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Wrestling grips McCallon
Salinas senior joins a growing number of females in the sport

By MONA SLOAN 1/6/07
For The Salinas Californian

In the past, high school wrestling was a predominately "male only" sport. In recent years, more females have entered the scene, and packed stands tell the story of this popular and ever-growing sport.

Salinas High School senior Lauren McCallon is one of the sport's outstanding newcomers. McCallon's interest in wrestling was sparked in 2005 when Cowboys football coach Chance Williams substitute-taught her gym class.

"We were doing weight training in P.E., and Coach Williams saw what I was bench pressing," the 17-year-old said. "He asked me if I'd ever thought of wrestling and until then, I hadn't."

Instead, she had focused on discus and shot put events in track and field, earning best-in-the-city honors for her 33-feet, 1/2-inch shot put mark.

But wrestling turned out to be a natural fit for the 5-foot, 11-inch McCallon. She shocked her family and coaches alike when she ranked fifth in the state for girls wrestling her first season out.

"Our (Salinas High) coaches are really good," McCallon said. "They know how to break down the moves so you can see it in your head and you can do it."

Pam McCallon, Lauren's mother, said she couldn't believe how popular the sport is with girls.

"There must have been 250 to 300 girls competing at the first match we attended," Pam McCallon said. "It was something to see."

Lauren's father, Roy McCallon, belonged to the North Salinas High School wrestling team during the mid-1970s and supports his daughter's choice of sport.

"Intimidation is a huge factor in this sport," Lauren McCallon said. "I guess I can look pretty intimidating, because I seriously want to win and I'm not smiling. The first time I faced an opponent, the girl turned completely white. I knew then I would win."

The lesson has served her well off the mats, too.

"Wrestling has really been great for me," McCallon said. "I'm a lot more outgoing. I have more confidence, and I'm also more competitive. It's really a form of self-defense. You get to use your own strength and learn maneuvers to take people down."

Besides sports, she works as a layout editor for the school yearbook and maintains a 3.7 GPA.

McCallon has volunteered for four years in the Sponsor Tent at the California Rodeo Salinas and participated in the Leos Club, a youth version of the Lions Club.

"Right now, the Leos Club is raising money to purchase eyeglasses for people who can't afford them, and we just finished a Toys-R-Us shopping trip with some teachers from a Bay Area school for the deaf," she said. "I love sign language and plan to be an interpreter to help put myself through college."

McCallon said she plans to major in business administration.

But for the meantime, she's concentrating on her wrestling skills.

"This year, it's all about technique, because my goal is to beat the wrestler from Redwood City," McCallon said. "Physically, I believe we're pretty evenly matched - and she's ranked No. 1."

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Statistics

Over 15,000 Canadians are active coaches, athletes and officials in the sport of Olympic wrestling in Canada. This number does not include the many individuals who volunteer their time, or the many parents and spectators who partake in our sport.

Canada took home nine of ten gold medals at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C. The other medal was a silver.

Canada won the most recent Francophone Games in Wrestling. Canada placed a close third behind powers Cuba and the USA in the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Canada had a silver medal performance by Guivi Sissaouri at 57 KG at the 1995 World Senior Championships and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Guivi wrestles for the Montreal Wrestling Club, and is coached by Victor Zilberman and Rob Moore.

Canada's Women's National Team is ranked eighth in the World and has collected six medals, including three gold medal performance in 1994, 1996 and 1997 by Christine Nordhagen at 68 kilograms. Christine wrestles for Mitch Ostberg at the Dino Wrestling Club in Calgary.

Gia Sissaouri continued his achievements with a 2001 World Senior Championship, defeating his Mongolian opponent with a dynamic overtime throw!

Canada had back to back Gold medal performances by Canadian Daniel Igali, first at the 1999 World Senior championship and followed up with Gold at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Later in 2002 Daniel was the Gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games.

In Women's wrestling, Canada has continued as one of the dominant nations in the world at the Senior level. Canadian women have captured numerous medals at the world championships and a Silver medal earned by Tonya Verbeek (Brock Wrestling Club, St. Catharines, ON) at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece - the first ever Women's Olympic Medal.

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Top 10 moments of 2006: Night at the fights

FEATURED VIDEO

Night at the fights
Michaela Hutchison and her family thought her accomplishment last February was noteworthy. But only because she was one of fourteen Alaska high school state wrestling champions. What they dismissed, the rest of the wrestling nation celebrated. Michaela became the very first girl in our country's history to win a state championship while competing against boys.

I met her father a few hours before Michaela's match. Right away I knew, win or lose, he'd be the heart of this story. Michael Hutchison could hardly contain his anxious excitement all evening. Every word that came out of his mouth was a moment. People like Michael make my job easy. This story about an already historic event was heightened by Michael's willingness to be himself even though there was a big camera in his face. I hope you enjoy Michael and Michaela's story.