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THE PERFORMANCE MENU ISSUE 32 SEPTEMBER 2007 14
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At eighteen years old, Joey Miller is one of the most accomplished high school female wrestlers in the country. She has been named not once, but three
times to the ASICS Girls High School All-American wrestling team. Her website www.wrestlegirl.com provides a wealth of information, including photos,
videos and links pertaining to all things girls wrestling. Together with her father Jerry Miller, she has made it her mission to promote girls wrestling with the ultimate
goal of girls wrestling girls in high school in all 50 states. Joey recently signed with Oklahoma City University to wrestle in 2008-09.
Joey, please tell us a little about yourself. How did you first get into wrestling? In what weight class do you wrestle? What is your current win/loss record?
When I was six my brother wanted to buy me a cheap Christmas present. He went to a local shoe store that was going out of business and found a size 10
wrestling shoe for $5.00. Since he wrestled he thought that would be a great present for me. I went to my first tournament a week later even though I had never
practiced with a team. My Dad showed me somemoves. I made it to state that year and won state the next year. I only lost four matches that year.In High School
I wrestle at 119 lbs, and in the Women’s senior division I wrestle at 55kg (121lbs).
My win/loss record this last season was 38-25. This was my worst season since I started wrestling. I went from 103 to 119 and the strength difference of the guys
jumped dramatically. I welcome the challenge and think it will pay off in my wrestling future. I have only been beaten by one girl in folkstyle since I was eight.
I lost to Michaela Hutchison two years ago by a score of 0-2. Michaela was the first and only girl to win a High School state championship against boys. I have won
girls nationals four times and hope to get my fifth next year.
Please explain to our readers the difference between folkstyle and freestyle wrestling.
Freestyle is the college, Olympic, and international style. In Freestyle you can throw, lock hands, and have a tie score and win. You have to win two out of three
periods. The last point scored wins unless the other wrestler scored points by a two or three point move.
If you push a wrestler out of bounds you get a point if you both are on your feet.
Folkstyle is elementary through high school. It is also the style for college in the men’s league. You have to win by one point or pin in three periods. The first period is on your feet and the other two are choice of up, down, or top. Each wrestler gets choice of one period unless he gets pinned. A pin ends the match. You do not get a point by pushing the opponent out of bounds, but you can lose a point by stalling.
You have a great mission statement!
“It is our goal for girls to wrestle girls in high school in all 50 states. We realize that it will not happen anytime soon, but with every girl striving for that goal the competition will get better. The only way for girls to get better now is to wrestle boys.”
There are many people who are quite vocal in their opinion that girls should not wrestle boys for reasons ranging from the fact that it’s humiliating to boys if they get pinned by a girl, to strength inequalities due to girls maturing faster than boys, and others saying that it’s dishonorable to both genders. Talk a little about this gender issue. Most importantly, do you or any of your female or male wrestling friends find there to be anything awkward about mixed wrestling?
I really don’t get caught up in the so-called debate. Everyone has his or her opinion and I respect that, but if I want to get better I have to wrestle the guys.
I don’t do it to humiliate a guy or prove anything. I just want to be the best I can so I can compete in college and the senior women’s tournaments and be
prepared to wrestle the best the world has to offer in the future. Here in Oklahoma I have been wrestling for over 12 years and am regarded as a wrestler, not
a GIRL wrestler. That is the way I like it. I hate it when a girl wants special treatment or a guy wants special treatment. I tell them, Just wrestle. I would rather lose
a tough, hard-fought match than win by forfeit or an easy match. I still wrestle some of the same guys that I used to 10-12 years ago. Some of them I used to beat,
but they beat me now. It gives me a goal to shoot for. I want to beat them the next time I wrestle them. Most of the complainers are parents of the guys that have
lost to a girl. I say to them get over it and get better or it will happen again. You get out of wrestling what you put into it. This is just my opinion.
How close do you stay to your competition weight? Do you have any tips you’d like to share about safely cutting weight?
I walk around at a weight that I know I can safely cut and can handle. I eat healthy and don’t take any pills.
I cut weight the right way. You don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight. You can cut and still eat.
What do you do for strength and conditioning? Do you do any of the Olympic lifts? Which aspects of conditioning do you like the most/least? Is there anyone thing that you do that you feel gives you an edge over your competition?
I run and lift everyday. I run a couple of time everyday and lift every other day and the days I don’t lift I do cardio, abs, and legs lifts. I spend a lot of time in the
gym. I have a copy of the workouts the Olympic and world team uses. I use it sometimes for a change of pace and use it when it gets closer to tournament
time because it is a complete workout. I love any kind of running and I jump rope a lot. I don’t like the stationary bike because it bores me. Sometimes I play
games in the wrestling room for conditioning. It makes the workouts a lot more fun and really works you out. I learned this at the Olympic training center at one of
the camps I went to. There isn’t just one thing that gives you an edge. It is a combination of time, dedication,and commitment.
How do you prepare yourself mentally before your matches?
I have to listen to my music so I don’t have anydistractions. I think about my next match and what I need to do to be successful. I also watch the matches
before me so I can see different situations and think about what I would do if I were to be in them. They might come up in my match. I also move around a lot
to get loose.
What female wrestler do you most respect? Why?
Toccara Montgomery, because she had a rough life and kept going… all the way to the Olympics. She never gave up, stayed focused, and did what she
had to do to be the best. She is a friend of mine and I respect her.
You’ll have to forgive me for this very un-warriorlike question, but are you concerned about getting cauliflower ear?
No, I always wear my headgear and always have. My Dad made me when I started wrestling and I never stopped. I am glad he did. I have some friends that
have cauliflower ear and it is painful.
Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing televised sports. Many of the fighters that dominate this sport
have collegiate wrestling backgrounds. Do you watch MMA? Could you ever see yourself as a professional fighter?
No I have never watched MMA other than the UFC and would like to try it but my parents will not let me.
For now I would have to say no, but who knows what the future holds.
What are your long-term wrestling and career goals?
I would love to go to the Olympics and place. That is my biggest goal. My next goal is to graduate college and be a chiropractor or a physical trainer. I also would
like to coach a wrestling team someday.
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USOEC News
Two women wrestlers medal in China
The Mining Journal 8/31/07
MARQUETTE — Members of the United States Olympic Education Center’s women’s freestyle wrestling team competed last week at the Junior World Championships held in Beijing, China, and brought home two medals.
Northern Michigan University freshman Whitney Conder (Payllup, Wash.) received gold at 51 kilograms. Conder began the tournament strong overtaking Osocka Dominika (Poland), 4-1, 6-1. She followed up with another win against Maryna Milevskaya (Belarus), finishing the match by pin at 1:58.
Continuing the streak, Conder prevailed over Li Xiao (China), 1-0, 3-2.
In the championships match, Conder beat Kumari Babita (India), 2-1, 3-2.
“I just really kept moving because I had to win the match,” said Conder of the finals match. “That is all I wanted to do. It was hard to wrestle, but it was a lot of fun out there.”
Teammate Alyssa Lampe (Tomahawk, Wis.) earned bronze at 48 kg. The Northern Michigan University freshman came back to medal contention through wrestlebacks.
Lampe lost her first match against Fuyoka Mimura (Japan) by pin at 1:08.
“She [Mimura] came right out from the whistle,” said Lampe. “I didn’t even have a chance to wrestle. I knew I had to come back and win a medal. I wanted to get the chance to show people what I was made of.”
Lampe then won her next match against Lenka Matejova (Slovakia), by pin at 1:43. She then met Elza Tazetdinov (Russia) in the bronze medal championship match, and won 3-2, 5-5.
Erin Clodgo (Richmond, Vt.), a Marquette Senior High School senior, finished the tournament with a 1-1 record at 67kg, putting her in eighth place.
Cherae Pascua (Oahu, Hawaii), an NMU freshman, and Paige Rife (Fowlerville, Mich.), an MSHS senior, both began the tournament with losses at 55- and 72-kg, respectively, and did not place in the tournament.
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Williams still first-family of U.S. tennis
Mark Herrmann 9/3/07
The future of American tennis might be the likes of Coco Vandeweghe, a 15-year-old playing in the junior division of the U.S. Open yesterday. The sport could use a bright personality who has a big serve (120 miles per hour), big name (her grandfather and uncle played for the Knicks) and big dreams.
"I want to be No. 1 in the world," said the teenage Long Island native who once was a 5-year-old wrestling champion in Locust Valley, beating the boys.
But the future is a pretty good way off, considering Vandeweghe didn't even qualify for the main draw. She still is too shy to say a spontaneous "hi" to one of the two players who represent the recent past and present of American tennis.
Once, she ran across Serena Williams and needed someone to introduce her. "She was very nice," Vandeweghe said.
Serena and her sister Venus still are the heart and soul of the game around here -- male or female -- and the sport needs every ounce of them it can get. And that's not always all that much.
The two took hold of Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday, each pummeling a solid opponent and generating electricity like no one else can. "When we walked on the court, it was amazing how much support she got," said Ana Ivanovic, who lost to Venus, 6-4, 6-2, late yesterday afternoon.
"Well, you know, I like the entertainment, of course," said Marion Bartoli, who lost to Serena, 6-3, 6-4, early in the afternoon. "When they play some tough matches against some top players . . . the electricity and the battle going on, it's really exciting to watch."
No one can dispute that. Certainly not the 23 million Americans who watched the Williamses in the first-ever prime time U.S. Open women's final six years ago, a TV audience that beat a Nebraska-Notre Dame football game that night.
The problem is that there isn't a Williams somewhere near the final of every tournament every week. Tennis has gaping dry spots between majors because the sisters don't play much and no one else can pick up the slack.
Go ahead, name another American man or woman who will make you tune in to a tennis match. Serena and Venus aren't as good or as big as Tiger Woods is, but they do make you raise the comparison.
Golf and tennis both have trouble getting the big guns interested in anything but the majors. Players are so accomplished and wealthy, they don't have to show up at the Anywhere Invitational.
Serena and Venus are seeded 8 and 12 here, respectively, because they have not played enough lately to be 1 and 2. Each has won a Grand Slam event this season (Australian Open and Wimbledon, respectively), then each missed time because of an injury (Serena's thumb, Venus' wrist).
But each also is chronically distracted by all kinds of things, such as designing clothes and being celebrities. Serena tacitly admitted that yesterday when she talked about her thumb injury: "I felt like, you know, I finally dedicate myself and this happens."
Concentration is not always Serena's strong suit. During her news conference yesterday, she forgot a comment she had made about three minutes earlier. "Oh, I can't keep up with what I say on a daily basis. I might have just been jabbering at my lips," she said.
Still, this Open is getting interesting enough to keep anyone's attention, even Venus and Serena. Each got stronger during her match yesterday.
Tennis needs stars who can inspire a New York bus driver to stop his vehicle, jump out and run to meet them (true story from a Williams shopping jaunt this week).
Glamour will get a nice welcome at any tour stop. Maybe that will eventually come from Vandeweghe, who has decided (with her father's blessing) to go with the maiden name of her mom, Tauna, a former Olympic swimmer. Smart move. Who would be noticing a kid named Coco O'Shea?
Coco, who moved to San Diego nine years ago, has stories to tell. She learned how to box out from grandpa Ernie. She learned how to wear high heels from her grandma, the former Colleen Hutchins, Miss America, 1952. "Heel to toe," the young Vandeweghe said, "shoulders back. Look like you own the place."
At the Open this year, it looks like another family still owns this place.
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Takedown Wrestling Radio Weekly Rundown
9/3/07
Archie Randall- Head Coach of Oklahoma City University. Recent hiring of Wayne James as asst. for both Men's and Women's programs has only served to strengthen the resolve of this coach. A month earlier and more Archie signed athletes Will Shelton, Colin MacMillan, Tyler Untrauer, Billy Burt, Aaron Richards, Jake Mabry, Brandon Tullos. His additions to the women's program also indicate a drive to the future with the signing of Nicole Woody, Lacey Novinska and Samantha Phillips. This coach is driven by goals and a sincere look to the future. Tune in the hear what plans he has for the 07-08 season.
Nicole Woody- 2007, 102 pound Junior National Champion from Gambrills, MD will join us as her coach Archie Randall stays air. This wiley little spitfire may surprise some of you but not Coach Randall. Question for Nicole: Why Oklahoma City University and what's more, Why Coach Randall. Nicole joins Lacey Novinska, Ashley Hudson, Samantha Phillips and the balance of the team for what Coach Randall calls his best recruiting class yet.
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Randall, Woody, Duroe among guests this week on Takedown Radio
Scott Casber Takedown Radio
09/03/2007
America's Wrestling Radio talk show is now heard around the world. From our Brute Adidas Studios now broadcast on the following internet outlets: Takedownradio.com, KXNO.com, Matchannel.com,
Mat-magazine.com. Please be sure to join our live broadcast each and every Saturday as we talk to the worlds greatest athletes. Wrestlers and MMA competitors alike join us each and every week. You should too! TDR is available LIVE, Archived and Pod Cast as well. Check out Takedownradio.com for more details.
Joining us in studio for this weeks special program is Jeff Murphy of Kemin Industries.
Our guests this week include:
John Stutzman, head coach at Bloomsburg University. In his first year as head coach, Stutzman led the Huskies to a mark of 11-9, 4-2 in the EWL. Bloomsburg also sent five wrestlers to the NCAA championships.
Greg Jackson, Jackson MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Greg trains some of the world's greatest MMA stars like George St. Pierre (Canada), Sugar Rashad Evans (Mich. St.) and many others.
Archie Randall, head coach of Oklahoma City University. Recent hiring of Wayne James as assistant for both men's and women's programs has only served to strengthen the resolve of this coach.
Nicole Woody, 2007 102-pound Junior National Champion from Gambrills, Md. will join us. She will wrestle for Coach Randall.
Zac Hall (Ithaca, Mich.) was named TDR/TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week for July 3-9. Hall claimed a double title at the ASICS Kids National Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championships in Green Bay, Wis., July 6-7, winning the Novice 80-pound division in both Greco-Roman and freestyle. This is the third consecutive year that Hall has won a double-title at the ASICS Kids National Championships.
Mike Duroe, head coach at Cornell College. Duroe, head coach of the 2005 and 2006 U.S. Freestyle World Team and head coach of the University of Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling Club from 2003-05, begins his third season as head wrestling coach at Cornell College. In 2006, the U.S. team finished third in the world with four medalists. In his first season at Cornell, Duroe’s squad won a school-record 15 dual meets and the Rams qualified two wrestlers for nationals with one All-American.
Join us every week on Saturday morning for two hours of America's Wrestling Radio talk show. TDR can be heard on great radio stations and web sites around the world like: Des Moines Sports Station AM 1460 KXNO, Takedownradio.com, KXNO.com, Matchannel.com, Mat-magazine.com. Please be sure to join our live broadcast each and every Saturday as we talk to the worlds greatest athletes. Wrestlers and MMA competitors alike join us each and every week. You should too! TDR is available LIVE, Archived and Pod Cast as well. Check out Takedownradio.com for more details.
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