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Two local wrestlers compete at the 2006 Cadet and Junior National Championship

By SCOTT FORD SPORTS EDITOR 7/29/06

FARGO, N.D. - Two Woodward High School wrestlers, Joey Miller and Zach White, recently attended the 2006
Cadet and Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D. where Miller placed fourth and White lost his first two matches, one due to an injury.
Miller competed in seven matches on her way to a fourth place finish. In her first match, she grappled with Suzanne Baker of Texas and Miller won by a tech fall 7-0, 7-0. In her second match, Miller took on Tracy Walsh of Connecticut and won by a pin in a time of 1 :37.
Miller continued her winning ways in her third match as she defeated Kylah Saballa-Olaes of Hawaii with a pin in the second period in :59 seconds. Match
four brought Miller her first defeat as she lost a close match to Alyssa Lampe of Wisconsin (who ended up taking secondin the tournament), 1-0, 1-0. Miller rebounded in match number five with a win over Jazzy Green of California by winning the first period 1-1 and then followed that with a pin in the second period in :56 seconds.
Miller then defeated another California grappler in Samantha Lopez, 6-0, 4-2. With a record of 5-1, Miller was seeded in the two spot in her bracket and was sent to wrestle in the third/fourth place match against Whitney Condor of Washington. Miller won the first period 3-1, but then dropped the next two 5-4 and 1-0 as she took fourth place.
White's tournament was over in two matches as he wrestled in the Cadet portion of the event. White's first opponent was Corey Peltier of Rhode Island and White lost 9-6 and 5-2. In his second match, he was up against Brett Kingsley, and White lost the match die to an injury which eliminated him from the competition.

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Barrier broken
Cummings is first girl to wrestle for Central in the Empire State Games

\Saturday, July 29, 2006
By M.F. Piraino
Staff writer

Brockport - Anna Cummings doesn't see herself as a trailblazer in the world of scholastic wrestling.

But her pursuit of excellence in this male-dominated sport has broken gender barriers, including the scholastic division wrestling tournament at the Empire State Games.

Cummings, a rising sophomore at Onondaga Central School, is the first girl to qualify for the Central Region team. Cummings and Adirondack lightweight Sarah Anderson are also the first females to wrestle in the 29-year history of the ESG.

Cummings, 16, got into wrestling six years ago because her three older brothers all wrestled and she wanted to take part in a family tradition that she grew to love.

"That's not why I wrestle (to be a trendsetter)," Cummings said. "I got into wrestling after watching my brothers because it looked like fun. I wrestle because I love it. It's an individual sport and you have to push yourself to do well. I like the contact a lot."

Although her ESG appearance made history, Cummings' scholastic wrestling debut proved to be a rough one as the five-foot, freckled-faced

103-pounder dropped two freestyle matches in the 115-pound weight class Thursday at Brockport State.

Cummings fared somewhat better Friday in the Greco-Roman 106-pound division with a tough 3-2 loss to Adirondack's Ben Clemente. Cummings led 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the third period but Clemente secured the win with a last-second reversal.

Despite the outcome of her matches, Cummings is still excited to be a part of the ESG.

"By making it to the Games, I hope this makes more girls want to wrestle," she said. "I'd like to see more girls get into the sport."

The ESG capsa whirlwind week for Cummings, who wrestled for the first time in the Women's Junior Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, N.D. She finished seventh in the 102-pound weight class on Tuesday.

Women's wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. World championships have been established and freestyle women's wrestling made its debut at the 2004 Olympics. According to data from the National Federation of High School Associations, 4,334 girls competed in wrestling in the 2004-05 season and Hawaii and Texas hold varsity state championships for girls.

In Section III, Cummings is one of a handful of female wrestlers who have made their mark against the boys. Cummings has the distinction of being the first girl to earn a spot in the sectional weekly rankings. She also was the Class D tournament runner-up at 96 pounds and qualified for the Class D-II individual tournament.

Cummings said her father, Jay, initially had reservations about her competing against boys but Anna and her mother, Pam, eventually wore him down when she wanted to go out for Onondaga's modified team two years ago.

"We had to talk my dad into it," Anna said. "He said it was a no-win situation for a guy, but I said 'So?' "

After watchingher daughter wrestle against her sons, including former Section III champion and ESG gold medalist Don, Pam Cummings had no doubt Anna could hold her own against boys.

"She's used to wrestling around with the boys at home so she knew what to do," Pam said. "She's very athletic."

Don McGee, the Central Region coach who also coaches Anna with the Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club, said Cummings is a tenacious, technically-sound wrestler who has earned the respect of her male peers.

"The boys have always accepted her and treated her as an equal," McGee said.

"I don't feel like an outsider because I get along with all the guys," Cummings said. "They make me feel like I'm one of them and include me in things."

Cummings admits there have been grumblings about her competing against boys. She's also required to wear a hair net, which is attached to her head gear, during high school matches. But very little has been able to dampen her competitive fire.

"There have been some refs who don't ref equally because they don't think girls should be wrestling," Cummings said. "Then there are some coaches who won't put someone out because they don't want their kid to wrestle a girl. But I just block all that stuff out because that's their opinion. I just go out and wrestle and do my best. That's all I can do."

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Indian wrestlers for Bangkok Asian Cadet meet

Balbir Singh
Saturday, 29 July 2006

CHANDIGARH: A 38-member Indian team will compete in the in the sixth edition of the Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship to be held in Bangkok (Thailand) from AUGUST 8 to 12. Giving this information here today WFI president Dr Mahinder Singh Malik, who is also Director General of Police, Haryana, said wrestlers in the free-style and Greco-Roman style were chosen during the selection trials conducted on July 25.

Trials for boys were organised at Orangabad (Maharashtra) while selection of the girls wrestlers in freestyle was made at the Sports Authority of India coaching centre in Hissar. Government nominee Sudesh Kumar and WFI secretary B S Landge formed part of the selection committee.

Meanwhile seven wrestlers, including three girls are from Haryana. Two girls – Kavita in 40 kg and Jayawanti in 65 kg are the product of Ch Bharat Singh Memorial Sports School, Nidani in Jind District. Nidani school is one of the wrestling nurseries of India. Satish Kumar (69 kg) is also trainee of CBSM School, Nidani Teams: Frestyle: 42 kg Vijay Pawar (Mah), 46 kg Munish (Har), 50 kg Narender (NCR), 54 kg Amit (Raj), 58 kg Jaibir (DAWA), 63 kg Amit (DSAWA), 69 kg Sandeep (Punjab), 76 kg Surender (WAD), 85 kg Parvesh (WB), 100 kg Mausam (CBSM). Coaches: Jagminder (chief coach), Ashok Kumar and Jagdish Ahhawat.

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Gov Egwu bankrolls another wrestling tourney

By Solomon Nwoke
Posted to the Web: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

GOVERNOR Sam Egwu of Ebonyi state has fulfilled his promise to take wrestling to greater heights in the country with the sponsorship of the second edition of his National Open Championship billed for next month in the state capital.

This year’s edition of the Championship which runs from 8th-15th August at the Women Development Center (WDC) Abakaliki, the Secretary General of the Nigeria Amateur Wrestling Federation (NAWF), Yemi Usikaye, said was part of the Ebonyi state governor’s commitment to sports development in Nigeria especially with wrestling which has suffered an undue neglect in the recent past due to lack of funds.

“The Governor is committed to the sponsorship of this championship as his own quota to sports development and contribution to curbing social vices inherent in the Niger delta areas of the country. Dr Egwu believes that this process is a build-up to regaining the country’s place in African wrestling and as well as in the World”, Usikaye said in Lagos weekend. The federation scribe also informed that this second edition of the championship is significant in the federation’s programme of event as it would serve a dual purpose for the country in terms of building-up for the forthcoming World Wrestling Championship in China in September and to discover raw talents for this year's Algiers 2007 All Africa Games.

He said this year’s competition would feature wrestlers in 10 categories plus two categories in Free-style wrestling, Greco Roman and Women’s wrestling while the prize money has been fixed for N10, 000 for the first place, N7, 500 for the runner up and N5, 000 for the third position.

He also called on the Sports and Social Development Ministry to support the federation in this quest, as it would form part of the country’s preparation in the All Africa Games next year. Equally, the President of NWF, Chief Austin Edeze, expressed confidence that the second Gov. Sam Egwu Open Championship would be a way of fortifying the performance of the wrestlers at the last African Wrestling Championship held in South Africa.

He said, “Wrestling is our natural endowment, it is made here because it is part and parcel of our culture and sports development is a matter of comparative advantage. In other countries they give attention to those areas they have comparative advantage where they are better equipped to develop. Naturally, we are better equipped to develop wrestling because in vast parts of this country, we have traditional wrestling competition and festival and the difference between traditional and amateur wrestling is a matter of one rule or the other”.

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