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Hoosier Girls Pin Wrestling Stereotypes To Mat
WRTV TheIndyChannel.com 2/13/07
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Women and girls are becoming more involved in the sport of wrestling in recent years, since female wrestling debuted as an Olympic sport back in 2004.
Three years later, Indiana has the highest number of female wrestlers it has ever had, 6News' Emily Gimmel reported.
A new wrestling club hopes to pin many existing stereotypes to the ground. Only a few weeks old, the Mooresville Girls Wrestling Club is the first all-female group in the state.
"When I first started wrestling, my friends thought it was kind of weird. But one of my friends, she watched the high schoolers and she said it actually looked kind of fun," said Kristin Metz.
Coach Beth Lybarger said wrestling is a sport that allows girls to be in control, something she said is appealing to them.
"I think any girl that has the least bit of competitive edge to her will enjoy wrestling. It is very physical, so you have to be in shape and ? that makes you feel good if you are in shape," Lybarger said.
The sport is not for sissies. The rules are the same as men's wrestling, but the women wear slightly different uniforms.
The Mooresville group has about nine members between the ages of 5 and 18. Ashleigh Lybarger is the team's leader. She placed fourth in a recent national competition.
"I don't look at it as a guys sport or a girls sport. It is just a sport. Girls can do it," Ashleigh Lybarger said. "Just like if a girl wanted to join a boys football team, they could do it."
Nationwide, many coaches think young girls can dominate the elementary age because girls have a better center of balance, more flexibility and they develop motor skills faster.
Females still have a long way to go to match their male counterparts in sheer number. About 150 female wrestlers are registered with the Indiana State Wrestling Association. About 9,000 boys are involved.
Several states, including Texas and California, have women's high school teams and some universities are beginning to offer wrestling scholarships to women.
"I would really like to see us get more girls. I think if we get more girls, I think more of the schools will be willing to have girls teams that compete in the school year like the boys do," said Beth Lybarger.
Wrestlers need a USA competitor's card to participate in any wrestling club in Indiana. They can be purchased for $30 through the ISWA.
Mooresville's team practices on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the high school.
See Emily Gimmel's journal for more contact information.
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Freestyle Wrestlers Shine in Exhibition
3/12/07
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March 12, 2007 MARQUETTE—Five United States Olympic Education Center women freestyle wrestlers competed at the University of the Cumberlands Duals last weekend Feb. 23-24 in Williamsburg, Ky.
Competing for the USOEC were Alyssa Lampe (Tomahawk, Wis.), Whitney Conder (Puyallup, Wash.) and Dallas Monreal-Berner (Niles, Ill.). Jenna Pavlik (Lewes, Del) and Shyla Iokia (Maui, Hawaii) competed in exhibition matches.
USOEC assistant freestyle wrestling coach Tony DeAnda is proud of how strong the team wrestled.
“In spite of not bringing a full roster, the women who competed wrestled well and won several of their matches.”
Lampe and Conder, both NMU freshmen, won their dual matches against University of the Cumberlands’ Jessica Medina and Sandy Do, respectively. Monreal-Berner lost to the Cumberlands’ Alaina Berube.
In exhibition action, the USOEC finished 8-1. Pavlik, a graduate student, went 3-0 and Iokia, a freshman, 2-0. Conder was 1-1 while Lampe and Monreal-Berner both went 1-0.
The meet was the last competition for the USOEC team before for the U.S. National Championships in April.
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Mac girls wrestling sends four to nationals
Published: March 13, 2007
The News-Register staff
GRESHAM — The McMinnville girls wrestling team competed in the Oregon and Washington state championships over the weekend and had great results at both, with four wrestlers qualifying for the national championship meet to be held in Detroit, Mich., later this month.
On Saturday at the USGWA, Oregon girls wrestling state meet, Bethany Palacios placed second in the 111-pound middle school division and Lacy Haig placed second at the 111-pound high school division.
Marlea Roache, an assistant coach for the team, won the 138-pound open division.
With the victory, the 27-year-old mother of two became the oldest woman to earn a USGWA state championship in Oregon history.
On Sunday, at the USGWA Washington girls wrestling state meet, Malia Unrath placed third at the 154-pound division, Haig placed third in the 111-pound high school division,
Palacios placed second in the 111-pound middle school division and, once again, Roache won the 138-pound open division and is now a two-state champion, earning her All-American honors.
Also competing this weekend were Jessica Haig at 122 pounds and Dionne Staple at 135 pounds.
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Lady Vikings earn seven all-American mat medals
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
By Chris Allen/Sports Editor
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FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- The Missouri Valley College women's wrestling team had seven entries earn all-America during the National College Women's Championships, Saturday and Sunday at Forest Grove, Ore.
The Lady Vikings finished second in the point totals (106-72) to defending champion Cumberlands (Ky.), which won four golds among its 10 medals.
Valley's lone title went to sophomore Elizabeth Hernandez of Tampa, Fla., who won the 82-kilogram final on an injury default by top-seeded senior teammate Stephany Lee of Honolulu, Hawaii. Hernandez, ranked 8th in TheMat.com's North American college women's poll, edged No. 7 Teresa Fennell of Cumberlands in the semifinals, 1-0, 1-1, to advance to the trophy round.
The Lady Vikings had two other finalists, both having only had to survive one preliminary match. Junior Emily Rinehart (63 kilograms) of Orlando, Calif., was nipped by Arizona State's Kelsey Campbell in the first-place bout, 1-1, 2-0, 3-1. Sixth-ranked freshman Amberlee Ebert (67) of Reedsville, Wis., pinned her first opponent, but was up against veteran Alaina Berube of Cumberlands in the finals and took a 1-0, 6-0 loss to the top-rated 63 kg grappler.
Leading Valley in wins with three was junior Erika Chew (55) of Houston, who had to post two victories after a semifinal loss to finish third. Freshman Samantha Fee (59) of Blairstown, N.J., opened with a semifinal setback, but won twice on the back side to also place third.
Senior Tabithia Ramsey (48) of Elgin, Texas, split four matches to wind up in fourth place. Also entered for the Lady Vikings was junior Maika Watanabe (51), but she lost both of her matches in a tough field.
After two week's rest, the Lady Vikings will host the annual Missouri Valley College Women's Wrestling Showcase, an open event for all age groups, March 24 in the Burns Athletic Center.
