U.S. wrestler Mary Kelly will bring her mat skills to Northwestern University on Feb. 6.
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Miss mat
Female wrestling standouts part of upcoming meet to showcase Chicago Olympic bid
January 31, 2007
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter
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U.S. wrestler Mary Kelly will bring her mat skills to Northwestern University on Feb. 6.
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Some of the world's toughest men are heading to Chicago. A few of the toughest women, too.
As part of an effort to show Olympic officials that Chicago can successfully host amateur athletes in its bid to win the 2016 Games, dozens of top wrestlers will battle in Evanston next week.
Though billed as the No. 1 male team in the world -- Russia -- against the best men of the United States, the match also includes American women wrestling females from Canada.
For Mary Kelly, it's a homecoming. Though raised in Downstate Mahomet, she regularly wrestled in Chicago-area meets as a child. As a third-grader, "I had five black eyes and didn't win many matches,'' the 23-year-old said Tuesday from Colorado, where she now lives at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Today, she's the top-ranked American in her 105-pound weight class.
Also wrestling for the United States is Iowa's Sara McMann, who, at 138 pounds, won a silver medal at the Athens games in 2004, the first Olympics to stage female wrestling.
"The average-sized man could step off the street and Sara McMann, I guarantee you, would kick their tail up and down the mat,'' said former world champion wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Bill Scherr.
Scherr, chairman of World Sport Chicago, an organization funded by the Chicago 2016 Olympic committee, described Kelly as "scrappy.''
The daughter and niece of champion male wrestlers, Kelly honed her skill by wrestling boys, though some forfeited rather than face losing to a girl. A wrestling referee once told Kelly's mother that if she wanted her child to wrestle, she should have had a boy.
"It's still a battle,'' said Kelly. "We're definitely fighting for respect'' -- and against stereotypes. "I'm very feminine. I'm into clothes and fashion and makeup and all that stuff,'' she said.
Women's matches tend to have higher scoring because females aren't as adept at defense as men. "But that's why I think women's wrestling is a little more exciting," said Scherr. Women are harder to pin because they have more flexibility, some say.
Kelly supports a Chicago Olympics, but she's not sure she'll be there competing. "I have other goals in life: I want a family, a job, a degree, so we'll see,'' she said.
About 2,000 of the 8,000 free tickets to the Feb. 6 match at Northwestern University's Welsh-Ryan Arena remain available. Call (866) 860-3234
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Chicago Cup calls Durlacher home
Former Buffalo Grove, Illini wrestler returns for international meet
By Reid Hanley
Tribune staff reporter January 30, 2007
There will be two women's freestyle matches with former Mahomet-Seymour wrestler Mary Kelly, who now trains at the USOTC, wrestling Canada's Carol Huynh at 105.5 pounds. Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann of Iowa City will meet Canada's Megan Dolan at 138.75 pounds.
Kelly, the 23-year-old daughter of former Richards state champion Jerry Kelly, moved to Colorado Springs to concentrate on her bid to make the 2008 Olympic team.
She previously competed at MacMurry College, where her father coached her, and at Northern Michigan, where she was part of the Olympic developmental program coached by former Evanston wrestler Shannyn Gillespie. She was ninth in last year's world championships.
The United States freestyle team will include six of the seven members on the team that finished behind Russia and Iran in the world championships.
World silver medalist Mike Zadick (132) of Iowa City and bronze medalists Donny Pritzlaff (163) of Madison, Wis., and Tolly Thompson (264.5) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, will lead the U.S. team.
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Wrestling Event Coming to Chicago
1/31/07
Real wrestling, not the fake kind with funny costumes, is coming to the Chicago area next week. World Sport Chicago and USA Wrestling are putting together the first annual Chicago Cup at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston. The event will feature a cold-war rematch of Russia vs. USA; the Russians are considered to have the best wrestling team in the world. In addition to the feature matches, there will be competitions featuring wrestlers from China and Canada as well. The Tribune writes that this event is meant to show Chicago's ability to host amateur athletic events: "As part of an effort to show Olympic officials that Chicago can successfully host amateur athletes in its bid to win the 2016 Games, dozens of top wrestlers will battle in Evanston next week."
The competition is Olympic-style Greco-Roman wrestling. The event will feature both Men's and Women's competitions. Two natives of Illinois, Lindsey Durlacher and Mary Kelly, will be representing the United States. Lindsey Durlacher is a Greco-Roman wrestler who competed at the University of Illinois collegiately. This past year, he won a bronze medal at 121 lbs. during the World Championships.
Mary Kelley is a freestyle wrestler. She will be competing against Canadian Carol Huyhn on Tuesday. At the World Championships last year, Mary finished ninth while her competitor finished fifth. Earlier this year at a tournament in Canada, Kelley finished second behind Huyhn. Kelley commented, "I haven't beaten her yet. I'm a little bit nervous wrestling her in front of the home crowd."
The event is free but has limited availability. There are still 6,000 tickets available. To reserve a ticket for the event visit the World Sport Chicago website.
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Family on the mat
Generations of the Graham family have taken to wrestling, and the current group includes a world champion and Maryland standout
By Lem Satterfield
sun reporter
Originally published January 31, 2007
Former Naval Academy wrestling coach Ed Peery has seen generations of the extensive Graham family grow into the sport since he first befriended Billie and Peggy Graham in 1959. A few details, however, may have escaped his notice.
Peery may have missed the post-Christmas family gathering where Patrick Graham, uncle of Annapolis High's Bubby Graham, dislocated his finger wrestling another relative. Nor did Peery hear Graham cousin Nicole Woody, of Arundel High, repeatedly warned during a Thanksgiving Day family affair about kicking the fireplace while teaching wrestling moves to her cousin, Dominique Graham, of Annapolis Area Christian.
And Peery missed the Christmas ornament Nicole's mother, Mary Woody, received from a 4-year-old cousin, decorated with a photograph showing the boy in oversized wrestling shoes.
Peery knew enough, however, to see that the late Billie and Peggy Graham and their 10 children took this stuff seriously.
"The Grahams were totally committed to wrestling," said Peery, 71. "Seems like all of their [Billie and Peggy] boys did it, and, now, it's like all of their grandkids are doing it generally to excellent levels of achievement."
Indeed. Bubby Graham (152 pounds) is on pace to win a second Class 4A-3A state title. Nicole Woody (103) is a female world champion who is attempting to become Maryland's first female county titlist after being Anne Arundel County runner-up last year, as well as the second female state place-winner, following Magruder of Montgomery County's Helen Maroulis, who was sixth last year.
Annapolis' home-schooled Logan and David Putnam, grandchildren of Billie and Peggy Graham, both placed fifth at last year's private schools state tournament. Logan is a 140-pound senior, and David a 119-pound sophomore.
Dominique Graham, a 130-pound sophomore, recently earned a starting role on the AACS varsity.
"The wrestling influence came from the Peerys. Three of us - myself and my brothers, Patrick and Andrew - wrestled at Messiah College," said David Graham, as he sat near his wife, Becky, and Woody's parents, Mary and Larry, at Annapolis High during a recent match against Arundel.
"The Peerys were church Bible study and youth leaders for us and our kids," Mary Woody said. "Everything we do, we try to represent Christ. Our kids have learned once you've made a commitment, you do not quit. I've seen their perseverance through wrestling."
During the Annapolis-Arundel matchup, Nicole and Bubby shook hands as rival team captains for the first time. "That [shaking hands as rivals] was weird - definitely a heightened intensity," said Bubby, who pinned Arundel's Matt Taglienti in 3:31. Nicole pinned Annapolis' Eric Levine in 3:34.
"Oh, man," Nicole later told her mother, "Bubby beat me by three seconds."
Nicole Woody said she has been around wrestling "since I was 6 months old." She started wrestling at age 9 and will graduate in June despite being in only her third year of high school.
Having become the first Maryland female to twice qualify for the state tournament, and, last year, the first girl to pin a boy at the state meet, Woody, in August, was the lone American, male or female, to win a junior world championship, at 97 pounds.
Woody, who has a 4.0 grade point average, is considering a scholarship offer from the United States Olympic Education Center in Marquett, Mich., where she would be able to continue studying while also training for a shot at a berth in either the 2008 or 2012 Games.
"Nicole wants to win states and a little extra. She's a world champion, and I'm definitely proud of her," Bubby Graham said of his cousin, who has twice been featured recently in Sports Illustrated. "For me, it's enough to win a state championship."
Woody has similar respect for Graham, who first recalled being around a mat as a first-grader watching his older brother, Ben. "Bubby's smart, always in good position no matter where he is," Woody said. "He's invented like five moves that I've never seen."
A student with a weighted 4.63 grade point average, Graham is on pace to surpass Ben, who was an All-Metro selection as an Annapolis senior in 2004 when he was a state champion.
Page Putnam, one of Billie and Peggy Graham's children, said of Logan: "He's been matside since he was 2 weeks old." By the age of 2, Logan was wearing head gear and carrying a wrestling bag containing a singlet, a knee pad and other items handed down from his older brother, Isaac, now 30.
"Everything Isaac gave Logan, he would put it into that bag, and he would take it everywhere he went - to the library, the grocery store ... " Page Putnam said. "Every night, before he went to bed, Logan would ask me if he was going to be old enough to wrestle when he wakes up the next morning."
Logan credits the Navy junior league coaching of Charlie Lewnes, Kelly Ward and Wayne Hicks as "better than a lot of college kids get."
Logan "was my drill partner in sixth and seventh grade. And it was great having Nicole there with me last year at states," Graham said. "It's nice to know that, whatever you're going through, you have a family member going through it, too."
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A girl on the mats - Determination in a male-dominated sport
Published: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 11:44 AM CST
KIM MANGUS/Gazette Sports Editor
It's not too often that you see a girl wrestling out on the mats during a match, but for Eighth grader Alizabeth Kerstetter, it's what she's doing for the first time.
The young girls decided to try wrestling after becoming interested in the sport last year.
Although she hasn't received much support in her endeavor, the teen says it is just more motivation for her to succeed.
“I just want to be able to prove the point that girls can wrestle too,” said Kerstetter.
“My boyfriend doesn't approve, my family doesn't approve and a lot of my friends don't approvee, but I'm going to do it anyways,” said Kerstetter with a grin on her face.
According to AMS wrestling head coach Brian Smith, Alizabeth is a very determined individual who has improved a lot since the beginning of the season.
“The team got over the ‘Where can I touch her?' thing very quickly and they just treat her like one of the guys,” said Smith.
The Eighth grader wrestles at 134 pounds and in her first match lost to Rose Hill's Dinicola 5-0, but came back in the match against Circle's Hale and pinned him after first scoring two points.
“I felt amazing after pinning the kid,” said Kerstetter.
“It really does prove my point that girls can wrestle too.”
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Mercury News .1/31/07
Sport: Wrestling
Weight: 122. Class: Freshman.
Accomplishment: Childs was dominating in winning the California Girls Invitational wrestling tournament in Hanford on Saturday, scoring a fall against Ashley Matthews of Canyon High (Canyon Country) in the third period of their title match. Childs went 5-0 in the tournament with four pins and is 25-1 with 20 pins against girls this season. ``Haylee is good on her feet and ferocious on top,'' Coach Greg Stevens said. ``Her best attribute is her conditioning. When her matches get to the third period, she wears her opponent down and gets the pin.'' Childs works out daily with the Falcons boys and is expected to drop to 112 pounds and wrestle for the boys team in league finals.
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Marina Piccolotti
Terra Nova wrestling
The senior won the California Girls State Wrestling Championship in the 146-pound division in Hanford (Kings County) on Saturday. Piccolotti is 31-1 with every win by pin, including five triumphs over boys. She is ranked second in her weight class in the country.
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Wednesday January 31 2007 09:46 IST
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Whoever said anything about fragility and women? Or wrestling and male virility? There are as many as 89 girls grappling with each other for that coveted title at the ongoing State Wrestling Championship at Central Stadium in the city.
They yell, they cheer and they shout out escape tips for the boys in the ring. If that’s not enough they fight like mean little cats on the wrestling mat. Hey, isn’t wrestling supposed to be a men’s sports event?
“How can you say that?” they charge at you. “Whatever a man can, a woman can do it better,” Chinchu Vijayan from Alappuzha made a statement.
“There is nothing masculine or feminine about this. In our school, there are at least 25-30 girls who are into wrestling,” young wrestlers Shyni and Suryagopal of Vellayani Ayyankali Memorial School pointed out.
The championship is for the sub-junior and junior titles - translated into age groups, it would mean below 17 for the former and below 20 for the latter. The girls are so fascinated by the game that the sub-juniors also try a bout with the juniors.
On the mat they go wild - trying to score points for clinch holds, escapes, near-falls, joint locks, takedowns, reversals, resulting in an unsystematic struggle that relies on brute force. What is their favourite move, we ask. “Nelson” chorused all together.
“It is a hold executed from the backside of the opponent. One or both arms are used to encircle the opponent’s arm under the armpit, and secured at the opponent’s neck,” said Chinchu, demonstrating the move, so named after the British war-hero Admiral Nelson.
“There are escape moves too like the bridge when the wrestler adopts an arched position, with his back above the mat,” Shiny was all eager to explain. “From this position, we can easily roll over,” she added.
Pinning down the opponents is a sweet affair but all the combat ends on the mat. “Off the ring, we are very good friends. The boys are also very supportive, giving us tips that even the trainers forget,” said Chinchu.
And, if you thought that their parents would be a worried lot, then you got it wrong. The mothers were glowing with pride.
“Both my daughter Aswathy and my niece Surya have been participating in the wrestling championships for several years now,” said Sujatha from Alappuzha, who insists that girls ought to learn some combat sport or the other. Her daughter Aswathy has been the state wrestling champion for the last 3-4 years.
Both Aswathy and Surya go to a local gymnasium by the name Kattachira Pappudas Kerala gymnasium for training. Weekends are the days when they train, in the morning as well as in the evening for almost four hours a day.
A very soft-spoken wrestler Pankajavalli from Kallara, however said that her mother was a very worried person when she decided to learn wrestling. “She was worried that I would get injured. It took a lot of effort and time to convince her,” said Pankajavalli.
Injured, they often get. Shiny from Nalanchira was walking around with raw bleeding lip after her semi final round in the 46 kilogram category. “Oh that’s nothing,” said the brave heart. She also had a bad landing on her back when her opponent tried to pin her down on the mat.
Injuries are also the reason why all girlish items like long nails, hair clips, ear-rings, finger-rings and chains are strictly forbidden inside the ring. But injuries don’t dampen the spirits of these girls, who train on heavy weights and do macho stuff like push-ups and solid floor exercises.
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By Rick Stiebel
Goldstream News Gazette
Jan 31 2007
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Rick Stiebel/Goldstream News Gazette |
Langford-based wrestler looks to represent Capital Region at the national championships
All it took was one practice to hook Alycia Plumridge on wrestling.
A couple of her friends at Valleyview high school in Kamloops were on the wrestling team, said Plumridge, a Grade 10 student at Belmont secondary school.
“When I asked them what was so great about it, they said I should come out and try it,’” the 15-year-old said. “I decided to see for myself and fell in love with it after the first practice.”
Although she had only been wrestling two years before moving to Langford in September, Plumridge has placed at every tournament she’s entered, earning gold and silver medals along the way.
Now a member of the Victoria Commonwealth Wrestling Association Bulldogs – Belmont has no wrestling program – she got a chance to show her ex-schoolmates how far she’s come during the recent Western Canada age group championships in Kamloops Jan. 20-21.
Competing in the 80-kilogram and over weight class, Plumridge secured her latest gold by pinning both of her opponents in less than a minute.
“I’d wrestled both girls before and knew their styles,” she said. “I was well-prepared and not surprised by the result.”
Although more than half of the 40 wrestlers at Valleyview were female, Plumridge is currently the only girl competing for the Bulldogs.
“It’s quite a change, but everyone made me feel really welcome,” she said. “There’s bickering and arguing with girls’ teams, but there’s none of that with the Bulldogs.”
She believes a lot more girls would get involved in wrestling if they took the time to check it out.
“Most people think it’s for guys, but it’s an amazing sport for girls,” said Plumridge, who also plays soccer and plans to play baseball this year. “You get a chance to travel and meet a lot of interesting people.”
She admits the amateur sport’s image isn’t helped by what passes for wrestling on television, calling it “all crap and acting.”
Wrestling requires strength, co-ordination, determination and conditioning, she explains. The combination of those things, not to mention her success, has also boosted her self-confidence, she says.
The support and understanding provided to Plumridge by Bulldogs coach Ed Ashmore has been a huge factor in her development as a wrestler, she says, adding that he’s a great coach.
A retired teacher who’s been around the sport more than 40 years and was instrumental in creating the Commonwealth club for athletes at schools without a wrestling program, Ashmore began coaching Plumridge in September. He’s been impressed by the enthusiasm she’s shown in that time.
“I’m really happy with what I’ve seen so far,” he said. “She’s only 15, so she has a lot of potential if she keeps it up.”
Ashmore also encouraged Plumridge to get involved in refereeing. Although she’s officiated in just two tournaments so far, she says the experience has been enjoyable since it’s given her insight into judges’ scoring decisions.
Next up for Plumridge on the competition side is the Alberni Classic, which goes tomorrow through Saturday in the wrestling hotbed of Port Alberni. She expects to face unfamiliar opponents but is looking forward to the challenge. “All of my friends say it’s a great tourney. I’m really excited about it.”
If all goes well there and at the zone qualifier event Feb. 10 in Campbell River, Plumridge believes she has a good shot at medalling at the B.C. high school championships Feb. 22-24 in Surrey.
This powerfully-built teen finished in the top 10 at the provincials the past two years. With more experience under her proverbial belt, she gunning for a top six result – a finish that would guarantee her a spot at the national cadet (Grade 9-10) championships in Brampton, Ont. in April.
Although earning a wrestling scholarship is her main goal, Plumridge says she plans to attend a university with a good wrestling program whether she has a scholarship or not.
“I’m doing well, why not continue?”
Grappling for gold… The Victoria Commonwealth Wrestling Association isn’t funded by the school district and relies on sponsorships to get its wrestlers to important meets. With several of its athletes having a good chance to qualify for nationals this year, it’s bound to get rather expensive for the wrestlers’ families.
For more information on helping these young athletes achieve their competitive goals, call Ed Ashmore at 384-0959.
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Terra Nova's Marina Piccolotti wins state wrestling title.
She pins all four opponents in dominating performance
Pacifica Tribune Staff
Article Launched: 01/31/2007 11:59:01 AM PST
Marina Piccolotti won the California Girls State Wrestling Championship in the 146-pound division last weekend in Hanford, Fresno County. Posting a 4-0 record for the tournament and pinning all of her opponents, including a second-round pin of Monte Vista's Natalie Berwieth in an exciting championship match. Piccolotti, the No. 2 ranked girls wrestler in the nation, upped her record to 31-1 with all 31 wins coming via pin.
Day one of the tournament saw her record two first-round pins, one over Kristen Kaeding of Torrance High and another over Lauren Ramos from Pacifica High in Oxnard. On day two she recorded a first-round pin in the se mi-finals against Brittany David of Liberty.
She is Terra Nova's first state wrestling champion and joins her uncle Johnny Piccolotti and her father, Tom Piccolotti, as Pacifica's state wrestling champions. Johnny won the State Title at 115 pounds in 1983 and Tom won in 1985 at 168 pounds. Both wrestled for Oceana High School.
"She has been dominating on the mat all year long. She works extremely hard and is deserving of her accomplishment," said head boys wrestling Coach Ken Richau. "Hopefully, her success pushes others to work harder and get better."
More than 300 girls converged on
Hanford over the weekend in search of a state championship in 14 different weight classes, a week after competing and placing in the top eight the previous week in the California Interscholastic Federation's Northern and Southern California Regional's.
Terra Nova sent six wrestlers to the two-day event. Also coming home with a medal was Brittany Braguine,, who placed eighth. She wrestled well in only her second tournament of the year.
Monica Kirkpatrick, Jamie Marchetti, Rebecca Kaplan and Brittany Piccolotti all wrestled well, each winning at least one match and scoring valuable team points to help Terra Nova to an eighth-place finish as a team. Vallejo High Schoolwas the team champion, followed by Hogan High in second. South Hills, San Leandro and Sacramento rounded out the top five. Castro Valley was sixth, followed by West Covina, Terra Nova, Pittsburg and Righetti.
The Lady Tigers will now set their sights on fundraising for the U.S. Girls Wrestling Championships in Detroit on March 31 and April 1. The cost of the trip is approximately $600 per wrestler. The girls will need the community's help getting there. Anyone interested in sponsoring the girls team or an individual wrestler can contact the girls wrestling coach, Tom Piccolottii, at 650-359-8228 or email DCRGM@aol.com
Anyone interested in joining the Coastside Grapplers Wrestling Team come to Terra Nova's mat room on Monday and Wednesday 6 -7:30 p.m. It is open to anyone 5-18 years old. Registration is done at the door.
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