Courtney Weiser has earned her stripes as an outstanding wrestler and student.
Terry Carter: For the Chronicle
News Page
High marks everywhere
Cy-Fair's Weiser a winner in class and on the mat
By TERRY CARTER
For The Chronicle 2/14/07
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Courtney Weiser has earned her stripes as an outstanding wrestler and student. |
Dressed like a zebra and tipping the scales at 108 pounds, Cy-Fair wrestler Courtney Weiser might not look rugged and ruthless.
But she has the heart of a champion on the mat and in the classroom.
Academically, Weiser ranks first in her senior class of 843 Cy-Fair students. With a grade-point average above 6.9 on a 7.0 scale, she expects perfection despite taking every advanced course she can find.
As a wrestler, Weiser has become a four-time district champion and two-time Region III champion and was a fourth-place finisher at state in 2006. She pioneered the girls program at Cy-Fair as a freshman, battling solo to her first regional tournament.
Two-way standout
This season, the senior valedictorian (32-4) finished second to Cinco Ranch's Courtney Lindley (25-7) in a close regional battle.
"Courtney has done a good job out there, but the region has just gotten more competitive," Cy-Fair coach John Banas said.
Weiser's list of academic achievements is long and distinguished. She continues to work toward admission to Rice and Texas.
Weiser has more than 850 community service hours on the books since the end of her eighth-grade year.
Part of that extracurrcular work in middle school, which enhances college applications, came in a church wrestling league run by Rick Murray at Cypress United Methodist Church.
Murray is the father of two top-ranked Cy-Fair wrestlers currently dominating opponents: 145-pound senior Mike Murray (34-0) and 119-pound junior Angie Murray (28-0). Both are regional champions and will likely be top seeds in Austin next weekend.
No watching permitted
After trying gymnastics and martial arts, Weiser got drafted for Murray's wrestling class while in seventh grade because "Rick told her she couldn't just watch," Weiser's mother, Sue Weiser, said.
Weiser suffered a broken leg in her first state folk-style tournament as an eighth-grader. She continued workouts, however, and went on to become Cy-Fair's first female four-time district champion and its first regional and state qualifier.
Angie Murray has known Weiser for several years and became more interested in wrestling while working with her in preparation for Weiser's first state meet appearance.
"Courtney is always ready to wrestle, and she doesn't give up. Sometimes she'll beat people because of her flexibility," Angie Murray said. "That's helped me in practice."
Emphasis on conditioning
During her sophomore season, Weiser earned her first trip to state, but the level of competition was high.
"(Courtney) was the only Cy-Fair ISD girl to go to state that year. State competition in 10th grade was a shock as she (got) knocked out on the first day," Sue Weiser said.
"It really woke her up. She started really working on her general conditioning.
"When school started her junior year, she was taking seven above-level classes — three were AP classes — and going to Cap Elite (gym) three nights a week."
While most wrestlers are covered in simple school colors, Weiser stands out from the crowd with black-and-white zebra stripes. The wrestling attire suits her well.
"Early on, the referees started making comments about her fashionable attire, and then other folks would refer to seeing her at previous matches because they would remember her zebra outfit," her mother said. "It became her signature outfit.
"Wrestling really clicked for her. She loved it. She liked winning and the feedback. She's been the wrestling girls captain for four years."
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Noble pursuits
Torrance High senior is tougher than she looks when she hits the wrestling mat.
By Dave Thorpe
Staff writer 2/15/07
"Wrestler" is not what comes to mind when you see unimposing redhead Lindsay Noble. But when the Torrance senior hits the mat, whether it's against a boy or a girl, it's undeniable. Noble is a pretty darn good wrestler and tough as nails.
After finishing in the top three in her weight class at the Pioneer League finals, Noble is among the top area wrestlers slated to compete in the CIF Southern Section individual preliminaries Friday.
Top finishers advance to Saturday's CIF finals.
Bay League wrestlers who qualified compete in the Central Division at Brea-Olinda High.
Pioneer League wrestlers who qualified, including Noble, compete in the Coastal Division at Marina High in Huntington Beach. Action starts at 11 a.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday.
The top five wrestlers in each weight class advance to the CIF Masters Meet Feb. 23-24 at Carter High in Rialto.
Noble, a four-year varsity wrestler, is 22-9 overall this year -- 18-7 against girls and 4-2 against boys -- despite her unimposing looks and sweet disposition.
"She's a very feminine girl," said first-year Torrance coach Bernie Schafer, a former North Torrance wrestler and coach. "You wouldn't think she was a wrestler. She doesn't look like a wrestler. She's a quiet redhead. She's not physically really strong, but she has good technique, she's quick, has good skills and is limber. Our guys have a tough time wrestling against her in practice."
Noble has trained in kickboxing since she was 9 years old, so when she started high school, she was interested in trying a sport similar to the one-on-one combat she had already experienced.
"I liked that wrestling was a tough sport," Noble said. "It was also a challenge because I was the only girl on the team and it took great conditioning. The important thing for me is I never gave up. I fought through."
Schafer recognizes the mental and physical toughness required for a girl to enter the male-dominated arena of wrestling.
"A girl has to be twice as tough as guys to wrestle," Schafer said. "They might get ridiculed by other girls, who think they should be out shopping for makeup, but they are out there every day working hard."
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Oak Park aims for fourth straight
By RUS BAER of the Tribune’s staff
Published Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Oak Park Northmen enter the 77th annual MSHSAA Wrestling Championships beginning tomorrow at Mizzou Arena with 13 wrestlers, four returning state champions and an air of invincibility.
Warsaw advanced four wrestlers - half of them girls. Junior Erica Poe (13-17) and senior Ashley Larson (12-11) will try to follow in Beltz’s medal-winning ways at 119 and 130 pounds, respectively.
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Wrestling Insider, with Karl Pearson...
Star Beacon 2/15/07
Females have held their own this season
For many years, wrestling was considered strictly a boys sport, but more and more girls are breaking into the ranks. They've been successful at the venture, too.
This year, freshman Ashley Keenan made her mark on the Edgewood wrestling team. She has been a vital part of the Warriors' push to their first Northeastern Conference championship since 1970 and the first in the 22-year career of coach Greg Stolfer at the school. Her third place at the NEC Tournament was vital to the Warriors' drive to the title and made her the highest-placing female wrestler in NEC Tournament history.
With a 22-5 record entering Friday's Division II sectional tournament at Lake Catholic High School, Keenan has the best winning percentage of any area 103-pounder at .815. She is a candidate to advance to the Division II district tournament at Akron Firestone High School next weekend.
Keenan does not hold the distinction of being the first girl to place in the NEC Tournament, however. That distinction belongs to Lakeside junior Brittany Dell, who placed fourth at 125 pounds in the 2005 NEC Tournament.
Dell has remained an important part of the Lakeside squad. Although she did not wrestle in this year's NEC Tournament, she wrestled a fair portion of the schedule at 125 pounds for the Dragons.
By comparison, Pymatuning Valley sophomore Trisha Gruskiewicz is a new arrival in the sport, just taking up wrestling this season. She has been a key contributor to the Lakers in their drive to an Eastern Ohio Wrestling League Division IV team title.
Gruskiewicz has compiled a 6-5 record at 112 pounds, earning a pin and a decision along the way. She has also been an excellent wrestling partner for Tim Goodman, who has wrestled the majority of the matches at 112, MacCuillan Clancey, who has compiled a 16-15 record at 103 pounds, and Eric Massie at 119 pounds.
Dell is the veteran of the group, having started wrestling in the fifth grade and continuing through the junior high ranks. She has totally immersed herself in the sport, trying to compete in as many girls events offered in Ohio and around the region as possible, attending summer camps and helping out with the Little Lizards youth program that has been set up by Lakeside.
"I get dusted a few times, and it is a bit weird that I'm the only girl on the team, but I still enjoy it," she said. "I think some of the guys were a little hesitant, but now they've become like brothers to me."
Keenan is in her third season of wrestling, getting her start in the Braden Junior High program.
"A bunch of my friends signed me up for it," she said. "(Edgewood teammate) Jordyn Dickey bet me that I wouldn't stay with it for more than two weeks, but the more I got into it, the more I liked it.
"At first it seemed a little weird to me, but I've really come to like wrestling. I've really come to enjoy being around the team. They're a lot of fun, especially all the seniors."
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Local wrestling squads ready for sectionals
by pete spitler, the Southern 2/10/07
In Class AA, Carbondale is sending six to the next round, including freshman Alli Ragan in the 112-pound class. The Terriers finished second behind Mascoutah in the Effingham Regional.
"We had a terrible week of practice last week due to illness," Carbondale coach Dennis Ragan said. "I didn't know what to expect going into regionals, but thankfully the illness hit early in the week and the kids got healthier as the week went on."
Ragan points to seniors Morgan Krummrich (135 pounds) and Zach Lomax (145 pounds) as two who have really influenced Carbondale's season. Krummrich is 32-12 this season, while Lomax has gone 35-5.
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Jakes make state
Bennett, Constant to represent CS8 at AA wrestling meet in hampaign
By ROBERT BURNS
STAFF WRITER
Published Sunday, February 11, 2007
The competition produced what is believed to be the first state-qualifying girl from a locally run Class AA sectional when Carbondale freshman Alli Ragin finished second at 112 after dropping a 3-2 decision to Mascoutah's Kent Williams.
As the match drew most of the attention of the crowd, Ragin (38-7) led 1-0 in the first period before Williams (37-4) tied it with an escape, then took the lead with a takedown in the second period.
Ragin advanced by winning three bouts, including a 58-second pin of Bethalto Civic Memorial's Kory Stassi in the second round.
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WSIL 2/15/07
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Two pairs of siblings will be among the contingent of 20 wrestlers representing southern Illinois this weekend at the State Wrestling Championships in Champaign. Alli and Jared Ragan of Carbondale are the first brother-sister duo to make it to state, while fraternal twins Austin and Aaron Phemister from West Frankfort will be making their third state appearance.
Illinois Matmen Forums > Statewide > IHSA AA > Alli Ragen...
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