Woody's ultimate goal is to make it to the Olympics.
News Page
Girls like Nicole Woody are turning wrestling on its head
Posted: Wednesday January 17, 2007
By Joshua Cooley
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Woody's ultimate goal is to make it to the Olympics. |
Nicole Woody, one of the top female wrestlers in the U.S., still encounters people who think the mat is no place for a woman. Some schools forfeit rather than send a boy to face her, and one fellow wrestler at Arundel High in Gambrills, Md., transferred rather than be on her team. But Woody, a graduating junior and team captain for the Wildcats, also hears plenty of encouragement. Several girls from far-flung states have reached out to her online, says Woody, the nation's top-ranked 100-pound female by the U.S. Girls' Wrestling Association. "This one from Maine sent me a message saying, 'Hey, I read an article about you wrestling, so I started.'"
It's a choice more girls are making. At U.S. high schools the number of female wrestlers has tripled in the last decade, from 1,629 to 4,975. (There are 50 times as many boy wrestlers ). Woody's coach, Bill Royer, says, "It's not a girl-boy thing. She's a wrestler. She lives and dies and bleeds this sport." Woody, who competes against boys at varsity events and women in national competitions, says, "I actually used to get nervous wrestling girls. I'm like, I can't lose to them."
Woody began wrestling at age nine at the suggestion of her mother, Mary, who liked the discipline it taught her son William, who went on to become a Marine. Nicole trains rigorously: Her daily practices are complemented by morning and evening runs. In August, Woody was the only American of either sex to win a title at the Junior World Championships. Her ultimate goal: the Olympics, which added women's wrestling in 2004. She sees her best shot as 2012, and is weighing a scholarship offer from the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Mich. Getting to the Games would not just be a goal achieved, Woody says, but also "a big relief, too -- like, 'Woo-hoo! I did it!'"
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Matt Elliser, The Examiner
Jan 17, 2007
GIRLS’ WRESTLING: The CIF girls’ wrestling regional tournament will take place Friday and Saturday at Liberty High School in Brentwood. The event, which is not connected with the March 2-3 CIF state tournament, should draw a number of the top individuals from NorCal, including several from The City.
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Klein's Brooks sets wrestling tourney record
By Terry Carter 1/17/07
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Two-time state champion Lindsey Brooks of Klein pinned Waller's Amanda Hicks in a tournament-best 13 seconds during the Houston Challenge girls tournament at Sam Houston on Saturday. But even the unstoppable Brooks could not haul in another Most Valuable Wrestler honor as Houston Lee's Nathalie Mendoza broke a five-way tie for the award with five consecutive pins.
Katy Taylor's Courtney Hole notched a 7-2 win over Cy-Fair's Julie Smith in the 102 championship to earn several MVP votes. Bobcats state qualifier Courtney Weiser scored four pins at 110 pounds before winning in the final over Klein's Taylor Busboom by injury default.
Additional winners included Waller's Alex Elliott at 119 pounds, Waller's Amanda Kelso at 128, Waller's Whitney Disotelle at 138, Katy Taylor's Adele Kurt at 165, Taylor's Venus Barron at 185 and Waller's Karon Scott at 215.
Cy-Fair Invitational on tap
The fifth annual Cy-Fair Invitational Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at the Berry Center.
Cy Ridge coach Tim Ray said the varsity event will feature 32-man brackets on eight mats as boys and girls teams vie in one of the season's final tournaments before district action. Wrestling starts at 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.
District tournaments on horizon
District tournaments are approaching, and teams in Katy and Waller are approaching elimination in District 22.
Katy, Katy Taylor, Cinco Ranch, Mayde Creek and Waller have all performed well at the regional and state tournaments in the past. The concern is that a past state qualifier may not advance to regionals since only the top two qualify from each district.
In 2005, a Cinco Ranch girl eliminated a former state runner-up from Taylor at district competition. That Cougars wrestler, Hailey Hale at 119 pound, eventually won her state championship and credited Taylor rival Laurie Ashby for her motivation to win it.
District 22 is regarded as one of the three most talented wrestling districts in Texas. With the addition of Waller, the girls' race will be a war at several weights during the district tournament Feb. 3. at Katy.
District 21, which includes all Cy-Fair ISD teams, will hold its district tournament at Cy Ridge also on Feb. 3, beginning at 9 a.m. District 24 will follow suit will its tournament slated for Clear Creek, and the District 20 tournament will be held the same day at The Woodlands.
Only District 23, which includes Houston ISD teams, will decide its regional qualifiers a day earlier. They will hold the competition at Westside starting at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 2.
Terry Carter's rankings
BOYS: 1, Cy-Fair; 2, Cinco Ranch; 3, Woodlands; 4, Klein; 5, Westside; 6, Klein Oak; 7, Katy Taylor; 8, Bryan; 9, Morton Ranch; 10, Beaumont West Brook.
GIRLS: 1, Waller; 2, Katy; 3, Brazoswood; 4, Katy Taylor; 5, Cy-Fair; 6, Woodlands; 7, Cy Ridge; 8, Klein; 9, Cy Falls; 10, Houston Lee.
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Women's Wrestling Weekly Notebook
Blake Timm (timmbr@pacificu.edu) on Jan 16, 2007
Summary:
The Boxers dig into the meatiest part of their schedule with a trip to California and some of North America's top teams at the Lady Oak Duals and Lady Oaks Open
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THE HEAVY PART OF THE SEASON COMES AROUND: While much of the Pacific women's wrestling schedule has been sparse, the Boxers are in the meat of the most competition-heavy part of the slate with four competitions in January and three in February. The Boxers compete on Friday at the Lady Oak Duals, followed by Saturday at the Lady Oaks Open.
OREGON CLASSIC: Titilope Lawani (Jr., Rialto, Calif.) led the way for the Boxers by capturing outstanding women's wrestler honors at the Oregon Classic, held Saturday at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond. Lawani went 2-0 to capture honors in the combined 673-72 kg. weight class as the Boxers swept the championships in the tournament's three combined classes. Candace Sakamoto (Fr., Kaneohe, Hawaii) captured top honors in the 48-51 kg. class and Summer Scott (So., Castro Valley, Calif.) won the 55-59 kg. class for her second straight tournament victory. Complete results for the tournament were not available as of Tuesday.
ABOUT THE LADY OAKS TOURNAMENTS: Hosted by Menlo College, the Lady Oak Duals and the Lady Oaks Open will feature some of North America's top women's wrestling programs. The biggest benefit will be the dual meet tournament, where the Boxers will be able to add two matches to their schedule. Joining the Boxers and host Oaks will be Cumberlands (Ky.), Simon Fraser and the Spartan Club team from San Jose State University. The Boxers went 1-1 at last year's Lady Oak Duals, beating Menlo 26-5 before losing to Simon Fraser 25-10. At last year's Lady Oaks Open, the Boxers set a milestone for the program by winning their first ever open tournament. Stacey Martell, Michelle Ludwig (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) and Megan Richardson (So., Santa Paula, Calif.) each won individual titles to lead Pacific to a two-point victory over Simon Fraser.
BOXERS IN NORTH AMERICAN RANKINGS: The Pacific women's wrestling program debuted in the 10th position in the season's first North American Women's College Poll, released by TheMat.com on Jan. 5. The Boxers received 53 of a possible 100 points. Pacific ranks third among U.S. teams in the poll, topped only by Cumberlands (Ky.), ranked second, and Missouri Valley, ranked fourth. The University of Calgary received all four first place votes to take first place in the poll. Kapua Torres (Jr., Kahuku, Hawaii) is the only Pacific wrestler to earn an individual ranking. The 2005 collegiate and junior national champion opens the season ranked No. 1 at 51 kg.
NO U.S. POLL: To date, TheMat.com has not released a Women's Wrestling U.S. Poll. The last U.S. poll came out on Mar. 30, 2006, with the Boxers finishing third.
PACIFIC TO HOST WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE NATIONALS: The Pacific Athletic Center will be the site of the 2007 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships, which will be held Mar. 9-10. The event will feature all of the nation's current college women's wrestling programs along with women affiliated with men's programs from across the nation.
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2007 Napa Valley Girls Classic - Photos and results