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OCU avenged a 24-19 loss to Cumberlands on Nov. 10 at Abe Lemons Arena in the first women's college wrestling dual ever in Oklahoma. OCU hosts the Women's College Wrestling National Championships on March 15.

Sword, who wrestles at 67 kilograms (147 pounds) defeated Nena Garcia of the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) 7-0, 5-1.

Ashley Sword was named women's outstanding wrestler at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.

Ashley Hudson had a pin Saturday.

Getting to know Paige Nemec

School: Crestwood, located in Portage County.

Year: Sophomore.

Age: 15.

Sport: Wrestling.

Weight class: 103 pounds.

Height: 5-2.

Record: 17-3, with three tournament titles.

Family ties: Dad, Gary, and uncle, Jim, wrestled at Maple Heights. Cousin Sean Nemec was a three-time state champion at St. Edward and now competes at Ohio State. Cousin Jim Nemec wrestled at Garfield Heights.

Other sports: Soccer and softball.

Favorite Web site: MySpace.com.

Hobbies: Swimming and riding her dirt bike.

Favorite classes: English and geometry.

Aspirations: She would like to qualify for the district wrestling tournament. She wants to advance to the state wrestling tournament at least once in the next three years.

College: Wants to play a sport in college but she's not sure if she'll focus on soccer or a women's wrestling program. Interested in studying business.

Female wrestler making a name of her own

Crestwood sophomore Paige Ne mec has enjoyed unparalleled success in high school wrestling this season.

No girl in Northeast Ohio has ever had a winning season in the nearly all-boys sport or won a high school tournament until Nemec's emergence. The 103-pounder is 17-3 and has won three tournaments - at Aurora, where she was voted Most Valuable Wrestler, and at Manchester and Doylestown Chippewa. She picked up two forfeit victories Thursday when coaches from Field and Southeast elected to move wrestlers up one weight to avoid her.

Nemec's season has been remarkable considering the area produced a 2004 Olympian in East Tech graduate Toccara Montgomery and a two-time world silver medal winner in Tina George of Cleveland Heights, who is aiming to make the U.S. Olympic team this summer. Neither had a winning season in high school, and Montgomery placed no higher than third in the Senate Athletic League Championships.

Ohio's most recent successful female wrestler before Nemec was Heather Martin.

Martin, a middleweight at Keystone, posted a near-.500 record in 2004. She won a girls n ational high school championship in Michigan, and Nemec has already won three.

"It's the biggest news since Michaela Hutchison became the first and only girl to ever win a state title - for Skyview High School in Alaska at 103 pounds two years ago," said Dan Fickel, high school editor of Wrestling USA magazine. "You just don't see that many girls come out for high school wrestling in Ohio and Pennsylvania because of the extreme competitiveness and intensity these boys are so used to. For Paige to wrestle and have a winning record alone is some feat."

Nemec, who lives in Mantua in Portage County, comes from good wrestling genes. Her father Gary wrestled at Maple Heights, as did her uncle Jim, a state place-winner. Cousin Sean Nemec was a three-time state champ at St. Edward and now competes at Ohio State.

Sean Nemec warned reporters about Paige last season at the Medina Holiday Tournament.

"Just wait until you see her wrestle next year at Crestwood," Nemec said. "She's really good."

Nemec is not the only girl wrestling at Crestwood. The Red Devils also have freshman Jamie Kager at 112 pounds and senior Lisa Light at 119. The trio helped defer what could have been a touchy issue about boys wrestling with girls every day in practice. 

"Sure it was awkward at first," Crestwood coach Dave Wrobel said. "To execute some moves correctly, you have to grab some areas you wouldn't otherwise. Some of our guys found it a challenge, but it's not a major issue.

"Jamie and Lisa are Paige's drill partners in practice, but when we have challenges, everyone in similar weights wrestle each other. Paige will wrestle against our 125-pounder, Adam Horovitz, and she holds her own."

Nemec wins not because of strength, but because of techniqPaige Nemecue, which coaches say is the best they've ever seen in any girl. Wrobel said her duck-under and double-leg takedowns are executed to perfection.

"That technique makes up for strength," he said. "She's always in good position. Paige also escapes quickly from the bottom for the most part, and on top she throws in boots [leg wrestling] and is tough enough to turn an opponent. That's why she's making a name for herself."

Nemec is an all-around athlete. She scored 17 goals as a striker in girls soccer this fall, and is a fine catcher and third baseman in softball.

Wrobel said her success in wrestling is helping opponents overcome the stigma of "losing to a girl."

"It's embarrassing to some guys to lose to her at first," he said. "But people are realizing this girl is tough, and proof of that is she keeps winning."

Chris Kallai, the state chairman for USA Wrestling, saw Nemec at the Chippewa Tournament last month and was impressed.

"I'm surprised she can really beat people up," Kallai said. "Paige is very intense. Her moves are smooth and nicely executed. I had some fathers of wrestlers come up to me and say, 'Boy, I wouldn't want my son wrestling her . . . she's too good.' She has more knowledge of the sport as a sophomore than Tina George and Toccara Montgomery did when they were her age. I hope she comes out for the girls state freestyle team."

Nemec's losses have been to Ravenna junior Dakota Hayes, who was fourth in the state last season, and two defaults, one to Kenston freshman Ben Kazimir in the quarterfinals of the Hudson Tournament.Paige Nemec

Kazimir said at Hudson that Nemec is better than he realized because she has a strong upper body and good hip movement.

"I felt I could have wrestled Hayes better than I did," Nemec said. "He's very tough. But whenever I do get beat, it motivates me to get better, and work that much harder in practice."

She has no season goals other than to help Crestwood become a successful team. But she said she gets a kick out of people doubting she could compete successfully.

"There is nothing more satisfying than to hear people say they can't believe in me because I'm a girl, and then go out and when I win, I can convince them that I can wrestle," Nemec said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

pgalbincea@plaind.com, 216-999-5159Paige Nemec

A few thoughts from the week in sports

DOYLESTOWN -- The Chippewa Invitational Tournament got an unexpected makeover Saturday night.

For the first time in the 28-year history of the annual wrestling tournament, a female grappler won a championship there.

The CIT became the Chick Invitational Tournament.

Mantua Crestwood sophomore Paige Nemec used takedowns in the first and third periods to beat Akron Hoban senior Sammi Gheith 5-1 for the 103-pound championship.

"It doesn't seem like you're wrestling a girl," Gheith said. "She's pretty good."

Soft-spoken and a girl of few words off the mat, Nemec was in total control on it during all three of her matches. She reached the finals by pinning Brett Sandford of Copley (:53) and Drew Hutkowski (3:35) of Canton Central Catholic.

Nemec went 23-9 as a freshman, but a back injury kept her from having a chance at reaching the Div. II district tournament.

This season, Nemec has been even better. She upped her record to 14-3 at the CIT after previously having won tournament titles at Aurora and Manchester.

Asked how she has been able to make such improvements, Nemec said, "I'm not sure. I have more drill partners than last year; that helps."

One of her workout partners is actually another girl who placed third at the CIT in the same weight class: Jamie Kager. Coaches at the tourney agreed to let backups fill in if weight classes weren't full.

Asked if the boys she's wrestled against have been good sports, a slight smile came across Nemec's face and she said simply, "It's a little mixed."

When quizzed about her goals as a wrestler, Nemec said, "I don't really have any. I do want to go to districts."

Finally, Nemec talked a little more when I asked her, "Why do you wrestle?"

"I just started when I was 5 because I saw my cousin wrestle," she said with a smile. "I thought it looked interesting and wanted to try it."

It turns out Paige's first cousin is none other than Ohio State freshman wrestler Sean Nemec, a three-time state champion from Lakewood St. Edward.

If Paige could qualify for the state tournament herself it would be even bigger news to many than her well-known cousin's state titles.

No girl is ever believed to have ever advanced to the state wrestling tournament in Ohio.

After watching Paige Saturday, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think she might do it. She's at the lightest weight, has presumably three seasons to try it and is actually an extremely good wrestler. In a decade of regularly covering wrestling, I'd seen only a handful of female varsity wrestlers and none had ever won more than a single match in a tournament.

Canton Central Catholic coach Dan McAnallen was thoroughly impressed as well.

"She's the best girl I've ever seen at the high school level," said McAnallen, who had his 103 pinned by her in the semis. "She has a real nice shot and is very good on her feet. The one drawback I could see when she goes against some of the top wrestlers is the muscle factor.

"She'd have to win on technique, but then again it usually comes down to technique anyway."

Girls competing against the guys in wrestling isn't too common at the high school level and even fewer have had winning records

And, let's face it, guys are often not too keen on wrestling a girl. No one wants to hear, "You lost to a girl." The girls I've seen wrestle in the past were physically overmatched and injury was a concern I heard brought up.

Not with Paige, though.

"I've seen coaches refuse to have their kid wrestle against a girl," McAnallen said. "I have no problem with (Nemec), though. I told her great job."

The way Nemec moves on the mat, someone in the stands who didn't know about her probably wouldn't even realize she's a girl until her shoulder length brown hair falls out of the headgear after the match.

If she ever makes it to state, though, it will be hard to find any wrestling fans who haven't heard of Paige Nemec.

Talented Crestwood sophomore breaking stereotypes in male-dominated sport

Natalie Hendricks is a renaissance woman.

1/14/08

The Carterville High School junior holds a distinction I've never come across before in 14 years of covering high school sports.

This past fall, Natalie was the individual medalist at the Black Diamond Conference girls' golf meet. Last winter, she was the BDC wrestling champ at 135 pounds.

I wouldn't know where to begin to research it, but I believe there's a very good chance that's a first in state history - for a female to be a conference champ in both golf and wrestling.

Natalie is the younger sister of three-time Class A state pole vault champ Katherine "Kat" Hendricks, who's currently a freshman member of the Vanderbilt University women's track team.

- Toby Brown is Sports Editor at the Carmi Times and covers the Black Diamond Conference

So the Women’s World Team is taking off again. The same team that went to Azerbaijan for the Senior World Championships will be going to China for the World Cup, except this time we’re taking Stephany Lee while Kristie Marano’s knee finishes healing.

It’s a pretty exciting time. Everyone had a chance to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. When we came back together for our Winter Camp, it was finally the Olympic year. The Winter Camp is here in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center, and there is definitely a buzz around here, because we all know this is the year it’s all going to happen. The National Team, the Northern Michigan Olympic Education Center team, a handful of Swedish wrestlers, and dozens of Canadian women all trained together the last few weeks. Winter Camp is always good training because so many of us are happy to see each other again, and having new people in the room always raises the intensity in the room.

The World Cup is a unique competition. The countries that place in the top six at the World Championships all come together for a dual meet tournament. There will be two pools of three teams each. The U.S. team will dual both teams in our pool. The undefeated team from our pool will dual the other undefeated team for first place. The second place teams will dual for third, and the third place teams in each pool will dual for fifth.

I look forward to the World Cup because almost all of the competition for freestyle wrestling is in individual tournaments. It’s really nice to get the chance to compete in dual meets again. I feed off of the suspense and the intensity that builds when two teams face off, and my teammates each wrestle one at a time. I feel proud to stand up there with my whole team, I enjoy getting to see each of my teammates compete, and it’s a confidence-builder to know my whole team will be cheering for me. In individual tournaments, everyone goes their own way because while some are competing, others are warming up or relaxing between matches.

This trip is also significant because it’s going to be in China. We are going to have a chance to scout out some of the Olympic facilities, and the places Team USA will live and train next August at the Olympics. We’ll also get a taste of the Beijing weather and pollution.

Randy Wilbur works as an exercise physiologist at the Olympic Training Center. He is like a sport sciences computer. A coach or athlete can simply submit a question about anything related to our sport, and Randy will return with a thorough analysis and explanation, complete with graphs and charts. He met with us to tell us what we can expect on our trip. He hooked us up with some face-mask/air-filters to keep us healthy on our long plane ride as well as in the Beijing pollution. He provided us with a game plan for dealing with the considerable jet lag we will experience on the other side of the world, familiarized us with the city, educated us about the pollution and weather conditions, and even warned us against using the unreliable ‘red taxis.’ We’re prepared for sure. Now we have one more chance to rectify any shortcomings from the World Championships, to see the site of the 2008 Olympics, and to compete as a team.