News Page
Springstowne continues dominance
By Times-Herald staff
Article Launched: 05/18/2007 08:15:40 AM PDT
Springstowne Middle School captured its eighth consecutive city championship on Tuesday, edging Franklin 57-27 in third round
action and finishing with a perfect 3-0 record. Solano took third place with a 1-2 record, while Vallejo finished fourth at 0-3.
Brenda Luke and Michael Haman each won their third consecutive city championship for Springstowne, and only three other wrestlers have accomplished that feat. Luke, Cameron Esteban and Chris Dollete each finished with perfect records of 3-0.
On the girls side, Samantha Mercado, Alisa Gortchakov and Alyssa Wong each captured gold for the second time. For the boys, Desontae Jones, Tyler Gaul, Gregory Kendall-Park, Lorenzo Angara and Zerick Silas were two-time champions.
------------------------------------------------------------
Alder Creek wrestlers cap strong season
Provided to the Sun
April 26, 2007
|
|
Alder Creek Middle School sixth-grader Amanda Novick took fifth place in the 79-pound weight class at the California Girl’s Middle School State Wrestling Championship in Vallejo on April 14.
“(That is) a remarkable feat as a sixth-grader,” said Jason Guiducci, the tournament’s director. “More importantly, as Truckee’s pioneer female wrestler, she has opened the door and paved the way for future Alder Creek girls in the sport of wrestling.
Novick defeated Heidi Solar of Springtowne Middle School by a score of 11-1 to reach the semifinals. After losing in the semifinals, Novick beat McKenzie Chavez in a dramatic match by pin in the second period to give her a fifth-place finish.
“Amanda is a great competitor,” said Alder Creek wrestling coach Danny Curtis. “She works hard in the practice room. Most girls give up easy when wrestling against boys, but Amanda just keeps fighting and will not give up for the life of her.”
Novick wrestled all season against the Alder Creek team, taking on boys who were some the best wrestlers in the state.
“Amanda loves to beat up on the boys,” Curtis said. “She shows them that it’s a woman’s sport as well as a man’s.
Said Michael Novick, Amanda’s older brother: “I was so nervous watching my little sister wrestle out there in the middle of the mat. It was the first wrestling match that I’ve seen. It was like watching a fight and my sister was winning!”
The championship tournament marked the first time Amanda Novick had wrestled a girl.
“I wanted to show these girls what I’m made of,” she said. “I wanted them to know where I’m from.”
Novick, the only girl to finish the season with the Alder Creek team, was the only girl to beat other boys in live matches and the only girl to get a pin against boys. She pinned several boys during the season while proving to other schools that she was not an easy match.
Alder Creek wrestler Justin Carter knows as much from firsthand experience.
“Wrestling a girl is a scary thought, especially when she is good,” said Carter, Novick’s practice partner who was ranked fifth in the state. “It’s a lose-lose situation. If I win then the my friends say ‘so what, she’s a girl’ but if I lose then I will be teased for the rest of the season about the match.”
Nationals
A week before Novick’s championship tournament, a number of Alder Creek wrestlers competed in the nation-wide World of Wrestling Reno Championships at the Reno Livestock Event Center.
The Cougars had several wrestlers almost place at the national tournament, which hosted more than 2,500 wrestlers over three days.
Morgan Nevin, Alder Creek’s first state champion, was one match away from placing sixth in the nation.
Alder Creek’s Griffin Brown and Max Collinson placed among the top 14 in the nation, while many other Cougar wrestlers placed in the top 20 to 30.
“I was very surprised to see our wrestlers get this far in the tournament,” Curtis said. “Just making it to the second day was a big deal. But our wrestlers almost placed, which would have put them in a magazine with a picture and have a little article written about them.
“I was pleased with the team and how they have become a family,” Curtis continued. “It is the best team I have ever coached, even though it’s my second year coaching a team.”
------------------------------------------------------------
Delhi, Haryana dominate Sub-Junior National Wrestling
Chandigarh, May 26:
Delhi boys and Haryana girls dominated in the 26th Boys and 10th Girls Sub-Junior National Wrestling Championship being held at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab.
Out of six gold medals, Delhi claimed three, including one in the Greeco-Roman style. Devi Singh gave Delhi its first gold medal as he defeated Satinder of Chandigarh in the 42 kg freestyle final bout.
Anil Kumar claimed Delhi's second gold medal by beating Nirdosh of Uttar Pradesh in the 54 kg final.
In the 54 kg Greeco-Roman bout final, Gaurav Sharma of Delhi outpointed Konken Singh of Manipur for the first position.
Uttar Pradesh captured two gold medals in the Greeco-Roman style.
Chandresh KV (42 kg) and Imran Khan (69 kg) were their gold medallists.
Out of three gold medals at stake on the inaugural day, Haryana bagged two first positions.
Pooja proved too good for Monika Malav of Rajasthan in the 38 kg freestyle final to give Haryana its first gold medal. Later, Shakshi Malik downed Veer Paul Kaur of Punjab in the 56 kg category final.
Results:
Girls: Freestyle: 38 kg: 1 Pooja (Haryana), 2 Monika Malav (Rajasthan), 3 Apurva Tyagi (UP) and M Bijeta (Manipur).
46 kg: 1 Prinka (Chandigarh), 2 Archna (UP), 3 Monu Gocher (Rajasthan) and Bhateri (Haryana).
56 kg: 1 Shakshi Malik (Haryana), 2 Veerpal Kaur (Punjab), 3 Pritsna (Uttranchal) and Neetu Rana (UP).
-----------------------------------------------------------------