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Hernandez Places Fourth in County
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
By Marc Hopkins Special to the Dispatch
When Jasmine Hernandez started sixth grade at South Valley Junior High, she knew she wanted to be involved in a sport but she wasn't sure which one.
Initially, Hernandez was not interested in wrestling. But her parents knew the coach and thought it would be useful for self defense. It was decided that she would take wrestling for one year and then move on.
Now 13 and in eighth grade, Hernandez recently completed her third season with an 11-4 record and placed fourth in the Santa Clara County tournament.
So what kept her wrestling after being hesitant the first few weeks of practice when she considered quitting? Hernandez says it was her first match that turned around her attitude.
The crowd, the team support and the competition during that first match got her hooked, and she never looked back.
In addition to practice and meets with her team at South Valley, Hernandez is a member of the Hawks Wrestling Club and the Girls States Wrestling Club in Vallejo. She also practices with the Gilroy High wrestling team when she can.
She plans to keep wrestling next year in high school.
As one might expect, the road has not always been easy for a female in a contact sport that is traditionally male dominated.
She has often overheard comments like "she's just a girl," and has been subjected to more than her share of "trash talking" by opponents as they try to intimidate her. Some boys said they did not want to wrestle her.
Even though her opponents did not always give her a lot of respect, Jasmine has the full support of her team, coaches, family, and friends. Some family members were nervous about how she would be treated and viewed by her peers, but she never backed down and has earned her place on the team.
Her father Steven Hernandez says he "couldn't be prouder" and said that when she started wrestling he simply "asked her to do her best."
Hernandez credits much of her success to her coaches and said, "My teammates feel like family."
Hernandez gets good grades, proudly pointing out she has "all A's & B's." Her father believes this is in part because of the social skills, motivation, confidence and drive she has gotten by being involved in the sport.
As for advice to other females, Hernandez says they should "follow what they want whatever it may be," and adds that philosophy applies to everyone.
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Lebanon Express 12/27/06
LHS's Amy Bloom became the first freshman women to qualify for the class 4A state wrestling championships. She also competed in national wrestling events.
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Coach creating biggest and best program possible for wrestling Wolverines
By L. SCOTT HAINLINE
Chronicle Correspondent 12/27/06
With a name like Travis Crockett Ladd, it was inevitable Clear Brook's wrestling coach, an Oklahoma native, would end up in Texas.
"I guess I do have a Texas name," said Ladd, who made his way to the Lone Star State to become Clear Brook's first wrestling coach. "Crockett is a family name, and that's what I go by, and my father decided since that was going to be my middle name, Travis would be a good first name, with the Alamo and all."
In his first try as a head coach of a varsity program, Ladd has approximately 50 wrestlers, including four girls, and he couldn't be happier.
"We've had more than 60 boys try out, and the 40 to 45 who are in the program are just doing a great job," he said. "For one reason or another, the girls haven't competed in a meet, but they're getting closer, and they're also working hard. We want to see more girls come out and we believe that will happen as more students become familiar with the sport."
Ladd grew up in the wrestling-friendly Sooner State, so he's trying not to overlook the little things.
"This sport is so new to Clear Brook, and really, this entire area, and we have one or two wrestlers with a little club experience, and that was a few years ago for them," he said. "Being from an area where wrestling is so popular and common, I may take some things for granted, like our first weigh in where most of our kids really didn't know what to do. Some things I'm so used to doing are completely new for most of our team, so I have to be careful."
Ladd competed in wrestling and football in high school (Tuttle) before playing college football (center) at Missouri State. He started a junior high wrestling program in Missouri and spent a year there before serving as a high school wrestling and football assistant in Oklahoma the past two years.
"I came to Texas for this job, and really, it's an unbelievable opportunity to build a program from scratch," he said. "You have more say in traditions and rules. It's just a great situation."
Junior Jerod Brockmyer gave the Wolverines their first individual victory by winning his 215-pound division at the Dec. 2 Cypress Ridge Classic. Sophomore Brad Mason (140) added a third place, senior Aaron Cooley (125) finished fourth and senior Najee Loydrake (130) was fifth at Cy Ridge.
"Those are four of our better wrestlers, and they have a shot at a high finish in district," Ladd said.
Senior heavyweights Casey Malik and Chuck McDade (285), sophomore Dustin Vontorne (112) and freshman Tyler Carpenter (103) are also making progress in this first season under Ladd.
"So much depends on how the next month goes," Ladd said. "January is going to be very important in the team's development, so it's going to be very important to get these kids with limited experience on the mat as much as possible. We need to stay in good shape over the holidays and come back strong."
Clear Brook hosts Clear Creek and Clear Lake in a Jan. 6 tri-match starting at 9 a.m.
"All three schools have so many kids in the programs and we're going to get just about everyone involved in this first meet after the holidays," Ladd said. "We're going to set up two mats and put everyone in round-robin brackets. Events like this give a large number of kids some needed exposure in a competitive environment."
The District 24 Meet is Feb. 3-4 at Clear Creek.
"Brazoswood will be the favorite, and West Brook has some good guys," Ladd said. "It's a small district and we feel like we'll be able to compete."
Clear Brook wrestling coach
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Cougar grapplers progress in Year 2
By Rob McCallum
Published: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 5:59 PM CST
With a program as young as the Weed wrestling team, doubling roster size from the previous year still makes for a thin lineup. But having seven Cougars on the mat in Year 2 instead of three is a sign the program is headed in the right direction according to coach Rick Marshall.
While Weed has more forfeits in their dual lineup than wrestlers, they will have more opportunities to score points in tournaments; more importantly, the team has more sparring partners in practice.
“What I'm really hoping for this season is gearing up our skills,” said Marshall, a veteran youth wrestling coach in Weed. “If we can be at our peak at the end of the season, then it will be a good season for the kids.”
Weed returns two wrestlers from their inaugural year in juniors Daniel Cavnar at 189 pounds and Brittney Parsons. They are joined by seniors Devin Moser at 130 and Robert Middleton at 171, juniors Tiffany Case and Natalie Jimenez and freshman Trevor Lemos at 119.
“They all have big hearts,” Marshall said. “They all want to improve and learn quickly, which is really good to see.”
None of the five newcomers had mat experience coming into the winter, but with four being upperclassmen, Marshall is optimistic for this season.
“There is so much difference between those freshman and senior years,” he said. “Our juniors and seniors can jump right in and do OK.”
Moser and Middleton each took first at the Klamath Union Novice Tournament on Dec. 15 in Klamath Falls.
Parsons was one of two to represent the Cougars at the Shasta Cascade League championships last winter. She was also a round away from making history by being the first South County female to beat a male on the mat.
Cavnar bulked up to 189 pounds from 160 as a sophomore, and a fall on the football team's offensive line.
Marshall is still organizing Weed's first ever home wrestling meet, and says they could host some other Division III teams in late January.
The Cougars return from the holiday on Jan. 6 at the Bruin Challenge in Mount Shasta. They will also compete in regional tournaments in Burney, Fall River and Bonanza, Ore. before the SCL Tournament.
“When you look around the league, numbers are down,” Marshall said. “So for us to be growing is a good sign. We're building for the future.”
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By: Roger S. Lucas 12/27/2006
Lake Roosevelt Raider wrestlers had their way at Cascade High School last Tuesday, coming home with a lopsided 60-12 Caribou Trail League meet victory.
The Raiders won five matches by forfeit, failed to field a wrestler in the 112-pound weight division and gave up one forfeit.
Mike Stanger, wrestling in the 145-pound bracket, decisioned Narciso Alvarez, who placed third in the state AA meet last year, 4-2.
Coach Steve Hood, in reviewing the Cascade win, said Tuesday, "I am very proud of our wrestlers. They dominated the meet, and there were some very good matches." In a girls' wrestling meet at Springdale last Wednesday, Patty Davis, at 112, won once and lost two matches, ending up third in her division.
Teresa Deppman, wrestling at 130, won one match and lost two for third place.
Ann Thomas (125) won all three of her matches to take first place in her division.
In a girls' tournament at Moses Lake last Friday, Davis ended 10th with one win and four losses; Thomas was 4-1 and was runner up for the championship; and Deppman was 2-3 for fifth in her division.
Raider girls placed seventh, with only three wrestlers, out of 11 schools.
Cascade match results: 103 pounds - LR won by forfeit; 112 - Cascade won forfeit; 118 - LR won forfeit; 125 - Jake Lucyski (C) dec. Sam Halvorsen (LR) 9-2; 130 - R.J. Thompson (LR) dec. Taylor Orteg (C) 4-0; 135 - LR won by forfeit; 140 - LR won forfeit; 145 - M. Stanger (LR) dec. Narciso Alvarez (C) 8-4; 152 - Dylan Emmons (C) dec. Chauncy Cawston (LR) 4-2; 160 - Nick Stanger (LR) won by fall over Alcas Gomez (C); 171 - Brian Stanger (LR) won by fall over Adam Smith (C); 189 - Evan Brown (LR) won by fall over Kevin Dodson (C); 215 - Sam Rise (LR) won by fall over Mark Espinosa (C); 275 - LR won by forfeit.
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Wrestling Starting To Take Hold
MORE SCHOOLS ROLLING OUT MAT FOR GRAPPLERS
This article was published on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 9:31 PM CST in Sports
By Brandon Harris
Special To The Morning News
GENTRY -- Donnie Millsap will just come out and admit it -- he doesn't have a clue what he's doing.
But that hasn't stopped him from taking the coaching reins of the upstart wrestling team at Gentry High. Pin, technical fall, major decision -- terms like these are Greek to Millsap. And prior to the Fayetteville Triangular Meet on Dec. 19, the Pioneers' first meet of the season, he'd never seen a wrestling match in his life that didn't involve a steel cage, piledrivers or Vince McMahon.
"I don't know what I'm doing as far as the wrestling goes," said Millsap, who also works as an assistant coach for the Pioneer football team. "I'm out there trying to teach something I don't have a clue about. But I'm going to do whatever the school needs me to do."
It's a philosophy like that which the sport of wrestling will need for it to succeed in the high school ranks in Arkansas. Right now, Arkansas and Mississippi are the only two states whose athletic governing bodies do not sanction the sport. Meanwhile, nearby states like Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas are wrestling powerhouses.
But as Northwest Arkansas has continued to grow, so has the effort to bring prep wrestling the state. Currently, there are 19 schools across Arkansas with wrestling teams, including Northwest Arkansas' own Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale Har-Ber, Springdale and Gentry.
Several of the wrestlers on each of those teams are students who have moved into the area from states where wrestling was much more popular.
"It was kind of weird coming to Fayetteville because wrestling was my main sport, and when I would tell people down here I was a wrestler, they would have no idea what I was talking about," said Michael Gordon, a Fayetteville wrestler who moved in from North Sioux City, S.D. "They would think of the wrestling on TV. I was like, 'No, it's like in college with the real wrestling.' I spent about an hour with people explaining it to them how it was scored and stuff."
In some cases, the same applies for their coaches. Fayetteville coach John Kauffman, Springdale coach Anthony Haubner and Bentonville coach Bill Dessler all had wrestling experience when they lived elsewhere.
The Arkansas Activities Association requires just 16 schools to participate in a sport to bring sanctioning up for a vote. With this requirement met, the AAA isn't necessarily required to vote. But with the AAA recognizing wrestling during this trial season, many involved with the sport agree that sanctioning could come as soon as next season.
"I honestly feel it could be next year," Haubner said. "I may be wrong, but the interest is there. The key will be the state tournament. If we get a good showing there, it's going to be OK."
While wrestling is waiting on AAA sanctioning, it's being temporarily governed by the Arkansas Wrestling Association, and the sport is set to have its first state championship meet March 17 in Bentonville.
The sport's first individual meet was Dec. 16 in Brinkley, and the Fayetteville Triangular Meet was the state's first team meet. Springdale, Fayetteville and Bentonville all host invitational tournaments of their own before the state meet.
"I look back at the first meeting we ever had on Nov. 7, and there were a lot of questions from parents about how it was going to help their son in football, and now those questions are, 'What can we do to help?'" Haubner said. "The kids keep coming back, and so do the parents."
Why wrestling?
In Northwest Arkansas where football is king, the better question may be, "Why not?"
"I cannot see wrestling being anything but a help to football," Dessler said. "Wrestling really teaches strength in short bursts, and for linemen, that's really important when they need to explode on somebody. Wrestling is constant action, and it will only make football players better and help the program."
As a result, football coaches across the state have slowly warmed to the sport of wrestling. With its season beginning after football season ends, wrestling provides athletes the opportunity to remain in competition, stay active and watch their weight at the same time.
And while it runs during basketball season, some look to that as an advantage. In wrestling, there is virtually no limit to how many wrestlers a team can have. If a team has more than one wrestler in the same weight class jockeying for one spot at a meet, coaches have a "wrestle-off" to determine who will get the spot. The others typically compete in the junior varsity matches.
"Right now, you have basketball or you have nothing," Kauffman said. "You can play or stay home, and there's a lot of great athletes out there. Fayetteville had like 85 kids on the football roster, but you can only put 15 on a basketball roster. So what are the other 70 going to do? This is a perfect spot for them.
"There's a spot for the little guy running around at 103 pounds. There's a spot for the big guy at 285 pounds. With 14 weight classes, there's a spot for everybody. You don't have to have some innate natural ability. You don't have to be really tall, really big or really fast. Everyone can do it."
The Springdale Wrestling Club is putting new meaning to that. The team, made up of wrestlers from Springdale High, Har-Ber and the city's junior highs, has five females competing.
Wrestling has no female division, but that didn't stop Springdaqle High's Felicia Hill, who pinned her first opponent in the 103-pound weight class at the Brinkley Invitational.
But perhaps the most powerful example lies in the state's most storied wrestling program -- the Arkansas School for the Blind. The School for the Blind has been wrestling since the 1940s in the North Central Association of Schools for the Blind, and it had several individuals place or win their weight class at the Brinkley Invitational.
"It's for everybody," Haubner said. "It teaches intensity, self esteem, if you're down you have the ability to come back. It's great because it instills that in young kids."
Getting started
Wrestling may not be anywhere close to where it is now if it weren't for the Arkansas Wrestling Association, and the organization would likely not be in existence if it weren't for the generosity and persistence of its president, Little Rock businessman Greg Hatcher.
Hatcher, who owns The Hatcher Agency, an insurance agency in Little Rock, has extended an offer to the state's high schools that has virtually dissolved the economic hit some schools take when they adopt wrestling.
A former captain of the wrestling team at Alma (Mich.) College, Hatcher has offered to provide wrestling mats free of charge to the first 20 schools to adopt wrestling. Mats run from $9,000 to $10,000, and are by far the most economically straining part of starting up a program.
"When I moved to Arkansas in 1984, there was no wrestling, and I've always had it on my to-do list that we needed to get wrestling started," Hatcher said.
So far, he's been able to raise money from outside sources for six mats and he's taken out a loan to purchase 13 more. The mats even have the school's logo printed in the center.
"My goal isn't to own wrestling in Arkansas forever, but hopefully to own it for one year and let the AAA take over next year," Hatcher said. "We can get it voted in next year, and hopefully it'll be a sport for years to come."
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Highlighting the year in Sports
DelmarvaNow. 12/27/06
Northampton clinches the 2006 district wrestling championship and Jacket wrestler Nicole Beasley becomes the first female wrestler to win a district championship
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