News Page
Student of the week: Bridgette Kathleen Larsen
Junior at Sabino High School
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.09.2007
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Age: 16
Parents: Nadia and Peter Larsen
Inside the classroom: Ever since first grade, Larsen has been very disciplined, her mother said. When she arrives home from school, she does her homework immediately.
Her grades are all A's and B's, Bridgette Larsen said. "I manage to keep my grades up. I don't know how," she said, displaying her characteristic sense of modesty and humility.
"She is very quiet and polite, and she has a maturity that others her age don't have," explained Kathy Lackow, her intermediate algebra teacher.
"Her attention to detail is very evident in her homework. It is always very clear and thorough. … Classmates like working with her because she not only understands the material, but she can explain it so others can understand it as well."
Outside the classroom: From the runway to the track to the wrestling mat, Larsen is active outside the classroom.
A graduate of the Barbizon Modeling Center, Larsen recently modeled at the graduation fashion show for Tucson Design College.
For two years, she's run on Sabino's varsity track team. Her events are the 100, 200, 4X100 and 4X400 meter races.
And she's also the only girl on the school's wrestling team.
On wrestling: On Feb. 17, Larsen is scheduled to wrestle in the state girls' championship.
"I think that's where she's going to shine," coach Rich Ortiz said.
Larsen was one of three girls who went out for wrestling, though she's the only one still doing it. The boys responded "pretty good" when they found out they'd have a female teammate, Ortiz said. The young men were supportive without cutting her any slack.
"It's disrespectful if you take it easy on them," Ortiz said. "I told the girls 'I'm not going to coddle you, I'm not going to treat you any different.' "
With a 4-2 record, Larsen has yet to wrestle another girl.
Her mother said Larsen got into wrestling after completing a self-defense class for women.
"She said, 'I want to show the boys I'm just as good, if not better than them,' " Nadia Larsen said.
Her daughter is much more nonchalant. "I just wanted to try something new," she said. "I wanted to see if I could do it."
Favorite class: "I really like math. I'm really good at math," Larsen said.
College plans: Larsen said she's thinking about attending the University of Arizona and will either major in business or engineering. She hasn't decided if she wants to continue with athletics at the collegiate level.
Sound bite: "Whenever I tell people about my daughter, they always say 'Wow, what a contrast — modeling and wrestling,' " Nadia Larsen said.
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By Brandon Veale - bveale@dailypress.net 2/19/07
Sasha Berube of Escanaba grabs the leg of Elizabeth Phillips of Rose City during Sunday’s girls wrestling tournament at Escanaba High School. (Daily Press photo by Dennis Grall) |
ESCANABA — Only a day finishing fourth against boys in the U.P. Individual Finals, Manistique’s Sammy Jenerou wrestled with girls at the USGWA Michigan Upper Peninsula championships at Escanaba High School.
Jenerou finished second in her class at the event Sunday, and said it was a fun change of pace.
“After wrestling with the guys all weekend, it was,” she said.
This was the second tournament sponsored by the United States Girls Wrestling Association, and after last year’s tournament in Newberry, participation was up nearly 50 percent, to 39 wrestlers.
Paulette Larson of the Escanaba Youth Wrestling Club said the location of the meet was beneficial to many local girl grapplers.
“They were happy to see it in the area, and I think we’ll get a good turnout for next year,” she said.
Wrestlers from elementary school to college took part. Opportunities for girls to wrestle other girls are rare, and Ashley Kelly of Escanaba, who finished first in her class in the middle school division, said it was good for the younger wrestlers to compete.
“It gives them an opportunity to express what they have to do around other girls,” she said.
Kelly, who said she had not previously wrestled against a girl in three years of competition, was happy to be on the mat.
“All my brothers get to see how I wrestle this time instead of me just watching them wrestle,” she said.
Larson said the tournament was a success and everyone she saw was having fun on the mat.
“There were lots of smiles,” she said. “Even when they lost, they came off the mat smiling. They were just happy to be out there, get the mat time and be able to wrestle with other girls.”
The summary:
Elementary division:
54-59 — 1st Jennifer Donais, 2nd Callie Heller, 3rd Sasha Berube, 4th Elizabeth Phillips, 5th Summer Soper
69-73 — 1st Jenna Larson, 2nd Deana Gillis, 3rd Cleta Larson
74-79 — 1st Katie Parker, 2nd Amber Smith
98 — 1st Marlie Gillis
Middle School division:
69-73 — 1st Alexis Berube
74-79 — 1st Autumn Collins
95 — 1st Erin Holmberg
106 — 1st Sherri Berube
115-125 — 1st Elisabeth Gignac, 2nd Taylor Gillis, 3rd Autumn Hamilton, 4th Anastasia Phillips
129 — 1st Kaitlin Rahoi
139 —1st Ashley Kelly
High School division:
104-111 — 1st Patricia Hill, 2nd Sammy Jenerou, 3rd Jaycee Henretta
115-125 — 1st Elisabeth Gignac, 2nd Taylor Gillis, 3rd Autumn Hamilton, 4th Anastasia Phillips
130 —1st Amy Denzine
142 and above — 1st Ashley Hebert, 2nd Ashlee Lentz
Collegiate division:
130 — 1st Aminorina Porter
142 and above — 1st Rebekah Anger
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Old Mill pins down another county title
Ron Snyder, The Examiner
Read more by Ron Snyder
Feb 19, 2007 3:00 AM (19 hrs ago)
Current rank: # 1,766 of 9,083 articles
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BALTIMORE - After a one-year absence, Old Mill reclaimed its spot as the top high school wrestling team in Anne Arundel County.
Greg Saumenig (125), Timmy Lobuglio (130), Nic Box (160), Ethan Brown and Justin Faithful (275) each won individual titles as Old Mill captured its 15th tournament title since 1981. The Patriots finished with 215 points, followed by Severna Park (187), Chesapeake (161), Arundel (141) and 2006 tournament champion Broadneck (132) rounding out the top five of the 12-team tournament Saturday at Arundel High in Gambrills.
For Saumenig, his pin at 5:54 over Severna Park’s Matt Herzberg represented his third county title in three different weight classes. He won at 103 pounds as a sophomore and at 112 as a junior last year.
“We had a lot of guys really step up in this tournament,” said Saumenig, who is now 29-3 on the season. “Even those guys that lost in the first round came back, wrestled hard and got us points in the wrestle-backs.”
Old Mill coach Jim Grim agreed with Saumenig. Grim added that he was most proud of the performance of 145-pounder Joey Travers who finished in third place after losing his first bout. He was one of three third-place finishers for the Patriots.
“That’s where tournaments are won and lost,” Grim said. “I’m real proud of the way a lot of our wrestlers bounced back after a loss as we had three guys wrestling for third and they all won. No one works harder for us than Joey Travers.”
Also of note is that Arundel 103-pounder Nicole Woody became the first female wrestler to win a county title with her pin at 5:42 against South River’s Curtis Taylor. Woody is now 27-3 on the season.
“[Arundel coach Billy] Royer told me since I was a freshman that I could do this, so I’m really excited right now,” Woody, a junior who will graduate this spring, said. “I really feel like I’ve got the respect of the other wrestlers.”
Other individual winners included Broadneck’s Houston Zemanski (112), Chesapeake’s Jarrid Bosque (119), Severna Park’s Allen Black (135), Northeast’s Maurice Fleming (140), Glen Burnie’s Zach Jankiewicz (145), Annapolis’ Bubby Graham (152), Severna Park’s Billy Nichols (171), South River’s Pat LaPaglia (215).
Team standings
1 » Old Mill, 215
2 » Severna Park, 187
3 » Chesapeake, 161
4 » Arundel, 135
5 » Broadneck, 128
6 » Annapolis, 112
7 » South River, 99.5
8 » Northeast, 72
9 » North County, 58.5
10 » Glen Burnie/Meade, 51
11 » Southern, 13
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Girl wrestler makes splash
Whitbeck goes to quarterfinals
By Sal InterdonatoTimes Herald-Record
January 13, 2007
Loch Sheldrake — A crowd gathered around the center mat. All eyes were on Amy Whitbeck of Duanesburg.
Whitbeck reversed Troy Mashkow for two points and the crowd roared. The 103-pounder probably didn't hear a sound.
"I don't hear anything except my coaches and my mom (Debbie) from the stands," Whitbeck said.
Whitbeck is making a lot of noise at the Eastern States Classic at Sullivan County Community College. She's not just beating the guys. Whitbeck is dominating them.
She pinned Troy Cudzilo of Webster-Schroeder in 2:54 in the second round and handled Mashkow of Islip 15-4 in the round of 16. Whitbeck is the first girl ever to advance to the quarterfinals.
"I'm going to be more nervous now," said Whitbeck, a junior and defending Section 2 (Albany area) champ.
Whitbeck shouldn't be. She has plenty of credentials. Whitbeck also is a two-time Women's Body Bar national champion. She was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler last year. Whitbeck is 21-1 this season.
"She's tough," Monroe-Woodbury sophomore Jamie Franco said.
Expect another crowd at Whitbeck's quarterfinal match against Connor Hanafee of Monsignor Farrell around 9:15 a.m. today. If Whitbeck wins her first two matches today, she could face Valley Central's Cody Ruggirello, the top seed at 103 pounds, in the final.
"I could probably win it," Whitbeck said. "My last match, I wrestled kind of sloppy."
Sloppy? She won 15-4.
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Saturday, February 17, 2007
Lebanon High School sophomore Amy Bloom added her name to the record book.
It wasn't how she wanted, to, though.
Bloom became the second girl to place in the history of the OSAA state wrestling tournament Satuday when she finished eighth in the Class 5A 103 pound weight class at the State Fairgrounds Pavilion.
Last year Waldport's Misty Corwin became both the first girl to win a match at the state tournament and the first girl to place, coming in fifth in the 2A/1A classification.
Bloom was pinned in seconds by Pendleton senior Casey Davis in the seventh-eighth place match.
Bloom becomes the highest classification girl to place at the state tournament.
The first girl to advance to the state tournament, ironically enough, to advance to the state tournament was Lebanon's Shoni Plagmann in 2001.
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Bloged in News and Information
by John Rizzuti Monday February 19, 2007
UIL Girls State – 2007
by Mike Stockton
Here we go again. Another great year in women’s wrestling in Texas! This might be the best state championship ever. This is, by far, the best senior class in history with names like Brooks, Epps, Clark, Wood, Lowe, Underwood, Kurt, McClendon, and Alvarado. I could go on and on and on.
But then you have the young ones knocking at their door –juniors Tessa Plana and Angie Murray, sophomores Courtney Lindley and Kirsten Strickler and freshman phenom Trisha Jenkins. Women’s wrestling gets better and better each year in this state.
Now to the business at hand; last year I named 7 out of 10 champions and had 16 of the 20 finalists. This year I might miss some of them because it is so tight in several weight classes. But, I will lay money that I don’t miss many. Plus I will name the team champions as well – can Caprock continue its dominance?
95 pounds – This has some tough young ladies competing, but no one will touch reigning State Champion Lene Wood from Frisco Centennial. She hasn’t given up a takedown this season and won’t be stopped here. Jennifer Gonzalez from PSJA Memorial will finish 2nd, Heather Mandhardt from Katy Taylor 3rd and Jenny Garza from Rio Grande City will finish 4th. The best early match-up will be Garza and Palo Duro’s Plasencio in round 2. If Garza stops the deadly Palo Duro headlock, she keeps moving.
102 pounds – Five girls can win this weight class and I wouldn’t be shocked with any of them. But you want to know who will win and that is Lady Blue Montoya from El Paso Chapin. She will avenge her one loss on the year to Lisa Martinez from Caprock at the regional finals and win it all.
Martinez will finish 2nd, LBJ’s Helen Timmons 3rd, and Arlington’s Crystal Grajeda finishes 4th. Don’t forget about Cy Ridge’s Jessica Nguyen, Montwood’s Nicole Silva Southlake Carroll’s Jordan West, or Rio Grande’s Krystal Montalvo. Best match ups will be Timmons/Silva and Montoya/Grajeda in the quarterfinals.
110 pounds – Remember at 103, I said five could win it; well here you have nine with a shot. Let the discussions begin because two-time defending champion Awbrey Lowe will leave Austin not with gold, but with a bronze this year.
We will see a rematch of another regional final in this one with T.J. Cannon from Arlington Bowie taking on Emily Martin from Frisco Centennial. It was a great match at the Texas Ladies Classic, it was a great final at regional, and it will be a fantastic final at the State Tournament.
Lowe will beat Suzanne Baker from Arlington Lamar in the consolation finals. That leaves undefeated Jenny Torres from Shoemaker, Nancy Rodriguez from Crockett, and Brynn Suttles who each have only lost to Torres – not placing. Best early match-up will be Martin/Torres and Lowe/Baker in the quarterfinals.
119 pounds – This one is a little easier than the last two. Cy Fair’s Angie Murray will complete the first half of the brother/sister sweep in the afternoon and we will see if Michael can do his part later it in the evening. The winner of the Strickler and Maylene Garcia from Corpus Christi Ray semi will finish 2nd and the other 3rd. I am picking Strickler to win.
Mia Mickelson from Arlington Lamar will finish 4th. That leaves Lisa Gutierrez from Del Valle, Jennifer Williams from Caprock, and The Woodlands Avery Eshenroder on the outside looking in. Best match-up will be Strickler/Gutierrez in the quarters.
128 pounds – The Judo Master Coppell’s Tessa Plana will dominate this weight. She finished 4th in the nation last year but will finish number-one in the state Saturday afternoon. Ashley Underwood from Amarillo River Road will be second, Stephanie Han from EP Irvin third, and Anna Campos will finish fourth. Don’t forget about Arlington’s Amy Stephens or Wagner’s Marissa De La Garza – they’ll be in the hunt as well. Best match-up early will be Han/De La Garza.
138 pounds – Finally I get a couple of easy picks for champion. Defending Champion and self-titled “Headlock Queen” Vanessa Epps from Frisco will repeat. She has over 130 wins including 110 pins and she wants to finish with 4 more.
Her best match will be against Daffney Barbosa from Caprock whose only loss was to Epps by the score of 8-4 at the Texas Ladies Classic. Epps’ only 3-round match in two years! Barbosa will finish 3rd since she sees Epps in the semi’s. Whitney Disotelle from Waller will finish 2nd and Andriena Moore from Shoemaker will finish 4th.
Look out for Katy Brown from A&M and Hereford’s Allison Medina. Best match-up will be Epps/Brown in the quarterfinals.
148 pounds – This is another easy one. Lindsey Brooks makes it three state titles in a row! She is the all time winningest wrestler in Texas state history. With four more matches to end her Texas career she’ll move on to bigger and brighter things.
Francis Efiong from Arlington Lamar might be accepting of the torch when she finishes 2nd, Kirsten Iruegas from Hereford 3rd and Brittney Meyer from Cy Falls (who has only loss to Brooks) finishes 4th. Best match-up will be Efiong and Meyer in the ¼ finals. Look out for Pflugerville Zinna Anyanwuh; she will make some noise, too.
165 pounds –Back to another difficult weight-class prediction right here. You have three undefeated girls in this weight class. You have two returning state runner-ups, plus two others who have only one loss to one of the undefeated girls.
Can we make my life hard doing this? I think some wrestlers avoided Lindsey Brooks at 148 this year, but life is still tough. Let’s start with the finals: Katy Taylor’s Adele Kurt and Caprock’s Maci Alvarado with Alvarado winning a tight match. Arlington Sequin’s Erica McClendon, who lost a controversial final last year will lose to Alvarado in the quarterfinals but come back and finish 3rd and Ellison’s Keyetta Brown will finish 4th.
Look out though for Katie Brackin from LBJ, Cedar Park’s Jaime Moore and Katy’s Alana Jimenez. Best early match-up easily McClendon/Alvarado in the quarters. This could have been a final.
185 pounds – Three undefeated girls again!!!! Carrie Clark from Vista Ridge will end her career with a repeat performance. Venus Barron from Katy Taylor will beat Keller Central freshman phenom Trisha Jenkins in the semi’s and get 2nd. Jenkins will finish 3rd and Jaleesa Stell from Palo Duro will end up 4th. Josie Garcia from Beeville Jones and Claudia Pena from PSJA will be in the fight but the top three are the best by far. Early match-up of Pena/Barron will be mighty good.
215 pounds – We finish with the big ladies but another not easy to handicap weight class. Cassie Rangel from PSJA Memorial will defeat “Tiny” Amanda Athon from Arlington in the finals.
Estrella Cabrera from Klein Collins will finish 3rd and Karon Scott from Austin LBJ will score points at 4th. Deicy Cervantes from Socorro and Demetria Brown from Kimball will be tough to beat as well. Scott and Athon in the quarterfinals will be the best early match-up by far.
Best Five after the State
1. Lindsey Brooks – Klein – 3 Time Champion, All time wins – The total package
2. Vanessa Epps – Frisco – 2 Time Champion, 3 time finalist, The lean, mean pinning machine
3. Angie Murray – Cy Fair – She will be a 2-time champion and 3 time finalist after next year. Makes history as her brother wins state too!
4. Emily Martin – Frisco Centennial – One of the best in the state on her feet!
5. Carrie Clark – Vista Ridge – The most powerful double leg in the State!
Who wins it all? Caprock again!!!!!!! After plugging in the computer, Katy Taylor will be 2nd, then Frisco, Arlington Lamar, PSJA Memorial, Arlington, Frisco Centennial, Cy Fair. Now all this includes prediction of bonus points.
We will see what really happens starting Friday morning!!!
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Ruminations of a Suburban Philosopher
2/19/07
On Girls Wrestling:
Well, yeah. As Roger Shaw, who heads a women's wrestling program, told the Times: “A boy who goes out on the mat against a girl doesn’t win. If he beats her, he was supposed to, and if he doesn’t, he’s dead meat.” Poor Rich Wood, humiliated like that in front of other boys. How damaging that could be to his psyche. But if he had beaten her, that would be damaging in its own way. For one thing, there's no honor in beating a girl at wrestling. For another, in order to muster the psychological wherewithal to compete on equal footing with a female wrestler, Rich Wood has to overcome deep cultural conditioning that will have taught him to think of women as persons men should exert physical labor to protect, not to conquer. The powerful and invaluable taboo that says men must never hit women will need to be eroded somewhat so Rich Wood can compete. Ten, twenty years from now, when Rich Wood is having a terrible argument with his wife or girlfriend, one wonders if it will be that much easier for him to give in to the temptation to strike her.
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Mustang women wrestlers upset Badgers
Mon, February 19, 2007
By MORRIS DALLA COSTA, SUN MEDIA SPORTS COLUMNIST
The Western Mustangs women's wrestling team unseated a six-time Ontario university champion on the weekend.
Led by gold-medallists Stephanie Szmiett, Laura Skopelianos and Jessica Belchos, the Ray Takahashi coached Mustang women defeated the Brock Badgers 59-48.
The Badgers had won the OUA title six years in a row.
The Mustang men finished in third one point behind McMaster University. Brock won the men's section.
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Wrestling: Concordia sends four to CIS finals
2/19/07
Four Concordia University wrestlers have advanced to the CIS Championships after competing at a qualifying tournament in Fredericton, N.B., during the weekend. Patrick Okpalugo and Jaimie Mancini finished first in their respective men's weight classes, while Sergei Guevorkian was runner-up in his. Hana Ashkren won her women's weight division to also advance. The CIS Championships are scheduled to be held in Saskatoon, March 3. In other weekend action, Martine Dugrenier of the Montreal YMHA Wrestling club took first place at the Tourcoing Grand Prix in France.
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HHS Heavyweight Advances In Wrestling
A Blue Streak girl also moved on, but Turner Ashby won the Valley District team title.
By Brent Johnson Posted 2007-02-19
HARRISONBURG — Hordes of coaches and wrestlers were buzzing around the gym at Harrisonburg High School during the Valley District tournament Saturday, but Chase Stevens managed to stand out.
That’s kind of easy when you’re jumping frenetically, kicking your legs in the air like a Rockette and bopping your head to the music pumping through your headphones.
But Stevens seemed like he didn’t care: With a Nickleback song providing the soundtrack in his ears, the Harrisonburg senior heavyweight was getting charged for the biggest rematch of his career.
And it worked. Just a few minutes later, Stevens stood out again, beating Rockbridge County’s Pat Bannon to win his first-ever Valley title.
"That’s what I wanted from the beginning," said Stevens, who won a 6-3 decision over Bannon, avenging a triple-overtime loss to the Rockbridge senior last month. "I feel all this hard work is just gonna pay off in the long run."
But Stevens’ win wasn’t the only first of the day. His Blue Streaks teammate, Valerie Avellaneda, became the first-ever girl to place in the Valley tournament, while Spotswood’s Scott Dovel gave the Trailblazers their first individual title in eight years.
The main constant Saturday, as always, was Turner Ashby. The young Knights won their ninth straight team title, shaking off questions about whether this was the year someone else would rule the Valley.
TA scored 180 points as a team, winning four individual titles and qualifying 11 wrestlers overall for the regional tournament in Winchester on Friday — both Valley bests.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advanced to regionals.
Coty Riggleman (125 pounds), Alex Collins (140), Cody Thompson (145) and A.J. Southerly (189) all collected titles for the Knights.
"We’re happy," said first-year TA coach Will Crockett, who took over a program that won nine individual titles at last year’s Valley tournament. "It’s nice to get this many kids to regionals."
But while TA came out on top again, Saturday was also a day of parity. R.E. Lee finished a close second with 146.5 points, followed by Fort Defiance (139), Broadway (129.5), Harrisonburg (112.5), Spotswood (84), Rockbridge (47), Waynesboro (46) and Stuarts Draft (32).
Broadway showed just how much it improved this season under first-year coach Chad Smith. The school won two individual titles (Jeremy Spitzer at 130 pounds and Derek Kaplinger at 152) and qualified eight of its 11 wrestlers for regionals — doubling the Gobblers’ number from last season, when they finished sixth overall.
"This doesn’t happen often," Kaplinger, who finished second in the district at 152 last year, said of the Gobblers’ success. "This is the first time in a couple years we’ve had someone from Broadway place first. And it happened twice [today]."
Spotswood — which finished second-to-last a year ago — also doubled its regional contenders, qualifying four wrestlers. Dovel won the 171-pound title, finally giving him the Valley championship he’d been vying for during the last four years.
"We’re a lot better than we used to be," said fourth-year Spotswood coach Lance Moran, who had two other wrestlers in title matches: T.C. Shifflett, the runner-up at 145, and Ryan Liskey, the runner-up at 160. "When I took over the program, they hadn’t won a dual match in years. And they certainly hadn’t done anything like this."
Harrisonburg advanced seven wrestlers to regionals, a drop from the eight the Streaks sent last year. But first-year coach Mike Dickerson said he was happy with his team’s performance.
Avellaneda, one of three girls wrestling in the district this year, finished third at 103 pounds, earning her place in Valley history.
"It’s really great," the junior said. "I wanted to make my mark, and I guess I did."
Also of note: Stevens — who was jumping wildly during Avellanda’s match, as well, lending his support — beat Bannon for a Valley title one year after former teammate Freddy Valencia beat Bannon in the district’s 215-pound championship match.
Now, Stevens will be looking to call up the some of the magic he had last year, when he placed second in regionals and seventh in states. This year’s Group AA tournament is March 2-3 in Salem.
"I’m not going to try and put it out there and jinx myself," Stevens said. "But we’ll hope."
Maybe a little Nickleback will help.