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Winter of wrestling gives Hoover sophomore strength in girls sprints
By Kevin J. Farmer
SPECIAL TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE
March 18, 2007
“I hate that event!”
That's all Hoover's Vanessa Houston could say after winning the girls 400 meters at yesterday's Bronco Invitational at Rancho Bernardo High.
“It's a long run for me,” Houston explained. “It's like a mile, but really fast.”
The sophomore didn't show her dislike of the one-lap race while running. She came from behind around the back turn to win with an outstanding early-season time of 57.20 seconds. That performance would have been fifth-best last year in the San Diego Section, not bad considering it was the first time she ran the event this season and only the second time in her high school career.
Houston credited another sport for her newfound strength in the event – wrestling.
“I wrestled 112 pounds this year,” she said. “It was harder than any sport I've ever done, but it really gave me more endurance and made my upper body and arms stronger. I think I can sprint longer than ever now.”
Later in the day, Houston made it a double, running into a strong head wind to win the 100 in 12.63.
Another Hoover Cardinal having a big day was Gary Lee. The senior started with a win in the long jump with a personal-best 23 feet, 3½ inches. That mark eclipsed the best in the section a year ago, 23-3 by El Camino's Nelson Rosario.
Lee said he believed a longer, faster approach was the reason he did so well.
“I backed up about 30 feet,” said Lee, who qualified for the state in the long jump last year with a best mark of 22-4½. “It gives me a chance to run faster and hit the board with more force.”
Why didn't he move back sooner?
“I was lazy,” he said. “I have to admit it, but I have to do it for my team – and it's my last year.”
Lee ended the day with a third in the triple jump, leaping 44-4.
One runner totally surprised by his performance was Cathedral Catholic's Daniel Thomas. The junior set a hand-timed school-record 48.8 in the 400. He was quick to credit the competition for his personal-best mark.
“Before the race I was worried about some other kid (freshman Ryan Morgan of Ramona), who ran a 49.9 this week, but he didn't run,” said Thomas. “I had a plan with Tony (Hodges of Vista) to push each other to get a good time. I was in shock when I heard how good it was. I didn't expect to break 49.”
Hodges finished second behind Thomas in 49.2. Morgan didn't run because of a blister on his foot.
Vista's Griffin Simmons also came up with a big performance. He cleared 15 feet, 1 inch in the pole vault. Last year, his best was 14-8 in the section preliminaries.
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By Tony Pinciaro
The Journal News
(Original publication: March 17, 2007)
It is one of the tournaments Putnam Valley's Jess Kelvas has been preparing for all season.
The senior, along with Horace Mann sophomore Eleanor Lewis of Pelham, will be wrestling in the seventh New York Girls Wrestling state championships today at 10 a.m. at Cobleskill-Richmondville High School in Richmondville.
Kelvas, who also plans on traveling to Long Island next weekend for another all-girls tournament before heading to Michigan for the nationals (the last weekend in March), enters the state championships off a Kentucky title.
While visiting the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., last month, Kelvas decided to enter the state girls championships. Kelvas, who has been accepted by the Patriots, made a name for herself. Kelvas, who weighed in at 130 but bumped up to 140 because there were not enough wrestlers in the lower weight class, won the title. Kelvas had a pair of major decisions, an easy decision and a pin.
"That was me getting my feet wet," said Kelvas of wrestling in her first all-girls tournament.
Putnam Valley coach Will Carano has been awed by Kelvas, who began wrestling on varsity last season. Carano referred to Kelvas' Kentucky performance as dominant.
"A lot of the guys Jess wrestled she took them into the third period," said Carano, a former sectional champion for Mahopac. "That gave Jess the spark she needed and she has just continued to improve."
Kelvas has drilled daily with Carano or Putnam Valley assistant Dan Turner. She has also benefitted from working out with teammate and classmate Karl Lange, a Division II finalist at 160.
"Karl is training for some freestyle tournaments so he will come in before or after baseball practice," Kelvas said. "Wrestling with Karl is a little tough, but it's good for me because it helps me get stronger. He works me out a lot."
Even though Lewis' season concluded Feb. 17 with the New York State Private School state championships, she has continued training for this tournament.
"I run distance track and I've been lifting every day," said Lewis, who said she would compete, weather permitting. "I'm excited, but also nervous because I haven't been able to wrestle that much."
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Kelvas wins state wrestling title
By From staff reports
(Original publication: March 18, 2007)
Jess Kelvas can now be referred to as a state wrestling champion.
The Putnam Valley senior went 3-0 yesterday to win the 134-136-pound weight class at the seventh annual New York State Girls Wrestling Championships at Cobleskill-Richmondville High School in Richmondville.
"I am really happy and excited that I won," said Kelvas, who had won a Kentucky state championship last month.
Kelvas opened with an 11-5 victory, followed up with an 8-1 semi-final win, then capped her grueling day with a 7-3 victory in the final.
Kelvas won despite taking a blow to the head at the end of the first period of the final.
"I was shooting and I hit my head on her hips. Then I hit my head on the mat, and I blacked out for a second," Kelvas said. "It was really dark for a second, and when I got up, I held my head because it hurt so badly."
On the ride home, Kelvas called Putnam Valley coach Will Carano with the good news.
"It's fantastic," Carano said of Kelvas' win. "Jess went 4-0 in Kentucky and then went to Upstate New York and went 3-0. This speaks volumes for the kind of character Jess has.
"The girl she beat in the finals took second at the Nationals two years ago. That is a big win and a big confidence boost for her."
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Napa’s McChesney a promising grappler
By Marty James
Friday, March 16, 2007
NOTES AND QUOTES for a Friday in the Napa Valley:
Napa High School junior Alyx McChesney was selected by coach Robert Redman, president of the California Women’s Wrestling Association, to join a group of 14 top female wrestlers to represent California in tournaments in Oregon and Washington last weekend.
In the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association Oregon State Championship on March 10, McChesney earned a third-place medal. In the USGWA Washington State Championships on March 11, she took first place.
McChesney, a first-year wrestler, performed well the entire weekend, with all her winning matches ending in pins.
All 14 of the California wrestlers earned at least one medal over the two-day trip. They are preparing to attend the USGWA Nevada State Championships in two weeks, and will be in Livonia, Mich., later this spring for a national championship.
McChesney went 4-2 and finished fifth at 138 pounds at the ninth annual ASICS Napa Valley Girls Classic, which was held in January at Vintage High.
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Frederick, Finley among girls state meet competitors
From staff reports 3/16/07
Windsor freshman Kara Frederick and Newark Valley sophomore Abigail Finley are among those pre-registered to compete in Saturday's USGWA New York Girls Wrestling State Championships at Cobleskill-Richmondville High School in Richmondville.
The open competition consists primarily of New York State wrestlers but also includes wrestlers from across the Northeast. Weigh-ins Saturday are from 7-9 a.m., with wrestling to begin at 10 a.m.
Because of the disparity in weight between the competitors and the desire to have an equal number of wrestlers competing in each bracket, Frederick and Finley won't compete in a specific weight class, but in brackets against wrestlers reasonably close to their weight.
Both will be competing in the high school division.
Among former area high school competitors who won gold medals at the USGWA New York Girls Wrestling State Championships in the past are Oxford's Toni Copeland, Binghamton's Wendy Casey and Unatego's Billie Jean Dill.
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Grappling for gold
P.E.I. wrestlers are looking to medal at the national junior championships
CHARLES REID
The Guardian 3/16/07
P.E.I. wrestlers Patrick Knox and Mitzi Mitchell have simple goals for 2007 national junior wrestling championships in Charlottetown.
“Win the gold,” said Knox, 17, with a voice hoarse from fighting a cold.
Added Mitchell: “I want to win a medal. It will be harder I think because me and Patrick are still juvenile and we’re fighting junior this time.”
Freestyle wrestling begins today at 11 a.m. and runs through Saturday. The Greco Roman competition starts Sunday at 9 a.m. All of the events will be held at the Delta Prince Edward.
Mitchell’s from Charlottetown while Knox is from Cornwall. The pair, also top judo athletes, train out of the Charlottetown Rikidokan club and are part of the P.E.I. contingent that will be competing at the nationals.
Other Rikidokan members include Aaron and Morgan Ellis, while Montague Red Rock club members UNB star Ben McCarron, Stephen Clark and Cody Hopkins round out the Island group.
The 17-year-old Knox, who won a judo gold medal at the recent 2007 Canada Winter Games, is fighting in the 120-kilogram division.
He’s already earned wrestling gold at the Eastern Canadian championships in February and a victory at the nationals could mean a step up the ladder.
“If I win these that’d be the junior Pan Ams. I don’t know, that would be a really big step if I could make it to that,” said Knox of the competition in Venezuela in June.
Mitchell, also 17, is P.E.I.’s lone female in the competition and will be fighting in the 55- kilogram division.
She said a medal in the national championship would count as redemption after a fifth place finish in judo in Whitehorse. She won judo silver in Bathurst and Campbellton, N.B., in 2003.
But, said Mitchell, who finished second in the juvenile nationals in 2005, earning hardware against wrestlers who could be up to 20 years old won’t be easy.
“They’re probably stronger. They do have more experience,” she said. “It depends.”
Red Rock coaches include Mike MacDonald, who’s also the event chair, and Megan Morrison.
Rikidokan coaches are Elisabeth Williams, Lauchlin McClure, Brad Campbell and Andrew MacLeod.