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The West Coast wrestling champion
Manteca Bulletin Daily Newspaper 3/19/07
She already held the distinction as the best female wrestler in the state of California.
So why not make it official in Oregon and Washington as well?
That’s exactly what Manteca High’s Samantha Phillips did last weekend, as a two-day journey to Portland, Ore. and Olympia, Wa. yielded eight out-of-state victories on the mat and was enough to crown Phillips the best woman wrestler on the West Coast.
“It’s really exciting to be the state champion in Oregon and Washington as well as California,” Phillips said. “It was a tough trip. We drove to Oregon one day, up to Washington the next, and then turned right around and drove all the way home.”
Wrestling at 130 pounds, Phillips went 4-0 in Portland.
In a preliminary round match, Phillips wrestled Joleen Crukmiers who was ranked higher than Phillips nationally.
Crukmiers, who normally wrestles at 138 pounds, moved down two weight classes just to take on Phillips.
After Manteca’s wrestling prodigy pinned her in the second round, Crukmiers had second thoughts.
“She moved back up to her regular weight class the next day when she wrestled in Washington,” Phillips said.
Phillips won the Oregon title after a 17-3 decision in the final over Alex McChesney, a teammate from California.
“Alex was on the second girl I haven’t pinned all year,” Phillips said.
After a busy day in Portland, Phillips was exhausted after 150 more miles on the road and a full slate matches scheduled for Sunday.
If Phillips was suffering from any fatigue, it was not evident in her performance.
Four pins later and a Washington state title in tow, Phillips had unquestionably proven she is the best on the Left Coast.
“The toughest match in Washington was the final,” Phillips said. “I wrestled a girl who asked for an exhibition match in Portland the day before, so it was actually our second time around. I pinned her in the third round.”
Besides her unequaled success on the mat, the weekend also provided some time for Phillips to consider her future in college.
Archie Randall, the head women’s wrestling coach at Oklahoma City University was able to see Phillips wrestle as well as talk to her one-on-one.
“I really liked (Randall),” Phillips said. “He was very personable. (OCU) is just starting a women’s wrestling program, which to me, sounds like a unique and exciting opportunity. They have a number of scholarships available, and they are interested. I’m visiting them after I take a trip to Cumberlands in Kentucky.”
Cumberlands College women’s wrestling program is widely regarded as one of the best in the United States, and currently has the No. 1 team in the nation.
Phillips hopes to have her decision made about where she will be headed after visiting both schools.
Up next is the Nevada state tournament before Nationals which begin March 31.
Phillips says it’s because of her sponsors, the Manteca branch of Realty World RH&R and KDS Garage Door Service, a locally owned an operated business, that she was able to compete in Washington and Oregon, or the upcoming tournaments.
“My two sponsors have paid for the trips we’ve taken, and the ones we’re going to take,” Phillips said. “None of this would be possible without them, so I just want to thank them.”
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BY KATIE SMITH
The Guardian 3/19/07
When Patrick Knox was at a hockey practice in elementary school, he noticed a set of windows above the rink.
Curious as to what lay beyond the windows, Knox decided to check it out.
To his surprise, behind the panes of glass was a Judo club. He thought it looked fun so he gave it a shot.
As it turns out, he loved the sport so much that he hung up his skates and joined the judo club. He’s been a member for nine years.
Knox was introduced to wrestling three years ago when his judo coach saw an opportunity for him to go to the Canada Games in another sport, so he met with the wrestling coach and signed up.
“It just got started (from) there and I’ve been doing both ever since.’’
Knox, 17, recently returned from the Canada Games where he earned a gold medal for judo.
This weekend he competed in the 2007 Canadian junior wrestling championships at the Delta hotel in Charlottetown, where he earned a second gold medal finish in three weeks.
Along with a gold medal in Greco Roman style, Knox also earned a bronze medal in freestyle.
Knox, who trains at the Rikidokan club in Charlottetown, said the competition was “not bad.’’
“It was pretty stiff. I lost two kind-of heartbreakers. I went the distance with the guys and lost by one point in the third round. So freestyle, it was kind of disappointing.’’
The Cornwall native, who competed in the under-120 kg weight class, said Greco Roman style suits him more.
“It’s more like judo, so it was easier for me in Greco than it was in freestyle.’’
A good warm-up is important before a match, the Bluefield high school student said.
Next in store for Knox is an international judo competition in Bremen, Germany. This will be his third year at the meet.
Knox wasn't the only Islander to compete at the wrestling championships this weekend.
Mitzi Mitchell, the Island's only female competitor who also trains at the Rikidokan club, placed fifth in the 55 kg weight class.
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GHHS's Torres dominant at SoCal Regional
By The Porterville Recorder Staff 3/19/07
HANFORD - Granite Hills' Erica Torres continues to stay undefeated against girls this year.
Torres went 3-0 in winning the 130-pound division at the United States Girls Wrestling Association Southern California Regional on Saturday at Hanford West High School.
On her way to the title, Torres defeated two nationally-ranked wrestlers at 126 pounds. The Grizzlies senior beat Oxnard's Samantha Stych - ranked ninth in the nation - via technical fall, 17-0. She also pinned Portola's Misha Furniss, who is ranked 10th at 126 pounds, in the first period. In Torres' other match, she pinned South El Monte's Ana Guzman.
Torres now will try to improve on her fourth-place finish in 2006 at the 10th annual USGWA National Championships at Churchill High School in Livonia, Mich on March 31 and April 1.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to help Torres with finances for the trip may contact the school at 782-7075. You can make them out to the Granite Hills High School Booster Club c/o Erica Torres, national girls wrestling tournament.
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London-Western Wrestling Club women win medals at Canadian Junior Wrestling Championships
BY : - Josip Mrkoci 3/19/07
Photo credit: - Rick Oliver - Jessica Belchos (72 kg) - London-Western Wrestling Club - with pony tail in wresttling action - won Bronze medal , Canadian Junior Championships .
London, Ontario, CANADA - The 2007 Canadian Junior Wrestling Championships ( men & women) were held in the Province of Prince Edward Island on June 15-17 in the city of Charletown. This was the first time that National Wrestling Championships were held in Prince Edward Island . Last year the National Junior Championships were held on the east cost of Canada as well, they were held in Fredricton, New Brunswick.
London-Western Wrestling Club member and University of Western Ontario wrestler, Jennifer Nguyen in her methodical style defeated last year's National Junior silver medallist , Meghan King (Cattown Wrestling Club, Regina) in two straight rounds, 2-0,1-0, to win the individual 55 kg Gold medal at this year's National Junior Wrestling Championships. A quite an improvement on Nguyen's part as she only placed 5th at the last year's National Junior Championships. Teammate Jessica Belchos took the Bronze medal at 72 kg weight class.
On the way to the gold medal round, Nguyen, a second year Health Sciences student at University of Western Ontario (UWO) representing the London-Western Wrestling Club had won her preliminary match against Janelle Pike (Newfoundland) in two straight rounds, 6-0, 6-0. And, in the semi-final round she defeated Pam Ewanishin (Saskatoon), last year's National Champion at 51kg who wrestled up in a weight class this year in three rounds (1-1, 4-1, 4-0).
“Both Jenn and Jessica competed very well,” remarked coach, Scott Proctor who accompanied the two wrestlers to National Championships. Scott who also coached Nguyen in the past in high school at Port Credit SS in Mississauga said. “Jenn wrestled extremely technical in all of her matches. She was very tactical using a wide range of techniques to score on her opponents.”
The victory by Nguyen earned her a spot on the Canadaian Junior National Team that will compete at the Junior World Championships in Beijing, China, August 21-26 this year. “I’m happy for Jenn,” said Head Coach, Ray Takahashi. “She passed up the OUA/CIS Championships to focus on the Junior Nationals. Also having coach Scott at the Nationals was the best for her too, having coached her in the past and now at UWO and at London-Western Wrestling Club. It worked out the way we planned.”
Jessica Belchos wrestling at 72 kg lost a tough fought match in preliminaries to winner Leah Callahan of the University of Calgary Wrestling Club. The match went three rounds with Callahan winning the final and decisive third round 4-3. Jess then went on to win three matches in row. Jessica beat Valerie Mapplebeck of Nova Scotia by pin, then Samantha McKay of the Bear Wrestling Club (Alberta) by pin and then Steph DeVries from Guelph ( Ontario) in two straight rounds to earn a birth in the bronze medal match.
Belchos, a first year Kinesiology student at UWO, who recently won the Ontario University (OUA) Championships and placed 3rd at the Canadian University (CIS) Championships defeated Kelita Zupancic (Team Impact, Toronto) in the finals to win the individual 72 kg Bronze medal.
The bronze medal match went three rounds with Zupancic winning the first round 4-1 and Belchos coming back to win the next two rounds 4-3 and 3-1 to win the medal. “Jessica wrestled extremely tough the whole tournament. She showed a lot of heart to come back from the early loss to win four matches in a row to medal,” said coach Proctor. Leah Callahan of Calgary, Alberta won the gold at 72kg, while Emma Brightwell of Guelph, Ontario was second.
The Provincial Team throphy was won by the Province of Ontario with Alberta placing second and province of Saskatchewan third. London- Western Wrestling Club sent only two wrestlers to this year's Nationals and they both won medals and were able to place fifth ( 5th) over all as a Club. A very good result for Junior women wrestlers of London-Western Wrestling Club and Province of Ontario.
Photo: by Ray Takahashi - Jennifer Nguyen - LONDON-WESTERN WRESTLING CLUB (55kg) - 2007 Canadian National Champion
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Women's Results - 2007 Canadian Junior Championships
Team Standings
1- UCWC - 28 points
2-Guelph WC - 23
3-SWC Huskies - 23
4-BMWC - 21
5-London-Western W.C. - 15
Provincial Standings
1- Ontario - 99
2-Alberta - 68
3-Saskatchewan - 64
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44 KG
1-Marianne Siglios-BMWC
2-Krista Betts-BlackBWC
3-Tessa Gallinger-UCWC
4-Lindsay Wickstrom-Saskatoon
5-Sabrina Manbahandur-Brock WC
6-Annie Quangtakoune-CATTOWN
48KG
1-Jasmine Mian-KBAY
2-Coralie Dixon-Salisbury
3-Jade Parsons-Mariposa
4-Emily-Joy Fillmore-Brock WC
5-Emilie Guitard-CLAB
6-Holly St.Ggeorges-NLWC
51KG
1-Genvieve Haley-UCWC
2-Stephany Dergo-Saskatoon
3-Diane Ford-Rayside Wc
4-Larissa Scimmi-SBWC
5-Reese MacDonald-Metro Amat
6-Josiane Bourque-BlackBWC
55KG
1-Jenifer Nguyen-London-Western W.C.
2-Meghan King-CATTOWN
3-Pam Ewanishin-Saskatoon
4-Janelle Pike- NLWC
5-Mitzi Mitchell-RRWC
6-Denise Bertin-CLAB
59 KG
1-Nikita Chicoine-MONTREALWC
2-Avalon Doyle-Metro Amat
3-Michelle Fazzari-Brock WC
4-Natalie Galan-UCWC
5-Leah Dougherty-LakeHeadWC
6-Lindsay Beardsall-KBAY
63 KG
1-Stacie Anaka-BMWC
2-Melissa Bryan-Guelph
3-Heidi Erdle-BlackBWC
4-Laura Steffler-Team Impact
5-Kyla Tremblay-Trojan
67 KG
1-Alison Leslie-Guelph WC
2-Caileigh Beckman-SWCH
3-Erica Wiebe-NCWC
4-Sarah Mercer-CATTOWN
5-Taylor Dick-BMWC
6-Katelyn Proulx-Lakehead
72 KG
1-Leah Callahan-UCWC
2-Emma Brightwell-Guelph
3-Jessica Belchos-London-Western W.C.
4-Kelita Zupancic- Team Impact
5-Steph DeVries-Guelph
6-Beth Thompson-Saskatoon
82 KG
1-Nicole Plummer-Lake Head WC
2-Ashley Riddell-YWC
3-Shelby Boyd-FRWCNS
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USOEC women's team takes training tour to Chukyo Women's University in Japan
Shannon Gillespie USOEC Women's coach
03/19/2007
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Nagoya, Japan--The U.S. Olympic Education Center (USOEC) women's wrestling team from Northern Michigan University (NMU) traveled to Chukyo Women's University (CWU) in Japan for a training tour March 2-11, 2007. This marked the first time a U.S. women's wrestling team visited CWU solely for the purpose of a training tour. Much was learned by all involved.
The USOEC team featured athletes Sadie Kaneda, Liz Short, Amy Borgnini, Jenna Pavlik and coaches Shannyn Gillespie and Tony deAnda.
CWU, a trailblazer for women's wrestling, started a women's college wrestling program 18 years ago and has never looked back. Three of four Japanese 2004 Olympians were also CWU women wrestlers. They include Olympic champion Saori Yoshida at 55 kg, Olympic champion Kaori Icho at 63 kg and Olympic silver medalist Chiharu Icho at 48 kg.
"We wanted to dedicate a women's wrestling program for that was designed for women - women are more flexible," said CWU President Tanioka Kuniko.
President Tanioka Kuniko also said that many of Japan's women's university teams are really co-educational teams while CWU has the only all-women-s wrestling team in Japan.
There were over 15 Olympic, Senior World Championship, and World University Championship gold medalists training daily during CWU's 2007 spring break. In Japan, Ayako (72 kg wrestler) explained spring break is about six-weeks long for Japanese university students.
"Students attend classes year round and we train year round," she said.
Ayako trains daily with 2006 World University Championship Silver medalist; Mami Shinkai(67 kg), 2007 Japanese Sr. National Champ at 67 kg, and 2006 Sr. World Bronze medalist Eri Sakamoto Eri (67 kg).
All of the weight classes represented in the CWU wrestling room have, astonishingly, at least one Olympic champion, Senior World champion or World University champion as a training partner. All of these champions act as coaches to the younger wrestlers.
"This team is more like a family," USOEC wrestler Jenna Pavlik said. "Here, the older wrestlers teach and look after the younger wrestlers."
"The athletes organized and lead the practices," noted Liz Short.
This was an everyday occurrence and seems to create leadership among the athletes, fosters fulfillment, and develops very strong with ethic.
CWU President Tanioka Kuniko was sincere when she said "these students work hard. You will see why they are the best in the world."
The leadership skills are fortified daily perhaps due to team synergy, team chemistry, and coaching style.
Coach Kuzuhito Sakae commented on his style by saying, "You coach slow like me." This was such a compliment that suggested yours truly was doing something similar to the best women's wrestling coach in the world. What an honor!
CWU, which has a graduate school, a university, a junior college, a high school and a kindergarten, started a wrestling program 18 years ago and Coach Sakae has been there for 10 years, over half of that period.
In 10 years, Coach Sakae has coached two Olympic Champions, an Olympic Silver, six World Champions [who have amassed 15 world titles], and countless World Cup and age group World or Continental Champions!
"I am very lucky to have these wrestlers on my teams," said Sakae.
He is very humble and does not brag about building a wrestling dynasty. Coach Sakae attributes his team¡¦s success to the CWU President Tanioka Kuniko, Junior-level Japanese coaches, and their sponsors.
He does not mention his attention to detail and many hours spent traveling, teaching, and securing sponsors.
It is a privilege to be coached by Sakae Sensei, and his students know it.
Because this training tour was absent of a formal/standard competition, there was plenty of time to learn about Japanese culture and customs. Coach Sakae spent many hours showing the USOEC team around Japan.
The USOEC team learned about the Japanese Samurai mountain trails, Japanese traditional foods (chop sticks at every meal),and the pre-school and kindergarten educational systems.
The USOEC team also learned that it is a sign of respect, in Japan, when you enter someone¡¦s house or a traditional Japanese restaurant, to take your shoes off.
Another sign of respect for others in Japan is to wear a mask when sick. In this way, a sick person cannot cough or sneeze directly onto anyone, which should quarantine common colds, influenza, etc.
Respect, honor, and tradition are critical elements of Japanese society, as is a strong work ethic.
The Japanese spa is as common as your local fitness or exercise gym. The difference here is the spa is used solely to relax the mind and body after a hard days work. Coach Sakae introduced the USOEC team to the Japanese spa. The cost - $5.00USD for several hours or more. Perhaps, a spa is better than a movie, TV, or other leisure activities.
The concept of the Japanese spa was apparent in CWU training facilities. Not only did CWU have an outstanding wrestling room, weight room, and outdoor track, these facilities also came equipped with a "mini spa." This spa consisted of a hot/cold bath, sauna, and showers.
The idea suggested is that one can contrast hot and cold to help body and mind recover more efficiently after a hard days work. This CWU spa is accessible all day and night for the students at CWU.
Olympic Champion Yoshida Saori is a super star!!!
Saori is treated like Michael Jordan and Anna Kournikova every time she is seen in public. What is even more refreshing is her personality and or the way she accepts her position as a role model. Saori is the epitome of a great person who leads by her positive, productive actions and seemed to relish in the fact that people recognized her.
This female wrestling super star took every picture that was requested of her [over 20 when I stopped counting], signed every autograph requested of her, shook hands with every stranger in sight, and accompanied the USOEC team at nearly every outing and meal.
Saori is an Olympic Champion and in Japan - that is a big deal!
The USOEC wrestling team from NMU and CWU women¡¦s wrestling team is uniquely similar. Both programs allow high school students to participate in daily practices. This is different than most other Japanese or USA colleges and allows "gifted" students the educational opportunity to learn and train with the best in the world. Both programs boast athletes 16 years of age up to 25 years of age completing the spectrum of Junior level to Senior level champions, proving that age does not discriminate.
"The CWU wrestling program is the standard we are trying to emulate," said Coach Tony DeAnda. "The USOEC wrestling program is designed to train and teach the best student athletes - just like CWU."
Both CWU and NMU are educational places of higher learning, which are designed to teach students. A CWU English Professor expressed an interest about a possible ongoing relationship with CWU and NMU to share the power of a cultural educational exchange program.
This idea is not only outstanding but also welcome. It is my hope that this cultural educational exchange relationship between CWU and NMU can become a reality so that all NMU and CWU students have the opportunity to learn and study abroad. This may enhance the students' education experience and educational mission of both universities.
For a pictorial essay of above, please check
http://freestylefemales.com
click Photos, then click Training Tour
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