Maryland's Nicole Woody flashes four fingers (and a chicken) after winning her fourth Women's Junior National Championship on Monday.
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Vallejo's Miller wrestles to seventh at Freestyle Nationals
By Times-Herald staff
Article Launched: 07/26/2007 07:53:06 AM PDT
Vallejo High wrestler Angie Miller, competing with the Vallejo PAL wrestling club, took seventh place Tuesday at the Junior Women's Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
In her first match, Miller - in just her first year of freestyle wrestling - won by fall, defeating Haley Slivensky of Michigan in 21 seconds. In her second match, Miller lost to Kelsea Suchocki of New York by fall.
Miller, though, recovered, topping Laura Gaurley of Oregon by fall to qualify for the All-American round, defeating Karra Stratton by fall in the seventh-place match.
In the Vallejo school season last year, Miller claimed the girls state title at 138 pounds. Later, she was a runner-up at the USGWA national championship meet.
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Jeff Kolpack, The Forum
Published Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wrestlers competing in the USA Wrestling Junior and Cadet national championships paid the price to get here in the form of dedication. It’s not easy working out in the peak of summer while friends are doing other things.
Their parents and guardians, meanwhile, paid another price. This one is called money and it’s not cheap to send a wrestler to camps and tournaments.
“It keeps your broke,” said Willy Kostenborder, from Salem, Ore.
“I don’t even want to add it up.”
If he did, it would probably be in the range of $2,000 to $5,000 – if not more. That seems to be the general consensus for those who travel a significant distance to Fargo.
Take the kids from northern Alaska, for example. Mike Hutchison, the state chair for Alaska, said wrestlers from towns mainly accessible by airplane probably spend $550 to $600 just to get to the team camp in Anchorage.
Summer is tourist season in Alaska and commercial airline tickets usually are at their peak.
“In the bush communities, that’s their only form of transportation,” said Hutchison, whose daughter Micheala Hutchison won the women’s freestyle 116-pound class earlier in the week.
The Alaska state association does its best to help by holding its team camp at Fort Rich military base in Anchorage. The base donates barracks, meals and the use of its gymnasium.
“We subsidize whatever we can,” Hutchison said.
Parents traveling to Fargo don’t get that luxury. A sample:
- Brian and Kay Dalke from Newton, Kan., have been to tournaments in Iowa, Wyoming and Oklahoma. It costs $450 for their son, Rylan, to come to nationals. “And Kansas is fairly cheap,” Brian said. “He’s getting a lot out of it.” The family figures their wrestling travels will cost about $5,000.
- Mark and Lori Lindley from Katy, Texas, drove to Dallas, flew to Minneapolis and then drove to Fargo. Their daughter, Courtney, wrestled in the Junior women’s division. “We go where she goes,” Mark said. “She loves to wrestle and we love to watch. It was an absolute shock. We figured after two weeks she would get a couple of bruises and wouldn’t want anymore.”
Her love of the sport carries about a $6,000 price tag for the summer, Mark said.
- Jim Kusse’s family of Rochester, N.Y., already had a summer vacation planned out to drive to the West Coast. But when daughter Tanya qualified for this tournament, they made an obvious detour to Fargo – an event that he figures cost about $1,000.
- Clifford Amore from Coshocton, Ohio, drove almost 20 hours to get here. “The cost of gas makes everything harder,” he said. “I don’t know the details.”
Those details, like most things, get more expensive each year. But that doesn’t seem to slow down the national participation in wrestling.
The Kostenborder family has also been to tournaments in Las Vegas and Akron, Ohio. Willy Kostenborder said the fee for his son Alex, who took fourth at 98 pounds in the Junior Greco-Roman tournament, for the Fargo event was $1,500.
“It’s an addiction,” he said. “He likes it. It’s a thrill.”
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546.
Kolpack’s NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com
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Published 07/25/07, Copyright © 2007 Maryland Gazette,
Arundel High School graduate Nicole Woody won her fourth straight U.S. Junior Women's Freestyle National title this weekend in Fargo, N.D., defeating Amy Whitbeck of New York in the finals of the 102 pound class, 2-0, 8-1.
Woody, who became the first female wrestler in U.S. history to win four straight titles at Fargo, was named outstanding female wrestler for the second straight year.
The Oklahoma City University-bound Odenton resident did not lose a period in the event, outscoring opponents by a combined 12-3 margin in the first period and a dominating 24-3 in the second period. Woody, who also won a match by technical fall and another by pin in her 7-0 showing, never went the full three rounds in the tournament.
Woody, who is remaining in Fargo for the men's freestyle nationals, could not be reached for comment.
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Maryland's Woody makes history with fourth Junior Women's Title
DATE: 7/23/2007 5:19:00 PM
Fargo, N.D.By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com
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Maryland's Nicole Woody flashes four fingers (and a chicken) after winning her fourth Women's Junior National Championship on Monday. |
There’s history, there’s novelty, and then there’s championship ability.
Maryland’s Nicole Woody did one, disproved another and excelled at the third as she won her fourth Junior Women’s freestyle National Championship on Monday at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.
Woody, a two-period winner over New York’s Amy Whitbeck in the finals at 102 pounds, became the first wrestler in U.S. wrestling history to win four titles at the Junior Women’s level.
“I’ve been waiting for this for four years,” said Woody. “Ever since I stepped out on the mat and I won three years ago. I decided I was going to come back to become the first four-timer.”
She probably won’t have to wait long to have company, as California’s Tatiana Padilla won her third title roughly a half-hour after Woody had her hand hoisted skyward on the raised platform in Fargo.
And Woody didn’t have long to wait for company within the state of Maryland. Teammate Helen Maroulis picked up a fall in the second-period over Utah’s Candace Workman at 109 pounds to give the Old Line State back-to-back champions.
“WOOOOOOOO, WAY TO GO HEL-EN!” bellowed Woody from her post-match interview. “Oh man, that’s great! 100 percent of Maryland’s women’s female wrestlers won nationals.”
Woody had a tougher road to the championship this season with Camie Yeik of Washington and Amy Whitbeck of New York at the weight.
Yeik placed eighth in the Washington 3A state championships this season at 103 pounds, while Whitbeck was the first girl to qualify for the rugged New York State Championships.
Woody, by the way, was the first female state finalist in Maryland history, finishing as the runner-up at 103 pounds in the 4A/3A Division.
“It was a tough weight class,” said Woody. “There were several girls on the Asics team in the weight class. It feels good to win my fourth title and no one can so, ‘Oh you were in a bad weight class’.”
How tough was the weight? Well you had a high school state placewinner (Yeik) finish fifth.
Last year, Woody won her title in dramatic fashion, hitting a spectacular five-point high arching throw.
“I just wanted hit one five-point throw this tournament, but it didn’t happen, but I was more focused on wrestling and actually winning because I wanted to get that title than do fancy stuff,” said Woody.
Maroulis, who has picked up titles this year at the Canada Cup and Body Bar, had been flying under the radar so to speak before her round robin match with Michigan’s C.C. Weber.
“We knew who we had to beat, getting that win just solidified her confidence and she did very well,” said Maryland coach and former NCAA All-American Brandon Lauer. “She hadn’t beaten C.C. yet, and that was a real big win for her.”
Maroulis pointed out the benefit of training with now four-time champion Woody.
“It’s awesome. We’ve been training for months together, since St. Patrick’s Day, and talking about what we wanted to do in the finals and how we were going to train,” said Maroulis. “We’ve broken so many times and we just keep pushing each other.”
And now Maroulis has a rubber chicken to call her own. The chicken is something Team Maryland has tossed to the mat following championship victories in Fargo. Woody has four and Maroulis gives Maryland’s women’s freestyle program a fifth.
“I just wanted to catch it,” said Maroulis.
Lauer believes the pair of titles could be a source of inspiration wrestler in Maryland.
“It gives a lot of hope towards the younger girls that are coming up through the various junior programs and can look up to, someone to idolize and push them to get better and better and maybe get to this point one day,” he said.
Woody was virtually assured the Outstanding Wrestler trophy after winning her historic fourth – and as expected, hoisted the trophy following the completion of the finals.
Padilla was dominant in her 132 pound championship victory over fellow California wrestler Samantha Phillips.
Before the finals, Padilla was named Themat.com/Asics Girls High School Wrestler of the Year.
Alaska’s Michaela Hutchison shared the spotlight with her brother Eli last year as the pair became the first brother-sister combination to win Junior level national titles, and they did it the same year.
“I love this,” said Hutchison of her repeat title, beating California’s Jazzy Green with a fall in 39 seconds. “It’s pretty cool. I was a little bit more nervous last year, but this year I calmed down a lot more.”
But now, it was Michaela alone that had the spotlight.
“I still like being (known as) Eli’s little sister,” she said.
Also winning a second title was South Carolina’s Brittany Delgado at 190. Delgado picked up a fall over Wisconsin’s Heather Miracle at 1:09 in the second period.
Lakia Henderson of Florida won her second title at 220 pounds, but had to wait a year. She won her first title in 2005 before winning the round robin tournament this year.
Erin Clodgo of Connecticut fell just short of repeating, dropping a 1-1, 0-1, 1-0 decision to Colorado’s Adeline Gray at 146 pounds.
In other finals: Hanna Martin of Oklahoma won the title at 95 pounds, beating Michigan’s Kristi Garr 10-3, 6-0. Randi Betz of Missouri topped Oklahoma’s Ashley Hudson in three periods at 124 pounds. … Veronica Carlson of Illinois beat Marina Picollotti 7-0, 4-0 at 139 pounds, while Michigan’s Page Rife beat Texas Lindsey Brooks at 153.
Puerto Rico crowned its first Junior Women’s champion as Dayanara Rivera beat Texas’ Jami Moore 4-1, 3-1 at 165 pounds.
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Last Updated: Thursday, July 26, 2007 | 9:04 PM ET
CBC Sports
Canada also earned a gold, a silver and two bronze in wrestling, with Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., defeating Ingrid Medrano of El Salvador to win gold in the 48-kilogram women's wrestling category.
Ohenewa Akuffo of Brampton, Ont., took silver in the 72-kilogram class, losing to American Kristie Marano in the gold-medal bout.
Tonya Verbeek, a native of Beamsville, Ont., defeated Tahamara Barron of Mexico to win a bronze medal in the 65-kilogram category. Verbeek, a silver medallist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, had earlier lost to American Marcie Vandusen in the semifinals of the women's 55-kilogram wrestling division.
Megan Dolan of St. Catharines, Ont., collected bronze in the 63-kilogram competition with a win over Cuba's Candida de Armas.
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Brazil beats U.S. in women's soccer, passes Cuba in medal count at Pan Ams
The Associated PressPublished: July 26, 2007
The U.S. won two golds in women's wrestling — Sara McMann beat Venezuela's Yoselin Rojas in the 63-kilo class and Kristie Marano defeated Canada's Ohenewa Akuffo in the 72-kilo.
Canada won the 48-kilo title with Carol Huynh, and Colombia the 55-kilo with Jackeline Renteria.
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