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Colin Harris 12/26/07
5 hours ago
By Colin Harris
Record-Courier staff writer
MANTUA -- Crestwood High School sophomore Paige Nemec is no
different than any other girl her age.
She likes the same things, listens to the same music and even
plays for the girls soccer team.
Well, there is one slight difference.
Nemec's also a member of the Red Devils' wrestling team. And
she's really good.
A two-year starter at Crestwood, the 103-pound Nemec racked up
an impressive 23 wins during her freshman year and has been just as
successful for head coach Dave Wrobel in her second season.
On Dec. 8, Nemec made a statement at the Aurora Invitational,
becoming the first girl to ever win an individual title at the Aurora
meet en route to being named the most valuable wrestler of the event.
While being named the MVP of a male-dominated tournament is
certainly a significant honor, Nemec didn't need it to prove her worth
on the mats.
As a youth and middle school wrestler, Nemec claimed multiple
state and national championship titles -- including taking the top spot
in the 74-pound division at the 2005 United States Girls Wrestling
Association National
Championships.http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1197469866167890.xml&coll=2
Wrobel attributes Nemec's success -- both past and present --
in large part to her upbringing.
"(Paige's) history in girls wrestling is very strong," Wrobel
said. "She comes from a family of wrestlers, so it's something that's
in her blood. I think it's something that's always been in her family
and she takes it very seriously."
As a girl competing primarily against boys, it's pretty safe
to assume the road to acceptance hasn't always been easy for Nemec.
According to Wrobel, however, Nemec's accomplishments have
gone a long way toward breaking down a lot of prejudices.
"Yeah, I think there's an initial shock from a lot of her
competition that they're getting beaten by a girl," Wrobel said.
"However, most people know she's legit and isn't there just to prove a
point. She's there to get better each and every day.
"Paige doesn't want to be treated any differently than anyone
else," Wrobel said. "She's there to put her time in and improve, and
everyone's accepted her at this level. They know she's a really
talented wrestler."
On a Crestwood team that graduated more letterwinners than it
returned, this year has presented an opportunity for the younger
wrestlers to assume a leadership role.
Described by Wrobel as "soft-spoken," the 15-year-old Nemec
has allowed the way she approaches her craft to set an example.
"Obviously, when you have someone as accomplished as she is,
she just leads by example," Wrobel said. "When you've won tournaments,
national championships and MVPs, you'd expect a different attitude. She
just works hard every day and she'll go out there and wrestle hard."
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1197469866167890.xml&coll=2
Rob Vanstone, Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Danielle Anderson's list of wrestling accomplishments is
almost as lengthy as an overview of her activities.
Anderson immerses herself in various pursuits at Robert Usher
Collegiate and elsewhere. A student of dance for five years, she is
involved in choir, musical theatre and the SRC at Usher. She played two
characters in the school's production of Beauty and the Beast. Not only
that, she holds down two part-time jobs while still finding time to be
an honour-roll student.
She was also the 2007 city and provincial high school girls
wrestling champion in the 56-kilogram weight class. As well, she helped
Saskatchewan's wrestling team win a gold medal at the 2007 Western
Canada Summer Games in Strathcona County, Alta.
View Larger Image
Danielle Anderson of Usher
Collegiate (in black) wrestles TDanielle Andersonheresa Black of Winston Knoll
Collegiate in a recent match.
Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post
More pictures: < Prev
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>
Accomplishments, especially when you consider that the
16-year-old Anderson was born without an ankle and pinky toe on her
right foot. The medical term is fibular hemimelia, which results in
Anderson's right leg being about three centimetres shorter than her
left.
"I have to walk on my tippy-toes because my leg is shorter,''
the Grade 11 student says, "but it actually doesn't affect me at all.''
Obviously.
Anderson has wrestled with impressive results since taking up
the sport in Grade 9, when she enrolled at Usher. That year, she was
named Usher's outstanding rookie wrestler.
"In elementary school, there wasn't a lot of picking for
sports,'' says the 5-foot-2, 130-pound Anderson, who attended McDermid
School. "There was either basketball or volleyball, so I played those.
"When I got to high school, I tried out for the basketball
team but I didn't make it. I really wanted to do something else so I
thought, 'What other sports can I do?' I kind of heard about wrestling
and I thought, 'Maybe it will be OK,' so me and my friend tried it. I
just ended up really liking it.''
But not at first.
"I honestly thought I would probably quit,'' Anderson says
with a chuckle. "I thought, 'Oh, no. It'll be too hard,' but I stuck
with it.''
Good move. After a fine rookie year, Anderson progressed even
further in Grade 10. She shared Usher's outstanding-wrestler award for
2007 with Christy McConnell, who won city and provincial titles at
52kg. McConnell is now with the University of Regina Cougars wrestling
team.
"Christy was my role model,'' says Anderson, a member of
Regina's Cattown Wrestling Club. "When I was in Grade 9, she would
always help me and she was so nice. In Grade 10, she always drove me to
club wrestling at the university and we always hung out. She was my
wrestling buddy.''
The friendships are one of the reasons why wrestling has a
hold on Anderson.
"I just have a passion for it,'' she says. "I really like
doing it. It's hard work, but it just benefits me so much. It keeps me
in good shape and I meet so many new people from being on different
wrestling teams. I just love it. I don't even know how to explain it.
It's a lot of fun.
"I'm really dedicated in wrestling so I think that helps me in
life outside of wrestling. I just commit myself to everything. I always
compare everything to wrestling. I think, 'If this was wrestling, would
I quit it?' No!''
Anderson's winning attitude is also evident in the classroom,
where her average exceeds 80 per cent. Along with wrestling, she also
devoted some of her extracurricular time to high school football -- but
not at her own high school.
Usher was unable to field a football team for 2007 due to low
numbers. Danny Paskiw, who had been Usher's head football coach,
transferred to Winston Knoll Collegiate for the 2007-08 school year.
After arriving at his new school, Paskiw called Anderson and asked if
she would be interested in helping out the Regina Intercollegiate
Football League's Winston Knoll Wolverines as a trainer. Anderson
decided to help, as did Usher classmate Christin Zibreski.
"Every day after school during football season, me and
Christin would drive all the way to Knoll and stay there until about
six or seven o'clock at the football practices,'' Anderson notes.
Although Anderson enjoyed being a part-time
Wolverine, she does not want to spend too much time at other schools.
She won't have a choice if Usher shuts its doors after the current
school year. Usher is among the schools that have been targeted for
possible closure by the Regina Public School Board.
Board trustees are to vote on the plan March 11, following a
series of meetings with the public. Anderson is confident that the
recommendation for closure will be overturned.
"Usher's not going anywhere,'' states Anderson, who hopes to
graduate from Usher in 2009. "Usher's going to be open next year. I
kind of look at it in a positive way.
"Everybody says, 'You have to think about if Usher closes.'
I'm like, 'They haven't decided if it is,' so I'm going to go to Usher
next year as far as I'm concerned. That's my point of view. It's not
going anywhere. I'm going to graduate as a Unicorn.''
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Paige Nemec
CRESTWOOD
Wrestling
Class:
Sophomore
Age:
15
Ht:
4-1
Wt:
103
What Paige did last week:
Won all five of her matches and was named MVP of the Aurora
Invi tational.
About Paige:
Earned varsity soccer and wrestling letters last year. Enjoys
riding dirt bikes, swimming and playing paintball. Is a member of the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Favorite school subject is English.
Favorite athlete is international soccer star David Beckham. Favorite
movie is "White Chicks." Likes to watch the television show "Reba."
Article
Launched: 12/26/2007 09:31:58 AM PST
Of
everything that happened in Vallejo-area sports over the last year,
there is only one true underdog tale.
While she may not have grabbed the attention of Vallejo like
some teams in 2007, Krystalle Alcantara can boast that she is the
city's most decorated athlete this year.
Section and state titles are great. But Alcantara's
recognition came in a broader scope when she won the United State Girls
Wrestling Association national title on the first day of April.
The setting was a large high school gym in the Detroit suburb
of Livonia, Mich. Alcantara, a scrawny 100-pounder senior from Hogan
High, wasn't supposed to come home with a first-place finish in girls
wrestling's most prestigious tournament. The City of Vallejo large
contingent
composed of teams from Vallejo High and Hogan, figured to have a few
national championship contenders - 138-pound runner up Angie Miller of
Vallejo and 154-pounder Monica Gonzalez of Hogan were the likeliest -
but few figured Alcantara would challenge for the title.
But for two days her stand up style and playful mat presence
befuddled opponents who had no clue how to defend her. She won five
straight matches on her way to the title, and capped it all off with a
6-4 win over Michigan's Kristi Garr.
"I made my coach happy, I made my friends happy, I made my family
happy, I made myself happy and I made my school happy," Alcantara said
after the shocker.
It was the capper to a historic senior year for Alcantara. In
February Alcantara and Vallejo High 103-pounder Jennifer Fernandez
became the first girls to qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters
meet. Alcantara's win, combined with Miller's overtime loss in the 138
final, further established Vallejo as one of the nation's most fruitful
girls wrestling hotbeads.
As for that weekend back in Michigan, No opponent ever figured
out Alcantara's style. She preferred to wrestle standing up, and waited
patiently for her chance to strike. In mid-match, she would reach out
and rub the head of her opponent in a quirky, not cocky, fashion.
"Krystalle wrestles like a girl," said Hogan coach Ric
Manibusen. "In wrestling, you have to be crotch down, good position,
hands up. But she stands up and she catfights. She looks like a girl,
she acts like a girl, and it throws everybody off."
She was plagued the entire weekend by in-match nose bleeds,
and the championship match had to be stopped twice for medical
attention. Whether that threw off Garr's rhythm and afforded Alcantara
any advantage can't be determined. But for some reason, everything just
fell into place on April Fools day.
"I took the gold," Alcantara said. "I wanted it really badly.
When I heeard the whistle, I was speechless."
While she may not have had the city buzzing like the Bethel
and St. Pat's football teams or the St. Pat's girls basketball team,
Alcantara stands today as Vallejo's only reigning national champion.
And it came, basically, out of nowhere.
Injuries threatened Marana's season, but layover gives squad chance to
recharge for postseason
December 26, 2007
Robert Lindsay has a few things on his mind — shoulder
separations, grades, divorces, you name it. The Marana Tigers’ head wrestling
coach has dealt with it all, during this initially-promising season.
But
there’s a guarded optimism surrounding the squad. Several bruised bodies, and
other holdouts, are returning to the fold before tournament season
nears.
“The story is that we thought we’d be really good this year,” said
Lindsay, who now hopes for a top-10 team finish. “We’ve dealt with what we have
and made the best of things.”
Junior 130-pounder Kevin Kent exemplifies
the situation. After wrestling at 119 during state last year during the
tournament, he broke a rib early this season, but recently returned to practice.
“He keeps grabbing his ribs, but he gets right back in and does it
again,” Lindsay said. “He needs to get a lot of wrestling done before the state
championship to be back in the groove.”
Kent’s drive doesn’t surprise
undefeated senior heavyweight and team leader Michael Martin-Moreno. He figures
it’s part of the gig.
“All of our wrestlers have a lot of heart,”
Martin-Moreno said. “And so I’m always trying to push
people.”
Martin-Moreno, who Lindsay likes to call his “diamond in the
rough,” led Marana’s football team with 25 solo tackles while playing linebacker
this season — a position that’s helped the senior’s ability to shoot from a low
position on the wrestling mat.
The Dec. 12 duals meet against Sahuaro
found Martin-Moreno nabbing his latest win against Deon Jackson in the
heavyweight division, the fall coming 5:32 into the match. http://www.explorernews.com/article/show/21096
For a while,
it appeared Martin-Moreno was either lacking aggression or just toying with
Jackson, hedging his attacks. But after developing the habit of taking opponents
down quickly throughout his high school career, Martin-Moreno decided it was
time to work the long haul.
“Coach told me what would lead to my downfall
would be the one who knew to take me long,” Martin-Moreno said. “I don’t want to
go against someone who can run for the money and not know what to
do.”
Lindsay agreed, for the most part. But characteristically, there
were bones to pick with Martin-Moreno’s approach.
“If I’m going to drag
it for two periods, I’m doing some moves,” Lindsay said.
At 2006’s 4A-I
state tournament, Martin-Moreno made his deepest postseason bid, reaching the
quarterfinals in the 189-pound class. Last winter, he fell during the first
round, despite his No. 2 seed.
This season, Lindsay believes
Martin-Moreno is poised for his best showing yet. The coach claims the wrestler
doesn’t have much competition at the 4A-I level and is “going to pretty much
walk through semis.”
“That’s been a goal to be a state champ, ever since
I’ve been introduced to wrestling in seventh grade,” Martin-Moreno said. “This
year it’s on.”
If that’s the case, then the kid’s just warming up.
Lindsay believes Martin-Moreno’s real potential lies a year or two down the
road,and that the wrestler could likely walk onto any squad he
chooses.
“Wait ’till he goes to college and gets his p’s and q’s minded
for a year or two. He’s going to grow like an animal,” Lindsay said.
But
Lindsay’s perfectionism leaves him somewhat annoyed with Martin-Moreno’s and
other wrestlers’ work ethics.
Lindsay literally counts down the high
school time left for his star senior to prepare for college. Last week, he
specifically mentioned the numbers — in days and hours.
“I want to be
the best in the world and strive for it every single day,” Lindsay said. “It
drives me nuts that kids miss practice because they have dentist appointments. I
never missed a practice … in my life.”
Lindsay would’ve been a tough guy
to miss at the Sahuaro match — all one had to do was to listen. A stocky,
barrel-chested man whose reddish goatee and vocals appear short a Viking helmet,
Lindsay hails from western Pennsylvania, where he wrestled Division II in
college.
After relocating to Tucson around his 30th birthday — and
subsequently falling for Nico’s pollo asada — Lindsay earned his teaching
certificate and reconnected with wrestling, following a rough patch back home
where “life kinda got in the way” and kept him from the mat.
“I had to
get back in the room and start coaching, make sure the kids were taking care of
business,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay found his footing quickly, but
encountered a challenge reaching out toward local youngsters put off by
wrestling’s physical nature.
“Middle school kids in seventh or eighth
grade, they don’t want to wear tights. They think it’s gay. They don’t want to
touch kids,” Lindsay said. “If they start in third or fourth grade, they never
know the difference.”
Elementary school involvement asks a lot,
considering Marana’s lack of a full-bore feeder program leaves Lindsay with some
envy toward other high schools’ pipelines — like Mountain View’s with Tortolita
MS and Ironwood Ridge’s with Cross MS.
Still, getting 60 or 70 kids to
try out isn’t the problem — retention is. From a crop that size, Lindsay said
it’s difficult to get five to stick around for their entire high school
term.
The attritions leaves Lindsay in a familiar bind.
“If I
could just wave a wand, I’d get a middle school coach. That’d be my No. 1 thing
— in fact, it is,” he said. “Without the middle school, I’m
nothing.”
That bridge was visible when five of the seven Marana wins
during their Dec. 12 match came from freshmen and sophomores. The underclassmen
made all the difference during the slim 40-37 Marana victory, leaving the team
with a 5-3 record.
Following the match, Marana’s wrestlers bent
shoulder-to-shoulder and rolled up the mat. It’s a ritual, but a blonde head in
the middle of the pack drew a second glance, being the only girl in the pack.
Meet Mary Ammons, a junior who wrestles the 152-pound class, plays in
the Marana High School band, and whose spot on the team has nothing to do with
charity.
The girls’ state title she earned during her freshman year
stands as proof.
“I was always real aggressive and was getting in
trouble for fights and stuff,” Ammons said. “Wrestling just turned out pretty
well for me.”
Ammons was among the Tigers sidelined during the Sahuaro
match, nagged by a recurrent back injury. She should get cleared for action
soon.
“That’s tough being a 152-pound girl and wrestling, ’cause those
boys start turning into men around 160,” Lindsay said.
Nature might’ve
thrown Ammons a curveball by wiring her creative and aggressive sides so
closely. As a musician, though, she’s unapologetic, referring to a line in her
favorite song, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” where Ronnie Van Zant belts “Lord,
I can’t change.”
“I am who I am,” Ammons mused. “I am a wrestling/band
geek.”
Ammons hopes to return and contribute to a busy season that
resumes with the Tigers play host to a 12-team tournament Jan. 4 and 5, followed
by duals against Coolidge, Catalina Foothills and Palo Verde in the following
weeks. An invitational at Salpointe Catholic wraps their regular season before
regional tournaments, where Lindsay expects to roll into an “easy” second-place
finish.
Breakneck as that reads, the Tigers do get a breather. Between
Christmas break and layover following the Sahuaro win, Lindsay’s boys — and girl
— have some time to pave their early-season ruts, and finish strong during the
postseason.
“We’ve been grinding it the last six years,” Lindsay said.
“But this year, with that 10 days off, we’re really planning on fixing our
health and our minds.”
With almost all of his starters returning, the
coach believes the Tigers have a great shot at next year’s state crown. But
Martin-Moreno remains focused on ending his high school days in championship
fashion.
“I see no reason we cant be in the top 10, though the top five
would be nice,” Martin-Moreno said. “People will respect Marana. We’re there to
win.”
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Big wins for girls
Girls wrestling continues to make progress in the sport.
Last week, La Center placed third at the Lady Wolfpack Invitational in
Everett. La Center, a Class 1A school, finished behind 2A Mount Baker and 4A
Emerald Ridge of Puyallup.
Chris Cox won a rematch of her state final match last spring, beating Joleen
Crook-Meyers of Kentwood 11-3 in the 130-pound division, and Lucy Kulla won the
112-pound division with a pin in the final.
Meanwhile, Columbia River's Sarah Rowen was putting up wins against the boys.
Rowen placed second in the 103-pound division at the Centralia Christmas
Classic. Rowen also has posted wins for Columbia River in non-league dual
matches against Heritage and Columbia River.
Ken Marantz / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter 12/27/07
16. Saori Yoshida wins a fifth straight world title in women's wrestling at 55
kilograms, extending her winning streak to 115 (it's now at 118) and clinching a
berth on Japan's team to the Beijing Olympics
26/12/2007
Female wrestler Stanka Zlateva was named Bulgaria's number one
sportsperson at a ceremony on Friday (December 21st). She won the top honour due
to her world and European titles. The annual award marked its 50th anniversary
this year.
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
NEW DELHI: Delhi boys and girls swept 10 gold medals in yoga in the 53rd
National School Games here on Wednesday.
Jubas Aalam, Rohit Kumar, Chandan, Ritesh and Mahesh Kumar in the boys’
section and Lovely, Nitu, Deepa, Jyoti and Seema in the girls’ section won the
gold medals for Delhi in the under-17 category.
In wrestling, Delhi added another five gold medals through Satish Kumar
(42kg), Chetan (46kg), Amit Kumar (50kg), Akilesh Yadav (58kg) and Sumeet
(76kg).
K. ICHO 6TH ALL-JAPAN TITLES
#2
12/26/07
In the women's competition, world champions Chiharu and Kaori Icho rolled to
convincing wins at 48 and 63 kg, respectively, but it was Kaori who lit up
scoreboard, ending each period she wrestled short of two minutes with a fall or
technical fall.
"Before today's competition, I was thinking I wanted to dominate my
opponents", said Kaori, who won her sixth straight all-Japan title to go with
her six world and Olympic championships.
But, after the 63-kg final, Kaori did not speak much about her victory.
Instead, she reiterated the Icho sisters' dream of winning Olympic gold medals
together in Beijing.
Kaori's older sister had her hands full in the final against long-time rival
Makiko Sakamoto, before taking a 1-0, 1-0 win from a pair of clinches for her
third straight and fourth overall championship at 48 kg. She has a fifth
all-Japan title at 51 kg.
Also on the first day of the all-Japan meet, the three non-Olympic weight
categories for women were contested with world champion Hitomi Sakamoto winning
her fifth title at 51 kg.
Mizuka Kajita won her first senior national crown at 59 kg, while the
defending champion at 59-kg, Mio Nishimaki, moved up to 67 kg for a convincing
win.
Nishimaki, a two-time junior world champ, defeated 2006 world bronze medalist
Eri Sakamoto in the semifinals and then pinned Japan Queens Cup winner Mami
Shinkai in the final.
48 kg
F1 - Chiharu Icho df. Makiko Sakamoto,
2-0 (1-0=2:06, 1-0=2:03)
SF - Icho df. Fuyuko Mimura, 2-0 (1-0, 4-0)
SF -
Sakamoto df. Sachiko Akasaka by fall, 2P=1:53 (1-0, 5-0)
63 kg
F1 - Kaori Icho df. Erika Matsukawa by
fall, 1P=1:14 (7-0)
SF - Icho df. Kayoko Kudo by TF, 2-0 (7-0=1:38,
7-0=0:30)
SF - Matsukawa df. Keijun Utada by fall, 2P=0:42 (2-0,
3-0)
51 kg
F1 - Hitomi Sakamoto df. Yuri Kai, 2-0
(4-0, 2-0)
SF - Sakamoto df. Yu Sekine, 2-0 (6-0=1:13, 2-0)
SF - Kai df.
Naho Watanabe, 2-0 (5-0, 6-1)
59 kg
F1 - Mizuka Kajita df. Yoshiko Inoue,
2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
SF - Kajita df. Kayoko Shimada, 2-0 (1-0, 2-0)
SF - Inoue
df. Kaya Tsuda, 2-0 (2-0, 6-0=1:27)
67 kg
F1 - Mio Nishimaki df. Mami Shinkai by
fall, 2P=1:06 (1-0, 4-0)
SF - Nishimaki df. Eri Sakamoto, 2-0 (3-1,
1-0)
SF - Shinkai df. Asuka Sano, 2-1 (0-3, 2-1, 1-0)
