Oceanside's 130 pounder Christina Hernandez wrestles Fallbrook's Patty Diaz.
JAMIE SCOTT LYTLE Staff Photographer
Order a copy of this photo
Visit our Photo Gallery
News Page
Girls in prep wrestling once considered oddities are now at the forefront
By: SIMON SAMANO - Staff Writer 2/16/07
|
Oceanside's 130 pounder Christina Hernandez wrestles Fallbrook's Patty Diaz. |
OCEANSIDE ---- For three years, Oceanside High senior Christina Hernandez has been a wrestler, and by all accounts a pretty darned good one at that.
"She's been the best wrestler I've had in the wrestling room," Oceanside coach Ron Sigler said. "By far, she has had the best attitude for three years."
Competing in girls-only invitational tournaments throughout California, Hernandez is undefeated this season, posting a 30-0 record at 126 pounds. She recently won the CIF Girls Southern Regional title with a 7-1 victory in the finals over Oxnard's Samantha Stych, who is ranked ninth in the nation by the United States Girls' Wrestling Association.
Pummeling her way to wins against girls is one thing. But Hernandez's biggest challenge to date will come Saturday, as Sigler will use her as his 125-pound entrant for the CIF San Diego Section Division II tournament.
Sigler has confidence that Hernandez just might be able to catch some boys off guard ---- enough for a top-six finish at divisionals, which would qualify her for the CIF San Diego Section Masters meet.
"She's tough. She don't take no guff off the boys, and she'll get after you," Sigler said. "She beats most of the guys in our room, especially around her weight class."
On the first day of practice each season, Hernandez has had to grapple with initial bouts of doubt ---- obviously not from her coach and never from herself. Rather, the questioning of her ability has always come from new teammates ---- male ones ---- all because she's a girl.
It never fails.
"Every year," Hernandez said, "I know that when we get new guys that come in, at first they're like, 'Oh, well, what is she doing in here?' "
Not surprisingly, that attitude is the product of traditional thinking, which says that a wrestling mat is no place for a female. But what skeptics don't realize at first glance is that Hernandez takes the sport seriously. It doesn't take long for her to turn heads and raise eyebrows among the boys.
"Once they're in the room and they see me go at it with other people," Hernandez said, "I can see their minds change about what they thought."
Wrestling wasn't Hernandez's primary sport of choice, and there was some natural hesitation by her to join the team because of the gender difference. Since childhood, however, Hernandez has always been curious about the sport.
"I used to watch my friend's older brother, and he would always have fun with it," Hernandez said. "I would see that it could be something I might like. It seemed like something different. But it wasn't really something I wanted to do at first.
"I used to play basketball, and I used to always be physical on the court. (Coach Sigler) told me that maybe wrestling would be a good thing for me. So I tried it, and I found that I like beating up on people."
Since then, Hernandez's desire to punish her opponents has prominently been on display. By her count, Hernandez has defeated at least 10 boys during her three years with the Pirates. But in focusing almost solely on competing against girls this season, Hernandez has wrestled against just two boys, losing in triple overtime in a match against Rancho Buena Vista and dropping a 5-1 decision in a meet with El Camino.
Though they were tough losses, the fact that Hernandez hung tough in both instances was enough proof that her newfound philosophy while wrestling against boys works well.
Maybe it will be enough to get her to the Masters tournament, which would be an impressive achievement in itself.
"This year and last year I learned to use mostly technique," Hernandez said. "My first year I tried to use my strength, but that didn't work. So I've focused on technique, and it helps. I realized that technique is basically all you need."
A growing trend
Hernandez is part of a girls wrestling population that has been significantly on the rise in the U.S. in recent years.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the number of female high school wrestlers has tripled in the last decade, from 1,629 to 4,975. A survey conducted by the NFHS based on the 2005-06 academic year revealed that the number of female wrestlers increased 15 percent from the previous year.
Trevor Keifer, vice president of Southern California operations for the California Women's Wrestling Association, doesn't attribute the movement to any specific reason, except that girls are merely finding more of an interest in wrestling.
"It looks like fun to them, and they find the hard work and the passion for the sport, just like any boy would," said Keifer, who is also coach of a girls wrestling club, San Diego Hot Beaches.
But even as more and more girls venture out onto the mat, Keifer acknowledged there still are a few old-fashioned coaches who are against such change. They hold on to the old mentality that wrestling isn't a sport for girls.
"There is, there still is, and there probably always will be," Keifer said of the opposition. "That's just the nature of man, I guess."
Fallbrook High coach Roy Oliver, who worked as USA Wrestling's director of women's wrestling from 1993-98, says that line of thinking needs to stop.
"If you're for kids and seeing them grow, you've just got to go with the flow," Oliver said. "The times are changing, and coaches are going to have to accept it. We need to show society that wrestling is a sport that can make these girls responsible young ladies. You can't say enough about the discipline you get from wrestling."
CIF stalling
Currently, there are only two state high school athletic associations ---- Texas and Hawaii ---- that have girls state wrestling championships. Washington is slated to become the third next year, and Florida is said to be getting close.
But California, which has the reputation of being a trend-setting state, currently isn't on board with having a CIF-sanctioned girls state wrestling meet. Only two girls wrestling tournaments ---- the Northern and Southern Regional championships ---- are sanctioned by the CIF. This year marked the second consecutive season that the CIF has sanctioned those tournaments.
Recently, the CIF announced plans to extend the current North-South format for two more years before deciding whether there is enough interest to sanction a state girls meet.
"Realistically, it should happen in the next three years," Keifer said. "They just want to see more bodies out there and more of a demand for it."
California girls wanting to wrestle only against other girls have been able to do so by entering various invitational tournaments throughout the state. The CWWA has gone so far as to organize an unofficial state meet, using the results of the CIF Northern and Southern Regionals as the basis for seeding.
"I want to get to a time where these girls don't have to worry about wrestling boys anymore," Oliver said. "I'm hoping that day comes soon where they just wrestle each other and don't worry about the boys."
While the interest among girls statewide is large ---- some estimate the number of participants at 600 ---- Keifer said participation among girls in the San Diego Section is lagging. According to Keifer, there are 75 girls on the section's wrestling rosters.
"We're a little behind; even though we've produced some of the best girls wrestlers in the country, there are still too few," Keifer said. "But this year, in talking with coaches, it seems like more girls are becoming more interested."
Contact staff writer Simon Samano at simon_samano@yahoo.com.
BIO BOX
Christina Hernandez
School: Oceanside
Year: Senior
Sport: Wrestling
Weight class: 126 pounds
Notable: Hernandez is undefeated (30-0) in girls-only tournaments and won the CIF Girls Southern Regional championship. She will represent the Pirates at 125 pounds in Saturday's CIF Division II championships.
Quotable: "I know that when we get new guys that come in, at first they're like, 'Oh, well, what is she doing in here?' Once they're in the room and they see me go at it with other people, I can see their minds change about what they thought." ---- Christina Hernandez
Fast Facts
4,975: number of U.S. high school girls wrestlers
1,081: number of U.S. high school wrestling teams with girls on its roster
15: percentage increase in number of U.S. high school girls wrestlers from 2004-05 to 2005-2006
75: number of high school girls wrestlers in the San Diego Section
2004: first year that the Olympics included women's wrestling
.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local wrestling official makes history at state tournament
Steve Dorsey | Thursday, February 15, 2007, 08:19 PM
LAKELAND - Pam Hardy made history here today.
Hardy is a member of the Palm Beach Wrestling Officials Association. She is one of 18 referees selected to officiate matches at the FHSAA state wrestling championships that began Thursday at The Lakeland Center, making her the first female to officiate a state tournament in Florida.
Veteran PBWOA official Ken Veronee also was selected to referee matches this weekend.
There were plenty of matches Thursday, the first day of the three-day tournament. Nineteen of the 55 local wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament won their first-round matches to advance to today’s quarterfinal round that begins at 10 a.m. Those winners will advance to tonight’s semifinals.
There was a chance that two brothers with local ties would meet today in the quarterfinal round. Atlantic High’s Justin Chase and his older brother Nick Chase, who moved to the Orlando area last summer and now wrestles for Oviedo High, simultaneously wrestled their first-round matches on mats next to each other. Nick won his Class 3A 215-pound match, but Justin lost his, spoiling the possibility of a very rare matchup.
Imagine what their mother would have been put through having to watch that had it materialized.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher H. Roberts/Tracy Press
Saturday, 17 February 2007
Enrique Gutierrez/Tracy Press - Do it like this:Tracy High’s Danielle Rond gets some instructions from her father and coach, Daryl, during a practice in the Tracy gym. |
The sport is changing, but gender equality is not yet a reality. By Christopher H. Roberts
Grenada High wrestler Joey Potts was ready for his match.
Visiting Tracy High for a preseason dual in December, Potts had made weight, practiced his moves, and put himself in the proper mindset to face his opponent, whomever he would be.
Turns out he planned for everything — except that “he” bit.
When Potts stepped into the ring, his opponent looked a little different from most wrestlers — OK, make that all the wrestlers — he’d faced. For starters, his opponent was wearing a neon green head wrap and sports bra underneath the ringlet. Sports bra His opponent was — a girl
“I didn’t see the schedule (of matches),” said Potts, moments after wrestling Tracy High’s Xiomara Fonseca, one of four young women joining the scores of boys on the local wrestling teams. “So, when I came out I was like, ‘Coach, this is a chick I’m going to wrestle!’”
For Potts — and for many wrestlers and wrestling fans in Tracy and beyond — seeing Fonseca, teammate Danielle Rond and West High’s Amanda Banuelos and Esmeralda Magana take to the mat and wrestle boys is still a rarity, even though both teams have featured girls on the roster from time to time since the 1980s.
Having members of both sexes on a team poses logistical problems in any sport, but, if it’s possible, it’s even tougher with wrestling. Weigh-ins are different. Ringlets aren’t designed with the female form in mind. The odd boyfriend is apt to get jealous. Coaches and wrestlers alike are mindful of where they put their hands — and some don’t hide their lack of expectations.
“People were going, ‘You’re not going to last a week,’” Banuelos said. “I said, ‘Now I’m definitely going to do this, to prove I can wrestle.’
“And I’m still here.”
“It takes a special kind of girl to wrestle,” West coach Ed Carlos said. “Someone who knows she’s going to get beat up every day and get hurt every day.”
And while having four girls between the two teams is an all-time high for Tracy and is a sign of the changing times — then-Tracy coach Pete Mullen can remember parents vocally opposing coed participation in the mid-1980s — it’s still not easy for the girls or the boys they wrestle.
Just ask West’s Grant Severietti. Up against a Stagg wrestler in the first dual meet of the season, he maneuvered himself on top of his opponent in a position called “the ride.” Very typical — but with the Stagg wrestler a female, the result was a situation that brought peals of laughter from the crowd, something that would never happen if it were a male.
“It was kind of awkward — she was kind of hot,” Severietti said. “But once you get in there (the ring), you don’t think about that.”
While that’s the mindset that will bring true equity, the day where it’s universal is still a long way off. West assistant coach Rudy Carranza can recall grapplers leaving a tournament crying after losing to a girl. And while girls have a state tournament of their very own to attend as well as girl-only weekend tournaments, Carlos said the ultimate goal for most female wrestlers is to eventually win a match over a male opponent — something that most assuredly does not go both ways.
“It’s something that some guys just won’t ever get over,” said Tracy alum Shareese Mulholland, who now wrestles at Menlo College. “It just depends what team you’re on.”
Mulholland said she was lucky — her teammates were nothing but supportive. And that’s been the experience for Fonseca, Rond, Banuelos and Magana. And good thing, too — without it, Mulholland says she’d be a totally different person.
“It helped me get through high school,” she said. “I wasn’t popular or anything, it just gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day. Wrestling really changed my life — I was lucky.”
“People need to become more mature and understand it’s just wrestling,” she added. “Guys would have to put their head in my chest and they wouldn’t do it. I’d have to yell at them and say, ‘Forget I’m a girl! Just do it.’”
To reach Sports Editor Christopher H. Roberts, call 830-4267 or e-mail croberts@tracypress.com.This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
-----------------------------------------------------------
Wrestling squad geared up for provincials
Women's side strong, men must wrestle to their potential
Mallory Daley and Katie Graves
Friday, February 16, 2007
Coming off a successful meet in early February, Western’s wrestlers have their sights set on the Ontario University Athletics championships this weekend. Both the men’s and women’s squads proved their strength two weekends ago with strong performances at the Western Open.
The women’s team placed third overall with 38 points. Terri McNutt, wrestling for the affiliated London-Western club, placed first in the 61-kilogram weight category. Mustang standouts Stephanie Szmiett and Gillian McCallum placed second in the 48-kilogram and 63-kilogram, respectively.
Jessica Fitzgerald, who placed fourth in the 67-kilogram class, discussed the team’s future goals.
“I think we need to focus on the stuff we’re good at,” she said. “[We need to] go in and [not] try anything crazy.”
The equally prepared men placed fourth overall with 26 points. Contributing to the success was a standout performance by team captain Phil Medeiros, who placed third in the 57-kilogram. Also noteworthy was Jeff Werden, who finished fourth in the 54-kilogram.
Medeiros is proud of his team’s growth this season.
“I think we’ve really come along as a team,” he said. “We’ve all improved along the way, and I think we’re peaking at the right time.”
The key to the men’s success this weekend will be a veteran presence for a team lacking the women’s depth.
Despite the men’s possible vulnerability, Mustangs head coach Ray Takahashi believes both teams will succeed at the OUAs.
“Both our men and women have had some good results,” he said. “We have 10 weight classes for men and eight for women, and we have a chance to qualify in all the weight classes.”
Medeiros feels the men’s team can go far if it works to its full ability.
“If we wrestle to our potential and we all go out with the mentality that we can beat anyone, I think we’ll be just fine.”
Takahashi hopes his teams avoid injuries; he says a healthy squad can make or break their chances.
“We don’t want to risk any chance of injury, which is a big issue in wrestling,” he said. “If we stay healthy and keep a positive attitude, I think we’ll be fine.”
Takahashi was pleased with both squads at the Western Open and thought the event showed their potential.
“I think it was a good tune-up for the OUAs,” he said. “We had some tough matches which could have gone either way, so I think we had a pretty good showing.
“On the female side, I think the likelihood of winning the OUA championship is pretty good,” he said.
Expectations are high for the women’s squad, but they relish the opportunity to be the team to beat. Superstar Fitzgerald is up for the challenge.
“It would be great going into [nationals] knowing that we were the best in Ontario,” she said.
------------------------------------------------------------
Finals feature intrigue
Story lines abound in Section II wrestling finals
By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Saturday, February 17, 2007
-- Female wrestlers are finding success at the Section II state qualifier for the second year in a row. Last year, Duanesburg junior Amy Whitbeck made state history when she advanced to the state championship at 96 pounds. She faces another girl, Kaylee Gillen of Johnstown Saturday in the Division II 103-pound semifinals. That's not the only semifinal match featuring two girls. Schuylerville freshman Sarah Anderson, who finished third at the qualifier at 96 pounds last season, faces Abby Roth of Warrensburg in the Division II 96-pound semifinals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lebanon girl earns 1st-round win
By Jesse Sowa 2/16/07
Albany Democrat-Herald
David Patton/Democrat-Herald Lebanon’s Amy Bloom pinned Jefferson’s DeAngelo Bell in her 103-pound first-round match at the state tournament in Salem. |
West Albany advances five wrestlers in 5A; Sweet Home has nine continuing in championship bracket
SALEM — It was Amy Bloom’s chance to shine Thursday and she didn’t miss her opportunity.
The Lebanon High School sophomore got her first wrestling state tournament win in dominating fashion, pinning Jefferson freshman DeAngelo Bell in the first round of the 5A 103-pound bracket at The Pavilion on the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
Bloom lost both her matches in the tournament last season and had her eye on a victory this time around.
“I was hoping it would and it came true. I’m pretty excited about that,” said Bloom, who led Bell 14-0 before getting the third-round fall.
The Oregon School Activities Association doesn’t keep track of wins by girls in the state tournament, but they are rare.
Bloom certainly was a part of history Thursday.
“I don’t really look at it that way,” she said. “I just hope I can go far and go to college.”
Bloom came into the tournament hoping to place, which means finishing among the top eight in the bracket.
Waldport’s Misty Corwin became the first girl to place in the state tournament last year.
Bloom and teammate Bryant Darby were the only Lebanon wrestlers of seven entrants to make this morning’s second round. Darby pinned Mazama’s Chris Phillips to earn his spot at 171 pounds. The semifinals will be held tonight.
Lebanon senior 125-pounder Isaac Salazar didn’t make weight for the tournament.
West Albany has five in the second round.
Senior Wayne Stearns went to overtime before defeating Mitch Fargher of St. Helens 3-1.
Early in the overtime, Stearns caught his right pinky finger in Fargher’s head gear, bending the finger and causing Stearns to take injury time to get it taped up.
Stearns scored one point for an escape in the first round, and Fargher got a point back with his own escape in the third. Stearns got a takedown with 17 seconds remaining in the one-minute overtime for the victory.
Stearns said his first match of a tournament is always his worst, so he was glad to get it out of the way.
“I think I was thinking too much. I knew, I’m a senior, and if I lose I’m done,” Stearns said.
Other Bulldogs qualifying for the second round were Taylor Donahue (130), Jacob Richard (135), Daniel Glenn (140) and Billy Goldsberry (145).
Both of South Albany’s entrants fell into Thursday night’s consolation round.
Trenton Simon (140) lost a 6-5 decision to Chad Lanz of Churchill in the first round.
Lanz was awarded one point with three seconds remaining in the match after Simon was penalized for a technical violation.
The official ruled Simon drove Lanz off the mat while Simon tried to maintain his control in the closing seconds.
Kyler York (152) lost 10-5 to Mid-Willamette Conference rival Bo Christianson, the bracket’s third seed.
“I told him that was the most aggressive I’m seen him on his feet,” South coach Mike Mondale said.
Sophomore 112-pounder Colten Stephens withdrew from the tournament.
4A
Sweet Home qualified nine for today’s second round.
Freshman 103-pounder Taylor Tagle provided an early highlight as he defeated second seed Craig Morgan of Estacada 11-1.
Sweet Home coach Steve Thorpe said Tagle faces a tough bracket the rest of the way.
“He can’t hang his hat on that because he’s already got his focus on the next match,” Thorpe said.
The Huskies also got first-round wins from Danny Johnson (112), Jake Smith (119), Brock Crocker (125), Nick Pitts (145), Andrew Knight (152), Brandon Lawson (160), Rob Helfrich (189) and Matt Parker (215).
Championship bracket only
Seeds in parentheses
Pigtails
5A
119: Thomas Gowing, Willamette p. Tyrel Harry, West Albany, 2:28
140: Daniel Glenn, West Albany dec. Diego de la Rosa, Hillsboro, 8-6; Ethan Parks, Hermiston dec. Josh Sim, West Albany, 10-0
189: Todd Totten, Lebanon p. Zack Luther, Klamath Union, 3:05
285: Josh Barraza, Hermiston dec. Kyle Bellon, Lebanon, 2-1
4A
103: Mitch Grove, Sweet Home p. Kyle Gray, South Umpqua, 3:52
112: Casey Johnson, Sweet Home dec. Dylan Weitman, Stayton, 10-4
119: Luke Amuchastegui, Phoenix dec. Jack Perry, Sweet Home, 4-0
140: Cody Weishoff, Molalla p. Daniel Smith, Sweet Home, 4:56
145: Nick Pitts, Sweet Home p. Frank Lopez, Ontario,
2:45
160: (4) Judah Lockwood, Henley p. Brad Pitts, Sweet Home, 1:58 171:Noah Berman, Phoenix p. Cody Ottre, Sweet Home, 1:34
215: Cliff Rhoten, Rogue River dec. Ethan Rowe, Sweet Home, 10-0
First round
5A
103: Amy Bloom, Lebanon p. DeAngelo Bell, Jefferson, 4:27; Trenton Kaiser, Eagle Point dec. Dalton Urrutia, Lebanon, 11-9
112: Sam Noah, Hillsboro def. Colten Stephens, South Albany by forfeit
125: Steven Quesada def. Isaac Salazar, Lebanon by forfeit
130: Taylor Donahue, West Albany dec. Will Winkler, Cleveland, 16-6
135: Jacob Richard, West Albany p. Ken Dube, North Eugene, 1:43
140: Daniel Glenn, West Albany dec. Chris Brace, The Dalles-Wahtonka; Chad Lanz, Churchill dec. Trenton Simon, South Albany, 6-5
145: Billy Goldsberry, West Albany tech. fall Cody Cummings, Wilsonville, 5:15
152: (3) Bo Christianson, Corvallis dec. Kyler York, South Albany, 10-5
160: Wayne Stearns, West Albany dec. Mitch Fargher, St. Helens, 3-1 OT
171: Bryant Darby, Lebanon p. Chris Phillips, Mazama, 2:48
189: Levi Morgan, Thurston dec. Jered Whitson, West Albany, 7-3; Zack Luther, Klamath Union dec. Todd Totten, Lebanon 3-1
215: (1) Terrell Fortune, Parkrose p. Forrest Lammert, Lebanon, 1:33
285: Tyrel Albert, Crook County p. Stephan Kemper, West Albany, 3:59
4A
103: Taylor Tagle, Sweet Home dec. (2) Craig Morgan, Estacada, 11-1; Jordan Smith, Scappoose dec. Mitch Grove, Sweet Home, 14-4
112: Danny Johnson, Sweet Home dec. Brian Bowers, South Umpqua, 10-4; Dustin Woosley, Tillamook dec. Casey Johnson, Sweet Home, 6-0
119: Jake Smith, Sweet Home dec. Jesse Spratt, Tillamook, 10-0
125: Brock Crocker, Sweet Home dec. Jeff Baxter, 8-0; Kody Sells, Hidden Valley dec. Derek Sharp, Sweet Home, 11-1
130: (2) Jonathan Floyd, Estacada tech. fall Joe McCaslin, Sweet Home, 5:01; Jimi Martin, Tillamook p. Chris Farris, Sweet Home, 1:41
135: (1) Billy Dunn, Cottage Grove dec. Casey Hanscam, Sweet Home, 9-0
145: Nick Pitts, Sweet Home p. Morgan Warr, Henley, 4:49
152: Andrew Knight, Sweet Home dec. Rett Heggie, Henley, 12-4; (2) Nick Amuchastegui, Phoenix, p. Sawyer Anderson, Sweet Home, :47
160: Brandon Lawson, Sweet Home dec. Nathan Gent, Junction City, 14-2
189: Rob Helfrich, Sweet Home p. Danny Hodges, Pleasant Hill, 2:40
215: Matt Parker, Sweet Home p. Michaelanglo Ortiz, Ontario, 5:33
----------------------------------------------------------
2/16/07
Three girls qualified for state but only one was still wrestling today.
Competing at 119 pounds in Class 2, St. Clair sophomore Randi Beltz (24-5) lost to Oak Grove’s Kodie Morgason (37-13) by a 19-6 score this morning in the quarterfinals.
Beltz, who became the first girl to win a wrestling medal in MSHSAA history last year when she placed fifth at 103, opened the tournament with a 17-5 major decision over Carl Junction’s Michael Maddock.
Warsaw’s female duo of junior Erica Poe (119) and senior Ashley Larson (130) went 0-2 on the first day. Poe finished the season 13-19 and Larson was 12-13.
------------------------------------------------
WRESTLING NOTEBOOK: Olympic's Yeik Proves She Belongs In Boys Tourney
By Kitsap Sun Staff
February 17, 2007
Tacoma
Steve Zugschwerdt | Kitsap Sun Olympic wrestler Camie Yeik, bottom, wrestling in the boys division, dispensed of Trent Morgan from Sedro Woolley 5-0 to stay alive in the consolation round at the Matt Classic being held this weekend in the Tacoma Dome. |
Olympic’s Camie Yeik is one of only two girls allowed to compete in the boys state wresting tournament.
And she showed she belonged there.
Yeik bounced back from a first-round loss Friday and won two matches at Mat Classic. The wins advanced her to the medal rounds today. Yeik is only the second girl to win a medal in the boys tournament.
Whitney Condor of Puyallup, who beat Yeik last year en route to a seventh-place finish, is the only other girl to win a medal (top-eight finish).
It’s been an interesting Mat Classic for Yeik. As she was grandfathered into the boys tournament (she was one of two girls returning who qualified for state last year), and with the new girls tournament kicking off this year, Yeik has become a spokesperson for female wrestlers. Reporters stopped her all day to ask her thoughts on wrestling.
"It’s been OK," she said. "I’m used to answering questions. It doesn’t bother me."
By winning a medal, Yeik answered any questions that might have lingered about her competing in the state tourney.
"I guess there’s a little bit of pressure because I’m the last of the girls wrestling the guys," she said. "There’s a little bit of pressure to do well."
Yeik can finish as high as third today.
"She practices more than other guy," Olympic coach Bobby Manglona said. "She’s year around; she works hard; she deserves respect. She really does."
Class 3A
Olympic
103: Camie Yeik — 1st rd: Lost to Aung Sithu (Kenn) 10-4, Consolation: def. Kyle Young (Enu) 9-1, def. Trent Morgan (SW) 5-0;
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Northampton wins district title
Jacket wrestlers earn 20th district championship for Coach Harman
By GREG MERRITT 2/17/07
Winning individual weight class championships for Northampton were Mandy Barnes (112), Parke Atkinson (125), John Hickman (130), Ryan Rock (145), James West (215) and Tom Ward (285).
Barnes became just the second female wrestler to win a district title. Last year Nicole Beasley
-------------------------------------------------------------------
OCU to cradle women's wrestling next fall
Newsok4.com 2/14/07
OCU wrestling coach Archie Randall discusses women's college wrestling as the next OCU varsity sport at a press conference on Tuesday.
Oklahoma City University announced Tuesday it will add women's wrestling as a varsity sport beginning next fall. It is the third
OCU officials also announced the school is going ahead with its goal of entering the NCAA Division I level in the future.
Men's wrestling coach Archie Randall will coach both wrestling teams and will oversee the start-up process. OCU already has an oral commitment from Tulsa East Central female wrestler Cheyenne Stokes.
There are six colleges in the United States that have women's wrestling programs. Randall said about 5,000 girls wrestle nationally, with half coming from Texas.
"These girls are at the top of their sport and have the goal to be an Olympian,” Randall said. "What we can give them is a quality education and the opportunity to be an Olympian.”
Cumberland (Ky.), Menlo College, Missouri Valley, Northern Michigan, Pacific and Trinity (Conn.) all have women's programs. Randall said OCU will wrestle those schools and will travel to Canada twice next year. Canada has 16 colleges that have women's wrestling programs.
Women's wrestling is not sanctioned by the NCAA but might be soon. OCU currently has 11 sports but needs 14 to compete at the NCAA Division I level. The school has recently built a new softball field and upgraded its soccer and baseball facilities.
"The progress we've made has included facilities, which is one of the suggestions our consultant gave us,” athletics director Jim Abbott said. "We have additional plans for a basketball practice facility. We feel like we've made progress, but the big issue is having the revenue necessary to support us day to day.”
With an enrollment of about 4,000, OCU is similar in size to the University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts. However, Tulsa has a large endowment.
"The financing it would require for Division I is triple or quadruple our annual athletics budget,” OCU president Tom McDaniel said. "Is there someone out there who would give us the money to do that? Five years ago, we didn't know if Wanda Bass would give us $23 million for a new music school or if there was a Herman Meinders, who would give us $20 million for a new business school.”
-------------------------------------------------------------
Holding her own Nicole Dalmazzi ranks in the top 5 percent of her class and her schedule is littered with AP courses. She is also a part of Chariho's wrestling success.
Holding her own - Nicole Dalmazzi ranks in the top 5 percent of her class and her schedule is littered with AP courses. She is also a part of Chariho's wrestling success. WOOD RIVER JCT. - Nicole Dalmazzi, Chariho High's senior wrestler in the 103-pound weight class, led 4-3 entering the second period of her match against Toll Gate on Jan. 25.The Chargers trailed 19-6, with first place in Division II-A on the line.If anyone in the Chariho Middle gym...
Purchase Complete Article, of 335 words
-------------------------------------------------------
More Girls Take Part in High School Wrestling
Jessica Bennett, 15, who competes at 103 pounds for the Montville High School Indians, waiting on the bench to take the mat at a recent match.
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: February 17, 2007
. M. Glover for The New York Times
C. M. Glover for The New York Times
|
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The takedown came after all of 12 seconds
Jessica Bennett, Montville High School’s 103-pound wrestler, waited until Rich Wood went down to try to grab her leg, then launched herself onto his back, and got him down to his knees. After a brief stalemate later in the match, Jessica, 15, lifted him off the ground and took him back to the mat, for more points.
At that, several of Rich’s teammates, from St. Bernard High School here, looked down at their feet. There is still some pain in watching a teammate being beaten by a girl — even a girl like Jessica, who has won 23 of her 35 matches this season.
Wrestling may be the ultimate contact sport, and it can be a startling sight, teenage boys grabbing girls’ thighs, girls straddling boys, boys riding girls’ backs and trying to flip them onto their backs. For the most part, girls who want to wrestle — and they are slowly moving into the mainstream — must practice with, and compete against, boys.
Nationwide, about 5,000 high school girls wrestled last year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, nearly five times as many as a decade earlier. Those numbers are no doubt low, since many states failed to report girls’ wrestling participation, but whatever the full count, it is dwarfed by the quarter-million boys who wrestle.
Now that women’s wrestling is an Olympic sport, and, on some campuses, a college sport, girls’ wrestling is poised to take off. There is a Catch-22: Without many girls, there can’t be girls’ teams, and without girls’ teams, wrestling can’t attract all that many girls. The legal status of coed wrestling is not entirely clear, but in a few scattered cases, courts have ruled that if there is no girls’ team for them, they should be able to join boys’ teams.
In Texas and Hawaii, and in some California schools, girls have their own teams. Girls’ invitational tournaments, where girls compete individually, are becoming more common. Just this month, for the first time, the New York Mayor’s Cup competition had a girls’ division, albeit with only nine participants.
“It would be nice if there were girls’ teams,” said Eleanor Lewis, a sophomore at Horace Mann, a private school in New York City, who wrestled two boys on the first day of the Mayor’s Cup and two girls the second. “When you wrestle a girl, you’re more equally matched, and feel like you’re respected,” she said.
Roger Shaw, women’s director for USA Wrestling Connecticut, said the spread of girls’ teams would help wrestling’s popularity.
“I believe we’ll go on at the low level we’re at if women don’t get their own teams,” Mr. Shaw said.
While he is all for girls wrestling — his daughter, Stefenie, started wrestling at 8 and now, at 20, is an Olympic hopeful — Mr. Shaw said that for boys, coed wrestling can be disconcerting. “A boy who goes out on the mat against a girl doesn’t win,” he said. “If he beats her, he was supposed to, and if he doesn’t, he’s dead meat.”
On the other side, mothers of girl wrestlers say they worry about the cauliflower ears, broken noses and concussions. One thing that coaches, parents and wrestlers — both boys and girls — agree on is that sex is the last thing on wrestlers’ minds as they pull and push and turn their partners, same sex or opposite.
“They’re so pumped up with adrenaline when they’re out there on the mat, they’re not thinking of anything but wrestling and winning,” said Gary Wilcox, Jessica Bennett’s coach.
Occasionally, boys choose to forfeit rather than wrestle a girl, as happened at a Dobbs Ferry High School exhibition match this season, leaving Sophia Veiras, a sophomore, with no one to fight.
“It’s always a little intimidating for the boys at first,” said Jamie Block, the coach at the school, in Westchester. “They’re raised not to do this to a girl. And the thing about Sophia is, she’s very good. If you don’t really fight, she’ll pummel you. The girls who come out for wrestling now, they go to wrestling camps in the summer. They’re serious.”
Girls’ wrestling is not easy. The conditioning is grueling and intense, more so than for other sports. Since boys their age are usually stronger, only a few girls ever make varsity, let alone get to a state championship. And there is often parental resistance.
“I told her, it’s all boys, you’re going to get hurt,” said Roseanna Di Benedetto, whose daughter, Lucy, a tiny 15-year-old at Francis Lewis High School in Queens, is determined to wrestle. “But Lucy’s always loved a challenge.”
Even her coach, Josue Herrera, has his doubts about coed wrestling. “I think it’s better if it’s girl and girl,” he said. “If boys and girls wrestle together, it’s physically harder for the girl, but mentally harder for the boy.”
Lucy’s school is still considering how to treat her. She has been training with the boys. Every afternoon, she flops to the floor, does her pushups, runs alongside them and goes through the neck stretches, crab walks and army crawls. Still, she has not been allowed to wrestle with the boys.
Her school’s athletic director, Arnie Rosenbaum, will not let her do that unless she can pass a state test: among other things, she must run a mile and a half in 11 minutes and do a 7-foot standing long jump, which may not be possible for this 4-foot-11 ninth grader.
Mr. Rosenbaum said he was following state guidelines intended to ensure that girls who join boys’ teams are solid athletes. “It’s not up to me,” he said. “I’m just following the guidelines.” Other officials say Mr. Rosenbaum is going beyond state requirements.
According to the State Education Department, the guidelines for mixed competition require schools to consider the girl’s medical history and physical abilities but do not require that they pass the test, which is intended for younger athletes who want to compete alongside older ones.
At other schools in New York where girls wrestle with boys, coaches say there has not been a problem.
“We’ve had at least one girl on our team since we started the program four years ago,” said Scott DeBellis, at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx, which has two girls wrestling this year.
Another girl, he said, dropped away because her mother wanted her out.
Even the mother of Jessica Bennett, the Montville High wrestler, had her doubts.
“When she was little, I told Jess that it’s a little bit of a man’s world, but you should never let anyone say you can’t do something because you’re a girl,” Kim Bennett said. “When she wanted to wrestle, I was very skeptical. But she reminded me of what I’d said, and told me that the first time she was hearing she shouldn’t do something because she’s a girl, she was getting it from me. And she was right.”
Her coach, Mr. Wilcox, a former marine, also wondered how the boys would behave when Jessica first appeared at practice. “I told them, if anybody does or says anything, they’ll pay me,” he said. “So there was fear.”
But Jessica and her teammates say coed wrestling seems perfectly natural. In fact, Jessica says, the boys who have known her since she followed her brother into a local youth wrestling program in fourth grade “kind of watch out for me.”
Nick Perry, a senior who often wrestles Jessica at practice, said he never thought about her being a girl.
“I grew up wrestling with Jessica, in the youth program, so it’s just how it is,” he said. “She’s good. She’s the one on the team who makes the most kids cry.”
Mr. Wilcox said Jessica was equally serious academically and athletically: she is at the top of her class and places among the fastest runners in the state. Last summer, she went to wrestling camp, where she was the only girl.
Jessica, a soft-spoken girl who braids and pins up her hair before each match, says wrestling has helped build her confidence, challenging both her body and her mind.
With the hairnet, the dark T-shirt under her singlet, and the headgear over her ears, there is something oddly demure about Jessica, even as she is on all fours with a boy riding her back. The onlookers yell, “Lock in that leg” and “Keep pushing,” and her mother yells, “Come on, Jess, upsy-daisy.”
When she gets on top, turns him and nearly pins him, the crowd explodes, stomping the bleachers. Her team cheers wildly. His team goes silent.
------------------------------------------------------
Former cheerleader near title
Oak Harbor's Nelson posts quarterfinal pin
By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer 2/17/07
TACOMA - When Sydney Nelson showed up for her first-ever wrestling practice about three months ago, she didn't exactly fit the sport's profile.
An ex-cheerleader looking to shed a few pounds, Nelson joined the Oak Harbor wrestling team to trim up and take out some of her pent-up aggression.
As if that weren't enough to make Nelson stand out, there was also that other difference. She is, after all, a girl.
Thanks to an inquisitive mind, quick retention and a new rule that officially recognizes girls wrestling as a varsity sport, Nelson might finish her first year of wrestling with a state-championship medal.
"It feels great," the Oak Harbor sophomore said after pinning East Valley of Yakima's Kali Moser to advance to today's finals of the 160-pound weight class. "I'll be pretty excited all day. And really nervous."
Not only was the first-year wrestler one of the biggest surprises in the inaugural girls state wrestling tournament; she was also one of just two local girls to advance to the finals. The other, Jackson High's Tara Miller, overcame a slow start in the semifinals to move on to this afternoon's 103-pound championship.
While Miller was considered a favorite all year because she performed well in last February's unofficial, round-robin tournament, Nelson surprised even herself.
"When they gave us (a questionnaire) later in the year, I wrote that I wanted to go to state and win it - as a joke," Nelson said. "I never thought it would happen."
Nelson has been a quick study in part because she was an eager student.
"She just kept asking questions," Oak Harbor coach Mike Crebbin said. "And she's still asking questions, right up to (Friday afternoon).
"... I tried to explain to her (before the season) that she's probably not going to win a state championship in her first year. But I guess it can happen."
Immediately after the semifinal victory, Crebbin handed Nelson a cell phone so she could talk to assistant coach Larry Falcon, who was attending his mother's funeral and was unable to be at the state tournament.
"It's a pretty steep learning curve, and he put a lot of time and effort into it for her," Crebbin said.
Nelson was a junior varsity cheerleader as a freshman, but she said she never got too excited about that activity. So she was looking for something else that would satisfy two issues.
"I wanted to lose weight," she said. "And I was mad all the time."
Nelson took out her aggression in a constructive manner, and she also shed 12 pounds.
Along the way, she turned out to be one of the best female wrestlers in the entire state.
"It's my first time, so I'm pretty excited," she said.
Now she'll have to face a tough opponent in Washington's Kylee Bishop.
"She's been wrestling since she was 6 years old, so she's got a lot of experience," Crebbin said of Bishop. "But Sydney's got a lot of heart."
Eighteen girls will wrestle for state titles in nine weight classes today. According to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, 72 girls from 53 different schools have participated.
Five girls from Snohomish and Island Counties made it to the semifinals, but only Nelson and Miller advanced.
Miller, who has a 19-7 record and is unbeaten in 14 head-to-head matches with female opponents, said the girls tournament is a step in the right direction.
"It's awesome," the Jackson junior said after rallying from a 4-1 deficit to win 8-6 in her semifinal match. "It shows they're moving toward more equality. There's still a gap between the boys and the girls, but it's getting closer."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Feb 16, 2007 - 09:37:41 pm PST
First Round
103 pounds: Sarah Rowen (Columbia River) p. Sandy Nguyen (Edmonds-Woodway) 2:22; Armani Emmal (Naches Valley) d. Tess Grannemann (Hoquim) 8-2; Chrissy Farwell (Auburn) d. JoeMae Alewine (Lake Stevens) 6-1; Tara Miller (Jackson) d. Patty Davis (Lake Roosevelt) 13-1.
112: Taneal Detschman (Lynwood) p. Candra Graham (Davis) 1:22; Antonia Navejas (Kentwood) p. Ana Mackert (Newport) 3:19; Lucky Saengchanh (River Ridge) d. Keely Caldwell (Lakewood) 5-3; Cady Chambers (Bethel) p. Robin Erickson (Mary Walker) 2:46.
125: Kelsey Klein (Hoquim) d. Katie Newgard (Mount Baker) 14-8; Destinie Worden (Kettle Falls) p. Christina Crow (Raymond) 3:50; Termae Rowshan (Camas) d. Megan Thorn (Vashon) 14-9; Natasha Frost (Clarkston) d. Sarah Moquin (Sedro-Woolley) 8-6.
130: Kelsey Meyer (Arlington) p. Teresa Deppman (Lake Roosevelt) 3:49; Jolene Crook-Meyers (Kentwood) p. Kim Yates (Shelton) 1:19; Chris Cox (La Center) p. Angel Brown (Mount Baker) 1:15; Bekie Gilreath (Chewelah) bye.
135: Rebecca Johnstone (Chewelah) p. Kayla Keeler (Hockinson) 3:53; Summer Steenberg (Sequim) p. Blythe Peterson (North Kitsap) 1:23; Jennifer Jayne (Arlington) p. Adrian Anderson (Mary Walker) 5:34; Alex White (Hoquim) p. Sierra Paull (Lindbergh) 5:18.
145: Ashlee Phy (Mount Baker) p. Lindsey Vigil (Tumwater) 4:31; Chelssea Eakins (Washougal) p. Marcela Martinez (Granger) 2:57; Nicole Hyde (Aberdeen) p. Kirsten Schumacher (Fife) 1:05; Siri Berg (Highline) 5:45. 160: Kylee Bishop (Washougal) p. Adilene Caballero (Granger) 1:49; Rowan Pilger (Inglemoor) p. Drrue Partidge (Graham-Kapowsin) 2:24; Sydney Nelson (Oak Harbor) p. Whitney McKormack (Hoquim) 0:53; Kali Moser (East Valley-Yakima) p. Ashley Kroll (Hoquim) 3:23.
285: Alisha Beach (Kelso) p. Nicole Wehner (Mary Walker) 0:40; Mackenzie Glerup (Elma) p. Anne Barnett (Burlington-Edison) 3:31; Krista Childs (Highline) p. Kathryn Lezard (Mary Walker) 0:58; Brittany Caoile (Rochester) p. Cassandra Lezard (Columbia Falls) 0:46.
Semifinals
103: Rowen d. Emmal 9-1; Miller d. Farwell 11-6.
112: Navejas d. Detschman 12-1; Saengchanh tech. fall Chambers 23-7.
119: Butler d. Juhre 10-5; Mendoza p. Bailey 5:28.
125: Klein p. Worden 3:23; Rowshan p. Frost 4:45.
130: Crook-Meyers p. Meyer 1:11; Cox p. Gilreath 1:56. 135: Steenberg d. Johnstone 5-2; White p. Jayne 5:18.
145: Phy p. Eakins 1:07; Hyde d. Berg 4-3.
160: Bishop p. Pilger 2:42; Nelson p. Moser 3:33.
285: Beach d. Glerup 5-2; Caoile p. Childs 1:15.
Consolations (loser-out)
103: Grannemann p. Nguyen 0:53; Alewine d. Davis 18-4.
112: Mackert d. Graham 10-6; Caldwell p. Erickson 3:26.
119: Holmes d. Virgil 7-5; Richards won by forfeit over Nguyen.
125: Newgard p. Crow 2:42; Thorn d. Moquin 17-4.
130: Deppman p. Yates 4:28; Brown bye.
135: Peterson d. Keeler 7-6; Paull p. Anderson 0:33.
145: Vigil p. Martinez 1:39; Schumacher d. Johnstone 6-4.
160: Partridge p. Caballero 3:35; McKormack p. Kroll 4:47.
285: Barnett p. Wehner 2:02: Lezard p. Kenny 1:41.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Youth girls wrestling at Esky Sunday
By Brandon Veale - bveale@dailypress.net 2/17/07
ESCANABA — Girls from all over the upper Great Lakes will be here Sunday to wrestle in the Michigan Upper Peninsula championships at Escanaba High School.
Paulette Larson of the Escanaba Youth Wrestling Club said the event is centrally located for many wrestlers and the club expects more than twice the 19 wrestlers who participated in a similar meet last year in Newberry.
“I believe we’ll have a dozen girls just from the Escanaba/Gladstone area,” Larson said.
The tournament, sanctioned and organized by the United States Girls Wrestling Association, is a rare opportunity for girls to compete against other girls without making long drives to tournaments in downstate Onaway or Kenosha, Wis. or waiting until the annual national tournament, held this year in Livonia.
Girls’ wrestling is a growing sport. The USGWA has been sponsoring girls’ tournaments for over a decade, and the discipline was added to the Olympic program at Athens in 2004.
Larson said creating opportunities for girls to wrestle is vital to the continued growth of the sport.
“We have a lot of girls that end up leaving the sport by the time they get to middle school because of the lack of opportunity to wrestle other girls,” she said.
Larson said she and other supporters of girls’ wrestling hope to see an Michigan High School Athletic Association sanctioned tournament some day.
It can be hard for girls to make boys’ teams, Larson said, and seeing other girls wrestling is encouraging to younger grapplers.
“Having an opportunity to wrestle other girls builds confidence,” Larson said.
Larson’s daughter has followed Alaina Berube of Escanaba, who wrestles at University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.
“She thinks Alaina Berube is the most awesome thing in the world,” she said.
------------------------------------------------
