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HIGH SCHOOL ZONE: Getting to know Casey Stewart

www.recordonline.com/January 26, 2007

Casey Stewart doesn't look like a wrestler until you see her worn blue adidas shoes.

Those wrestling shoes were handed down from her older brother, Corey, who wrestles at Loomis Chaffee, a private school in Windsor, Conn.

Guess who gave his 12-year-old, seventh-grade, 103-pound Goshen sister the wrestling bug?

This is sister's first try at the male-dominated sport, where she can wrestle guys five or six years older. Stewart is holding her own. She's 2-6 and pinned an opponent in the first period of her second career match.

Stewart is quite an athlete. She's also playing Goshen travel soccer with boys and CYO girls' basketball for St. John's in Goshen this winter.

And Stewart is an accomplished actress. Since she was 3, she's acted in off-Broadway plays, some written by her father, Chris.

Likes: singing and dancing ("I don't care who sees me doing it."); the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (a punk band); vanilla ice cream; chocolate (3 Musketeers, Hershey's); relaxing and hanging out with friends ("since I don't get to do that much"). Movies: "Titanic" and "Little Miss Sunshine."
Dislikes: pushy people ("It's annoying how people are so judgmental"); Paris Hilton ("Those girls are stuck up and get everything that they want"); country music.
You are being forced to do karaoke. What song do you pick and why? "On My Own" by The Used. "It's not their style or my style. It's kinda quiet and relaxing and I can relate to it a little."
If there's a soccer game, basketball game and wrestling match being held on the same day at the same time, what are you playing? "Soccer. It's my first love. I've been playing it for seven years. But wrestling is becoming No. 2."
Her teammate says — "She has a lot of potential and knows a lot of the basics already. She's getting better every day and picks up everything quickly."

— Joe Bradley

Her coach says — "There are only good things on the horizon. If she sticks with it, there's no stopping her. She's willing to compete with the odds stacked against her and never say die."

— Steve Camposeo

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Girls wrestling: Esterheld, Brown and Havel head to state championships

John Dugan
Article Launched: 01/25/2007 10:01:24 PM PST

Marin will be well represented this weekend at the California Invitational girls wrestling state championships. Redwood's Kristen Esterheld, her Redwood teammate Christina Brown and Terra Linda's Jocelyn Havel all have good-to-great chances to advance far in the two-day tournament, and one might even win a state title. All three girls could make their mark on the wrestling world this weekend.
Of course, all of this depends on them actually getting to the event in Hanford.

"We still haven't found a ride down there yet," Esterheld said of herself and Brown. "We're working on it."

Assuming the three secure transportation to the tournament, (Havel was also working out her travel plans late Wednesday,) there are plenty of reasons to believe they will all perform admirably. Esterheld took third in the heavyweight class at the NorCal regionals Jan. 20, and Havel placed fourth at 126 pounds in Brentwood. Brown (138) didn't have far as well last week, but has high hopes for Hanford.

"I know Kristen's got a really good shot. She's very familiar with that level," Redwood coach Pavan Gulati said. "Christina also has a lot of experience, and she's really been improving this year."

"Jocelyn is already one of the toughest

competitors in the state, and it's only her first year," TL coach Danny Dardon said. "I think she'll definitely have a good shot at getting somewhere."
Novato's Kristina Koenning, considered the top girls wrestler in Marin, is forced to miss the state championships with a severe knee injury that has kept her out of action since mid-December. Koenning, who earned her third consecutive all-American honor last season at the girls wrestling nationals, hopes to be well enough to return to the nationals at the end of March, according to her coach, Steve Sanner

The three healthy Marin wrestlers should be confident in their abilities to make the second day of the tournament. The general consensus is that "the first day is going to be relatively easy," according to Esterheld, and Dardon said the competition won't ramp up until the middle-to-late rounds. But once that top-notch competition starts filtering through, Marin's finest female wrestlers will have their hands full.

"The competition level is getting higher and higher every year, and more and more girls are coming out," Esterheld said. "There are girls out there that only wrestle guys and never face girls, and they come out and just dominate at state."

It's not like Esterheld, Brown and Havel have a large pool of female wrestlers to take on in Marin. They all practice almost exclusively against boys and have to wrestle the boys in league matches as well. Taking on bigger, stronger boys can be a big advantage for the Marin girls.

"I think when girls wrestle each other, they don't tend to go as hard," Havel said. "Boys are stronger, so you really have to use everything you have. It's made us better, and I haven't geared my wrestling towards taking on girls."

Esterheld, who had surgery on her shoulder over the summer and just returned to the ring for the regionals, seconded the notion that squaring off against boys makes them stronger wrestlers.

"You wouldn't notice it, but guys' wrestling is a lot different from girls," Esterheld said. "Girls can be a lot more flexible, so wrestling against girls can prepare (others) for seeing more flexibility than strength. It prepares them for what they'll see at tournaments."

The fact that there even are tournaments solely for girls is a rather recent development. Gulati remembers when there was an "occasional girl" on some teams, and not a single girls wrestling tournament to bee seen.

"I've seen girls wrestling grow as a sport in the last two years," Gulati said. "The bottom line is, it will be a very high level of wrestling."

Esterheld loves the fact that she is a part of the girls wrestling ascendance. She takes pride in it and hopes to continue to spread the word.

"I think we're giving girls wrestling a very positive name," Esterheld said. "Maybe younger girls can see what we're doing and they'll want to come out and wrestle as well."

One person who's caught the grappling fever full-on is Havel, who's in just her first year of wrestling. She's relishing the sport while she still has a chance, before she graduates in 2008.

"I wish I had started when I was a freshman," Havel said. "I've only got one year left, and I want it to be as great as possible."

Long-term goals for the state of girls wrestling are nice to dream about, but Esterheld, Brown and Havel have tall tasks in front of them at the state championships. The girls are not taking it lightly, but they're also not changing their tried-and-true routines for the occasion.

"Everything we're practicing this week is basically the same we've done all year," Esterheld said. "Why change the routine now when it's worked so well before?"

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Female wrestlers carving a new niche of their own

Hanford West tournament emphasizes an escalating interest in the girls sport.

By Nick Giannandrea / The Fresno Bee01/26/07 04:59:08

Farmersville High athletes Araceli Olea, Isabel Becerra and Adriana Arzola are continuing a family tradition of wrestling in the Central Valley. The three will be among an estimated 350 wrestlers at a tournament beginning this afternoon in Hanford California Girls Invitational Today: 3 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m., finals at 5:30 p.m. Site: Hanford West High

The names Olea and Becerra are synonymous with wrestling excellence in Farmersville.

From Angel and Pedro Olea to Jonathan Becerra, all are former state tournament qualifiers.

Now the next wave of Oleas and Becerras are making their marks at Farmersville High — on the burgeoning girls wrestling scene.

Araceli Olea (younger sister of Angel and Pedro) and Isabel Becerra (Jonathan's sister), and Adriana Arzola (aunt of Angel and Pedro) all medaled at last weekend's California Interscholastic Federation Southern California Girls Regionals in Oxnard.

All three are aiming to medal again this weekend during the California Girls Invitational, a non-CIF sanctioned tournament that is expected to draw at least 350 female wrestlers from across the state to Hanford West High. Wrestling begins at 3 p.m. today and 10 a.m. Saturday, with the finals tentatively scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Olea, Becerra and Arzola all took up the sport because wrestling binds their families.

"My brothers encouraged me to wrestle," Araceli Olea said.

"My whole family has been in wrestling," said Adriana Arzola, one of four wrestlers among 10 siblings. "So I tried out and liked it."

"I've been around wrestling all my life," said Isabel Becerra, who also has two uncles who were state qualifiers. "I had a choice [not to wrestle] but I wanted to do it."

Or, as Isabel's father and former wrestler Candy Becerra said, "it was destined."

Olea finished third in the 98-pound division at the Southern California Regionals. Becerra was fifth at 165 pounds and Arzola seventh at 103 pounds.

Their success is no accident — nor a given because of bloodlines — according to Farmersville assistant coach Anthony Gonzalez, who oversees the Aztecs' girls wrestlers.

"The reason they are good is they show up every day. They do what they need to do," Gonzalez said. "Family has a lot to do with it, but the main reason they are good is they want it."

The dedication and rising skill level of many of the girls participating in wrestling around the state has not gone unnoticed by the CIF, which is exploring ways to make girls and boys wrestling separate sports.

Currently, only Texas and Hawaii offer girls wrestling as a separate sport.

Last weekend's regionals — a Northern California tournament was held concurrently in Brentwood — completed a two-year pilot program by the CIF to gauge the interest in girls-only wrestling.

The tournaments drew 431 participants — 241 in the north and 190 in the south.

"Both tournaments went exceedingly well," said John Tarman, the CIF's assistant executive director. "The quality of wrestling was better than last year. Clearly these young ladies are receiving better coaching and are diligent and passionate about the sport."

Tarman said the future of the CIF's involvement in girls-only wrestling will be discussed during a meeting of the wrestling advisory committee March 1 in Bakersfield, before the state championships.

"It's certainly on a positive track," Tarman said. "We're trying to figure out on our part what the next step is to encourage more participation in the sport."

Issues beyond the CIF's control — such as how schools would pay for coaches, uniforms, equipment and transportation, as well as finding practice facilities — stand in the way of separating the sport.

But it's hard to deny the growing interest in girls wrestling.

Olea, Becerra and Arzola are three of the 49 female wrestlers from the Central Section. There are 1,163 girls wrestling in California, up 121 from last year and more than 600 since a survey in 2001.

Alan Blanchard, tournament director for this weekend's California Girls Invitational, said he expected at least 50 more competitors than the event had last year.

Tournaments such as last weekend's regionals and this weekend's California Girls Invitational offer girls the rare opportunity to compete against other girls. But the fact that wrestling is primarily a coed sport isn't keeping the girls away.

"You are starting to see more and more girls at the freshman and junior varsity tournaments, and more at the varsity level," said Blanchard, a Hanford West assistant coach. "Compared to 10 years ago, when you'd see one girl at a tournament, now you see 10 to 15. It's growing."

While the California Girls Invitational will draw wrestlers from across the state, it is not an official state championship tournament sanctioned by the CIF.

The hope is that changes someday.

"We should have a CIF girls state tournament," Olea said. "Just like the guys do."

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Tonya Verbeek urges students to follow dreams

Darren Yourk
Jan 26, 2007

PORT COLBORNE -- Tonya Verbeek is living proof your wildest dreams are attainable if you're committed to reaching them and willing to work hard.
The 2004 silver medalist in women's wrestling at the Athens Olympic Games was at McKay School in Port Colborne Monday, sharing her story and encouraging students to chase their own dreams.

"It took me eight years to reach my dream of being the number one girl in Canada in my weight class," the Beamsville native told a packed gymnasium. "My problem was never physical, it was mental. It took me a long time to learn to believe in myself."

Verbeek, who is a supply teacher, began wrestling in Grade 11. She was a natural, going undefeated in the first two years she competed. Her first season as a member of the Brock University Badgers wrestling team was also a success, but her commitment to the sport waned during her second year. Verbeek told the students she was considering quitting wrestling in 2001 when news came that the sport would be part of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

"It was the opportunity of a lifetime and something I'd waited many years for," she said. "I decided I'd give it 100 per cent. I'd find a way to be the best."

Part of that process included building her confidence.

"I remember getting out of the shower in my bathroom and writing the world believe in the fog on the mirror," she told the students. "It might sound strange, but that small thing ended up making a huge difference to me."

After a number of close calls at the national championships Verbeek finally broke through at the Canadian Olympic Trials 2004. She won her weight class and qualified for the Athens Games where she made history by winning the first medal for Canadian women's wrestling.

"I got my butt kicked by the defending world champion from Japan in the final, but I was happy I did the best I could at the time," she said. "Standing on the podium made me hungry for more. I know I want the gold. I want to be the best in the world."

That new goal has Verbeek training to try to qualify for the Beijing Games in 2008.

While she has continued to be one of the best in the world at her sport, Verbeek told the students she has also had her setbacks, including an 11th place finish at the 2006 world championships.

"I didn't do very well and it really scared me," she said. "But I realize now that failure can be a key ingredient in success. If you fall down you have to get back up and keep going. It will make you stronger."

Verbeek also stressed the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle.

While you don't have to drain twice a day, six days a week like she does, Verbeek said it's vital to get off the couch and get moving.

"I believe in a healthy body and healthy mind," she said. "I don't feel like myself if I don't do something active every day. If you get committed and dedicated to a team or a sport now, it will help you later in life."

Verbeek closed her presentation by introducing students to the grappling game.

Volunteers from the crowd got to step on the mat with the Olympic medalist.

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Girl's pin at 103 leads Line Mountain past rival UDA for TVL title
First-time female's fall at 103 sparks Line Mountain to TVL title

By Harold Raker
The Daily Item
January 26, 2007

MANDATA — A decision by Tim and Kim Martz on Thursday morning ended up being the turning point in Thursday night's thrilling 35-34 Tri-Valley League title-clinching win by Line Mountain over neighboring Upper Dauphin.

The couple called Tim's cousin, Eagles coach Mike Martz to tell him it would be OK for their daughter, Lainey, to wrestle against a boy in the crucial meet against the Trojans, and that Lainey wanted to do it.

Lainey not only wrestled, she brought down the packed house when she pinned Upper Dauphin 103-pounder Pat Welker in 47 seconds.

Martz scored a takedown in the opening seconds, but let Welker up to make it 2-1. Then she took him down again, but this time put him right onto his back for the fall.

"I'm just not good on top. I didn't think I could hold him down," the junior explained.

Once she had him on his back, she said she felt confident. "It was exciting. I was never allowed to wrestle boys before.''

Martz's pin was just one of the performances that helped pick up a team that was emotionally drained after senior Nick Lansberry injured his knee and had to default in 26 seconds in the opening bout of the night at 152 pounds.

Coach Martz said, "We had a lot of guys step up tonight. We're a hurting team right now."

Although Lainey Martz was the most noticeable, there were plenty of heroes for the Eagles (13-6 overall, 6-0 TVL), and some of them didn't even win.

Injured Eagles Mason Hoover (torn rib cartilage) at 189 and Brandon Harris (shoulder) at 130 turned in gutsy performances in defeat, denying the Trojans the bonus points they would have picked up with forfeits or defaults.

The Fausey brothers, Jon at 160 and Shawn at 171 each got pins on the heels of Lansberry's default. After decisions by UDA's Evan Roberts (189) and Cody Snyder (215) tied it at 12-all, the Eagles' under-sized 285-pounder, Ed Klock, trailing 1-0, landed a single-leg for a takedown, then used an half-nelson and arm bar to deck Josh Kephart in 3:57. That gave the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish.

"The bonus points were exactly that, bonus points," the Eagles coach said.

Klock said. "I tried to tire him out the best I could and use my conditioning and go for the pin. And we all wanted to do it for Nick."

Martz's pin came next. "That pumped everybody up. It was the first time she ever wrestled a match, really, and when she did that our whole team went crazy and everybody in the crowd went crazy," Klock said.

Upper Dauphin (10-2, 4-1) got a fall from Billy Mione at 112 before the Eagles' Chad Thorpe manhandled a quality wrestler in Nate Snyder for a 20-5 technical fall.

Tyler Erdman boosted the margin to 35-18 with a pin in 2:21 but UDA's Clark Horchler broke a 2-2 third-period tie with Justin Erdman with a reversal and pinned him with a cradle in 5:14 to make it 35-24. Dustin Sims followed with a 7-5 win over Josh Nguyen. It was 35-31, putting the outcome into the hands of 145-pounders Ryan Strohecker for the Trojans and the Eagles' Calvin Myers.

Myers just needed to avoid the fall, but the senior battled, and battled some more, before losing 4-3 in three overtimes, giving his team the victory and TVL title for the second year in a row.

Upper Dauphin coach Todd Rupp said, "I thought with the match-ups we had, we had the opportunity to pull it out. But we didn't get as many bonus points as we needed. We gave up a few that we shouldn't. But it was a great match."

"I hope Lansberry's OK. He's a great kid and I'd hate to see him miss the postseason."

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Kanto league to consider changes after complaint of gender discrimination

By Dave Ornauer, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, January 26, 2007

parent’s complaint about gender equity in sports has challenged the validity of a Tokyo-area high school league’s designation of wrestling as boys-only and prompted that league to consider restricting venues and teams that are invited to its tournaments.

The issue arose after a Kanto Plain Association of Secondary School Principals-sanctioned wrestling meet at Yokota High School on Dec. 9.

A female from Robert D. Edgren High School at Misawa Air Base was forced under KPASSP rules to forfeit a bout to a male wrestler from St. Mary’s International School.

The league, which consists of international private, missionary and U.S. military schools, prohibits girls from wrestling in events that it sanctions.

Edgren and E.J. King High School at Sasebo Naval Base are not members of the Kanto league but were invited to particiapte in the tournament as exhibition teams. Tournament organizers said all particpants were made aware of the league rules beforehand.

But Jeanine Steele, mother of one of Edgren’s female wrestlers, Heather Steele, cried foul when 108-pounder Chanel Doinoff had to forfeit after wrestling her way to the third-place bout.

Steele, a tech sergeant assigned as a ground radio communications technician at Misawa, filed a letter of complaint Jan. 4 with the Department of Education, the Women’s Sports Foundation and New York senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, each Democrats.

In her letter, Steele contends Doinoff’s forfeiture is a violation of federal Title IX regulations.

“I don’t think it’s fair that she was forced to give up a chance to compete … for the sole fact that she is female,” Steele stated in her letter.

As of Wednesday, DODDS officials and Steele said they had not received a response about Steele’s letter.

Enacted in 1974 as education amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX mandates gender equity in sports at U.S. schools receiving federal assistance.

“This [KPASSP] constitution should not exist in a DODDS world. It’s federally run,” said Steele.

She said she believes KPASSP’s designation of wrestling as a boys-only sport “stifles” girls wanting to wrestle at the three DODDS schools that are members of the Kanto league — Yokota, Zama American and Kinnick. “That in itself discourages girls from even wanting to try out” for wrestling, she said.

None of the three schools has ever had a female wrestler on the varsity squad.

DODDS-Pacific spokesman Charles Steitz said the DODDS schools were not violating Title IX by participating.

“We adhere to all the guidelines and regulations which apply to an organization which receives federal funds. We have never discouraged female wrestlers,” he said.

“Unfortunately, when there is a KPASSP wrestling meet, other [non-DODDS] schools … may independently choose not to compete because some of these international schools have designated that sport ‘Boys Wrestling,’ ” he said.

Belonging to the association, Steitz said, gives DODDS-Japan athletes more diversified competition with a wider range of schools.

“We try our best to provide our students with the very best in … extracurricular activities. Therefore, we have co-curricular activities allowing our students to compete against the international schools, providing them with additional experience,” he said.

Edgren principal Michael Johnson wanted additional experience for his school’s wrestlers and said “we understood that we would be there as exhibition only, we understood that the tournament was run under KPASSP rules and that females facing wrestlers other than DODDS would have to forfeit.”

Steitz, administrators and athletic directors say everyone knew the gender rules before particiapting in the Dec. 9 event.

DODDS-Pacific officials contacted Edgren and E.J. King to clarify the event was a KPASSP event wrestled under that league’s rules: “Specifically, that the international schools would not wrestle a female,” Steitz said.

“All of us seemed to understand, it was communicated and accepted that this was how the tournament would go,” said Bonnie Seeley, athletic director at Yokota High School on Yokota Air Base.

Doinoff’s 108-pound bracket was arranged so that she would come up against DODDS competitors in the first two rounds. She never even stepped to the mat for the next bout.

“We knew that the third match would be a tossup as to who she would wrestle — DODDS or international school,” Steitz said. “This gave her a chance to participate, thereby gaining additional experience.”

Steele wasn’t satisfied. She said she’d voiced her disagreement to Edgren coach Justin Edmonds. She said he told her she was “not going to solve anything” by challenging the KPASSP constitution and its validity “in this kind of environment.”

“I told him that I planned to bring it up and make people aware that this was happening,” Steele said she told Edmonds.

Attempts to reach Edmonds for comment have not been successful.

As to Steele’s assertion that the rule “stifles” female participation in the DODDS schools, Steitz said it is difficult to answer without surveying all seventh- and eighth-grade girls to see what they would do when they become freshmen.

“I can’t get inside their heads,” Steitz said. “(But) we always encourage our students, both male and female, to compete at every level and in all extracurricular activities and events.”

The result of the dispute, Steitz said, might be that future KPASSP wrestling tournaments will be at international schools and designated for boys only.

Such steps are to be discussed when officials with Kanto Plain Association of Secondary School Principals meet next month, according to KPASSP league and DODDS-Pacific officials.

“Tournaments at DODDS-Japan high schools [would] be invitational and open to girls; an international school boy who refuses to wrestle a girl [would] forfeit the match to her.”