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She has quite a hold on future
By Matt James / The Fresno Bee04/27/07 04:57:06
Diana Baldrica / The Fresno Bee |
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She won state again. For the third time. But that was as guaranteed as mat burns and cauliflower ears.
Two weeks ago, Biri Mendoza ("Biri" is short for Biridiana and pronounced: Beedee) won the California state girls junior high wrestling tournament at 138 pounds. She also won it last year and the year before that, and probably would have won it the year before that, except for two unfortunate details: 1. The meet didn't exist yet, and 2. She wasn't old enough anyway.
So that's three state junior high tournaments. And three state titles.
"She's tough," says Miguel Terrazas, a junior wrestler at Washington High. "I don't know how to describe her."
Well, he could start with the fact that Terrazas wrestled Biri three years ago when he was in eighth grade and she was in fifth. Nothing quite as hard on the teenage ego as getting tied into knots by an 11-year-old girl.
"Guys are afraid to wrestle her," Terrazas says, with a look that implies he is among the fearful.
She is an eighth-grader at Selma's Lincoln Middle School, where this season she went 26-9. All against boys. She only wrestled one female, a girl from Lemoore, and beat her, too.
The state junior high girls championship was pretty much a given. You don't even need to qualify. Biri won two matches and loaded up the trophy. But she also qualified for the boys state junior high meet for the second time.
So the real question is: Could she eventually become the first girl in Central Section history to qualify for the state high school wrestling meet?
"I think she has the best shot," says Selma High wrestling coach Naser Husein. "She's beating my high school wrestlers right now."
And this is a program that sent seven to state last year.
"I have a goal to make it to state sometime during high school," says Biri, and like most wrestlers, getting her to talk about herself is like dragging a forklift through a muddy field.
There have only been a handful of girls to make state, and those were mostly from smaller sections in the smallest weight classes. A girl qualified at 103 from the Oakland Section a few years ago by a series of forfeits and disqualifications, and was one of the reasons the section toughened the state criteria for wrestling and track.
They were fine with a girl making state, says Jerry Luzar, the Oakland Section commissioner, they just didn't want it to be something you could earn by default.
If Biri does it, it won't be a fluke. She started wrestling at age 6, after a neighbor invited Jose Mendoza to bring his son to the Selma Youth Wrestling program. Jose Mendoza had moved from Mexico to Selma years before and didn't know anything about the sport. But if it was good for his son -- confidence, good sportsmanship, all that -- he figured it had to be good for his daughter, too. So he signed her up.
"Kids wouldn't wrestle her because they didn't want to wrestle a girl," says Archie Tovar, the former neighbor, and one of the founders of the youth program. "Even today, she comes across guys who don't realize they're getting beat by a girl who's been wrestling longer than them."
The older brother, Pepe, is still wrestling, the 130-pounder on the Selma High team. Biri will start at 135 next season, and brother and sister will likely spend most practices drilling against each other. There are three more Mendoza kids, Tony (8), Chelsy (6) and Melanie (5), and the two young girls are already practicing at home. They want to be like their big sis.
Some of Biri's girlfriends have considered wrestling, but their parents said no. It was too dangerous.
"She's a strong woman," Biri's dad says. "She knows what's she's doing. I don't get too worried about her. I know she can handle them."
The same cannot be said for her mother, Antonia Mendoza.
"When I was young she didn't care if I did it, because she didn't think I'd do it when I was older," Biri says.
In fact, Antonia doesn't go to many matches any more.
"She thinks it's a tough sport for her," Jose says. "She gets nervous and scared. She stays home and prays."
While you're at it, Mrs. Mendoza, better say one for the boys.
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High honor for Apache wrestlers
Vallejo grapplers recognized by state Senate
By DAN NIED/Times-Herald sports writer
Article Launched: 04/27/2007 08:34:54 AM PDT
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When Vallejo High wrestler Angie Miller tried to take a photo of coach Carl Lastrella Thursday, she nearly got her camera taken away by a security guard.
These things happen at the Capitol, especially when Lastrella was passing through a metal detector for the second time after a failed attempt.
But other than that, the Vallejo girls wrestling team had a fine day in Sacramento.
The Apaches were recognized on the Senate floor by state Senator Patricia Wiggins for winning the California team state championship in February.
Wiggins introduced the team and presented them with a resolution.
"The people of Vallejo - and the entire Second Senate District - can be proud of these girls, who have so admirably represented us with their skill, determination, and hard work," Wiggins said during the ceremony.
All nine members of the Apaches attended the ceremony, wearing their best dresses instead of their wrestling garb.
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"They certainly did not look like your prototypical wrestlers," said Vallejo head coach Mike Minahen. "They all looked beautiful. I think It was a big moment for the girls in their lives. It was big for me at 45 (years old)."
Miller, Jennifer Fernandez, Mary Jane Fernandez, Jennifer Avelino, Jennifer
Steele, Sabrina Ross, Jennifer Hoehn, Jasmine Dalangin and Velma Renderos all represented Vallejo High.
The ceremony was postponed twice. Originally, it was scheduled to take place before Easter, but the Apaches got word the day before that it was rescheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m.
So Minahen, Lastrella and the girls left Vallejo High at 7 a.m. When they arrived in Sacramento, they were told the ceremony was moved back to 10:30 a.m.
And while going through security Miller - Vallejo's lone individual state champion this year - tried to snap her photo of Lastrella on her digital camera.
"They asked if it was a digital," Miller said. "If it wasn't, I think they were going to take my camera."
But other than that slight snafu, the day went off without a hitch as the Apaches - winners of three straight state titles - got a chance to examine the Capitol Building and rub elbows with some of the state's most powerful politicians.
"It was funny because when someone has the floor, there is a lot of noise and all kinds of conversation while this guy was talking about something important," Minahen said. "When the girls got up, though, everything kind of stopped. The focus was really on the girls."
For Miller and her teammates, the ceremony was an exclamation on the season.
"It means a lot because I don't think many teams can say they have been recognized by the Senate," Miller said.
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Valley women claim seven medals at University Nationals
Thursday, April 26, 2007
By CHRIS ALLEN/Sports Editor
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COLORADO SPRINGS -- Seven Missouri Valley College women's wrestlers won medals last Friday at the Body Bar University National Championships in Colorado Springs.
None, however, finished in the top two spots needed to reserve a berth in the World Team Trials.
The best the Lady Vikings could do in a highly competitive weight class was fourth place at 48 kilograms by freshman Vanessa Nordstrom, coming in one position above freshman teammate Krista Camarillo.
Valley grapplers faced each other in two trophy matches for fifth place. Junior Courtney Martell defeated freshman Mary Shamblin at 55 kilograms, 6-0, 8-0, and sophomore Jennifer Germany pinned sophomore Karen Howe in 1:38 at 63 kg.
Freshman Amy Havens was one of only two wrestlers in the 77 kilogram division, losing two matches to ninth-ranked Megan Goldsmith of the Dinos Wrestling Club, 6-0, 5-0 in the first bout and by fall in the second.
Former MVC wrestler Ashley Sword took first place at 72 kilos and will represent the U.S. at the PanAm Championships next month in El Salvador.
Meanwhile, at the ASICS/FILA University Nationals in Akron, Ohio, former Valley all-American Nate Engel beat the U.S. Olympic Education Center's Terry Allison in the Greco-Roman 55 kg championships match with a second-period pin to win a spot in the PanAm meet.
The Lady Vikings have qualified four entries for the Trials, June 9-10 at Las Vegas: freshman Amberlee Ebert (67 kg) of Reedsville, Wis., for placing second at the College Nationals and fourth at the U.S. Senior Nationals, junior Emily Rinehart (63) of Orlando, Calif., for being the College Nationals runner up, senior Stephany Lee (72) of Honolulu as third-place finisher at the Senior Nationals and sophomore Lacey Novinska (72) of Fennimore, Wis., for coming in fifth at the same meet.
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