Granite Hills senior Erica Torres won a national wrestling championship at 126 pounds on April 1 in Livonia, Mich. Recorder photo by Chieko Hara)
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Napa High’s McChesney captures wrestling title at ASICS Nationals
By Marty James
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
NOTES AND QUOTES for a Tuesday in the Napa Valley:
Napa High School wrestler Alyx McChesney earned the title of national champion at the ASICS West Coast Nationals, which were held Friday and Saturday in Vallejo.
McChesney, a first-year wrestler, was one of 600 entrants from across the U.S. to compete in the two-day tournament that included a full women’s division. She earned the top honor in the 132-pound girls weight bracket and was coached by Jaret Newton, her regular season coach from Napa High.
McChesney recently earned eighth place and an All-American honor in the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association National Championships in Livionia, Mich.
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By Mark A. Peinado, The Porterville Recorder 4/24/07
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Granite Hills senior Erica Torres won a national wrestling championship at 126 pounds on April 1 in Livonia, Mich. Recorder photo by Chieko Hara) |
Some kids are given little baseball gloves when they're born, others have basketballs or football helmets placed in their cribs.
While Erica Torres didn't have head gear put along side of her when she was a few days old, it seems the Granite Hills senior might have been born to wrestle.
Torres was not only born on Wrestlemania, one of professional wrestling biggest extravaganzas, her father Eric once was a pro himself.
It appears wrestling was in her blood.
“I was a real big fan of professional wrestling and I was told of stories of how I was born on Wrestlemania,” Torres said. “So when I saw that there were sign-ups, I went and joined. When I told my dad, he was like ‘What! Are you sure you want to do this?' I was like ‘yeah. I really wanted to try it.' ”
The sport was a natural fit as Torres went from taking second place in her first-ever tournament to a United States Girls Wrestling Association national champion at 126 pounds on April 1 at the 10th annual event in Livonia, Mich.
“I never thought she would take it serious,” Eric Torres said. “Every year she wrestled, she'd get better. My wife and I encouraged her to keep going. I've been supportive the whole way: Win, lose or draw.
“Hey, I'm a proud papa. I can't put it into words. I'm on cloud nine.”
Torres, after finishing fourth at last year's national championships at 122 pounds, defeated Oceanside's Christina Hernandez 7-4 in the finals to win the grand prize.
“Last year, I looked at it as getting my feet wet,” Torres said. “This year I was much more focused and I sacrificed so much. I didn't go out with friends. I dedicated my whole spring break to training. I was going to go there and do business.
“And after I came back, all of the sacrifice was really worth it.”
Torres ended up with three different titles at three weight classes: She won the CIF Southern Regional at 118 pounds then the Southern California Open at 122 pounds as well as her national title at 126 pounds.
Now it appears she'll take the many accomplishments she achieved in high school along with her love for the sport to the college level as Torres has been courted by the University of Oklahoma City to wrestle for their start-up program.
“Before last year I didn't even know that there were so many tournaments that the girls had,” Torres said. “I'm just going with the flow. Almost graduating and I'm looking forward to college. I think it's going to be a great experience I can't wait. It will be starting all over again only with females this time.”
Torres can thank Granite Hills coach Marty Kouyoumtjian for making her college dreams happen.
But it took change of plans in her junior year for it to happen.
Kouyoumtjian forced Torres to sway her thought process of wrestling with the boys and possibly winning an East Yosemite League title as well as a place at the Yosemite Divisionals to capturing tournament championships while sparring with girls.
“I definitely wanted her to have as many opportunities as she could on an equal footing with other girls,” Kouyoumtjian said. “She's such a class act. She's good in the classroom. She's low key and humble in all of her achievements. There's attitude and I think she brings nothing but positive things the way she represents herself, family and school.”
It wasn't an easy transition for Torres. All she ever knew was how to wrestle boys. It was tough for Torres to refocus and wrestle her own gender halfway through her high school career. Plus, she wanted to win an EYL title.
“It was kind of weird and a step in a new direction,” Torres said. “I've always wrestled guys. When first got out there (wrestling girls), I didn't know what to expect. When I went to nationals (last year) and seeing all these girls - it was the first time I've ever seen so many girls - I was like wow there are a bunch of girls out there wrestling. I didn't feel alone.”
But Kouyoumtjian convinced Torres that this was the way to go. He should know as the Grizzlies coach has been around the sport a long time. He's coached at many successful Southern Section programs and saw that Torres had what it took to reach that next level.
“I knew she wanted to do well her senior year,” Kouyoumtjian said. “I thought she could do even better this year. She's disciplined academically and athletically. She's been a leader. I have as much confidence in her as anyone I've coached.”
It was easy for Torres who missed out on all the things teenage girls go through: Dances, hanging out with friends as well as eating whatever she wants.
“I was like that's OK if I missed on dance as long as I win nationals, who cares about a little dance,” Torres said. “It was pretty cool. Just looking back and seeing all of the things that I sacrificed, it was all worthwhile.”
So much so that the impact might not be felt for quite a few years.
It seems that Torres has become quite a little celebrity around the elementary and middle schools around Porterville. Her success and the attention she has brought to girls wrestling has sparked interest among the youth.
“I have little girls coming up to me, ‘You wrestle. I want to wrestle,' ” Torres said. “There's all these girls telling their dads they want to wrestle and they're looking at me like oh my gosh.
“It's changed. There are so many girls coming out. They're moving on up. Hopefully, they'll stick with it.”
Who knows? Years from now, there might be another girls state or national champion from the city of Porterville and they'll have Erica Torres to thank for paving the way.
Contact Sports Editor Mark A. Peinado at 784-5000, Ext 1049 or mpeinado@portervillerecorder.com.
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5 USOEC freestyle wrestlers capture titles
The Mining Journal 4/24/07
MARQUETTE —Five United States Olympic Education Center women freestyle wrestlers won junior national championship titles at the 2007 Body Bar Women’s Nationals April 20-22 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Northern Michigan University freshman Alyssa Lampe (Tomahawk, Wis.) won the 48-kilogram junior title and was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. Lampe won 7-0, 4-0 over Nicole Woody (New York Athletic Club).
NMU freshmen Whitney Conder (Puyallup, Wash.) and Cherae Pascua (Oahu, Hawaii) were also crowned junior national champions. Conder defeated Leann Barney (University of the Cumberlands) in the 51-kg weight class and Pascua won by decision over Joey Miller (Oklahoma Bad Girlz) at 55 kg.
Marquette Senior High School senior Paige Rife (Fowlerville, Mich.) captured the 72-kg junior national championship title.
MSHS junior Erin Clodgo (Richmond, Vt.) left the tournament with two national championship titles. Clodgo defeated Natasha Umemoto (USA Cobra) in the 67-kg finals in the junior division and went undefeated in cadet division, to win gold.
Head coach Shannyn Gillespie said the results show the strength of the USOEC program.
“We won every weight class we entered. Our program was created to make Junior World and Senior World teams. Last year, we had two [junior] champions here. This year we have five. Every year, we are getting better.”
The USOEC women’s freestyle team also competed at the university level of the competition and had seven wrestlers finish third or better.
NMU junior Sadie Kaneda (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Conder won silver in their respective 48- and 51-kg classes.
Junior Dany Hedin (Kailua, Hawaii) and Pascua competed in the 55-kg division. Hedin fell to former USOEC athlete Brandy Rosenbrock (Michigan Wrestling Club) to win silver while Pascua won by decision over Shannon Reeves (University of the Cumberlands) take bronze.
Freshman Shyla Iokia (Maui, Hawaii) earned silver. She lost the championship match to Othella Lucas (University of the Cumberlands) at 59 kg.
NMU graduate student Jenna Pavlik (Lewes, Del.) and Dallas Monreal-Berner (Niles, Ill.) took second and third, respectively, at 72kg.
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Spartans Take Two of Three from Sac. State
4/24/07
Local Wrestler Takes First
Jasmine Hernandez, 13, who attends South Valley Middle School, took first place in the California Girls Middle School State Championships recently held in Vallejo. She wrestled in the 104-pound class.
Herndez placed eighth in the nation in the USGWA Woman's Wrestling Nationals on April 1 in Livonia, Mich.
The All-American qualified by placing in the Santa Clara County Championships in December.
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'Lonelygirl15' joins the wrestling team?
Posted by Caroline McCarthy 4/24/07
Jessica Rose as 'Bree' in the 'Lonelygirl15' video blog
(Credit: Lonelygirl15.com)
It seems like outed Lonelygirl15 actress Jessica Rose's 15 minutes of fame aren't quite up yet. The fictional YouTube video blog series has a United Kingdom-based spin-off coming up, and Rose has a small role in an upcoming Lindsay Lohan movie.
It's also been recently announced that production has recently wrapped on Rose's "first major theatrical role," in a movie called Perfect Sport that's slated to be released (in one capacity or another) this fall. It doesn't look particularly "major," though; it's created by a year-old production company called Building Block Pictures, and it has a cast of unknowns and near-unknowns. Not exactly a big break for 'Lonelygirl15,' it seems.
However, according to a release from Building Block Pictures, Jessica Rose's role is of a girl who joins her high school's wrestling team. That might make the movie worth seeing.
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