Yigo wrestler Dunn sets sights on 2008 Olympics

By Alex J. Rhowunio'ng
Pacific Daily News 4/14/06
arhowunio'ng@ guampdn.com

Gold: Guam's Maria Dunn works out with an unidentified man at Missouri Valley College, where Dunn wrestles on an athletic scholarship.

Commitment and persistence can often set ordinary people apart from the pack. Maria Dunn, a wrestler from the village of Yigo studying art at Missouri Valley College in Missouri, is on track to set herself apart from other wrestlers.

This week, she is in Las Vegas participating in another wrestling tournament, which she thinks she can win.

"I am hopeful because I've wrestled most of the girls in the circuit," she said via telephone. She quickly added she is a little worried because there are better wrestlers she had not wrestled who also will participate in the event.

Dunn is following through on her commitment to put as many competitions under her belt as she can to acquire more experience and solidify her college record before the qualifier for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing -- her ultimate goal.
Currently, she is very busy competing in tournaments to help her go up to the level she'd need to reach before the qualifier and eventually the Olympics.

Before the Vegas tournament, Dunn participated in the U.S. National Girls' Wrestling Association tournament in Michigan two weeks ago. She won gold in that tournament.

Before that, she closed out her collegiate season at the National College Championship in second place in the nation in her class -- 63 kilos, or 138 lbs.

Dunn is a 2004 graduate of Simon Sanchez High School, where she wrestled under Neil Kranz.

"I want to give thanks to my mother -- Luu Yen Ngoc -- for her support," she said. "Neil Kranz, my coach, for teaching me all I know and always pushing me to do greater, and the boys from Spike22 for helping me train and believing in me."

Dunn said others' belief in her ability over the years has helped her believe strongly in herself.

Reachable goal
Her ultimate goal of reaching the 2008 Olympics seems increasingly likely.
"My chances now are good," she said, "especially with my records. And because I will have to represent Guam."

Dunn started competitive wrestling in high school but had been interested in the sport since middle school.

When asked, she said she wanted to tell young athletes from Guam that it's not impossible to go to college and play the sport you love if you give your all.

"Just work hard," she advised.

That can lead to a variety of interesting experiences, such as the National College Championship.

"The event was not too large, I guess because women's wrestling isn't really a popular sport," said Dunn via e-mail. "Nonetheless, it was large because of the number of girls that participated."

At the meet, she said she was nervous from beginning to end. And although she caught a bad cold and felt miserable on the way to the event in Kentucky, she did her best.

"I wrestled my hardest even though a small part of me wanted to just quit," she said. "The last match was simply a blur. I sort of blanked out for most of it, then, bam! -- it was done."

In her last match, she said, she went up against Alaina Berube, who has been first in the nation at 138 pounds for some time.

"It was a great experience wrestling her because I know she is beatable," said Dunn.

Resolve
She said the experience has bolstered her resolve that she can beat anyone when she sets her heart to it.
"I was happy to have won second place and to have made it to the finals," she added. "But honestly, I was just glad it was over!"

Now, for Dunn, the possibility of her dream is not too far off. She said she has come to believe strongly that with a little effort and hard work, anything can happen.

Originally published April 14, 2006

------------------------------------------------------------------

Prep Report: Gray's 'consolation' is another U.S. wrestling title

April 13, 2006

Adeline Gray won her fourth national girls wrestling championship April 2.

Adeline Gray of Bear Creek came close to qualifying for the state wrestling tournament this season. Had the 5-foot-7, 130-pound freshman made it to the final weekend of the season, she would have been in the field with the first girl to reach the tournament, Golden's Brooke Sauer.
Gray, 15, compiled a 16-16 varsity record at Bear Creek, including a 2-2 mark at regionals. But Gray, who pinned seven of her opponents at Bear Creek and notched a third-place finish at the Golden Invitational, made up for it April 2 in Lake Orion, Mich. That's when she won her fourth national title at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association championships.

"I was really proud of Brooke," said Gray, who won her first national title when she was 6 years old (100-pound weight class) and two others in middle school, at 115 and 118 pounds. "I just wish I could have been down (at the Pepsi Center) with her. I came close, though, so, maybe next season."

Gray, one of three sisters who wrestle in her family, said she did not expect to win the title at the nationals this year.

"But I went in with confidence," said Gray, who has a 41-3 record in girls wrestling. "It was just a real thrill to win the high school title, and I know that past experience helped there. I would like to win four (high school titles) now, but I've still got a long way to go."

Gray, who was pinned only twice this season at Bear Creek, had a tough bracket to navigate at nationals. In the quarterfinals, she was pitted against the No. 1 seed in the weight class and the runner-up last season, Paige Storm, of Spencer, Iowa. Gray surprised herself with a 16-1 technical-fall victory.

Gray then pinned Aubrae Putnam from Anchorage, Alaska, who never had lost in a girls match before the nationals, in the third period of their semifinal. She then defeated Christine Cunningham, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 4-2 in overtime, for the title.

Junior Rachel Pike, of Strasburg, also competed in the national tournament and finished 10th.

Gray also is a member of the varsity cross country team at Bear Creek and is playing soccer this spring for the Bears.

"Wrestling and cross country are sports in which the athletes have to deal with pain," said her father, George, a Denver policeman. "She knows athletic pain and how to deal with it. No doubt, I'm extremely proud of her and her accomplishments."

And, as a national champion, so is the Colorado wrestling community.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Smith named 2005 USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year

Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
04/13/2006

Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) has been named the 2005 Women’s Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Smith has won this prestigious award.

Smith captured a gold medal at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in freestyle wrestling at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 30. It was the only gold medal for the United States at the competition, which included all three Olympic styles of the sport (men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, men’s Greco-Roman). Smith was one of four U.S. women to win a medal, and helped lead the United States to a third-place finish in the women’s team standings.

Smith won four bouts to capture the title. She opened with an impressive 3-1, 1-0 victory over Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria. In the quarterfinals, Smith beat Agnieszka Wieszczek of Poland, 2-0, 6-0. Her semifinals win was over Anita Schaetzle of Germany, 3-1, 2-0.

Smith pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year, beating five-time World Champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan, 3-1, 1-1, 1-0 in the finals. Smith gained the match-winning point 50 seconds into the third period when both wrestlers scrambled out-of-bounds. She became only the fourth U.S. women’s wrestler to ever win a World title. Smith was seventh in the 2000 World Championships, her only previous World appearance for the United States.

She qualified for the U.S. World Team by winning the World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa in June, defeating Ali Bernard (New Ulm, Minn./Univ of Regina) in the Championship Series. It was her third career World Team Trials victory. Smith also won her fourth career U.S. Nationals title with a victory in Las Vegas, Nev. in May, pinning Bernard in the gold medal finals in the second period.

At the 2005 World Cup in Clermont Ferrand, France in May, Smith claimed a bronze medal. Her only loss in the tournament was to five-time World champion Hamaguchi in the dual meet against Japan. She won her match against opponents from Russia and Venezuela.

Smith was named USOC Female Wrestler of the Year for 2005. She also received an award from the SportsWomen of Colorado for her outstanding year.

Smith is a Sargeant in the U.S. Army, and is a member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. She is also a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. Smith is originally from Albany, Ga., where she started her wrestling career at Darsey Private School.

USA Wrestling will be announcing major award winners each day this week on TheMat.com.

PAST WOMEN'S WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
2005 – Iris Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Army
2004 - Sara McMann, Lock Haven, Pa., Sunkist Kids
2003 - Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo., Dave Schultz WC
2002 - Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
2001 - Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio, Sunkist Kids
2000 - Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1999 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1998 - Kristie Stenglein, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1997 - Sandra Bacher, San Jose, Calif., Dave Schultz WC
1996 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1995 - Vickie Zummo, Hamburg, N.J., New York AC
1994 - Shannon Williams, Ontario, Calif., Sunkist Kids
1993 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids