News Page
PROVINCE: Summer Games Local Wrestlers win three medals
By ALISTAIR McINNIS
Tribune Sports Writer
Aug 01 2006
The B.C. Summer Games in Kamloops wrapped up on Sunday with three athletes from the Williams Lake area taking home medals, all in wrestling.
Leading the way was Jodi Sheer of Williams Lake, who earned gold in the 56-kilogram female wrestling competition.
"It was exciting, but we were not surprised," said local coach Rick Bryan, who attended the games as a spectator since Louie Van Grootel of Mackenzie coached the Cariboo-Northeast team. "She's one of the premier wrestlers in the province."
Travis Heitmann of Williams Lake, who normally weighs in at 63 kilograms, moved up to the 69-kilogram class and captured silver for his efforts, while Alexis Creek's Shari Harry was also a silver medalist, finishing runner-up in the girls 43-kilogram class.
Witnessing three out of six participating wrestlers from the area earn medals pleased Bryan.
"We were excited to see those kinds of results," he explained. "We sent some young kids down, they got experience and they did very well."
Cariboo-Northeast finished fourth of the eight participating zones in wrestling with three gold, four silver and one bronze medal.
Also participating in the wrestling event were Rudina Haines, Frisco Billyboy and Joseph Toby, all of Alexis Creek.
Local fastball player Stephanie Horsley played on the Cariboo-Northeast female fastball team at the event.
Although they finished the weekend without a win, Horsley enjoyed the experience.
"There was a lot of great competition down there and the experience for our team was great overall," she said. "It's difficult to play against girls who play year round."
The team lost to the Vancouver Island-Central Coast team, Thompson-Okanagan, Fraser Valley and a host Kamloops team.
Fraser Valley went on to win the competition after defeating Vancouver-Squamish 6-4 in the gold medal game.
In rugby, Williams Lake was well represented but didn't earn the results the zone was hoping for.
The local under-14 team coached by Todd Pritchard lost to Thompson Okanagan and Vancouver-Squamish. Vancouver-Squamish went on to the rugby final, which they lost 10-7 to the gold medal winning team from the Fraser Valley.
Cariboo-Northeast met with Fraser River-Delta in the consolation match on Sunday, but results weren't immediately available. Pritchard was unavailable for comment at press time.
Overall, the Cariboo Northeast (Zone 8) team finished sixth out of eight zones at the B.C. Summer Games with seven gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals, for a total of 32.
Vancouver Island-Central Coast finished atop all zones with 127 medals, four better than Fraser Valley's 123.
---------------------------------------------------------
Love for wrestling fuels “Moon” to learn more about the sport
USA Wrestling has been hosting a special guest for the last few weeks, a person with a passion for wrestling who has a thirst for learning.
TheMat8/3/06
You might say that Maahyar Rassaie of Iran is a wrestling fan, in all the good sense of the word. This young woman, who has been an employee for the Iranian Wrestling Federation for over three years, is in the United States on vacation this summer to expand her knowledge and bring back new experiences to her country.
She is called “Moon” by her friends in the USA, because that is what her first name means, and because it is easier for Americans to say it. Those who have met her can see the glow that comes to Moon’s face when she talks about wrestling.
“Every night, I dream about wrestling,” says Moon. “I am getting more experience about wrestling, the sport that I love. I love wrestling. I can’t live without wrestling.”
She was hired at the Iranian Wrestling Federation to work in public relations and as a translator, editing the official website and translating wrestling stories from around the world into Farsi, the language used in Iran. Maahyar had an opportunity to attend the 2005 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and report on the results there. She assists on TheMat.com’s international wrestling rankings.
Recently, she has also worked in the international department for Iran’s wrestling program, helping with projects including applying for visas, writing tournament regulations and sending invitations to other nations. You could say that Moon stays very busy in her job within wrestling.
She has taken a leave from her job to travel to the United States to visit members of her family who live here and to spend time with the U.S. wrestling program.
Moon was in Fargo, N.D., watching the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals and Advocare Cadet Nationals, the world’s largest wrestling tournament, and learning about the U.S. developmental programs. She is spending five days in Colorado Springs, Colo., visiting the U.S. Olympic Training Center and taking a tour of USA Wrestling’s national offices. Her final stop on this journey of discovery is Washington, D.C., where she will stay with family and will meet with some members of the media to expand her understanding of sports journalism.
“I want to get all of this experience for myself,” said Moon. “Someday, maybe my country can use this. I can wait for that day, when I can help.”
She studied software engineering at Tehran Center University, and became interested in foreign languages. She speaks Farsi, English, French and a bit of Spanish. In addition to an interest in computers, Moon is also a big fan of sports. She sees her job within wrestling as combining all of these interests in one place.
“I have computer science, foreign languages and sport. That triangle is the center of my life. In wrestling, I have them all. In wrestling, there is always something new. Each day is not the same. You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. It is very nice for me to get these experiences in my life,” she said.
Moon was especially impressed by the Junior and Cadet Nationals in Fargo, a wrestling experience that is so much larger than anything she had ever encountered.
“I was attending the greatest tournament of wrestling, which was in Fargo. It has 24 mats. I have never seen more than six mats at a tournament. It was so unbelievable,” said Moon.
She is taking special interest in the women’s wrestling program in the United States. If there is ever a decision in her nation to start a program for women wrestlers, she would like to be able to assist. Moon was able to watch the high school girls wrestle in Fargo and has seen some of the U.S. Women’s National Team workouts at the Olympic Training Center.
“I like Iris Smith, the U.S. World champion. She is so strong. I really like to see the Japanese women wrestlers. I’d love to some day go to Japan to see them compete,” she said.
The visit to the U.S. Olympic Training Center has also been a highlight of her trip so far. To walk through the facilities, see the athletes in their daily routines, and to get an idea of how they live has truly impressed Moon.
“When I see the Olympic Training Center, where some of the best athletes in the world train, it is very exciting to me. I visited the Olympic Hall of Fame display. I have heard about the names of those athletes since I was a little girl. Now I see where they have trained. It is so exciting,” she said.
Moon’s passion for wrestling includes a desire to help the sport get more publicity on a worldwide basis. She has noticed that there is not enough wrestling coverage in the media, not just in the United States but also in many nations. This is something she would like to help change.
“Wrestling is not covered well all over the world. I want to try to persuade the news agencies to cover wrestling more. I don’t see it on TV. We have such fantastic competitions in wrestling. If I have a chance to meet journalists, I will ask them to cover more wrestling,” she said.
Moon is very proud of the opportunity she had in Budapest to interview IOC President Jacques Rogge during a press conference there. She asked Rogge if wrestling would remain in the Olympic program. Rogge told her that sport would be a part of the Olympics in the future, especially with some of the new changes.
She finds the emotion and passion in wrestling so powerful, an image that compels her to be involved in the sport.
“There are such nice pictures of happiness and sadness in wrestling. Somebody won a gold medal, and somebody lost the match. I just cry, looking at those pictures,” she said.
Moon is interested in so many aspects of the sport. She is interested in the rules of wrestling and the system of officiating within the United States. She wants to learn about the techniques in the sport. When she is in Washington, D.C., she will also attend a pro tennis competition and a gymnastics training center to learn about these sports. She is hungry for knowledge and is taking the time to ask questions and surround herself with information and experiences.
Part of her passion for sports derives from the chance to meet new people from around the world. It is what makes wrestling so special.
“It is nice to get to know more people, to make more friends,” she said.
------------------------------------------------------------
Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame selects Class of 2005
8/2/06
Vickie Ann Zummo
A 1996 graduate of Wallkill Valley High School; nominated for her accomplishments in wrestling; in 1993 she became the first female wrestler to become Sussex County Champion in a league of 650 wrestlers; in 1994, established herself as one of the top wrestlers in the country by winning two National Titles at 97 pounds and making the United States World Team; was named Outstanding Wrestler at both the 1994 United States Nationals and the 1994 Sunkist International Open.
In 1995, won the Gilbert Schaub Open in France, the Michigan International Open and the United States Women’s National Championships; she won the Bronze Medal at the World Championships at 97 pounds; she was the only United States’ wrestler to win a medal at the World Championships; Other first place finishes include the 1996 French National, U.S. Nationals, Klippen Cup Invitational (Sweden), Americas Cup (New Mexico) and New York Athletic Club at which competition she was named the “Tournament Outstanding Wrestler”
In 1997 she took first places at the Klippen Cup, Pam American Games, French Nationals and NY Athletic Club Invitational; she was honored as the “U.S.A. Wrestling-Female Athlete of the Year”.
She has devoted time to coaching and training other wrestlers at various camps and clubs throughout New Jersey and New York
-----------------------------------------------------
Hutchisons win titles at Fargo tourney
By WILL MORROW
Peninsula Clarion 8/2/06
Coming back from the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D., last week, Michaela Hutchison was more proud of her older brother, Eli, who won a Greco-Roman title at 135 pounds, than she was of her own performance.
Which is OK, because Eli said he was more impressed with his younger sister’s women’s freestyle title at 119 pounds than he was with his own.
“Michaela had a super good trip,” Eli said. “(Mine) was OK. I blew out my knee in freestyle. I’ll probably have to have surgery, but I should recover pretty fast.”
Eli said he had a good Greco-Roman tournament, winning six matches on his way to the final, which he won by decision, 13-1 over Austin Enoch of Oregon.
Eli said it was his first junior national title at the Fargo tournament.
A four-time Alaska high school champion for Skyview High School, Eli was a runner-up in the Greco-Roman competition last year, and was a FILA Junior National champion last year.
Eli said the competition at the tournament was tough.
“There were a couple kids that won high school titles in Alaska that didn’t place there,” he said. “Sometimes it’s how good a draw you get, and your placement when you get to the tournament, but it’s tougher than a high school tournament, usually.”
Eli said being able to move up through the winners’ bracket also helped, because he didn’t have to wrestle as many matches to make the finals.
In the freestyle tournament, Eli was well on his way to the finals before injuring his knee.
“In the freestyle, I won five matches in a row. On the sixth one my knee went out on me, so I had to pull out of the tournament,” he said.
Eli is heading to Boise State University in Idaho this fall on a wrestling scholarship and is hoping his knee is healed by the time the collegiate season gets going. He underwent an MRI Tuesday and, depending on the degree of surgery needed, expects to be healed in two to four weeks.
Michaela, who is starting her junior year of high school, was a second-place finisher at the Fargo tournament last year and was pleased with her first-place finish this season. Good preparation is key to success at the tournament, and she said she felt pretty sharp heading into the competition.
“We did have a two-week camp before we went down. It was pretty tough,” she said.
Michaela said it was hard to rank her women’s junior national title with her other accomplishments on the mat, including the Alaska state high school title she won — wrestling against boys — last winter.
“It was pretty exciting, but so is everything else,” she said.
Michaela wrestled six matches leading up to the final, winning two by pin, three by technical fall and one by decision. She defeated Leanne Barney of Texas by a 9-1 decision in the final.
Michaela said she’s now getting ready for the high school cross country running season, then will be back on the mat for the Skyview Panthers this winter.