FRIDAY SPORTSCAST
HISTORIC DAY! Brittney Taylor from Omaha North became the first girl to medal at the State Wrestling Tournament. And Fox 42 sports was there. Did Millard South open up some breathing room? It's a done deal for Skutt. And like ole times for the UNO Mavericks. The Mavs mixed it up with Bowling Green at the ole barn. Sports Director J.J. Davis was there.



Omaha North's Brittney Taylor tries to escape from Millard South's Jake Miller in the Class A, 103-pound quarterfinals.

Texas

Executing with quiet precision
In her first year on the mat, deaf wrestler Gwendolyn Haley has taken to the sport 'like a fish to water,' says her Cy Ridge coach

By TERRY CARTER
For The Chronicle 2/8/08

California

Aunt, nephew forge bond through wrestling

By DAVID LASSEN
Scripps Howard News Service
2008-01-08 00:00:00

More Pictures

There are plenty of examples of high school teams with brothers or sisters as teammates, or with parents coaching their children.

But this is a family matter of a different kind: the Camarillo (Calif.) High wrestling team includes an aunt and her nephew.

As teammates.

"They're both wrestling varsity, and that's got to be a very unusual situation in the whole country," says Scorpions wrestling coach Ron Wilson. "Could be the only one ever, I don't know."

Let's just say it doesn't happen every day.

Before your head spins around too much trying to figure out the genealogy of the situation, here's how it works: Camarillo senior Deyvonne Mondragon's older sister Ericka -- a number of years older, obviously -- is the mother of freshman Leo Anaya. Mondragon wrestles in the 132-pound weight class. Anaya wrestles at 215.

There, that was simple enough, wasn't it?

Still, it takes some getting used to -- if you know about it, which most people don't.

"Nobody really knows I'm his aunt," says Mondragon. "They all think we're cousins. Everybody thinks we're cousins, but no."

Wilson knows better, now.

"When she was first telling me, she said her nephew," he recalls, "and I said, 'Your nephew? You mean your cousin?' And she said no."

That the two are teammates is fitting, because Mondragon started wrestling because of Anaya -- who had taken up the sport as a third-grader because his father, Leo, had also been a high school wrestler.

"I would always go to his tournaments," says Mondragon. "I would always tag along, and then my brother-in-law, he asked one time if my little brother would wrestle. And I was just joking around and I told him I would wrestle. And he was like, 'Well, we're going to go to practice one of these days.'

"I didn't think he was serious, but he showed up and told me we had to go to practice. So that's when I started."

And so, as a seventh-grader, she took up the sport, joining the same wrestling club as Leo.

More and more girls are wrestling, but it's still unusual enough that Mondragon said people looked at her a little oddly because of her interest.

"Especially at first," she says, "because" -- and here she takes a long pause before continuing, "they beat me really bad, because I didn't know anything. But slowly, I started learning. It was tougher than other sports I played, and it was a challenge. And I saw myself slowly progressing, so I wanted to stay with it."

She did through her first two years of high school, but took a break last year to play soccer.

"I missed it," she says now. "It's a different sport. I liked it more.

"It's a weird sport because it's individual, but it's also like a team. That's what I really liked about it."

And now, she likes having her nephew on the team.

"It's fun," she says. "It's like old times, when he would go to a tournament, and I would go because we both wrestled in the same tournament."http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=AUNTNEPHEWWRESTLE-01-08-08

Both wrestlers have their challenges.

Anaya, at 215 pounds, usually finds himself pitted against older, more experience wrestlers.

"They're a lot stronger," he says, saying he's learning "how much I need to work, and push myself to beat them."

Says Wilson, "That's a big weight class for a freshman wrestling on the varsity, so he's taken some lumps, but he's learning, and he's getting better every week. He'll definitely be a great wrestler by the time he's finished."

Mondragon, at 132, wrestles both in the traditional wrestling structure -- meaning she's going against boys -- and in girls' tournaments.

"She placed in the girls' state tournament as a sophomore," says Wilson. "She does pretty good. The only problem she has wrestling boys sometime is the guy's strength. That's usually what it comes down to, male strength versus female strength. She's just as competitive, though. She really works hard."http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=AUNTNEPHEWWRESTLE-01-08-08

He recalls a dual meet when Mondragon was wrestling in the final match of the night, which would decide the team outcome. "She almost pinned the (opponent) Thousand Oaks wrestler," he says, "which would have been pretty exciting."

Anaya says he gets nervous when Mondragon wrestles.

"I know when she wrestles girls, she has a better chance of beating them," he says. "She wrestles, sometimes, these monster guys -- they're just, like, wow. But she still gives them competition."

Mondragon, though, she says gets more nervous wrestling girls.

"I'm on the boys' team," she says, "so I'm used to wrestling boys. But I'm not used to wrestling girls."

She is used to having her nephew as a teammate, though, and it seems to work for both of them.http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=AUNTNEPHEWWRESTLE-01-08-08

"She'll sometimes remind me when practice is," Anaya says, "or if I forget something, I'll just ask her."

And the support has been particularly useful during the holidays, when food and inactivity can be a challenge.

"We go running, like after practice or something," she says.

"Extra work after practice," he agrees.

"And," she says, "we take care of each other -- like, 'Don't eat that.'"

After all, that's what family does.

Even if the relationship between those family members is not one you'll often see on a high school team.

(Contact David Lassen of the Ventura County Star in California at www.venturacountystar.com.)

Colorado

By Ray Sobczyk
The Times-Call 2/7/08

Michal Aston, a freshman at Frederick High School, tries to take down Maggie Salinas during a drill at practice Tuesday. Jill P. Mott/Times-Call

FREDERICK — At the beginning of her final year of high school, Maggie Salinas decided it was time to go after a goal that had been on her mind since she was a freshman.

The problem, however, was that Salinas’ goal involved a sport that historically doesn’t involve girls. But as a two-sport athlete in cross country and track, she worked up the courage to try out for the boys wrestling team.

It’s a decision that will likely benefit the senior for the rest of her life.

“I’ve always wanted to do wrestling, and I didn’t start earlier because I thought I’d get a rough time (from the boys on the team),” she said. “But this is my senior year so I thought, ‘Why not?’ Everybody talks about it being so hard, and I needed a challenge.”

After she graduates from Frederick High School this spring, Salinas plans on joining the Navy because many of her family members and friends are in the armed services. And she’s using wrestling as the main tool to prepare her for the physical challenges the Navy will present.

“I’m for sure thinking that it will benefit me in boot camp, because our conditioning (at Frederick) is tough,” Salinas said. “It’s probably the toughest conditioning ever. Going through that, I’m pretty sure that boot camp will be a piece of cake.”

But the wrestling season hasn’t always been a piece of cake for Salinas, who has wrestled at 103 and 112 pounds. The senior has suffered numerous pins, and the Warriors have yet to win a Northern Conference dual for the second straight season.

Even though Salinas has struggled on the mat at times, Frederick coach Jerry Galway believes she is one of the hardest workers on the Warriors team — another quality that should serve her well in the military.

“She came out and, obviously as a first-year wrestler, she shows it,” Galway said. “But from the beginning of the year until now, she has progressed immensely.

“She still lacks the experience, but she’s one of those kids that is one of the most coachable because she absorbs everything. She never questions anything.”

Salinas’ teammates are noticing her efforts, too.

“We are really impressed with her,” said 145-pound senior Ryan Fountain. “I have to tip my hat to her. She’s one of the hardest workers in the (wrestling) room.

“Sometimes she comes out and surprises a few people with how she looks. She looks a lot smaller against the people she wrestles.”

Her hard work finally paid off Saturday at the Widefield Dual Tournament in Colorado Springs. She came away with two wins in four matches at 112 pounds to help the Warriors take fourth place overall. The tournament featured some top schools, including Berthoud, Doherty, Pine Creek and Pueblo Central.

“It was a good experience,” she said. “It felt good to actually wrestle with everyone else. It feels good to be a part of the team.”

She admits, that at the beginning of the season she didn’t think her opponents or other teams would respect her as a wrestler. But she never once doubted the respect and the encouragement she would get from her fellow Frederick teammates.

And she says that support has been there since the first day of practice.

“There’s a few (wrestlers) that you can tell they’re iffy about wrestling a girl, but I get a lot of respect from them,” Salinas said. “All in all, I thought my teammates were going to go easy on me, but they haven’t held back at all. They actually treat me like one of the boys so I’m treated the same by other teams.”

Galway said he never doubted Salinas would get respect from the rest of the team because of her athletic background.

“She’s already earned the respect of all the guys,” he said. “She’s a cross country runner and a track runner, so she is respected around the school quite a bit.”

As her final and only wrestling season winds down, Salinas is set to become the first female wrestler to receive a letter in wrestling at Frederick High School. It’s an achievement that has been in the works for years.

“It was probably one of the greatest experiences I’ve had,” she said. “It was an accomplishment because wrestling is a tough sport.”

The Navy should be a piece of cake.

Florida

Padecky: Time to end boys-girls wrestling

By BOB PADECKY 2/13/08
PRESS DEMOCRAT SPORTS COLUMNIST

This should not exist, should be stopped immediately and should make uncomfortable any parent of any teenager involved in the sport
Boys wrestle girls in high schools around here. It is as wrong as it is inappropriate, as illogical as it is disturbing. Teenagers have enough on their minds without dumping this little morsel on a plate already brimming with identity concerns, raging hormones and appearance obsession, just to name a few of their favorite preoccupations.

“If I had a daughter,” said Vinny Bagala, assistant wrestling coach at Montgomery, “I would never let her wrestle a boy in high school. It’s simply not fair. A boy is so much more physically developed. And at this point in their lives they (both sexes) are just not mature physically, emotionally or sexually.”

Since all-girls wrestling teams do not exist in the Redwood Empire, if a girl wants to wrestle, she has to join her school’s boys’ team. On weekends, however, she can wrestle in all-girl tournaments. During the weekdays she wrestles for her school in league or non-league. Such duality is only the beginning of the goofiness — and that is the kindest way to describe this knuckleheaded arrangement — surrounding this high school sport in Sonoma County.

“I don’t think my mom wants me to get hurt,” said Ari Aspelin, a junior at Montgomery who is allowed only to wrestle girls. Obeying a strict edict from her mother, Patti, Aspelin has wrestled only twice in the Vikings’ 13 regular-season matches.

A girl getting hurt is a real concern, said Bagala. Injury results from one of the most basic instincts — fear of embarrassment. A girl beating a boy, as Bagala has experienced, produces unceasing ridicule the next day in school for that boy.

“Boys want to avoid losing to a girl,” Bagala said. “One time I saw one of the nicest kids (a boy) I ever knew become one of the meanest kids during a match. He picked up a girl and slammed her straight down on her head.”

And if a boy does lose to a girl, from Heather Moore’s experience, he may not have to wait until the next day at school to get ridiculed. Moore is a junior, an accomplished 103-pounder from Montgomery, who heard first-hand how poorly a father can treat a son who has lost to a girl. Moore was in the eighth grade at Cook when she beat a boy and heard something she’ll never forget.

“The father said to his son, ‘No dinner for you tonight’,” Moore said. “I really felt bad for the boy. I mean I didn’t do anything (wrong). It’s not bad that a girl beat a boy (to warrant such condemnation).”

In the oddly perfect symmetry that does occur in high school wrestling, the boys aren’t immune from feeling uncomfortable or conflicted. Robert Delgado, a Montgomery junior who wrestles at 152, would be happy never to wrestle a girl again, if for no other reason than his peace of mind.

“You don’t want to hurt a girl but you don’t want to lose,” Delgado said. “You don’t want to go too easy on a girl but you don’t want to go too hard. I try to pin a girl as fast as I can (to get it over). So far, it’s always been in the first round. I’m just glad when it’s (the match) over.”

That high school wrestling does not separate boys from girls is at least dumbfounding, if not outright stupid. Girls and boys have separate basketball, baseball, swim, tennis and golf teams but in the most intimate of high school sports they are allowed to compete against each in skin-tight singlets.

“If I want to demonstrate a move to a girl,” Bagala said, “I will take one of the male wrestlers and show the move while she stands there and watches. I will avoid physical contact with a girl at all costs.”

The first argument against establishing an all-girls team is lack of interest. Why would girls want to wrestle anyway? It’s the same wrong-headed male argument made in 1972 when Title IX was pressed into law — Geez, really, how many girls want to play basketball, tennis, golf, soccer and baseball?

At the start of Montgomery’s school year last fall, any girl interested in wrestling was invited to come to the gym that afternoon.

“Eighteen showed up,” Bagala said, “and then we lost eight immediately when they found out they would be wrestling boys. We are now down to four, in part because of injuries and also in part because girls or their parents don’t want them wrestling boys. If they (Santa Rosa City School District) allowed all-girls teams, participation would double within two years. It would be a huge success.”

By Bagala’s count, six area schools have girl wrestlers, ranging from six at Piner to one at Rancho Cotate.

Jessica Griffin, a junior and 114-pounder for Montgomery, went on myspace.com in September and asked how many girls would like to wrestle for the Vikings. She said 20 offered their names.

“But only if they could wrestle girls,” she said. “It would be huge (if all-girls wrestling teams existed).”

If a coach is uncomfortable, if a boy is uncomfortable, if a girl is uncomfortable and if a parent forbids it, then why does the situation still exist? Wrestling, for one thing, is not soccer. It does not enjoy widespread popularity. A CIF official claimed 1,110 girls are registered wrestlers, a puny amount for the size of this state. So the awkward interaction, comparatively, goes relatively unnoticed.

Secondly, and this is such a given it has become a cliché, red tape tangles even the most obvious of inequities. School principals have to raise the item as an agenda topic to the Santa Rosa City School District (SRCSD), said Arlen Agapinan, director of SRCSD’s curriculum and student support services.

“Could you bring up the topic yourself?” I asked Agapinan.

“Sure, I could,” he said.

When the SRCSD reviews the 2007-08 athletic school year, Agapinan said wrestling will be discussed, especially how to supply girls with coaches when they compete on weekends against other girls. At present, each city wrestling team has two coaches but three teams to oversee on weekend tournaments — varsity, junior varsity and the girls in girl tournaments.

The issue is complicated and costs money, said Agapinan.

How will the coaches be paid? Are there enough facilities? What about background checks? Are there men or women out there who would coach? These are just a few of the concerns, Agapinan said.

“A bunch of us (Montgomery) parents got together and we would pay that salary,” said Mary Griffin, mother of Jessica. “As it turns out we are tired of fighting and disappointed. Jessica was promised back in the fall that the city agreed a third coach would be hired to coach the girls on the weekends. And then the city changed its mind.”

Agapinan disputed Griffin’s assertion.

What is not in dispute, however, is the dysfunctional mess of adolescent girls wrestling adolescent boys.

It’s weird.

And what’s even weirder is this.

Thirty-six years after Title IX came into law, girls still have to say: Give us a chance.

Considering the obviously awkward environment, that doesn’t seem like a lot to ask.

You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5490 or at bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com
.

Ohio

MENTOR — A strong first day was enjoyed by area teams at the Division II sectional wrestling tournament at Lake Catholic High School, but their coaches know the really serious wrestling takes place today.

Twenty-three area wrestlers battled their way into the championship semifinals this morning. Action begins at 10 a.m. with the third round of consolation wrestling, with the championship semifinals expected to begin at approximately 11 a.m.

The winners of the semifinal matches are guaranteed two of the four berths to the district tournament at Akron Firestone High School on Feb. 22-23 awarded at each weight. The other two spots will be decided in later consolation wrestling. Championship and consolation finals will be contested at 6:30 p.m.

Perry led the contingent of area teams with six wrestlers in the championship semifinals and was also third in the team standings with 65.5 points. Only West Geauga with 93.5 and University School with 88.5 led the Pirates.

Edgewood also put six wrestlers in the semifinals and was sixth in the team standings with 53. Geneva was actually higher in the team standings with 54 points for fifth place, but had just five semifinalists.

Conneaut and Jefferson each placed three wrestlers in the semifinals. The Spartans were in seventh place with 39 points, while Jefferson was eighth with 37 points. Harvey pushed two wrestlers through into the semifinals and was ninth in the team race at 36.5 points.

Nate Westfall, the projected Division II state runner-up at 112 pounds, got Perry started, even though he didn’t have to wrestle a match. He was followed into the semifinals by Tom Shaw (125). Then the Pirates produced semifinalists in four straight weight classes as Josh Mullins (152), Dustin Sarosy (160), Corey Wheeler (171) and John Sill (189) made the grade.

Perry coach Dave Rowan was pleased with the Pirates’ first-day efforts.

“It’s been a good day for us, but we’re been trying to save all our energy for (today),” he said. “I thought the boys really wrestled well. We lost some tough matches to some very tough kids, so I hope those kids can bounce back. Our kids that we felt should have won did, so we’re pretty happy with that.”

Edgewood’s strength in the lower weights was on display again as all six of its semifinalists came by the 145-pound weight class. Ashley Keenan led the way at 103 pounds and was followed by Christian Severino (119), Thomas Butryn (125), Kody Severino (130), Jordyn Dickey (135) and David Rodenbacher (145).

Warriors coach Greg Stolfer was quite pleased, too.

“I actually thought the kids wrestled pretty well, today,” he said. “Our lighter weights have done it all year long, and it continued today. We got six kids into the semis, which I was pretty happy with. For the first day, I was pleased, but now we have to keep it going.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Geneva’s first semifinalist was Leon Phillips at 145 pounds. From there, the Eagles also pushed Steve Meier (152), Mike French (160), Josh Buckey (189) and heavyweight Ricky Williams ahead into the championship round.

Geneva coach Dwight Fritz said his team took a while to get going.

“We started off kind of slow and picked up momentum as we went along,” he said. “We got five through to the semifinals and hope to get a couple more back through the consolation rounds. We have to wrestle with more intensity and we have to be strong (today).”

Utah

Utah

2/16/08

With her 5-4 win in the semifinals, she became the first female to ever reach the state finals.

"It was my goal coming in to get here, but I am not done. I would love to go out and win a state championship," said Workman. "I knew I could do it, and I hope that by my getting here it can inspire all the other girls out there that want to wrestle to know that they can do it if they put the work in and try their best."

While her individual work was impressive, the team that really flexed its muscle was Wasatch. The Wasps reclaimed the lead at 257 points in the team chase as eight members wrestled their way into the finals. The battle for first, however, remains tight as Delta is right behind at 249 and Uintah is within reach at 237 points. The three powers also have the most wrestlers into the finals as Wasatch has eight grapplers, Delta seven and Uintah seven.

"We are pretty much exactly where we expected to be," said the Rabbits first-year coach, Joshua Wright. "We had 10 region champions, and with that comes the expectation that they will wrestle through to at least the semifinals and hopefully to the finals."

Delta's Westley Anderson was one finalist that surprised everyone at the arena and helped keep his team in contention. Trailing 11-4 in the third period, he scored 11 points over the final two minutes to win 15-14.

"I just knew I didn't want to lose," said Anderson. "Sometimes wrestling is all about heart, and I wanted it more than he did."

In the 2A competition Millard is once again showing why it has been the cream of the classification. The Eagles extended their first-day lead as they moved to 226.5 points compared to second place South Summit at 188. Juab is in third with 148 points and North Summit has 137.

"I am proud of how hard our guys have worked to get here," said Millard coach Blake Turner. "Not to complain, but we really could have had even a better result so far. Our big guys have stepped up and done what was expected, but we had a couple of upsets."

One wrestler that performed as expected was 145-pound defending champion Quincy Thatcher.

"There is definitely a pride thing to wrestling for Millard," he said. "If you have that name on your back, nothing but the best is expected from you. I would rather win the team title than an individual title."

Millard should clinch its third consecutive title as it has six in the finals. South Summit qualified seven, but the deficit is probably too much to overcome.

Duchesne entered the 1A tournament as the favorites and has done nothing but strengthen that notion. The Eagles are cruising to the title with 176 points compared to second-place Monticello at 97. Altamont is third with 80, and Wayne has 78.

Duchesne was so dominant that it put 11 wrestlers into the championship matches.

The wrestling continues today with the consolation rounds beginning at 10 a.m. and the finals taking place at 4 in the afternoon.

Utah

Candace Workman (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune )

Beverly, MA - Beverly Citizen 2/14/08

Beverly’s John DePaula had many firsts that day at Hamilton-Wenham High School. First time wrestling. First time wrestling for Beverly High School. First time wrestling for Beverly High School against a girl.

“She was just dominating me,” DePaula said of the December 2006 match, the school’s first in 20 years. “I was getting my butt whooped by a girl. I had no idea what I was doing.”

DePaula lost that match. He broke her collarbone on what he recalled was an illegal move and was disqualified. He lost more than a few matches the rest of the season. His team lost 13 and won six.

AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Back on top

Tomorrow, more than one year later, DePaula is one of three Beverly wrestlers competing in the state tournament at Reading High School. The senior co-captain is 25-2, and the team finished 17-10 and won the Northeastern Conference with a 4-0 record.

“There are times you just want to quit because of the work, and you don’t know anything about the sport,” DePaula said of taking on a new sport. “But I love it now.”

DePaula’s ascension in two seasons is a microcosm of the program’s success. Mark Thomas, a former wrestler at Walpole High School and the school’s adjustment coordinator, lobbied officials two years ago to revive the program that lay dormant for about 20 years.

They listened, approved the program as a varsity status and handed it over to Thomas. The first day, he had about 40 students who never wrestled before and a varsity schedule staring him in the face.

But today, he has a conference title and a team of 32 that made it through from Day 1 and picked up 17 wins to boot. And 25 return next season.

“Last year we started with things like how to stand,” Thomas said. “We would do the basics. When do you lock hands? How do you attain points? It was a constant learning process. We took our lumps, but they came in ready to go this season and really wrestled well.”

Working it out

Thomas, a 1996 Walpole graduate, arrived at Beverly five years ago. He coached freshman football in the fall of 2005. In the off-season he noticed about 80 athletes working out in the weight room. Those same athletes didn’t play any winter sports.

Wrestling made sense for Beverly, Thomas figured. So he talked to former athletics director John Longley about it. And by December 2006, the Panthers had a team.

“I knew those kids were willing to work hard, that was no. 1,” Thomas said. “And just the general toughness of the Beverly kids I had known about. They’re not going to wow you with their size, but we have some well put-together kids. And for wrestling, that lends itself well because you can be 103 pounds and win the state championship.”

Almost 20 wrestlers left the team before last season ended, but that did not surprise him, he said. But 12 signed on for this season, and Beverly more than made its mark on the North Shore and beyond.

DePaula and fellow state qualifiers Raz Davidyan, a senior co-captain, and Chris Serpa are evidence of that. It also helps when you sweep your cross-bridge rivals, the dreaded Salem Witches, twice. Salem beat the Panthers both times last year.

As for the learning curve, Thomas said the team is right on track.

“It usually takes a good two years to at least have a clue at what they’re doing,” Thomas said. “There are a lot of in-betweens in wrestling, what we call 50-50s, they have to learn. That’s what takes a while getting used to.”

Beverly does not have a youth program, but some neighboring towns like Danvers, Marblehead and Swampscott do. Thomas and DePaula see a bright future for Beverly High School wrestling ‑ no matter how long it takes for new wrestlers to adapt.

“When I first started, it was just like, ‘What am I doing here?’” said DePaula, who wrestles in the 103-pound weight class. “You don’t know what’s coming up, and you don’t know how it is. You don’t know anything about wrestling. You’re seeing all these weird moves. I went in not even knowing how to tie my wrestling shoes.”

Perhaps knowing the right fit for his wrestling shoes would have helped in the match against the girl from Hamilton-Wenham.

“That match was just mentally and physically hard,” DePaula said. “She took me down. She was good.

Washington

Mat Classic: Yeik Could Make State History Today

By Nathan Joyce (Contact)
Friday, February 15, 2008

TACOMA

Carolyn J. Yaschur | Kitsap Sun Olympic 103-pounder Camie Yeik defeated Enumclaw's Riley Klein10-3 in the consolation round of the Class 3A quarterfinals. Yeik won two of three matches Friday, to guarantee herself no worse than eighth. She could finish as high as third.

Each time Camie Yeik has made the trip to Mat Classic, it's been journey of gender and athletic significance.

This year, her final trip, is no different.

The Olympic senior assured herself of a second medal in the Class 3A 103-pound bracket. Yeik is only the second girl to win two medals in the boys state wrestling tournament.

"I know that's her goal was to get back here and get on the podium," Olympic coach Tim Aiken said.

And before she's done today, she could finish higher than any other girl in state history.

Whitney Condor of Puyallup finished sixth in 2005, the highest finish for a girl in the boys tournament. Condor also took seventh in 2006, eliminating Yeik, then a sophomore, along the way. It was the first match in state history featuring two girls.

So, what are her goals for today?

"It's definitely not sixth place," she said. "I'd like to be third or fourth."

If Yeik can win her first two matches, she would be in the third/fourth-place match. Winning the first match, against Jared Berlinger of North Central of Spokane today at 10 a.m., is the key because if she loses the best she can finish is seventh place.

"I learned that the hard way last year," said Yeik, who finished eighth last year, becoming just the third girl to win a medal in the boys tournament.

A win in her first match would assure her of a spot in the fifth/sixth-place match.

If she can finish fifth, it's a record likely never to be broken as Yeik is the last girl allowed to wrestle in the boys tournament. Last year, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association held its first girls state tournament. Yeik, because she had competed in the boys tournament the year before, was given the option of competing in either tournament.

A year ago, as the only girl in the boys' tournament, it brought her a lot of attention. Yeik became a spokesperson of sorts for girls in wrestling. She was often asked for her opinion of the new set-up, something she was against because she felt girls should have the option of competing against boys.

This year, at least during the first day, reporters didn't flock to Yeik; she was just another wrestler.

"That's the way it should be," she said. "I think people expect me to do well.

"Go talk to my brother, that's what I say."

Yeik's brother Branden, a sophomore, made the semifinals at 130.

Yeik opened the day with a 3-2 win over Enumclaw's Marcus Nichols. It was a big win as Yeik, a fourth seed, knocked off a regional champion (albeit a freshman).

Her quarterfinal match didn't go so well as Keith Babington of East Valley of Spokane beat her 12-5.

"I donated four of those points because I was desperate," Yeik said.

The loss put her in a high-stakes loser-out match at the end of the day. If she won, it would mean a medal.

She took all the drama away early as she beat another Enumclaw wrestler, sophomore Riley Klein, 10-3. Yeik scored a takedown and a near fall in the second round to put the match out of reach.

And now Yeik is down to the final day of wrestling in her high school career.

She's looking to continue her career at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Oklahoma City University, which just began a female wrestling program, has also pursued her. Yeik, who is interested in science and medicine, wants to go to Simon Fraser, a well-regarded academic university and a better fit than the liberal arts OCU.

And she could head to one of those programs with claims to being the best female wrestler the state has produced.

"She's happy to be able to beat that record," Aiken said, "but she's just wrestling for herself."

Washington

Booming voice again fills cavernous Dome

DOUG PACEY; doug.pacey@thenewstribune.com

Published: February 16th, 2008 01:00 AM

Announcer Ed Aliverti was back after missing last year’s tournament because of a bout with pancreatic cancer. Aliverti, 75, says he’s now cancer-free and happy to be back with his “wrestling family.”

“It felt good when I walked into the Dome today,” said Aliverti, who announced every Mat Classic until last year. “These are my people.”

Aliverti felt sick in September 2006 after performing Broadway-style musicals on a cruise ship. Tests revealed a growth on his pancreas.

“We caught it by accident, we caught it early,” said Aliverti, who lives in Edmonds with his wife Shirley. “I had intensive treatment for a year and the wonderful people at Virginia Mason say I’m cancer-free.”

Aliverti’s booming voice is so much a part of Mat Classic tradition that a recording of his rendition of “America the Beautiful” was played before last year’s finals in his absence.

Aliverti has announced at wrestling tournaments all over the world, including five Olympics, beginning with the 1984 games in Los Angeles.

His was a strange path to becoming a globe-traveling wrestling announcer. As a choir teacher at Edmonds High School decades ago, he recruited six wrestlers to his group.

“They stuck together and looked out for each other, so I went to the wrestling coach to ask him what this sport was about,” he said. “He told me ‘I’m not going to tell you. You come out and practice with us for two weeks and see.’

“Well, I did and I couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks and those six kids had a ball.”

The coach subsequently asked Aliverti to announce matches. He’s been doing it ever since.

“I just developed a style of announcing that people seem to like,” he said.

A tournament of her own

Brandon Yeik moved into this morning’s Class 3A Mat Classic semifinals with a tense overtime victory in the quarterfinals at 130 pounds on Friday.

But the Olympic High sophomore wasn’t even the most celebrated member of his family wrestling at Mat Classic XX.

That distinction went to Brandon’s sister, Camie. Not that it bothers Brandon Yeik.

“It’s hard for me to concentrate on my upcoming matches, I want her to win so bad,” Brandon Yeik said. “She deserves it more than anyone here.”

Make no mistake, Camie Yeik is enjoying her final year of high school wrestling. It’s just not in the way you might expect.

She was not a favorite to win a state title at 103 pounds against the male competition, though she did win her first match before losing in the quarterfinals.

But among the girls wrestling at Mat Classic this weekend, Yeik is unique. The Olympic senior is the last girl grandfathered into the 3A boys tournament because she started before the girls had a tournament.

“It’s cool,” she said. “But I am not here for the fame of it.”

Yeik, who placed eighth last year, beat Enumclaw’s Marcus Nichols, then lost to East Valley of Spokane’s Keith Babington.

The first person to greet Camie Yeik after her loss? Her brother Brandon.

“He’s my biggest fan, and I’m his,” Camie Yeik said. “He’s going to win a state title.”

Camie Yeik stayed alive for a place with a consolation win late Friday. If she doesn’t place?

“It definitely would be a disappointment, but there is more out there than high school wrestling,” Yeik said.

Senior blues

Hoquiam senior Alex White didn’t know how many matches she’d won entering this season. But she knew the losses. Zero.

“I was undefeated until this year,” White said.

Her career victory total was well above 100, including the 135-pound title last year.

Then late this season, she wrestled down a weight to face 130-pound Christina Cox from La Center in a duel of defending state champions.

White lost for the first time. She since has lost two more, the latest Friday in a quarterfinal.

The loss, a pin at 5:31 to Kiona-Benton freshman Sheridan McDonald, pushed White into the consolation bracket.

“I try not to think about it too much,” said White, a smile still on her face. “It’s really tough. I messed up my senior year.”

White could still take third today, her new goal to help Hoquiam win a team title. Still …

“I just want to get it over with,” White said. “I want to go home. It’s just not my year.”

California

By Jim Reece

Argonaut girls coach Rodney Plamondon, top, his daughter, Marissa Foreman, right, and her teammate Hannah Collins are going to national wrestling competitions in March.

Two Argonaut High school girl wrestlers have qualified for national high school wrestling competition in March.

Senior Marissa Foreman and junior Hannah Collins qualified for nationals by taking first place in tournaments this season.

Hannah's father, Jeff Collins is spearheading a fund-raising campaign to pay for a trip for the girls and two chaperones to go to two national tournaments.

He said he is not only raising funds for his daughter but for both girls. The trip will be the second to nationals for Foreman, who took 12th place in the 118-pound weight class in the regional national tournament in 2007, after a sixth place finish in the West Coast Nationals of the U.S. Girls Wrestling Nationals.

The girls this year both qualified with first place finishes in USGW national level qualifiers. Collins took first place in the 169-pound weight class and won the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award over all heavyweights wrestlers. Collins also took second place at the girls California Interscholastic Federation state championships and first place at tournaments in Castro Valley and Oakland.

Foreman took first in the 114-pound division at San Leandro and was selected light weights Most Outstanding Wrestler. She and Collins have placed in the top three in all 12 tournaments they wrestled in this season, with two left, in Oregon and Washington this week and weekend. Foreman's father, and girls wrestling coach at Argonaut, Rodney Plamondon, said Foreman would not wrestle at those two tourneys, due to her recovering from a knee injury, which has had her wearing a protective boot the last few weeks.

Collins and Foreman are holding fund-raisers and were going around to local businesses this week with Jeff Collins and Plamondon, seeking sponsors for their trips, including plane tickets and lodging for the two girls and two chaperones.

"They are both outstanding wrestlers and students," Jeff Collins said in letter to potential sponsors. "Expenditures include airfare, car rental, hotel, tournament fees and meals."

Foreman was a top six finisher at girls state last season and took 12th and sixth at two separate national tourneys. Plamondon said he anticipates Foreman will make a top three finish at this year's nationals. She was also a captain for four years on the girls soccer team and was chosen Most Inspirational Player.

Foreman also inspired enough Argonaut classmates with her history on the wrestling mat to try out and effectively create the first girls wrestling squad in Mustang history, though they will compete at nationals as independents.

Collins is in her first season of wrestling, after she and Foreman talked her father into letting her wrestle.

"I had a long talk with him and I begged him and I cried," Hannah said. She grew up playing football, on the Argonaut Junior Nuggets varsity team and became interested in wrestling.

Jeff Collins, an ultimate fighting competitor and referee, said Hannah grew up with cage fighting and picked up wrestling pretty naturally. But he was reluctant to let her compete, because he hoping Hannah's softball ability would translate into a scholarship, and he did not want her to get hurt. But he relented and Hannah eventually was injured.

"I separated my shoulder an inch," Hannah said.

"She had some good tournaments and she came a long way this season," Argonaut head coach Gary Landergen said.

Jeff Collins said he anticipated a top eight finish for Hannah at nationals. In softball, Hannah was on the varsity softball team for four years, playing catcher and outfielder. And now she has a chance, like Foreman, to draw the interest of the growing college wrestling programs, burgeoning at schools across the country, including at least one Division I school,

Foreman has been offered a scholarship from the wrestling program at Missouri Valley Private University in Marshal, Missouri, and is awaiting results from her college entrance exams. And a good showing at nationals would be an extra boost to the girls' scholarship drawing power.

"Our goal is to send these two talented wrestlers to the two national tournaments," Jeff Collins said.

The first is in Oklahoma, the USGW Nationals March 14 to 16. The second is in Michigan, another USGW event, March 29 to 30.

"These girls have shown us by their drive and determination that they are committed and have earned the right to compete at these two events," Collins said. "While we would love to send all their coaches and assistants with them, it is financially impossible."

Landergen chose his head girls coach, Rodney Plamondon to lead the girls along with the girls chaperone Diane Collins, Jeff's wife and Hannah's mother.

"He's been doing a great job for us with the girls," Landergen said.

"We have researched the two trips and they will cost approximately $3,500 for each tournament," Jeff Collins said.

Funds raised will help pay air fare; car rental, gas and mileage; motel rooms; food for the girls; and registration fees for the tournaments.

He said the girls, chaperone and coach will have to fly in a day or two before the events for weigh-ins and travel and the day after the events for travel. He said that any surplus funds would gladly be returned to sponsors.

"We have to book the airfare by the end of next week, Feb. 18 to get the lower airfares that will stay within the projected budget," Collins said. "This experience will bring back priceless experience to the high schools and wrestling clubs in the county."

Collins said sponsors and supporters would all be kept up to date on results of Foreman's and Hannah's "representation of Amador County and California" at nationals.

This week, Collins also came up with a fund-raising idea to have a garage sale.

"We have gone out to stores and have been asking people to donate items to sell," Collins said. They have been talking to the local television station and placed a local print ad promoting the fund-raising garage sale Saturday and Sunday at the Collins' house, 4090 Teton Court at Lake Camanche.

"I figured we'll have the stuff out there early and we'll be out there until people stop buying it," Collins said. Then Monday, whatever doesn't sell, they will take and donate to Hospice of Amador. Items gathered so far included four brand new snow tires, a washer, a drier and a set of dishes.

He plans on taking out one of two of his Jetskis out to sell and donate to the girls and he also will be selling minibikes. Time is urgent, as the tickets must be purchased next week for the first nationals tourney.

"We're hoping to book first set of plane tickets by Monday or Tuesday," he said.

He also plans car washes, pizza raffles and 50-50 drawings to help fund the late March trip, to Michigan.

For fund-raising, contact Jeff Collins at 763-5533 or 256-5550 or by e-mail at aaashredding@caltel.com.

California

 

“Two-time state champ,” 15-year-old Haylee Childs said, trying to hide a hint of pride in her voice. 

Childs, a Scotts Valley High School sophomore, won her second-consecutive California State High School Girls Wrestling Championship on Feb. 2.

She swept through the 114-pound weight bracket as an unseeded wrestler with five wins, including shutouts in her final two matches.

Childs was the second seed in the 118-pound class, but weighed in at 114 before the tournament.

She beat Kristen Feagley of Castro Valley in the first round by fall. She beat fourth-seeded Dominique Varela, 11-2, in the second round before winning her quarterfinal match 11-4 over Danielle Smith of Los Banos. To make the final round, Childs knocked off top-seeded Alice Hoover of Hogan High School, 5-0.

In the final, she dominated Brazel Marquez of West Covina High School, 9-0, in what her father and assistant coach Joe Childs called “the best match of her career.”

Childs started wrestling boys in middle school and attributes her success against girls to coaching from Greg Stevens, the Scotts Valley head coach, and her work with Dave Peasley and his daughters, Sarah and Jessica.

“I have a great deal of respect for Haylee Childs and her performance on and off the mat,” said Dave Peasley in an e-mail. “Haylee I find very coachable, intelligent and really beginning to master the sport.”

The Peasley sisters, who are former national champions at the high school level, have taught Childs how to wrestle girls, which she had little experience with before.

“It’s not every day that national champions move to your town,” Childs said.

Wrestling with the Peasleys has helped Childs adapt to the differences between male and female wrestling.

“Girls are way more flexible,” Childs said. “Girls, they won’t roll over. They’ll just stick with their arms behind their head.” 

Despite the state championship, the season hasn’t been stress-free for Childs.

She wasn’t able to make weight as her teams’ representative in the 114-pound weight class, costing Scotts Valley valuable points toward the league title. The Falcons got by without her points thanks to a strong showing by her teammates.

Child’s season is not over as she will begin her quest for a national title soon.

“I’ve got a lot of competition,” she said. “But I’m going to push on as far as I can go.”

Texas

Amarillo, Texas

Scott Tankersley is deaf. “To understand him, you really have to open your ears and listen, says Maci Alvarado, a 17-year-old senior at Caprock. Tankersley uses powerpoint as a teaching aid, but he also uses his voice. “It’s a deaf voice, but the students get used to it”.

“We also watch his lips to read them”, says Alvarado, who describes herself as “a pretty nice girl unless you make me mad”. She was one of the best wrestlers in Tankersley’s Caprock High School team during the 2006-2007 season and took second place overall at the state championships.

Coach Tank “is like our father pretty much,” she says while standing in the black and orange mat room in the gym. On the wall, a large piece of graffiti stating “Caprock wrestling” marks the turf. “We call it the ghetto because Coach usually goes to out-of-school suspension to pick up kids, who usually are troublemakers”, says Stephanea Hignight, another Caprock wrestler. “He teaches them to control their anger and take it out on the mat. All the girls on the team had their problems and obstacles in life”.

Maci Alvarado’s biological mother is in prison. The teenager herself has had problems following the rules. Hignight is homeless and has also been in trouble. Several girls on the team have been in jail. “These girls mean everything to me”, says Tankersley with a deep laugh and with Alvarado’s help. Coach Tank was the broad shoulder she can lean on, while waiting for her mom to come out of prison. And she is the sweet voice interpreting his broken syllables during the interview with this reporter.

Tankersley, who lost his hearing because of a viral infection at age 3, attended the Regional Education Program for the Deaf in Amarillo until the ninth grade. Then he transferred to the regular education program at Caprock High School.

He started the girls wrestling program at Caprock in 1998 with Tori Adams, one of his students at the time. Adams is now 25. She lives in Colorado Springs, where she is training to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “I wrestled in middle school,“ she says in a phone interview. “I wanted to keep wrestling in high school. Coach Tankersley asked me to come up with enough girls to make a team. We ended up with cheerleaders, a basketball player, street fighters, gang members and Carmella, a deaf girl”.

Carmella was tough, Tankersley recalls. “During a duel against our archrival, Palo Duro, the match came down to her. She got hurt in the last period”. The coach explains that with about 25 seconds left in the match, he figured out the other coach’s strategy by reading his lips and body language, then explained in sign language to Carmella how to counter what the other wrestler might do. She won, giving Caprock the victory. “Many coaches hear what the opposing teams are yelling at each other, I just have to read lips”, he adds.

“Wrestlers never whine.” “Go hard or go home.” The walls of the mat room are full of signs reminding the teenage wrestlers that life is all about determination and perseverance. On one of the signs, there is a long list of exercises: 100 Hindu squats, 50 Hindu push ups, 50 negative squats, 30 negative push ups, etc “That is part of our workout, ”Maci says about what looks like the symbolic price these girls have to pay to create opportunities for themselves.

Tankersley’s impact is not limited to his grueling regimen of exercise. “Coach Tank is incredible,” Tori Adams says. “Whatever you do after you leave Caprock, you cannot forget the man. He had a motivating and spiritual influence on me. At the 2004 Olympic trials, I flew him in and had him in my corner for motivational purposes.” “People say he had to overcome a lot because he is deaf, the four-time state champion adds. But those saying that do not understand the man. Coach Tank does not see his deafness as a problem.”

“It is just a speed bump.”, Tankersley says. The man has never been much for self-pity. “I had to overcome obstacles,” he adds. “I translate that into a no-excuse philosophy I try to up these girls and to look for the solution, not the problem. And wrestling is a sport, in which these girls can excel and take pride”.

About 5,000 high school girls wrestled nationwide last year compared to 250,000 teenage boys. Texas is one of the few states where high schools have female teams. Tankersley has an idea why this sport is so popular among girls at Caprock: “Regardless of their background, the girls all tell me that wrestling has brought the best in them.”

As a working-class girl with an unconventional background, Maci Alvarado found a way out through sports. Thanks to wrestling and Tankersley, she says she achieved stability in her life. Since that day in March when this reporter first spoke with her, she has graduated and received a college scholarship based on her athletic performance. Hignight’s life will also take her away from the never-ending plains of the Panhandle. The tough petite blonde plans to join the Air Force.

Coach Tank will not leave the ornage and black world of Caprock High School. He is working on a book called The Seven Dynamics of Winning. Ask him what they are, and he will name a few such as edge, enthusiasm, and winning attitude.

In Colorado Springs, Tori Adams recently earned her bachelor’s in psychology. She is now working on a master’s in sport psychology. “Coach Tank steered me in that direction”, she says. She will try to fulfill her Olympic dream this year and plans to fly “Coach Tank” in for the trials. Just to have him in her corner.

Jean-Cosme Delaloye / Amarillo

This story was published in the January 2008 edition of Texas Co-Op Power.