A. Long and Sedro Woolley’s Derek Crouther, last year’s state champ and a favorite to repeat.
Johnson feels they’ll still be tough.
“Matthew’s goal this year was to just get to State,” he said. “Now his new goal is to try and place.
“Eli gets the number one guy in the state, but he’s excited,” he said. “I said, ‘You need to go in there with a good attitude and see how long you can last.’
“Freshman are usually fearless anyways.”
The tournament runs all day today, starting at 10 a.m.
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Sedro-Woolley running wild
Cubbies eye fifth straight title; Battle Ground leads 4A chase
By MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN
P-I REPORTER 2/18/06
TACOMA -- For coaches Jay Breckenridge of Sedro-Woolley and Dave Carlile of Battle Ground, no news was good news Friday at Mat Classic XVIII, the state wrestling championships held at the Tacoma Dome.
The schools jumped to the top of the 3A and 4A team standings as most of the favorites came through unscathed on Day One of the meet. Neither team's top wrestlers fell, and both look poised to make a run at a team title today.
"We're feeling pretty good right now," Breckenridge said. "We've had a couple letdowns, but nobody's quit. We're doing OK."
His Cubbies led by nearly 40 points after the first day. Sedro-Woolley is aiming for its fifth straight 3A state title. With 11 of their 12 individuals still wrestling, the Cubbies will be tough to catch.
In the 4A tournament, Battle Ground tallied 47 points to hold a slim lead over Lake Stevens (40.5) and Auburn (39). All three schools qualified seven wrestlers to state and were favored to battle for the team title.
"We've still got four guys in the semifinals," Carlile said. "Our goals were to hit 50 points on Day One and get four guys to the semis. We almost made the points, but we got our four in."
Auburn has three wrestlers heading to the semifinals and two still alive in the consolation matches. Lake Stevens still has six wrestlers competing, with three in the semis and three in the consolations.
"If we're going to make a run at Battle Ground, we're going to need all our guys stepping up Saturday," said Brent Barnes, head coach at Lake Stevens.
All eyes were on 103-pound Whitney Conder of Puyallup as she attempted to become the first girl to win a state title in Washington. Conder won her first match, 13-7 against Woo Song Do of Mariner, but found things a lot tougher in the second round of the tournament.
Conder fell behind early to freshman Jason Gray of Enumclaw and lost 13-6.
"He was strong and quick," Conder said. "Everyone here is a tough wrestler. He just got me early. I'm not done yet."
She was right. Conder ended up facing the other girl in the 103-pound bracket, Camie Yeik of Olympic, pinning Yeik at 5:40 of their match. It's believed to be the first time two girls have met in a state meet match.
Conder wrestles this morning at 10 against sophomore Zach Zweifel of Lake Stevens.
Sophomore Michael Mangrum of Auburn Riverside and Kurt Swartz of Auburn both continued their undefeated seasons. Mangrum, a 125-pound sophomore, improved to 30-0 while Swartz, who competes at 171, upped his record to 37-0. Both recorded two pins Friday.
"The guys I went up against were a lot better than I expected," Mangrum said. "The competition during the regular season was inconsistent. Here at state, everyone is good. It's a lot more fun this way."
Swartz was happy with his performances, but said it could have gone better for his Trojans teammates.
"Round two was rough for us," Swartz said. "We kind of fell behind, but there's still a lot of wrestling to go."
Auburn coach Brian Peterson said his team suffered a major blow when it lost 135-pound freshman Jake Swartz to a knee injury after his third match.
"Team-wise, that hurts," Peterson said. "If we can get a couple kids through the back door and maybe get a couple pins, we're still battling, but it's going to be tough."
Blanchet, the 3A region II champion, took 10 wrestlers to the state tournament, only to watch nine lose in the first round. The Braves have three wrestlers going today -- senior Evan Thorpe at 152, senior Sam McNaghten at 171 and senior Tiernan Still at 215.
Today's competition begins at 10 a.m., with the championship matches scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
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Wrestling Notebook: Girls may get tourney in '07
WIAA: New event would end girls' participation in boys' tournament
By MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN
P-I REPORTER 2/18/06
TACOMA -- With more girls wrestling in Washington, there's a strong possibility there will be a separate girls' state wrestling championship next year.
Currently, girls wrestle at state as part of an exhibition. In 2004, 68 girls participated. In 2005 the number was 109, and this year there are 157.
"The criteria for the girls to have a state championship would be to have at least 20 schools competing with at least five girls on each team," said WIAA assistant executive director Jim Meyerhoff. "If those numbers are reached during the first three weeks of next season, we'll have a separate girls' tournament."
Meyerhoff said if there is a separate girls' tournament, girls would no longer be able to wrestle in the boys' event.
NO DEBATE ON PRIORITIES: Franklin senior Blaise Carney won the 4A Region 2 189-pound championship last week and qualified to wrestle at the state tournament, but was a no-show at Tacoma.
Carney is also an elite debater and chose to be with his debate teammates at a mock trial this weekend. Franklin coach Jim Woodruff supported his decision.
"Blaise is one of those kids that wants to make Franklin a better school," Woodruff said. "He's a kid who wants to make changes by example, rather than just talk about it. That's why he joined the wrestling team, and he did the same with football. He really wanted to make a difference for his school."
Woodruff said Carney has been working toward his debate goal for four years and has been wrestling since his junior year.
FRIGID DOME: Friday's cold weather had an impact inside the Tacoma Dome, especially in the morning. The first-round matches began at 10 a.m. with chilly temperatures. One person with a thermometer said the temperature was around 50 degrees indoors as the first wrestlers began to compete.
Several wrestlers complained the mats were as cold and as hard as ice in the morning, making it difficult to loosen up.
STRANGE REUNION: South Kitsap senior Brent Chriswell, the defending 4A 171-pound state champion and one of the top 189-pound wrestlers in the nation, won his first-round match by pinning Jordan Krich of Inglemoor 33 seconds into their match.
As the two got up after the pin, both were laughing.
"It was kind of funny," Chriswell said. "We were in a wrestling camp together and today I pinned him with a move I tried to teach him at the camp. I guess I just showed him how to do it the right way."
--------------------------------------------
Sauer a success in defeat
Crowd cheers Golden girl for wrestling way into state history
By Brady Delander 2./17/06
Special to The Denver Post
|
Jeremy Aguero, Pueblo South's 103-pounder, controls Golden senior Brooke Sauer on Thursday. Sauer became the first Colorado girl to wrestle at state. (Post / Karl Gehring |
Now that the first match is out of the way, Brooke Sauer can breathe again.
The Golden senior on Thursday night became the first female wrestler to step onto the mats at the Colorado state wrestling tournament, and though a 14-0 loss to Pueblo South freshman Jeremy Aguero at 103 pounds in Class 4A was not the outcome Sauer hoped for, she wants nothing more than to get back out there and battle again.
"It was hard to keep my focus. Now that I have my first match out of the way, I'll do better," Sauer said in front of an army of media in the tunnels of the Pepsi Center.
A cheer went up when Sauer's name was announced before her match, and it seemed like almost every eye in the venue was staring straight at her. Once it was over, applause rose from the crowd and Sauer was showered with congratulations - "Way to go, Brooke" and "That's a tough little girl right there" - for making state history.
"In a sense, it's good to know that that many people supported me," said Sauer (26-13). "I felt a little pressure, but I wanted to go out and just wrestle like any of the guys out there."
Even the competition was glad to see Sauer taking on the boys.
"It's a good thing for wrestling, it really is," Pueblo South coach Jerry Sisneros said. "It was bound to happen, and I'm glad it was against one of our guys."
Added Aguero: "She was tough. ... She was really strong for a girl."
The match sputtered at the start thanks to an error with the clock and scoreboard. After Aguero scored a takedown in the opening minute, the referee was forced
to stop the match and sort things out with the scorer's table. After a few long minutes, the wrestling continued.
Aguero turned Sauer to her back three times but was unable to get the pin. That was no consolation to Sauer.
"I was brought up to go out there and try my hardest," she said. "I don't know if that was my hardest."
Female wrestling is becoming more common across the nation, and women's wrestling debuted as an Olympic sport in 2004.
Michaela Hutchinson recently became the first girl in the nation to win a state title, earning a 1-0 decision in the finals of Alaska's big-school championships. It is estimated that 5,000 girls wrestle in the U.S., compared with about 250,000 boys, according to PBS.
Colorado first allowed girls to compete against boys in the early 1990s, after a national lawsuit, but none reached the heights of Sauer. Still, like any wrestler, male or female, Sauer cared less about making history than she did about competing in the state tournament.
"I don't think it ever entered her mind to be the first girl at state," said Dave Sauer, Golden's coach and Brooke's dad. "She just wanted to make the state tournament like everyone else."
-------------------------------------------------
Rifle's Wooten begins with pin; Sauer loses in her historic match
By Brad Byler, Special to the News
February 17, 2006
Opponents might not recognize Rifle's Luke Wooten this year.
Start with the hair. It's dyed black on top and blond on the sides for the Class 4A state wrestling tournament.
On his back he sports a tattoo he got after last season, a cross with the initials of his whole family down the sides.
His wrestling style is the same, though. Dominating.
Wooten (31-2), who won a state title at 125 pounds last year, began his attempt to win a 130-pound title by pinning Sand Creek's Manual Martinez in the second period during the preliminaries Thursday at the Pepsi Center.
Like the barbed wire tattoo around his left arm, Wooten is a tightly wound spring of muscles. Once he strikes, his opponents rarely can counter.
Wooten, a senior ranked No. 1 in 4A by On The Mat rankings, never had faced Martinez. Guarding against the unknown, and the target that comes with a state title, are Wooten's top concerns.
"Everyone knows and everyone is gunning for me," he said.
Wooten also never has faced Easton Ramirez of Northridge, his likely opponent in the finals. Ramirez (28-4) is ranked No. 2.
"Hopefully, I'll dominate him, just like the rest of them," he said.
All four returning state champions attracted attention in their successful returns to the Pepsi Center, but match No. 105 in the 103-pound class probably attracted the most interest of the night.
All eyes, it seemed, were on senior Brooke Sauer of Golden, the first girl in Colorado to ever qualify for the state tournament, as she squared off against freshman Jeremy Aguero of Pueblo South.
Sauer, the daughter of Golden coach Dave Sauer, was active at the start of the match, but Aguero scored a first-period takedown and turned Sauer onto her back in the second period. Aguero (26-8) went on to post a 14-0 victory against Sauer (26-13).
Perhaps the toughest weight class in 4A is at 145 pounds.
Two returning state champions prowl in that class and appear headed for a showdown in Saturday's final. Pueblo South's Mark Beaudry (28-1) won by a third-period pin against Sterling's Kenny Carey and Moffat County's Korey Kostur (39-2) pinned Brandon Cordova of Widefield in the second period.
They have wrestled against each other three times in their careers, with Beaudry winning all three matches. He won their only match this season, 11-9 in overtime.
Beaudry had a brief scare when Carey threw him to his back in the third period, but Beaudry escaped too quickly for Carey to score any points.
"I got caught with a head throw," he said. "It seems to be a trend at this tournament. It was luck more than anything, but I may have been a little sloppy."
While Beaudry, who won his title at 135 pounds last year, said he doesn't think beyond his next match. Kostur, the 140-pound champion in 2005, said he is hoping they meet again.
"I've lost to him three times already," Kostur said. "I kind of stuck to this weight to make it a challenge. But I gotta make it to him first. There will be a couple tough kids in the way."
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First Female At State Wrestling Tourney Eliminated
2/17/06
(AP) DENVER Golden's Brooke Sauer didn't score any points in the state Class 4A wrestling tournament, but she said she wasn't disappointed.
After losing twice, she said she was happy to have met her goal of being the first girl to wrestle in the tournament.
The 103-pound senior was beaten 9-0 by Thompson Valley junior Sean Ender on Friday. She survived a near-pin in the match.
Sauer was soundly beaten, 14-to-0, by Jeremy Aquero of Pueblo South in her preliminary round match on Thursday, but she avoided being pinned in both matches.
-------------------------------------------------------
Female wrestler wins twice at state meet
By Jody Demling 2/17/06
jdmeling@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Campbell County High School senior Priscilla Brownfield made some more history today at the State Wrestling Championships.
Brownfield, who is the first female to ever participate in the 44-year
history of the event, became the first girl to win a match – she won two – in the consolation bracket of the 103-pound weight class at the Frankfort Civic Center.
"I was like ‘I’ve got to win’,” Brownfield said after the second win.
The 4-foot-9 Brownfield, who has drawn a huge throng of fans at the event – mostly women cheering her on – pinned Fort Campbell’s Jared Smith in 1:59 and edged Conner’s T.J. Bates 6-5. Bates was the Region Six champion.
“A lot of people are saying good job,” Brownfield said with a smile. “That whole section of people were cheering ‘Go Priscilla,’ and I was like I don’t even know you.”
------------------------------------------------------
Mat history made at State
Campbell County's Brownfield 1st girl to wrestle at meet
By Jody Demling 2/17/06
jdemling@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
|
Campbell County's Priscilla Brownfield lost her first-round match to Whitley County's D.C. Evans. (By Pat McDonogh, The Courier-Journal) |
FRANKFORT, Ky. — There are four matches contested simultaneously during the opening rounds of the State Wrestling Championships, and at times the action in the Frankfort Convention Center can be frantic.
But just after 12:30 p.m. yesterday all eyes turned to mat 3, where Campbell County High School senior Priscilla Brownfield made history.
The 4-foot-9 Brownfield lost 10-1 to Whitley County sophomore D.C. Evans in the 103-pound weight class, but she was the first-ever female participant in the 44th annual tournament.
"This is a 'You go girl moment,' " Kentucky High School Athletic Association assistant commissioner Julian Tackett said.
Brownfield, who is one of a dozen or so females who participant in the sport across the state, said she went from being mocked and teased by her teammates several years ago to etching her name into the history books.
"This is like me getting up every morning and putting my clothes on, it's no big deal," she said. "I never really thought about what it meant or anything. I just went through the season and tried to do what I did. If I set history, I set history."
Evans, who is ranked 11th at 103, had five reversals and allowed Brownfield only an escape in the first period.
"You always want your kids to win, but she gave it 110 percent," said Brownfield's mother, Loretta Cammack. "We hope this will help other girls."
Brownfield's appearance at the state meet comes just weeks after Michaela Hutchison captured a state wrestling title in Alaska.
Tackett doesn't think we have seen the last of a female at State. KHSAA officials believe the first time a female wrestled in varsity competition was in 1998.
"It's going to happen more when you have this kind of success," he said. "There are a whole lot of people pulling for her. The e-mails were coming in (to the KHSAA office) this week, and there was just a whole lot of interest."
Brownfield's road to the State Tournament began when she watched her younger brother Thomas, a sophomore, wrestle as a youngster. She started wrestling in the seventh grade after giving up on basketball, softball, soccer and cheerleading.
"A lot of girls don't want to do it against the boys," Brownfield said. "My brother would come and say, 'I have to show you this new move, but I won't hurt you.' One day he just said come out for practice, and I just tried it."
Cammack didn't think her daughter would stick with it because "she hadn't stuck with anything else, but I was like, 'Go ahead and try it.' "
Brownfield became the first female wrestler to make it past her freshman year at Campbell County, but it didn't come without some trying times. She said at first she didn't fit in with her teammates, who would tease her.
"It was really, really hard, but after a couple of years they were used to me," she said. "I wanted to stick with it, and I was prepared to cry through high school if that's what it meant. I wanted to do this."
She tore ligaments in her left elbow as a sophomore and missed the season. As a junior she wrestled quite a bit for the varsity but lost in a wrestle-off with a teammate prior to the postseason and wasn't on the Camels' regional roster. This season Brownfield was 40-18 and has become a trailblazer.
"She has worked hard at this and earned her spot on the team and here," said coach Mike Bankamper. "Hopefully, now that she has qualified you will start seeing it more and more."
Brownfield finished third in the Region Six meet last weekend and said she thought she was prepared for her opening-round match at State.
"It didn't work out how I wanted," she said. "But I'll look back on it and hopefully it will make me better."
Evans said Brownfield was a tough first-round opponent and noted that he didn't look at it any other way than wanting to win.
"I always think about who I wrestle, but this was no different," he said. "… She stays in a low stance and is pretty good."
Now it's off to the losers' bracket for Brownfield, who still has hopes of finishing among the top eight in the 32-wrestler bracket and likely will answer many more questions about her history-making appearance.
"I just have to wrestle more (matches) now," said Brownfield, who plans on attending the University of the Cumberlands next fall. "… I'm getting kind of used to answering the same questions. But it's OK. A lot of girls have come up to me and said, 'I couldn't do that.' But really, it's no big deal. It's just my life."
South Oldham and LaRue County lead the team race with 39 points each after Day One. South Oldham won 12 of 14 matches, LaRue 11 of 14.
Defending champion Woodford County is third with 36 points, followed by Trinity (35.5), Fern Creek (28.5) and Seneca (28.5).
Only two regional champions lost in the opening round. Harrison County's Bryan Wasson fell 4-0 to Anderson County's Shane Carey at 130, and Southern's Josh Merideth lost 6-5 to Scott's Hudson Rison at 160.
-------------------------------------------------------
Seneca, Monett seniors remain unbeaten
Michael Davison
Globe Sports Writer
2/17/06
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Changing the venue for the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships didn't affect some veteran grapplers Thursday.
Seneca's senior 160-pounder Joe Yust and Monett seniors Dakota Greenhaw and Ben Hohensee each kept their undefeated seasons going with pins in the Class 2 first round at the Mizzou Arena.
The event was moved from the Hearnes Center on the campus of the University of Missouri across the street to the new arena.
"It's pretty much the same," said Yust, a two-time champion.
He was his usual serious, soft-spoken self after he scored a quick takedown and pinned St. Clair's Ryan Marler with 10 seconds left in the first period.
"I just went out and wrestled like it was any other match."
Seneca coach Jeff Sill wasn't surprised by the win or the 160-pounder's response.
"He just punches in and goes to work," Sill said. "He goes to work and gets his paycheck on the weekend."
Hohensee's match took a little longer. He led 1-0 after the first period before getting the pin 51 seconds later on Justin Baker of Timberland.
"It felt really good out there," said the two-time medalist. "I needed that workout. It's the first day and I just wanted to break the ice.
"It's been a good day, but tomorrow's bigger. Then we'll find out who'll medal."
Monett sits in fifth place after the first day with 211/2 points. Five Cubs will take part in today's quarterfinals with the winners advancing to tonight's semifinals.
The other two from Monett are still in the hunt after winning their first wrestlebacks.
Of Carl Junction's five wrestlers, four picked up pins and the other a technical fall to put the Bulldogs in eighth spot.
Travis Green (freshman 125), Josh Landes (junior 145) and Chris Green (junior 189) had pins in the first round while Mike Thomas (junior 135) had a tech fall. Caleb Dye (sophomore 140) picked up a pin after losing in the first round.
"Everybody wrestled well," said first-year Bulldog coach Josh Bolinger. "I'm a little nervous, but they did fine.
"It's been an uphill climb for us this year, but I think we're peaking right now."
Seneca
The Indians, with six of their seven qualifiers still wrestling, has 10th place to themselves.
Besides Yust, Trey Burkhart (sophomore 112) and Nathan Enyart (sophomore 119) are in the quarterfinals.
History was made in freshman 103 Connor Sarwinski's first-round match. He lost 4-2 to St. Clair's Randi Beltz, who became the first girl to win in the first round.
Beltz wasn't an unknown, since she wrestled in the Seneca Takedown Club before moving to St. Clair.
"I thought we had a shot there," Sill said. "Connor did what he needed to do and followed our game plan, but he didn't get the win."
Beltz scored the first takedown, but Sarwinski tied it with one of his own in the second frame. A Beltz escape gave her a 3-2 lead heading into the last two minutes.
She took the down position and escaped with 52 seconds left. Sarwinski had two restarts but couldn't collect a takedown to tie.
McDonald County
Having all seven of their wrestlers set to compete today has the Mustangs in 12th place after the first day.
Senior 130 Steven Englert had the only pin in the first round for McDonald County. Freshman 189 Kord Stancell and junior 275 Colby Fisher added pins in the first wrestlebacks.
Junior 119 Nathan Anderson, a two-time medalist, collected a 9-7 overtime victory in the first round.
D.J. Hatfield, junior 145, picked up a first-period takedown and rode it to a 3-1 decision.
Nevada
Sophomore 171 Spenser Daniels didn't waste much time picking up his first win at state.
He pinned Morgan Younkin in 47 seconds to move on to today's quarterfinals.
Classmate Mason Heard collected a pin in the wrestlebacks to stay alive.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Wrestling for Respect, One Victory at a Time
Maroulis Excels but Still Searches for Acceptance
By Ryan Young
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, February 16, 2006; Page GZ18
Helen Maroulis hears the occasional disparaging comment, but to those who have trouble accepting her participation in the male-dominated sport of high school wrestling, the Magruder freshman has the perfect response:
She wins.
Maroulis has a 25-4 record in the 112-pound weight class this season, which could wind up being the most successful ever by a female wrestler in Montgomery County and, possibly, the state.
"I kind of feel sometimes when people talk to me afterwards, that they don't understand this is a big goal of mine," Maroulis said. "I'm not just doing this for a high school sport; I'm doing this as part of my life. It's definitely a big part of my life."
|
No female wrestler has ever won a match at the Maryland state tournament, said Jim Meehan, Montgomery County's sports director for wrestling, a regional tournament director and a member of the state wrestling committee. In fact, Meehan said, no girl had reached Maryland's state wrestling tournament before last season, when Arundel's Nicole Woody qualified in the 4A/3A division and Jade Hendricks of Baltimore's Western Tech competed at 2A/1A.
Meehan also believes that a girl has never wrestled in the Montgomery County Tournament.
Magruder Coach Max Sartoph said it would be "pretty cool" for Maroulis to be the first girl to win at the state tournament, but he had not really considered the historical significance because he does not view her differently than the team's other wrestlers.
"She's talented enough to wrestle with anybody," Sartoph said. "She works just as hard as anybody else. From day one she was just another wrestler, and all she wants to be treated like is a wrestler. She just wants to be a wrestler."
For Maroulis to be a state tournament wrestler, however, she must first advance past the county and region tournaments. The top six finishers in each weight class at the county tournament -- tomorrow and Saturday at Northwest High School -- advance to the 4A/3A West Region tournament. A wrestler also can advance by accumulating enough points (based on matches won and placement in tournaments) throughout the season. Either way, Meehan said Maroulis should advance.
The top four finishers in each weight class at the region tournament, Feb. 24 and 25 at Sherwood High School, advance to the state tournament at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House on March 3 and 4.
Maroulis has considered what it would mean to be the first female to win a match at the state tournament.
"There's been some big tournaments where no girl has placed [before], and I placed there. It's a better feeling than just winning," she said.
Maroulis didn't set out to challenge history. She was a soccer player before she ever gave a thought to wrestling. Six years ago, when Maroulis was 8, her mother, Paula, asked whether she could give the sport a try to help her younger brother Tony, then 6, who needed a partner if he was to continue competing in the Gaithersburg Sports Association.
Tony "was a year young to join, so he didn't have a partner. So if somebody didn't work out with him, he would have to quit," Paula Maroulis said. "We never thought she would compete. We didn't plan it that way. She just really liked it. She played a lot of other sports and gave everything else up for this. . . . This is her sport."
By the seventh grade, wrestling became a year-round pursuit for Maroulis. As she got better, the toughest part wasn't the things people said but finding opponents willing to share the mat with her.
"I'll get a lot of stuff from people. What I hate the most though is when people forfeit to me," she said. "That's something I've kind of had to deal with ever since I started wrestling, just because I'm a girl.
"In eighth grade, I was on a junior league team, and in about my first 10 matches I got forfeits, and it was because I was a girl. I was really disappointed about that. You put in a lot of effort, and then people just forfeit to you. It didn't happen before I got good, that's the worst part."
But with only two forfeits in her first high school season, Maroulis has had plenty of opportunity to prove herself. She is second on the Magruder team in wins and was named the outstanding wrestler last month at the Hub Cup in Hagerstown, where she finished third and defeated the same opponent in overtime matches on consecutive days.
Maroulis can't be in the locker room during weigh-ins, but she said her Magruder teammates have been unanimously accepting of her and "the team will definitely back me up for anything." She also said that fellow students approach her in school to say they respect what she does on the wrestling mat.
"She's in a good place," Paula Maroulis said. "I think it's nice that she has support. I'm really proud of her because I admire her for being able to do this. It's got to make her pretty tough mentally as well as physically. This is hard. This is a boy's sport."
'Not a Novelty Act'
Maroulis is not the only girl succeeding as a wrestler. Arundel's Woody is expected to make another run at the state tournament, and girls in other states have reached new heights in the sport.
In Alaska earlier this month, Michaela Hutchison became the first girl to win a state high school wrestling championship competing against boys. The growth of the sport led to women's wrestling making its Olympic debut at the 2004 games in Athens.
In Montgomery County, 855 high school wrestlers were certified this season. Fourteen of them were female.
"I'm almost 1,000 percent confident we haven't had [a girl] wrestle or entered in 44 years of the county tournament," Meehan said. "This year there could be half a dozen."
Jim Creegan, who referees high school matches and serves as commissioner of the Damascus Sports Association's intramural wrestling league, called girls' participation in wrestling a "slightly growing trend."
"It's not a novelty act anymore," Creegan said.
Given the strides females have made in the sport in recent years, Magruder's Sartoph is surprised there are still coaches who have their wrestlers forfeit rather than compete against Maroulis.
"We had two teams forfeit to her this year that I'm pretty sure they had kids who could wrestle at that weight class," Sartoph said. "And that kind of surprised me. I thought we were past that. I think most coaches are okay with it or have at least experienced a girl on their team. I'm sure there are coaches who don't think it's right, but kids just want to compete."
When Paint Branch faced Magruder Jan. 28, 112-pounder Danny Lethbridge became only the third wrestler from the county to defeat Maroulis (one of her four losses came to a Virginia opponent). But Paint Branch Coach Rick Smith understands why some coaches hesitate to have their boys compete against her.
"Let's say your kid's not really good, and he goes out there and gets [defeated] and he has to live with that, kids in his school giving him a hard time, 'Oh, you lost to a girl,' " Smith said. "If you lose, it's embarrassing, but if you win, you're supposed to win."
Smith said he eventually would like to see separate girls' teams as interest increases, but he doesn't question Maroulis's ability to compete with boys.
"Helen's a wrestler. She's tough. You see her record. She's a very talented wrestler for her age, whether she's a boy or a girl," he said. "We've had girls win matches before, but she's probably as talented as I've seen in our county. . . . She can wrestle with the guys, no doubt about it."
Maroulis missed the final week of the regular season for precautionary reasons because of a back injury, but she should be ready to go for the postseason. She hopes to not only win a match at states but place as well.
"I guess once people know you're really focused, they'll respect you a lot more," Maroulis said. "I'm hoping that's what people will figure out about me."
---------------------------------------------------
Local Girl Aims For High School Wrestling Championship Trophy
Maroulis Hopes To Go To Olympics One Day
UPDATED: 6:18 pm EST February 17, 2006
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A freshman athlete at a Montgomery County high school is hoping to put her name in the history books and possibly go to the Olympics someday. But, males typically dominate her sport of choice.
Helen Maroulis attends Magruder High School in Rockville. She is a wrestler. Her love for the sport started at age 7. Now at 14, the teenager is hoping to become the first female to win a match at a Maryland state high school wrestling tournament.
"Of course I just want to win this, but if I just place that's cool. I'm making something of myself," said Maroulis.
Her strong performances have earned the respect of fellow varsity wrestlers.
"I guess it might take getting used to, but she works as hard as anyone else and becomes part of the team," said teammate John Holloway.
"She's good, technically sound and wrestles better than the half wrestlers in this room, maybe all of them," said Zach Tolbert.
Maroulis said she likes being the only girl on the team and is treated just like one of the guys, especially on the mat.
"You have to be mentally strong if you want to go out there and rip your opponent to shreds. And normally, that's what you go out there to do," said Maroulis.
Max Sartoph, the county's 2005 wrestling coach of the year, has guided Maroulis through her impressive record this season, 25-4 in the 112-pound weight class.
"She gets aggressive. She wants these guys to wrestle and if they hold back she's going to push them and be real aggressive with them," said Sartoph.
"Most people are stronger, but it doesn't matter if I have a good technique and I know what I'm doing," said Maroulis.
Maroulis is competed in a county tournament Friday and has already won her first match. Regionals are next weekend. The state tournament is a week later.
-------------------------------------------------
Canete wrestles with the best at state tourney
Article published on Thursday, February 16th, 2006
By NICK SANDIN
Special to the Mirror
With the 2006 state tournament a thing of the past, one Kodiak wrestler still had a title shot. Sophomore Michelle Canete (18-15 in 2005-06 against varsity and JV girls and boys) was the island’s lone representative at the United States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) Alaska Girls Wrestling State Tournament in Sitka last weekend.
Canete, who wrestled in the 112-pound weight class this past season for the Bears, had dropped to the 105-pound division for the tournament, but came back up to the round robin 110-class due to a lack of competitors in the lighter bracket. She won her first match over Katie Conner of Homer 14-4, who had pinned her earlier in the season, then Canete beat her by two in their second meeting.
This advanced her to a showdown with Wasilla’s Ashlee Parker, who also had pinned Canete in a previous encounter this season. Although she didn’t win, Canete came just one point short.
In the words of Kodiak High head wrestling coach Pat Costello, who accompanied Canete on the trip, “She hit an outstanding arm drag to single leg, followed all the correct procedures, but when going to finish the move made a small mistake and lost the takedown and the match.”
In her final match, Canete went up against Tera Sabitionous-Murray of Colony, impressing not only Costello but Chugiak head coach Tom Huffer. She won that match as well, securing second place.
Canete became the third Kodiak wrestler to place top two in state this year.
She only started wrestling a few years ago in the eighth grade. After watching her cousin Brandon’s practices and impressed by the demanding workouts involved, she decided to try it herself. Canete said she also enjoys basketball, but the schedules created conflicts for doing both, so she stuck with the blood and sweat of the mat room.
The tournament was part of the USGWA (www.usgwa.com), an organization committed to female wrestling from elementary school through and beyond college. April 1 and 2 will be the ninth USGWA National Championships in Lake Orion, Mich. In 2005, 622 girls participated in this event. The Sitka meet had about 60 girls by Costello’s estimate, 30 to 35 in the seven-weight class high school division. Wasilla High sent a meet-high eight girls and a pair of coaches to the southeastern town.
USGWA director Kent Bailo estimates there are 4,000 to 5,000 girl wrestlers in the United States, with about half in Texas where, like in Hawaii, it is an athletic association sanctioned sport. Six colleges currently offer women’s wrestling including Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.
Bailo states girls’ wrestling is the fastest growing high school sport for females in the nation. Costello pointed out that about 13 years ago girl wrestling got its start but fizzled, but now has some new momentum behind it towards school and social acceptance. He added Kodiak would be interested to host an event such as Sitka just had in the next couple years.
But the trip to Sitka was far more than just a wrestling tournament. Canete met and even sparred with Olympic wrestlers Tela O’Donnell and Sara McMann. O’Donnell hails from Homer and McMann was a silver medallist in the 2004 Games in Athens. According to Costello, Canete was the only girl to take advantage of the one-on-one opportunity to work with world-class wrestlers and gain valuable advice from two of the best. In a telephone interview, Canete explained at length how she learned from McMann to improve her bottom positioning on starts.
On the way to Sitka, Canete had the chance to hang out with another top grappler, the 2006 Alaska State Champion at 103 pounds and fellow 10th-grader Michaela Hutchison of Skyview High. Hutchison is ranked No. 2 in the country in female high school wrestling and is the only female to ever beat all the boys and win a high school state championship. Chugiak’s Melissa Apodaca is ranked fourth nationally in the 130-pound class.
The girls visited a petting zoo and a chocolate factory as part of a tour, as well as taking in the history of the area. The educational benefits of the trip included a whale-watching voyage and a stop at a rehabilitation facility for birds of prey called the Raptor Center.
“I liked it a lot,” Canete said. “It’s a lot like Kodiak but warmer. It was about 50 degrees.”
Michelle is the daughter of Raul and Natividad Canete. Raul was a Kodiak High School track star in the mid-1980s.
Canete and KHS teammate Jimmy Eggemeyer have another chance to compete this year, at the Arctic Winter Games in Kenai next month. Like the trip to Sitka, their efforts are not part of the regular school athletic budget and are funded independently. If you would like to make a contribution toward their travel expenses, please contact coach Pat Costello, 486-2099, or e-mail alaskanpat@hotmail.com.
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Frisco claims regional title by only 3.5 points
JIM DONOVAN, Staff Writer 02/17/2006
Two weeks ago Centennial's girls wrestling team narrowly edged Frisco's, but the regional meet gave Frisco the chance it needed to exact its revenge.
The regional tournament did much to prove just how good Frisco ISD's girls wreslting programs are. The Lady Titans and Raccoons each qualified five wrestlers and one alternate for the state tournament, easily the best showing of the 24 girls teams in competition.
Frisco's team win came down to one match. It was not any specific one, but the fact that the Lady Raccoons won the regional title by only 3.5 points shows just how even the two teams were at the competition.
"It was a different kind of talent because you had so many more teams," said Frisco head coach Chuck Brown of the differing levels of competition from the district to regional level. "I thought both teams wrestled really well, and it shows. We proved that we are the best two teams in the region."
Overall three Frisco ISD girls wrestlers won their respective regional tournaments. Vanessa Epps, largely regarded as one of the top girl wrestlers in the state at any weight class, claimed the regional crown with an undefeated sweep of the 138-pound division and improved her season record to 41-0. With the regional championship comes added pressure to perform at the state meet.
"We hope Vanessa wins it," Brown said. "She is 41-0 so she is expected to win it. So we'll see what happens."
Centennial's Lenee Wood (195) and Sarah Lewis (215) also won their respective regional titles.
Still, Centennial head coach Mike Eaton thought his girls would do better.
"Honestly, we had several girls quit in matches," Eaton said. "The girls didn't give a complete effort. We can wrestle better and now we are focusing on state."
Eaton also had high expectations for his 102-pound wrestler Emily Martin. She finished second in her weight class to qualify for state, but narrowly missed winning her division's title.
"I would have liked to have three champions, but we have a pretty good look at state," Eaton said.
Frisco also qualified Allanah Griego, Kristen Bennett, Kirsten Strickler, and Alyssa Frye for the state tournament. Brandi Blade qualified as an alternate.
Brown believes that his team's best chance to win the team state title lies on the shoulders of his two freshmen in Bennett and Strickler.
"They are peaking at the right time for us. If they can win a match I think that would make us happy," Brown said.
Centennial also qualified Breanna McNeil and Christina Wall and saw Ashley Lee qualify as an alternate for state.
Both Frisco schools also made impressive showings in the boys regional tournament.
Frisco's only boys qualifier came in the form of a state alternate. Jake Dykema finished in fifth-place, one spot behind Centennial's Matt Crook for the fourth and final guaranteed spot in the 189-pound division.
Centennial will be sending more boys to the state tournament than any other Region II team. One of the qualifiers, Isiah Ortega, placed fifth at 119 pounds, but earned the right to challenge the fourth-place finisher from Coppell for the final state spot due to both wrestlers not facing each other in the tournament. Ortega won the match, and secured fourth-place and a trip to Austin. Josh Spicer also qualified by finishing as the runner-up in the 215-pound class.
Both teams will depart for the Delco Center in Austin for the state tournament sometime Thursday with hopes of getting in at least one workout before the meet begins Friday.
Boys will begin wrestling at 9 a.m. Friday with the girls slated to begin at noon.
After the teams show up, it's any coach's guess as to who will perform the best.
"A lot of it is going to come down to match-ups. I'm pleased with them, but in some of these cases, until you actually get there and see who is wrestling well, you never know," Brown said.
Until then the wrestlers will be fine-tuning the skills in hopes of bringing home Texas high school wrestling's ultimate prize.
