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Korah captures city wrestling championship

By SooToday Staff
SooToday.com
Monday, February 12, 2007

Korah captured the Boys City Wrestling Championship hosted by Central Algoma Secondary School on Monday.

Korah had 79 points while their nearest competition St. Basil, had 47. Sir James Dunn was third, CASS fourth, Bawating 5th and White Pines 6th.

Individual champions were: 38 kg. Blake Sullivan(SJD), 44kg. Zack Reid (CASS), 51 kg. Greg Charette (Korah), 54 kg. Dan Jull (St. Basil), 57.5kg. Charles Charette (Korah), 61kg. Kyle Mammarella (St. Basil), 64kg. Allan Middleton (Korah), 67.5 kg. Shawn Sullivan (St. Basil), 72 kg. Jordan Ramsey (Korah), 77 kg. Tyson Derasp(Bawating), 83 kg. Darrid Wainwright (Bawating), 95kg. Jason Chalifoux (CASS), Unlimited Greg Corriere( White Pines).

Other CASS results: 61kg. Josh Gardner (3rd), 64 kg. Jessie Ripplinger (2nd), 72kg. Ben Tindall (2nd).

Meanwhile, Central Algoma won the Girls City High School Wrestling Championship.

CASS had 53 points while their nearest competition, Sir James Dunn had 34pts. Korah was third, Bawating fourth, St. Mary’s fifth, St. Basils sixth and White Pines seventh.

Individual Champions were: 47.5 Karly McLeod (CASS), 51kg. Marina Moffat (CASS), 57.5kg. Julie Hewitt (Baw), 61kg. Emily Beach (SMC), 64kg. Laurel Knowles (CASS), 67.5 kg. Lindsay Armstrong (CASS), 72kg. Reyanna Sangetino (SJD), 77 kg. Marielle Guillotte (SJD), Unlimited Cheryl Deschenes (BAW).

Other CASS results: 61kg. Deana Phillips (3rd), 72kg. Ashley
Alton (2nd)

The teams will now travel to Sturgeon Falls Feb. 15 for the
NOSSA Championships.
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Kodiak nabs two state titles

Article published on Monday, February 12th, 2007
DAILY MIRROR STAFF

Michelle Canete and Chloe Ivanoff captured state titles at the girls state wrestling tournament at Chugiak High School Friday and Saturday.

The pair becomes Kodiak’s first-ever girl state champions in wrestling.

Canete, coming off the boys large school state tournament, won four matches over the weekend to win the 105-pound weight class.

In the championship match, she pinned Wasilla’s Kendra Nelson in the third round.

Ivanoff, a freshman, won the 110-pound state title. She beat Wasilla’s Brooke Nelson 1-0.

Scoreless after two rounds, Nelson took the lead when Ivanoff was called for a stalling point. Ivanoff, though, registered a takedown with 15 seconds left to defeat Nelson 2-1.

“They wrestled real good,” Kodiak coach Pat Costello said. “It’s nice to have two champions.”

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Tons of locals at inaugural girls state wrestling tourney

By Mike Cane 2/13/07
Herald writer

Tara Miller (right) works out with Jackson teammate Jarred Mead during a practice last week. Miller, who wrestled at 112 pounds for the Timberwolves' boys team, is vying for the 103-pound title in the first girls state meet. Assistant coach Chett Hill (right) makes suggestions to Jackson wrestlers Kellie Meakins (left) and Tawnyrae Richards during practice last week.

Tara Miller is 5-foot-2 and weighs just a tad more than 100 pounds.

People often use adjectives like petite, dainty and delicate to describe someone of her stature.

But watch Miller wrestle for a few minutes and other vastly different words might come to mind: fierce, powerful, agile, relentless.

It's no secret that wrestlers, both male and female, come in all shapes and sizes. But Miller, a junior, and two of her teammates, senior Tawnyrae Richards (119 pounds) and sophomore Kellie Meakins (125), have gradually changed perceptions at Jackson High School in Mill Creek.

"A lot of them are kind of shocked," Miller, who competes at 103, said of how some students and teachers at Jackson react when they learn that Miller, Richards and Meakins are accomplished wrestlers.

"We're all so little," Miller said. "They say that they never expected seeing somebody like us wrestling. They think more of a bigger, bulkier person."

The Jackson girls lack bulk, but they possess plenty of other coveted traits, such as intensity, dedication and passion for a sport that has expanded in a historic way.

This weekend the Mat Classic wrestling championships at the Tacoma Dome will feature a sanctioned all-girls state tournament for the first time. The past three seasons, girls participated in an exhibition event at state but this is the first time girls had postseason qualifying tourneys leading up to state.

Washington joins Texas and Hawaii as states with sanctioned high school girls wrestling tournaments, said Jim Meyerhoff, assistant executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Jackson's Miller and Richards are among a groundbreaking group of state qualifiers aiming to win a championship in the all-classification tourney (see graphic for other local qualifiers).

"It's kind of neat for them to have their own separate path with the final goal in mind to become state champions for girls, and let alone be the first state champs in the state of Washington," Jackson coach Gustavo Anaya said. "That's pretty exciting for them, pretty exciting for the coaches and for anyone else who's paying attention."

Miller, Richards and Meakins all won sub-regional championships. At regionals on Saturday, Miller placed first and Richards was third. Meakins finished fourth and is a state alternate.

Last week the Jackson girls said the chance to make history motivated them all season.

"You practice that much harder knowing there's a better chance at taking a (state) title. There's a lot more motivation," said Richards, who this season has a match record of 9-2 (9-1 versus girls).

As a senior, Richards knows her first state tourney will be her last. The journey has been increasingly difficult, she said, and along the way she's been excited, nervous and terrified.

"It's my last year. I have to push that much harder," said Richards.

Richards has wrestled all four years at Jackson. Coach Anaya praised her dedication and believes her success, along with that of Miller and Meakins, has increased interest in the sport and could lead to more girls turning out next season.

"(Richards is) definitely setting an example for the other girls as far as being committed to a program and staying through the entire time," Anaya said.

The team started the season with seven girls but lost four through a combination of injury, fading enthusiasm and other issues, Anaya said.

"The training is pretty intense and some of the girls can't take it. But there's still gonna be a few girls who try to go through it with us next year," said Miller (16-7, 11-0 against girls).

Like many girls at other schools, the Jackson girls practice against each other as well as boys. Miller and Meakins (10-7, 8-4 against girls) often competed in Jackson's varsity lineup this season and combined to win seven matches against male counterparts (including tournaments).

Miller, Meakins and Richards say male teammates treat them like everyone else ("We're like a family," said Richards."), but the trio also enjoys sharing a special connection, one that links them as pioneers in a quickly growing sport.

"We're all equal," Miller said, "because we all push each other to work harder."

They practice hard, fight through pain and root for each other every chance they get.

The Jackson girls were excited to talk about their achievements and goals. They appreciate the attention. But their motivation to compete has nothing to do with a craving for media coverage.

"I'm in the sport because I love it. I'm not trying to get attention," Meakins said.

"I just want to be in the sport because it's hard, it's contact and it makes you push yourself. ... I absolutely love it."

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Pleasing God, man, woman

First published: Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Dennis and Mary Lou Walsh don't think their son Brian, an eighth grade wrestler at Loudonville Christian, should compete against female wrestlers. So he doesn't. For the second consecutive year, Brian forfeited his Section II Class D final rather than wrestle Duanesburg junior Amy Whitbeck.

The Walshes don't want their son to wrestle girls, Dennis said, because they're raising him to "honor and respect" them, and it would put their son in the classic no-win situation.

If a boy defeats a girl, he merely meets expectation; if he loses to one, "it's still a humiliating experience. We're doing what we think is in the best interest of our son," said Dennis, the school's coach.

But might he not learn more from treating girls who work as hard at wrestling as he does as equals?

Humiliating? Boys cry after they're beaten by boys too.

Nonetheless, the Walshes are willing to pay the consequence for their conviction, even if someday the bracket might pit their boy against some girl for a state championship.

I don't agree with their choice, but it was THEIR choice. But then Dennis spoke to the school's athletic director, Bruce Camilleri, about instituting school policy to prohibit males from wrestling females, which Loudonville Christian did last year. So now if a girl wants to wrestle for its team, she can't. If a boy wants to join the team and wrestle a female opponent when the draw calls for it, he must forfeit too.

The school justifies its position by claiming to follow God's will.

"It's just not what we feel honors the lord Jesus Christ," Camilleri said Monday. "This is the correct position, the godly position for us at Loudonville Christian to take. ... We're here to please the Lord, not to please man."

What about pleasing woman?

This issue isn't new. Most states don't have girls' wrestling divisions, so if high school girls want to wrestle, they must compete against boys. Camilleri realizes his school's position is unpopular, but besides wanting to protect female wrestlers from themselves, he's against girls wrestling boys because it requires intimate contact between genders.

"We feel it's wrong for our wrestlers to wrestle around and grope and grab a young lady," he said, though he admits that probably few wrestlers sexualize matches in such a brutish sport.

Even if one believes wrestling requires too much physical contact, how would such intimacy between two boys instead of a boy and girl be better?

We raise children and one day those boys and girls serve in the military together. Male gynecologists treat females. Female urologists treat males. Yet Loudonville Christian boys can't wrestle girls?

Religion's role in public life should have its limits. Unfortunately, Title IX has its limits when applied to private schools. So if Whitbeck and Brian Walsh were to make the small-school 103-pound final of this weekend's state qualifier, Whitbeck would gain automatic victory but be denied the experience of competing for it.

"It'd be upsetting on Saturday night if she makes it to the finals and he makes it to the finals and there's no match," said Whitbeck's mother, Deborah Lounsbury.

Then nobody wins, for God's sake.

Brian Ettkin can be reached at 454-5457 or by e-mail at bettkin@timesunion.com.
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Wrestler holds fast to his beliefs
Eighth-grader to forfeit shot at championship if it means grappling girls

By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Duanesburg wrestler Amy Whitbeck could advance to the state wrestling championship by forfeit if she faces Brian Walsh. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union) Loudonville Christian School wrestler Brian Walsh could forfiet his chances for a state championshhip. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

COLONIE -- Brian Walsh has been taught to treat women with respect. He hears the message every day at home and at school. He believes it, too. Which is why he'll give up a chance to wrestle in the state championship before competing against a girl.

Walsh, an eighth-grader at Loudonville Christian School, will be one of the top seeds in the 103-pound division when the Section II state qualifier begins Friday at Glens Falls Civic Center. Among the wrestlers in Walsh's weight class are two girls. And if Walsh has to face either Amy Whitbeck of Duanesburg or Kaylee Gillen of Johnstown, he'll forfeit, and his run toward the state championship will end.

"It's tough, you know," Walsh said earlier this week, "making it to the finals and then walking away. I've kind of struggled with it. But whatever happens, happens. I support the decision."

The decision was not made by Walsh alone. His parents do not believe boys should wrestle girls, and when Walsh became Loudonville Christian's first and only wrestler last season, the school board voted in favor of a rule barring boys from wrestling girls.

The Walsh family believes boys and girls should not wrestle for two reasons. First, they say the physical nature of the sport contradicts the honor and respect women should be shown by men. Second, they say boys face a no-win situation when wrestling girls. If the boy wins, he's beating up a girl. If the girl wins, well, he got beat up by a girl.

"Wrestling is about physical domination, and that's contrary to how we're raising our son," said Dennis Walsh, Brian's father and coach. "The other part is that boys don't want to wrestle girls. It's a very hard thing to do. It's a win-win for the girl and could be very humiliating for the boy. The girl could be an Olympic champion."

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association doesn't buy the argument. It allows girls to wrestle with boys as long as they meet certain fitness requirements. But since Loudonville Christian is a private school, it does not have to follow those guidelines. If a girl tried to join the wrestling team at Loudonville Christian, the school could ban her based on her gender, or allow her to compete only against girls, though few compete at the high school level.

"God talks about men honoring their wives and women, men being the stronger of the two," Loudonville Christian athletic director Bruce Camilleri said. "The Bible talks about youth, lust. The sexual attraction starts in junior high, and to put a boy and a girl together grappling and grabbing each other for holds, we just don't think that that honors the Lord. We feel it's wrong for our wrestlers to wrestle around and grope and grab a young lady."

Most wrestlers face girls without issue, though Whitbeck said boys have refused to wrestle her a few times. It's easy to understand why. Last year, she became the first girl in state history to advance to the state championship when she won the 96-pound division at the Section II qualifier. She said she respects Walsh for standing up for what he believes, but said she'll be disappointed if she reaches the final and advances to the state championship by forfeit because Walsh was her opponent.
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Pinning down the essence of wrestling

Craig Smith,Seattle Times staff reporter 2/13/07

It was close to 100 degrees in the padded building where the Sedro-Woolley wrestlers practice.

Coach Jay Breckenridge had purposely cranked up the temperature to make the 40 boys in the room sweat more and tire quicker.

"This is a brutal sport, and you have to be special to stay in it," explained Breckenridge, 47, who won the 148-pound state title for Burlington-Edison in 1978.

I was in the room on a pilgrimage to learn more about wrestling. Sometimes in this business, you just say to yourself, "I need to know more about this sport," and take off. What I was taking off at that moment was my sweater.

Since high school, I've always respected wrestlers because of the starkness of the sport — two opponents conducting what amounts to a public fight with rules. An opponent can humiliate you. This isn't like losing a tennis match.

As an adult, I realized that any sport that teaches kids to get up when they are down has a lot going for it.

Another obvious appeal of wrestling is its inherent democracy. The 103-pounder is every bit as valuable as the 285-pound goliath. A football team getting off a bus can prompt double-takes. A wrestling team getting off a bus looks like a history class adjourning.

These days, the sport is gaining favor with girls, and not as spectators. There were 376 girls who wrestled in Washington this season, and their first fully sanctioned state meet will take place in conjunction with the boys championships Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

The Washington championships have a national reputation as one of the sport's spectacles because 24 mats are busy at once.

What launched me on my quest was a new book, "Four Days to Glory," by Mark Kreidler, who followed two Iowa high-school wrestlers in their quest for four straight state titles.

One of my favorite passages:

"It isn't a lonely existence so much as a select one, and the wrestling coaches and parents and fans use that fact as a sort of proof of virtue; wrestlers are better than other athletes because their drive is so pure, because their pursuit is so solitary. So few people outside their closed society of fellow wrestlers could ever begin to understand the sacrifices they make in order to simply get on the mat, much less compete and win."

Sedro-Woolley was an obvious stop on my journey for enlightenment, with the Cubs going for a record sixth consecutive Class 3A state championship this week.

One of the first things I saw when I entered the room was a boy in a long-sleeve T-shirt that proclaimed, "Hicks from the Sticks Goin' for Six."

Off in a corner, junior 189-pounder Colby Grobschmit was in the process of doing 500 pull-ups during practice because a bacterial infection was keeping him off the mats. He had run 10 miles the previous day.

"I've been divorced twice because of wrestling," Breckenridge said. "It's a huge sacrifice on your family life to run a program like this because you're going nine months a year."

In past years, a lot of that time was devoted to the feeder program, Steel Claw Wrestling Club, which pumps kids into the junior-high program that feeds the high school. These days, someone else is doing a lot of the work with the junior program.

"If you don't have a good youth program, you're in trouble," Breckenridge said.

Sedro-Woolley has a good one, and the results are shown on Breckenridge's left lower leg — each championship year is tattooed onto his skin, beginning with 2002.

Like most wrestling coaches, Beckenridge talks with missionary zeal about his sport.

"One mistake and the match is over," he said.

"Make a mistake in football or basketball and there usually is plenty of time left on the clock. If you make a bad mistake in this sport, you get pinned."

OK, so what are things I learned or re-learned about wrestling?

One is that high-school wrestling is a "show-me, teach-me, hands-on" sport. Coaches, including 71-year-old Bill Herber at Bishop Blanchet, demonstrate techniques. Young coaches, usually eager assistants, often provide wrestlers at some schools with some of their toughest practice competition.

Another thing is that weight loss is more regulated than I believed it was and will get even stricter next year. Regulations go into effect that will set the lower limit on body fat at 12 percent for girls, 7 percent for boys. Wrestlers won't be allowed to lose more than 1.5 percent of body weight a week.

"The sport of wrestling has cleaned up its act," said Brent Barnes, coach at 4A power Lake Stevens. "When I was in college, it was ridiculous what we did."

He was referring to the era when rubber suits, vomiting and laxatives were commonplace. The deaths of three college wrestlers in 1997 triggered reforms.

The new system will replace the current one in which a doctor visits each team and certifies the lowest weight at which an athlete can wrestle.

I watched the exchange when a Blanchet wrestler stepped on the scale and told a doctor the weight for which he wanted to be certified.

The doctor replied, "That isn't going to happen."

Although there might be fewer laxatives and less starving than in the past, few wrestlers get to eat like normal teenagers.

Said Michael Lomsdalen, a two-time state champion for Sedro-Woolley: "You have to watch your diet and drink lots of water." The 160-pounder said "the reward of winning" makes the training and diet worthwhile.

What makes a good wrestler?

Aggressiveness is the No. 1 attribute. Anything less than a warrior mentality on the mat is a ticket to defeat and often injury.

Top wrestlers also have strength, balance, quickness, endurance, flexibility, good work habits, the ability to manage pain and a strong grip. They also have experience and coaching, because this is a sport where some instincts have to be overcome.

"You have to train your body to do certain things," Barnes said on the night his Lake Stevens team won its 111th straight Western Conference dual match, against Everett. "When somebody pulls on your head, your natural instinct is to pull away. If you do that, you expose yourself and open up."

Good technique wins the close matches that raw athleticism can't. Experience helps a wrestler know or find the right combination of moves against particular opponents.

Other things I learned:

• Good wrestlers can remember everyone who ever beat them.

• There are wrestling dummies that can be used to practice moves.

• The sport has its share of jargon. A coach hollering, "Cut him! Cut him!" isn't recommending a knife, but is telling his wrestler to turn the opponent loose so he can take him down again for more points.

• There are rules against slamming opponents on the mat, but it's a judgment call by the referee. Also, some holds are banned because they are dangerous.

• One of the most common mistakes is letting up once a lead is built.

• Because wrestling can be ferocious, extra measures are taken to ensure some civility. As a result, this is a handshake-crazy sport. Wrestlers shake hands at the opening ceremony for the team match, before their individual match, after their match, and with the opposing coach after their match.

The biggest lament of wrestling coaches is that their sport has become a victim of Title IX at the college level. Every four-year school in the state has dropped wrestling to bring the number of male and female athletes on campus more into balance. And as schools dropped wrestling, expenses rose for other schools because opponents were farther away. Presently, the only post-high-school wrestling in the state is at Yakima Valley and Highline community colleges.

Jim Meyerhoff, a former wrestler and coach who is assistant director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, said the lack of college opportunities is affecting the pool of high-school coaches.

"For a lot of coaches coming in now, the highest level of wrestling experience was high school," he said.

Breckenridge wrestled at Eastern Washington until concussions ended his mat career. He said it "haunts me every day" that he doesn't know how good he could have become.

He is determined to make his wrestlers the best they can be at the high-school level and isn't afraid to raise his voice to do it.

"Hey, how long does it take to fix a nosebleed?" he shouted from the mat to a wrestler being treated inside his office. "Stuff a ball of cotton in it and get out here!"

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com

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Briggs’ Henry is first girl to win league title

Sunday, February 11, 2007
Jeremy McLaughlin
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

With four teams in contention for the City League wrestling championship, eyes bounced from mat to mat to see who was winning during the final rounds yesterday.

But everyone at Briggs focused their attention on the center mat when the 112-pound final started. That’s where Briggs junior Gabrielle Henry made a dramatic comeback to become the first female City wrestling champion.

Henry trailed Centennial’s Francios Toure 7-1 and nearly got pinned at the end of the first period. She started the second on top and plugged away, turning Toure over with 36 seconds left and getting the pin with 10 seconds left.

"I was worried, but once I turned him, I squeezed as hard as I could," said Henry, who was named most outstanding wrestler. "I wasn’t going to let him up until he was pinned.

"I was weak in the knees (after the match). I couldn’t even stand. (My coaches) had to hold me up."

Henry’s win set off a celebration that was later matched when Brookhaven became City champion after one of the closest finishes in years. The Bearcats scored 204 points, two more than Whetstone and 5 1 /2 ahead of Marion-Franklin. It was Brookhaven’s first City title in five years.

Zach Steve’s win in the 215 final over Marion-Franklin’s Kenny Bidlack proved to be the difference. Bidlack, who had pinned Steve in 24 seconds earlier this season, led 6-5 after a takedown at the end of the second period. Steve earned two near-fall points with 38 seconds left in the third, didn’t allow Bidlack to escape after two restarts and collected three near-fall points at the end to win 10-6.

"After the second round (yesterday), I thought we were out of it," Steve said. "I’m really proud of my teammates. I might have won, but those guys (who won third- and fifth-place matches) are what got us here."

Six Brookhaven wrestlers took third or fifth, and Eddy Josey won the 145 final. The victories rocketed the Bearcats past Marion-Franklin, which led by 21 1 /2 points going into the final round.

"I stopped counting points and told our guys to go out and finish," Brookhaven coach Steve Ayers said. "That’s been our motto all year — just finish."

Whetstone senior Matt Tuttle (135) won his third City title when he outlasted Marion-Franklin’s Quentin Ryman 6-5. Tuttle is the school’s first threetime winner in nearly 30 years and led the Braves to their highest finish since 1978.

"It was a tough, close, tense match," Tuttle said. "This is a good goal to complete. (Winning) this year was the most fulfilling."

Marion-Franklin had one champion: Kenny Palmer (125). Centennial finished fourth, and defending champion West was fifth with Darryl Tucker winning at heavyweight.

East took home four individual titles. D’von Brice (130) won his second title. He defeated West’s Shawn Beard 11-8 in a rematch of last season’s 119 final. Bennie Hill (119), Russell Morgan (152) and James Swanson (160) also won.

"I thought we could win that many," East coach John Williams said. "The guys who won have practiced real hard and have done everything we have asked them to do."

Linden had two champions — Aaron Eiseman (103) and Markus Johnson (140) — as did Walnut Ridge with Willie Tatum (171) and Paris Wadlington (189).

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Lourdes has four new golden girls

GUELPH (Feb 13, 2007)

Six Lourdes Crusaders wrestled their way to gold medals at the Lourdes Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

Four golds came from the girls' side of the event, which attracted some of the top high school wrestling teams in the province.

Lourdes female grapplers Kim Cupid (41 kilogram), Zara Raaphorst (47.5kg), Erica Bellio (51kg) and Renatta Bellio (54kg) all won their divisions. On the boys' side it was Nick Sampogna (47.5kg) and Josh Pearsall (83kg) winning gold.

Other city girls winning their divisions were Danielle Tremaine of St. James (44kg), Hilary Rafla of Centennial (57.5kg), Emma Brightwell of Centennial (77kg) and Sarah Johnston of John F. Ross (83kg). Allison Leslie of Centre Wellington (67.5kg) also won.

On the boys' side, Kevin Chen (44kg) and Cody Airdrie (64kg) of Centennial won gold, as did Jamie Zolnai (67.5kg) of College Heights and Jeremy Latour (95kg) of St. James.

The District 10 wrestling championships are scheduled for Thursday at Erin District high school.