LHS senior wrestler Emma Mercer signs with OCU
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Wrestler's silver earns her a berth
Fri, April 13, 2007
By STEVE GREEN, SUN MEDIA
Heather Wray and Olivia Gunnell may represent the future of women's wrestling in this area, but Katie Patroch is very much the present.
The Saunders grad, now 24, won her second straight silver medal at the senior nationals in Calgary at the end of March, losing a tough 59-kilogram final to Amanda Gerhardt of British Columbia.
Still, the result puts Patroch on the national B team, with the Canada Cup in Guelph and the Commonwealth championships in London, both in June, next on her calendar.
"I've got kind of mixed emotions," she said of her national silver medal. "That final match is one I could have won, but I didn't wrestle the way I normally do. I gave her too much respect and wrestled more at her pace than my own.
"But confidence has always been an issue for me, so to be in the final two years in a row is a big pat on the back for me because it tells me I earned the right to be there."
Now in her 10th year of wrestling, Patroch said she'll be looking to gain more international experience, but added she'll have to be more selective in her meets because she works full-time. Beijing in 2008 isn't a realistic target as 59 kilos isn't an Olympic weight class -- 55 and 63 are, so she'll likely move up but it would take time -- but London, England, in 2012 is very much on her radar.
And she's already able to look back and trace the growth in women's wrestling.
"It's pretty neat seeing how much it's changed since I started," she said. "Canada's had a lot more success recently with the women's team internationally than with the men's, and that's really pushed the young girls like Olivia and Heather."
At the Canada Cup, Patroch will have a wrestle-off for the alternate spot on the national A team, a squad London-Western coach Ray Takahashi said she's not far from making.
"She's still new on the national scene, kind of breaking in. And a lot of people know that on another day, she could have won that match, so she's right up there.
Former Western captain Terri McNutt was fourth at 51 kilos and second-year Western student Jen Nguyen, fresh off her junior national title, was fifth at 55 kilos. She's off to the August juniors in China.
As well, Western scored four bronze medals and added nine other top-six results at the Canadian university championships in Saskatoon. Making the podium on the women's side were Laura Skopelianos at 51, Jess Fitzgerald at 67 and Jessica Belchos at 72. Steve Ko was the men's medallist at 72 kilograms. The women placed third overall, the men seventh.
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No more Ms. Nice Girl
‘Momma Mercer’ signs to wrestle in Oklahoma
By Jeff Fedotin
Friday, April 13, 2007
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LHS senior wrestler Emma Mercer signs with OCU
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Lawrence High senior Emma Mercer has strawberry brown hair and an ever-present smile. She sings in the Christmas choir and teaches Bible school.
But when Oklahoma City University wrestling coach Archie Randall popped in a tape of her performance on the mat, an attribute stood out.
“Emma’s mean,” Randall said. “One of the matches she’s wrestling — I don’t know what the guy did, but she cross-faced the dog out of them.”
That disposition and skill will allow Mercer to enroll at OCU, a 4,500-student, NAIA school this fall. Mercer, who held a signing ceremony at the LHS library Thursday afternoon, became the first LHS girl to accept a wrestling scholarship.
But that number likely will grow in future years. During the last half decade, women’s wrestling has exploded. About 5,000 girls wrestled in high school this year with nearly half of those participants coming from Texas. Although the Lone Star State is the only one to allow girls to compete exclusively against each other in a separate division, Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii have individual girls titles.
OCU, one of six schools — along with Cumberland (Ky.), Menlo (Calif.), Missouri Valley, Northern Michigan, Pacific (Ore.) and Trinity (Conn.) — to offer collegiate women’s wrestling, revitalized its men’s wrestling program during 2006 for the first time since 1932. The university will inaugurate its first women’s wrestling season this fall, but Randall already has signed 27 girls. Within five weeks of announcing the sport’s commencement, the coach began receiving five to 10 e-mails a day.
Mercer attributes some of the sport’s surge among girls to its maiden appearance during the 2004 Olympic Games.
“That helped push some of the popularity for it,” she said. “They’re all coming out of the woodwork. The level of girls wrestling is just growing. There are more touraments. There are more opportunities.”
Mercer chose OCU as her next opportunity because of the proximity to Lawrence (a five-hour drive), the campus and also the academics.
“Education is the first thing you look for in a college,” Mercer said.
During her LHS career, the 119-pounder compiled a 50-79 record. Mercer earned other accolades, including a fourth-place finish in the USA Wrestling State Championships in the boys division and USA Wrestling All-American status in the Junior Women’s Freestyle Division.
Few would have predicted such success. Mercer humbly poked fun at her lack of athleticism, and none of her immediate family members wrestled.
During junior high she attended an athletic assembly where each coach introduced their sport. Upon learning her cousin, Mark Mercer, was interested in wrestling, she made a pact to join the team if he followed suit.
“She had been joking around with a cousin of hers,” said Jeff Mercer, Emma’s father. “We didn’t take it real seriously ... I thought this would last a couple of days.”
Instead wrestling became a four-year high school career in which she missed only two practices (because of illness), and that was not of her own volition.
“I sent her home,” LHS wrestling coach Mark Dulgarian said.
Dulgarian was part of the attending group at Thursday’s ceremony, which included Lions wrestlers, family members and coaches.
Students chanted her nickname, “Momma Mercer,” as she took her seat. Flahbulbs popped as she took her seat.
Now other local girls could follow Mercer’s groundbreaking lead on the collegiate mat.
“I hope so,” she said. “Wrestling is a great sport. Any motivation for girls to get in there is great. If I inspire a couple of girls to join, then that’s wonderful.”
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Lawrence High’s Mercer to sign with OCU today
Friday, April 13, 2007
Lawrence High’s Emma Mercer was one of two recruits who will sign with Oklahoma City University’s new women’s wrestling program.
Mercer won the USGWA girls state championship as a senior, and competed for LHS in the 119-pound weight class. She was a 2005 Women’s Freestyle Duals All-American. Mercer also competes for the LHS varsity swim team. She is expected to wrestle at 121 pounds at Oklahoma City.
“She thought her wrestling career would be over until we added our program,” OCU coach Archie Randall said. “She is a smart athlete.”
Randall will be on hand when Mercer signs her letter of intent at 3:15 today at the Lawrence High library.
OCU announced the formation of its women’s wrestling team in February.