News

By MATT TUNSETH
Frontiersman
Published on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 11:02 PM AKST

WASILLA — When Kendra Nelson clinched her first career state tournament berth with a second-round pin at last year’s Northern Lights Conference championships, the Wasilla 103-pounder said it was far from a joyous scene.

“Everyone was crying.”

Winning a state-qualifying bout is an event usually accompanied by jubilant post-match celebrations from wrestlers, coaches and fans. But the scene at Soldotna’s Skyview High was much more somber, as Nelson spent the minutes following the match consoling her vanquished opponent.

Her little sister, Brooke.

“I was crying because I just made state, she was crying because she lost,” Kendra remembered during a break in this year’s NLC tournament.

Wrestling each other was nothing new for the sisters.

“Since we were little we’ve always wrestled at the house,” Brooke said.

But having to wrestle an elimination match was something altogether different, and not an experience either sister wanted to go through again. So this year, Brooke, a 16-year-old sophomore, moved up to 112 pounds while Kendra, 18, stayed at 103.

The move paid off.

On Saturday, both sisters were all smiles as Kendra won her fifth-place match to improve on her sixth-place showing a year ago, while Brooke got her first state bid by placing sixth.

With their performances, Wasilla’s full Nelson duo joined Skyview’s Michaela and Monica Hutchison in becoming the first sisters to reach the state tournament in Alaska wrestling history.

Doing well in a male-dominated sport is nothing new to the Nelson sisters, who started wrestling in elementary school when Kendra brought home some paperwork for her parents, Ken and Rose, to fill

out.

“We had always wrestled at the house,” Brooke explained. “Kendra went to school and was like, ‘Dad, I want to wrestle! So she brought the papers home for both of us.”

With little choice but to join her big sister, Brooke was on board.

“I’m like, ‘okay,’” she said. “We’ve been in it ever since.”

The Nelsons’ father, Ken — himself a former wrestler — said he started his daughters off early in the sport.

“I started them off when they were about that high,” he said, holding his hand near his knees.

From early on, Kendra and Brooke showed promise in the sport. But Kendra said natural talent can only take female wrestlers so far, explaining that it’s tougher for girls to stay competitive in a traditionally-male sport.

“It took us a long time. You can tell, the guys it takes a couple years and they’re awesome wrestlers,” she said. “We have to wrestle continually to be even considered okay wrestlers.”

Now, however, they’ve gotten better than many of their male peers in the sport — something Kendra admitted is part of wrestling’s allure.

“Beating the boys is cool,” she said.

Once a boys-only sport, wrestling has slowly opened its ranks to female competitors. A half-dozen girls qualified for this year’s 4A tournament, and two years ago Michaela Hutchison became the first girl in the nation to win an individual state title when she claimed first at 103 pounds.

To continue beating the boys, the Nelson sisters said they have to be constantly working on their sport.

“We’re wrestling all the time,” Kendra said.

Even when they’re participating in other sports — both went to state this year as members of the Warriors’ varsity cross country running team — the Nelson sisters are essentially training for their chosen sport.

“It’s what we’re known for,” Brooke said.

Wrestling is more than just a sport for the two sisters. Both credit it with keeping them involved in school and enhancing their lives overall.

“If I didn’t wrestle, I would probably be a different person altogether,” Kendra said. “I wouldn’t know very many people.”

The sisters said they’ve gained a large amount of respect for their wrestling ability. Kendra, in fact, was named as one of Wasilla’s three captains this season — and not by the team’s coaching staff.

“The team votes on it,” Warriors head coach Shawn Hayes said.

Hayes said he felt Nelson’s election as a team captain was more than justified.

“She’s one of the hardest workers in the room,” he said.

Hayes said he’s enjoyed coaching the sisters, but admitted this season’s tournament was much easier to watch from a coaching perspective.

“It was nice not to have them wrestling at the same time,” he said.

Although both Kendra and Brooke said they’re happy to have made state, neither is predicting a state championship. Instead, Kendra said the sisters’ only goal is to continue working hard and competing head-to-head with the best athletes Alaska has to offer — boys or girls — and said anyone who takes them lightly will be in for a surprise.

“We’ll give ‘em a run for their money.”

Pacifica hopes to make another strong showing

With a 28-wrestler roster that is deeper than many boys' teams, Pacifica hosted the first all-girls' wrestling dual meet in Ventura County history in December and was runner-up to Southern California power South Hills in a tournament three weeks ago.

Although a team championship won't be up for grabs, Pacifica looks to make an impact with individual placings at the third CIF Girls' Wrestling Regionals today at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. at Channel Islands High.

Between 200 and 300 wrestlers are expected to compete in the two-day event that is one giant step away from an official section championship.

If its showing at the South Hills Tournament is a barometer, Pacifica could have between eight and 10 placers this weekend. Eight Tritons had top-four finishes at South Hills, including runners-up Sabrina Gonzalez, Sahara Peña, Michi Stoke and Tiffany Leon.

Among other county wrestlers expected enter are Santa Paula's Vanessa Sandoval, who won the 132-pound title at South Hills, Camarillo's Deyvonne Mondragon and Erin Waldman of Agoura.

"We like our chances," said Pacifica coach Darren Hatch. "We come into the tournament with a strong squad."

Pacifica will field entries in each of the 14 weight classes. Few girls' programs in Southern California can say that.

Longtime wrestling official and club coach Jim Stych has seen considerable growth in girls' wrestling throughout the state.

"In Southern California, Pioneer Valley has a full team," said Stych. "There is a full team at Pacifica and a full team at South Hills.

"Mayfair, Righetti, Channel Islands and Santa Paula are close. Nordhoff and Fillmore have partial girls' teams.

"There are 4-6 girls-only middle school tournaments up north. Girls are coming into high school as freshmen with as much experience as some of the boys.

"The hot bed of girls' wrestling in the United States is right here in California."

California has dominated national girls' wrestling tournaments for years. According to the National Federation of High School Associations, there were 1,142 girls' wrestlers at 366 schools in California during the 2006-07 school year. Only Texas (1,460) had more individual participants.

Tatiana Padilla of California High is ranked No. 4 in the nation for her weight class (132 pounds) in the nation and is considered a candidate to make the U.S. team for the 2008 Olympics. Padilla was expected to pass up this week's tournament to concentrate on a goal of qualifying being the first girls' qualifier for the CIF State Championships.

Defending 103-pound champion Victoria Anthony of Marina was ranked No. 1 in the state before the season. Stoke, daughter of former Rio Mesa coach Todd Stoke, was a 2007 national placer and was ranked No. 3 in the state.

Michi Stoke has won 10 of her 12 matches, eight by pins, this year. Gonzalez, 9-2 as a 103-pounder, is completing her fourth season with Pacifica. Ranked third in the state prior to the season, Leon is a returning state placer.

The CIF's decision to return the tournament to Channel Islands for the second straight year is a positive sign for the school's administration.

"It puts us back on the mat," said assistant principal and tournament director Mark Contreras, who agreed to accept last year's event on an emergency basis less than two weeks before the start of the event.

"Wrestling used to be a big sport for Channel Islands. This will help bring people back to the school and they can see that it is well taken care of."

Lovell never wrestled prior to this winter, but the freshman at Tyngsboro High School decided to take the plunge and hit the mats for the Tigers as the only female on the team.

Like a lot of newcomers, she struggled early and she doubted whether she could make it in this new sport. That was until last weekend when her hard work and perseverance were rewarded with her first varsity win.

She pinned her opponent in the 112-pound weight class from Boston Latin during the third period on Saturday.

"Oh my God, it was amazing," Lovell says of getting her first win. "It was kind of shocking, almost like, 'Wow, I can't believe I did that.' It took a while for me to catch up to it."

That victory was an important one in that meet. Tyngsboro led 30-24 at the time. Had she been pinned, Boston Latin would've tied the score. Instead she clinched at least a tie, and the Tigers went on to win.

Lovell earned two victories that day (the other by forfeit). It was an encouraging sign for the newcomer, who had been 0-18 to that point.

Wrestling is a brutally honest sport. You either beat your opponent or you don't. You either took advantage of your openings or you didn't. Either you worked hard enough or you could've done more.

Winning doesn't come easy for guys, let alone a girl butting heads with boys. The training and conditioning alone (sprints, stairs, up-downs, etc.) can scare off some talented athletes.

"I thought soccer was hard with Mr. (Doug) Clare, he's tough," says Lovell, who also plays soccer and runs track. "Once I did wrestling, I was like whooo, nothing compares. This is definitely the hardest, most difficult thing I've ever done in my life."

Lovell isn't the first female to test her will and skill against the boys at Tyngsboro. Lovell's oldest brother, Jim, was an eighth grader on the wrestling team in the winter of 1999-2000 when Lisa Nadworny and Jessica Targ, a senior who had been the team's manager, were on the wrestling squad.

Lovell's other brother, Sam, also wrestled as an underclassmen for Tyngsboro before switching over to hockey. He graduated this past year.

She says her brothers, who now have a convenient built-in excuse for roughing her up at home, have encouraged her and given her advice.

This year's Tigers began the season planning to forfeit several the lower weight classes. Head coach Jim Tansey put up flyers around school telling anyone willing to work hard and learn should show up at practice.

Lovell, 15, says she never actually saw the flyers. Some friends had tossed around the idea of joining the wrestling team, but she was the only one who followed through. She says she checked with her parents before she showed up to practice, and they gave her the OK, not thinking she would see it all the way through.

Tansey, now in his 22nd season as the coach at Tyngsboro, welcomed Lovell on board, but assured her there would be no special treatment.

"I just said to her, 'I'm glad to have you, but you've got to go in there and when someone walks into the practice room I want it to be a situation where nobody knows you're there. You're just one of the team,' " Tansey says.

Tansey adds that it's encouraging that Lovell took her lumps, endured several losses, and continued to work and show improvement.

Peter Cricones, Tyngsboro's 103-pounder, is a freshman and a first-year wrestler as well as Lovell's practice partner. He'll attest that nobody knows exactly what you've gotten yourself into until you actually start practices.

He admits he was surprised that Lovell even came out for the team. He thought it was a joke at first. It didn't take long for him to figure out she was for real.

He actually considered quitting in the first two weeks, saying, "I didn't think I was going to make it."

When he saw how hard Lovell worked, that answered any questions about whether or not she was serious.

Now that she's gotten this far, Lovell is totally hooked. She recommends anyone on the fence about trying the sport, male or female, give it a shot.

"I would definitely tell them to do it," Lovell says. "It may be hard the first two times you start out, but once you stick with it and keep working hard you can see the difference. Once you get better, you're just not going to want to quit because you know you're at a point where you might be able to win."

Morgan Davis, a junior at Half Moon Bay High School and a Moss Beach resident, finished eighth at the Napa Valley Girls' Classic Wrestling Tournament, held over the weekend. Two weeks earlier, she was second at the Lady Lancer Tournament, held in Manteca.

Blackman clinches region wrestling title with pin of girl

Sports digest

The name-calling, criticism and a lack of acceptance all come second nature to Branford freshman wrestler Cheyenne Carden.

A light chuckle follows, as she remembers how peers used to tease her with monikers such as Chey-man. Opponents tell Carden she doesn’t belong on the mat because of her gender, and even some of her school teachers question her sport of choice.

But she reacts with an in-one-ear-out-the-other attitude, a warm smile and an unmatched desire resulting in plenty of victories in the circle.

Male or female, Carden’s knowledge, mat awareness and reaction time are exceptional. That’s why Branford coach Chris Bonagiuso put her into the 140-pound varsity field from the start this season. An accomplishment for any freshman.

She enters the Hornets’ program with two years of experience wrestling for the Connecticut Hurricanes, a Madison-based youth team. Carden’s resume includes All-American honors she earned when she finished sixth in United States Girls’ Wrestling Association National Championships this past summer in Michigan, not to mention the handful of first-place finishes coming against the boys when she grapples for the Hurricanes.

“Cheyenne’s one of my most favorite wrestlers,” Hurricanes coach Jack Roth said. “She has a heart as big as can be and really has a lot of courage, and is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever worked with.”

When Carden joined the Hurricanes, she admitted it was hard making friends. She was always chosen last when it came time for picking partners for practice drills and she felt she was looked at with an eye of doubt by teammates.

She’s now good friends with many of her teammates from the Hurricanes. The teasing has settled down and Carden’s able to handle any negativity she faces, much better than she used to do.

She misses out on the locker room camaraderie and has to weigh in separately, but it doesn’t appear to affect her. She looks at her gender difference as an advantage.

“Some guys take it easy,” Carden said. “It’s like they don’t want it as much if they are wrestling a girl.”

Consequently, Carden steps onto the mat with something to prove each match. The yearning to win is evident, but it seems as

if the need for respect of fellow wrestlers and a sense of acceptance is just as or perhaps more important to her.

“You can’t tell her she can’t do something,” said Wayne Harrington, who coached Carden at the USGWA National Championships. “It just motivates her more.”

It’s not her performance at the USGWA tournament, her first pin, or even a victory which come to mind when speaking about her most memorable match. Instead, it’s a loss.

Carden discusses the time she wrestled a boy from Griswold. They battled back and forth. They traded maneuver for maneuver. They countered each other. Meanwhile, the surrounding matches were over. All eyes were on them. At the end of the third overtime period, Carden finished on the lower end of a two-point difference.

The defeat was obviously bothersome, but the fact the boy from Griswold came over and complimented her after the match pleased Carden. That memory remains to stick out.

Carden opened her high school career Saturday, when she faced Bobby Butcher, last year’s 140-pound Class S state champion from Morgan-Clinton, at the Derby Invitational. She grappled with Butcher through two periods — something many wrestlers fail to do — before losing.

Carden hopes to one day join Butcher, along with her father, on the list of state champions. Her father also won a state title during his days of wrestling for Morgan-Clinton. It’s his stories which attracted Carden to the sport.

Many agree that goal is attainable. And for those who are skeptics, Carden thrives on the uncertainty.

“I have confidence that she’s going to surprise a few kids along the way,” Roth said. “For those who think it’s going to be an easy match, she might teach them a lesson.”

And the year before that And the year before that. Gonzalez, having seen what the Apaches are capable of the last few years, isn't about to write them off. Plus, the addition of Southern California's talent could alter everything.

"I don't underestimate anyone, and I don't expect them to underestimate anyone," Gonzalez said. "This is only Northern California right here, so we still have some wrestlers to look forward to (at state). I know they got some strong wrestlers (in Southern California), so you never know what's going to happen. It could change anything."

Gonzalez was the most dominant wrestler of the tournament, pinning her way to her third straight 154-pound title, including a second-round fall over Albany's Kirsten Rapella in the finals.

And then there was Hoover, who won the 114-pound championship with a narrow 2-0 decision over Briona Hendren of Rancho Cotate. Winning the regional title was more than anything Hoover - who's only a sophomore - expected from herself this season.

"I just wanted to learn more moves and get some technique and start winning some tournaments," Hoover said.

Rounding out Hogan's placers were Christine Alcantara (sixth at 98 pounds) - who forfeited after her quarterfinal victory due to illness - Ariana Reyes (third at 103), Stephanie Estrada (fifth at 108), Samantha Hoover (sixth at 118),Dominique Carter (fifth at 189), Cardellen Parker (second at 235), and Shante White (sixth at 235).

Vallejo, which struggled as a team, was led by the Fernandez sisters, Mary Jane and Jennifer, who each took first in their respective weight classes. Mary Jane defeated Alisha Pione of Chavez-Stockton 11-6 to capture the 98-pound championship, while Jennifer won by technical fall over Elk Grove's Sarina Nieves to claim the 108-pound title, the second regional title of the senior's career.

Mary Jane Fernandez put together a gutsy performance in her championship match, fighting through obvious pain stemming from a previous hip injury and dealing with an asthma attack.

"It was hurting so bad," said Fernandez, who won her second straight regional title. "I didn't want to keep wrestling, but I didn't want to lose my last match. I won last year, and I didn't want to lose now. My coach (Carl Lastrella) was yelling at me, so I figured I just had to tough it up."

Being mentally tough seems to be an issue for the Apaches. Lastrella acknowledged such and said he needs to find a way to get the most out of his wrestlers, who he added are physically tough enough to win a fourth consecutive state title.

"Every team is different, and I need to learn that every year each team has a different dynamic, so to speak, like how to prepare for a tournament," Lastrella said. "In years past, the first day is pretty happy-go-lucky. Second day, you know, I'm pretty much intense. Let's get down to business, let's bang. I want the girls to feed off my intensity. Unfortunately this is a different team, and some of them didn't know how to handle that."

Vallejo's other placers were Sabrina Ross (sixth at 103) and Jennifer Avelino (seventh at 114). The only other area wrestler to place was Bethel's Krajina Bayongan, who took seventh at 122.

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