Jenni Carlson -Wrestling2/22/08
This weekend, hundreds of wrestlers will descend on the State Fair Arena.
CLASS 3A
FIRST ROUND
Weight: 119
Jarrod Patterson (Jr), Cushing, pinned Nate Guinn (So), Cleveland, 2.43
Ryan Swindell (So), Oologah, dec. Cramer Benson (Sr), Tuttle, 6-0
David Frix (Jr), Ft. Gibson, pinned Matt Abbott (Fr), Anadarko, 1.19
Joey Miller (Sr), Woodward, dec. Trey Rhode (So), Locust Grove, 7-6
CLASS 4A
FIRST ROUND
Weight: 103
Jesse Schettler (So), Altus, dec. Kendal Eaton (Jr), Skiatook, 4-3
Zach Vann (So), Catoosa, pinned Nate Crawford (Fr), Durant, 1:33
Rhett Leach (Fr), Stilwell, tech. fall Jimmy Langford (So), Ardmore, 17-2
Hanna Martin (So), El Reno, dec. Austin Quinton (So), Harrah, 8-3 OT
Jenni Carlson -Wrestling
2/22/08
This weekend, hundreds of wrestlers will descend on the State Fair
Arena.
2/23/2008
Wrestlers ready for state tourney
Johnny McMahan2/22/08OKLAHOMA CITY – Zach White, the favorite at 160-pounds, leads a strong
group of five Woodward High School wrestlers into the Class 3A State Tournament
today and Saturday at the State Fairgrounds Arena.
White, a junior, is
the top seed at this weight and sports a 36-1 record. The Boomers will also have
freshman Josh Rosborough at 103 pounds, senior Joey Miller at 119, sophomore
Matt White at 125 and Kevin Tapia at heavyweight.
All five have a chance
to do well, said Boomer wrestling coach Bobby Cook.
“All five have an
opportunity of placing,” Cook said. “We have some tough, tough first round
matches.”
White, a state runnerup in Class 4A last season, opens against
a freshman in Daniel Gifford from Locust Grove.
“He’s 15-12 and he’s a
pinner,” Cook said. “We’ll have to stay in good position.”
White’s likely
semifinal opponent is Colten Barnes, a junior from Oologah. Cook said Barnes is
probably the best wrestler from the eastern regional but got called on a
defensive pin while winning in the finals last week.
In the finals, White
could end up in a rematch from the regional with Cushing’s Ethan Simpson. White
won 2-0 last week. Another possible contender is Dusty Gehrke from Grove, who
won the eastern regional.
Rosborough is in an interesting weight at 103
pounds.
“Josh is wrestling Zane Howell from Madill, who has wrestled a
little longer than we have,” Cook said. “The favorite is also on our side of the
bracket (undefeated Damien Hopper, a freshman from Grove) and he is tough, I
coached him during the summer.
“We’ll have an opportunity to place at
that weight and that would be quite an accomplishment for a first-year
wrestler.”
At 119, Miller, who medaled in Class 4A as a freshman, has a
first round battle with Trey Rhode, 20-12, from Locust Grove.
“His record
is only 20-12, but I will say this, the Locust Grove kids wrestle the toughest
schedule in the state of Oklahoma,” Cook said. “Probably four or five of his
losses have been to guys who have been in the state finals.”
While
matched up tough early, Cook said Miller’s bracket is still pretty
favorable.
“I really think Joey has an opportunity to go to the finals,”
he said. “We’ll have a kid from Fort Gibson in the semifinals and he’s beatable.
We’ll be in some 4-3, 5-4 type matches all the way to the finals.”
Jared
Patterson, a two-time state champion from Cushing is 42-0 and a big favorite to
win the weight class. Patterson pinned Miller in the regional.
At 125
pounds, Matt White was third in the regional, but took the option of the fourth
place slot where he will face Robbie Nunez of Fort Gibson, who is
40-1.
The move puts White on the bracket opposite top seed Jared Wynn of
Blackwell and into a possible semifinal rematch with Garrett Evans of Cushing
who beat him on a late takedown in the regional.
Nunez, though, is up
first.
“The thing with him is I don’t think they (Fort Gibson) wrestle
the type of schedule we wrestle,” Cook said. “Even though it’s tough right out
of the gate we fully expect to win that match.”
Cook said Tapia is in a
heavyweight division where most every match could go either way.
“It’s
probably the most intriguing weight class in the state tournament,” Cook said.
“Zack Allison from Blackwell is the best guy on paper and has beaten everyone
there, but everyone in the other seven can be second, third or fourth, it just
depend son who shows up Friday and Saturday.”
Tapia opens with Kris
Powell from Inola, who is 24-2.
“He’s a dangerous type wrestler, we’ll
have to stay in good position and keep the pressure on him. I really think we
can get by him.”
A possible semifinal opponent is R. J. Bartley from
Grove, who is 37-3.
The Boomers could also be a factor in the team race,
Cook said.
“I really think Cushing is probably going to run away with the
tournament, but two through ten there will be just a couple of points separating
all of us,” Cook said. “There’s so much parity in Class 3A.
“It’s like I
told the kids, there’s really no pressure this week, the pressure was last week.
Once you get to this tournament it doesn’t matter if you’re 5-30, you can still
be a state champion.
“You’re three wins away from being a state champion
and a lot of times in the deeper weights it is just whoever gets hot. I think
we’ll come out guns a blazin’ this weekend.”
Notes: The Boomers traveled
to Perry on Wednesday to work out with the Perry High School wrestlers and will
work out there again on Thursday before going to the state tournament. This is
the second year in a row the Boomers have qualified five wrestlers for state.
Zach White and Matt White are the only returning qualifiers, but Joey Miller
qualified as a freshman in 2005. Wrestling action starts today at 10:30 a.m. and
again at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The championship round is Saturday
night.
Give your opinion on this story
 Olivia Neal, of
Goldsboro Rosewood, is scheduled to become the first female to compete
in the NCHSSA's wrestling championships.
(William Edmundson
Photo) |
In the fall of 2004, Olivia Neal, then a freshman at Goldsboro Rosewood High, told her parents that she was going to wrestling practice one afternoon after she finished with cheerleading practice.
She followed this routine for several days before coming home with a parental permission form.
“They said, ‘Why do you need a form to watch wrestling practice?’” Neal said of her parents’ reaction. “And I said, ‘I am not watching, I’m wrestling.’
“They freaked out, but eventually they let me do it.”
And Neal has done it better than any female ever has before in North Carolina.
On Friday morning at Joel Coliseum, Neal will step onto the mat with Ray Farnsworth, a freshman from Catawba Bandys, for a first-round Class 2-A/1-A match at 103 pounds. At that moment, she will become the first female to compete in the NCHSAA wrestling championships in any classification.
“I am very excited,” Neal said.
“I really just started because I thought it was fun, and I had no idea I would go this far.”
This is how far Neal has come: She has wrestled 126 matches in her high-school career and has a record of 105-21, including a record of 40-6 this season with 27 pins.
You can hear the toughness crackle in her voice, toughness honed not only through wrestling but also through the tribulations of being a female in a male-dominated sport.
Neal was one win away from reaching the state championships each of the past two seasons, and she said she couldn’t count the number of people who told her she would never make it.
Coach Bill Edmundson of Rosewood said he took Neal, along with other wrestlers in his program, to last year’s state championships at Joel Coliseum, in order for them to understand “the enormity of the event.”
“A couple of coaches recognized her and made comments to her like ‘working tables is as close as you’ll come to the state championships,’” Edmundson said. “Things like that have been a huge motivating factor for her this year. She’s earned her spot just like the other 15 wrestlers in her weight class.”
In last weekend’s regional tournament, Neal pinned her first opponent in 12 seconds. She suffered her first loss in the double-elimination tournament in the quarterfinals but came back through the consolation bracket. Neal’s pin in 43 seconds in the consolation semifinals ensured that a female would be among the 672 wrestlers in the championship field this weekend.
Neal is also a cheerleader and track athlete at Rosewood, as well as a straight-A student. She said she already has been accepted at North Carolina, N.C. State and UNC Wilmington and is waiting to hear if she has been accepted at Duke.
She is attractive enough to have competed in the Miss Wilson Pageant - leaving in the middle of a wrestling tournament for her pageant interview before returning to finish the tournament.
She is a chiseled 5-1, but she doesn’t lift weights, heeding her father’s observation about how easily she adds muscle mass.
So why does she wrestle?
First, she said again, wrestling is fun. Second, the most serious injury she has suffered in wrestling came when she cut her knee climbing down some bleachers at a tournament. The cut required stitches, but she returned to continue wrestling.
“A lot of people are having a lot to say about it,” Edmundson said. “Ray Farnsworth is her first-round match. He has a really good record, and from what I understand, he is a very technical wrestler and a great kid. I want them to see her as a wrestler, not as a girl.
“It’s a fact she is a female, but she wants to be viewed as just another wrestler. The only place she wants to be different is the weigh-ins, but that’s the only concession she wants.”
Neal has two female teammates at Rosewood, Kelly Cosgrove, a 112-pounder, and Ariel Nacca, a 119-pounder. Neal bristles when she recalls the times when boys tried not to wrestle them or treated them differently.
In an effort to repel attention, Neal said, she often swaddles herself in oversized clothes, a ski cap and sun glasses at tournaments.
“Once I had gone past the point where I was qualified (last weekend), then I could ungrunge,” Neal said. “I really don’t look like that all the time. Some people think I look like that all the time, and that’s fine, that way they won’t try to hit on me when I get there. I know they will. They are boys, and there are only one-third the amount of females in the gym, if that.”
She said she tries to deflect attention, and she gravitates toward those she is comfortable with, such as Edmundson or wrestlers she knows well.
“When I am in a group situation, I like to find those people,” she said. “That way I know that nobody is trying to put me in a bad spot.”
Neal said that after the state tournament, she would consider wrestling in some girls-only tournaments as long as this weekend is “low-stress, low-key, and we are feeling good.”
She said she probably won’t pursue athletics in college because she thinks that school would be so much easier without the added demands on her time. She said that she could come back to her high school and “wrestle around” if she needs a fix.
“It makes me feel glad and upset all at the same time,” she said with a shaky voice when asked about the end of her high-school career.
But Neal said she understands one thing - her name will forever be linked with high-school wrestling in North Carolina as a pioneer for girls in the sport.
“In most aspects, I am glad for that,” Neal said. “I am glad for it as long as they get their facts right and remember the good things.”
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
• Days: Friday-Saturday
• Site: Joel Coliseum
• Schedule: Round 1 and Round 1 consolations (Friday, 9 a.m.); Quarterfinals (Friday, 6 p.m.); Round 2 consolations, championship semifinals, Round 3 consolations, consolation semis and placement (Saturday, 8:30 a.m.); Championship finals (Saturday, 6 p.m.)
 |
CATAWBA - Bandys High School freshman Ray Farnsworth will be competing in the first round of the North Carolina wrestling championships Friday. His opponent: Olivia Neal.
Olivia?
Yes, Farnsworth will be wrestling a female.
Neal is the first female to qualify and wrestle in the boys state wrestling tournament in North Carolina history. She is a senior from Rosewood High School in Goldsboro. Neal and Farnsworth will compete in the 103-pound weight class. In last week’s Super-32 wrestling rankings, Farnsworth was ranked second and Neal was 10th.
Farnsworth said Neal won’t get any special treatment during the wrestling match just because of her gender.
“I’m going to go out there and wrestle like she’s a man,” he said, adding that he’s not concerned about where he’ll have to grip her to pin her to the mat. “I expect to win.”
Farnsworth hasn’t trained any differently this week in anticipation of who he’ll have to compete against, although the team as a whole has trained with North Lincoln High School so they can get more experience, said head coach Tim Correll.
“We only have four people from our school that qualified, and there are a few more at North Lincoln who qualified, so we’re practicing with them so our team can get some more experience,” Correll said.
He said the team has worked primarily on conditioning and drills to get them in excellent shape for the championships. They’ve also worked on particular moves and skills. He said Farnsworth does extra drills at home with his dad, something he often did throughout the season.
“Ray’s used to high-stress situations because he’s been to the nationals five times. He’s going into it like he normally would. He’s done really well in his weight class even though he’s actually a few pounds under,” Correll said.
He said although there’s the notion that wrestling a female is a no-win situation - if you lose, you’ve lost to a girl, and if you win, you’ve beaten a girl - Correll’s tried to make it a non-issue.
“We don’t talk about it a lot because I don’t want to distract him,” Correll said.
Correll may not be talking about it with his wrestler, but that doesn’t mean Farnsworth doesn’t hear about it from others at school.
“Some people have said if I get beat by a girl, they’ll beat me up,” he said. “I’m not worried, though. I’ll beat her.”
Although Farnsworth knows he has the support of everyone at Bandys High School, he suspects that once he gets to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, the crowd will be pulling for Neal to win.
“Everybody’s going to be hoping that I lose, so that a girl can win. I don’t expect others to pull for me,” he said.
Despite this, Farnsworth said he expects to make it to the finals
Give your opinion on this story
CATAWBA
Ray Farnsworth, a freshman at Catawba Bandys, said he won’t give Olivia Neal any special treatment because of her gender when the two meet Friday in the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A/1-A wrestling championships at Joel Coliseum.
“I’m going to go out there and wrestle like she’s a man,” Farnsworth said, adding that he’s not concerned about where he’ll have to grip Neal. “I expect to win.”
Farnsworth hasn’t trained any differently this week in anticipation of his possible opponents in the 103-pound class, but Coach Tim Correll said that Bandys, as a team, has trained with wrestlers from North Lincoln in an attempt to gain experience.
“We only have four people from our school that qualified, and there are a few more at North Lincoln who qualified, so we’re practicing with them so our team can get some more experience,” Correll said.
Correll said that his team has worked primarily on conditioning and drills and that Farnsworth has been doing extra drills at home with his father, which he did often during the season.
“Ray’s used to high-stress situations, because he’s been to the nationals five times,” Correll said. “He’s going into it like he normally would. He’s done really well in his weight class, even though he’s actually a few pounds under.”
Correll added that although there’s the notion that wrestling a female is a no-win situation - if you lose, you’ve lost to a girl, and if you win, you’ve beaten a girl - he has tried to make it a nonissue.
“We don’t talk about it a lot because I don’t want to distract him,” Correll said.
However, that doesn’t mean that Farnsworth hasn’t heard about his first-round opponent from others at school.
“Some people have said if I get beat by a girl, they’ll beat me up,” he said. “I’m not worried, though. I’ll beat her.”
Although Farnsworth knows he has the support of everyone at Bandys, he suspects that once he gets to Joel Coliseum, the crowd will be pulling for Neal to win.
“Everybody’s going to be hoping that I lose, so that a girl can win,” he said. “I don’t expect others to pull for me.”
■ Sarah Newell is a staff writer for the Hickory Daily Record.
By DIANE
GASPER-O'BRIEN
   |
Hays Daily News
Sammie Gonzales glanced at the constant stream of wrestlers running by
on the mats during Thursday evening's practice at Gross Memorial
Coliseum.
Nervous? Yes.
Ready for tomorrow? Oh, yeah.
Ah, the mixed emotions of qualifying for your first Kansas State High
School Wrestling Championships.
Especially when this Sammie is a girl.
Gonzales, a sophomore at Lakin High School, made history for her school
when she wrestled in this morning's first round of Class 3-2-1A State
Championships.
Gonzales, the first girl to qualify for state for Lakin, was one of
more than 200 high school wrestlers, but the only female wrestler, in
Hays at this weekend's 3-2-1A state meet, which will continue today and
Saturday.
Gonzales lost her first 103-pound match to Leon-Bluestem freshman Clint
Solis, but she didn't go down without a fight.
The taller, lankier Solis came out strong against the 5-foot-1 Gonzales
and jumped out to a 13-2 lead after two periods.
But Gonzales wasn't done.
Solis got sick between the second and third periods and had to leave
the mat. When he returned, Gonzales showed why she entered the tourney
with a 24-9 record.
With Solis in an obvious weakened state, Gonzales went after him hard
to start the period and got him on his back for a two-point near-fall.
But Solis had just enough strength to get away and hold on for a 17-6
win.
Next up for Gonzales is Sabetha sophomore Eddy Roggenkamp in the first
round of the consolation bracket at 4:30 this afternoon. Roggenkamp
lost by a technical fall this morning to Phillipsburg sophomore Chris
Ceman.
According to the Kansas State High School Activities Association, only
four girls have ever qualified for a KSHSAA state wrestling meet.
And Gonzales said she has heard that one has won a state match.
"I'd like to try to get one win," she said.
Gonzales won the girls' state championship with the Kansas Krusaders,
the official team women's wrestling program of USA Wrestlng-Kansas, as
a seventh-grader and has done well in national girls' competition for
several years.
But this is different for Gonzales, who finished third in a tough
weight bracket at last week's WaKeeney regional to earn a trip to state.
"I thought if I brought the best that I could (at regionals), I could
make it to state," she said. "Now I'd like to win one here."
Notice to the rest of the 103-pounders at GMC: Gonzales brought her
best this weekend.
"She's strong, and smart, too," a fan said this morning while watching
Gonzales' first-round match.
She gets plenty of training in her own home.
Gonzales got interested in wrestling when her two younger brothers,
Alex and Dalton, started competing in the Lakin Mat Crew Wrestling Club
as youngsters.
One of her classmates, Tayler Frederiksen -- the daughter of a former
wrestler who now referees wrestling -- talked Gonzales into giving the
sport a try, and she gets plenty of competition at home against
125-pound Alex and 115-pound Dalton.
Now, Lakin has four girls on the high school team. And they give their
male counterparts plenty of competition.
"I don't treat (the girls) any differently," said Larron Hurst, Lakin's
coach. "They're wrestlers. I have coaches come up to me and ask how to
treat the girls. I say, 'Treat them like a wrestler.' "
Fredriksen wrestled on the junior varsity team at 112 pounds behind
state qualifier Dalton Davis, a freshman who entered state with a 32-2
record and won his first-round match this morning.
Wrestling against the boys, the girls say, definitely helps when they
go to the girls' meets.
"Boys are stronger," Gonzales said.
"But girls are more flexible," Fredriksen said.
"And," Fredriksen added with a smile, "strength doesn't always beat out
technique."
"Most go out easy, and you have to show them," Gonzales said.
Gonzales has at least one more chance to show them and possibly get
that elusive state win for the girls.
From Hays, Gonzales will travel to McPherson for Sunday's Kansas U.S.
Girls' Wrestling Association State Championships.
Of course, she is looking forward to that.
But girls' state will have to wait. If she wins this afternoon,
Gonzales will advance to the second round of the consolation bracket
Saturday morning.
Win or lose today, Gonzales will be at GMC Saturday to support
teammates Davis and junior John Lynch, who is competing in the
135-pound division.
If she has her way, though, Gonzales will be in full gear herself come
Saturday morning.
They're wrestling
coaches.
Obviously, Natrona County's Scott Russell and Green River's Darren
Heslep know the finer points of attacking and defending.
Each took turns doing a little of both leading up to the sure-fire
controversy surrounding Seth Harris' decision to forfeit to Jessica
Brenton rather than go against his beliefs at today's Wyoming State
High School Wrestling Championships.
The defense was obvious and understandable, considering the attention
their wrestlers are sure to receive no matter how hard the coaches try
to shield it.
The offense was much
more subtle.
Heslep couldn't have said more about the courage of his senior to stand
up for his beliefs.
"I don't know if I could make that choice and make that sacrifice being
a 17- or 18-year-old kid," he said.
Then he slipped in some comments aimed at a system that allowed Brenton
to miss her weight at 112 pounds at regionals, move up to the next
weight class and by chance end up with a match against the only
119-pounder who won't touch her.
"And here we are," he said.
Russell raved about his best wrestler at the weight -- who just happens
to be female and is having perhaps the most success of any freshman
girl in state wrestling history.
"When we're in duals or tournaments, we put out our best kids," he
said. "It just happens to be that Jessica is one of our top kids."
Then he attempted to head off any issues with the Wolves by offering a
reminder that the Mustangs aren't exactly breaking any rules.
"No. 1, people are intrigued with girls wrestling," Russell said. "As a
state, they allow girls to wrestle.
"I'm not in on that. All I'm doing is going by the rules. If they're
allowing girls to wrestle, I'll allow the girl to wrestle. I'm not
going to turn somebody away from the wrestling program that's
passionate about wrestling. It's just not going to happen. We're going
to make our best team, and we're going to go out there and wrestle."
Brenton won't in the first round, instead inheriting six critical team
points while Harris heads to the losers' bracket with a shot at third
place at best.
Harris refused an interview request on Thursday, but the general
consensus seemed to be that he could easily live with that outcome.
"He's got morals and he's got values," Kelly Walsh coach Todd Lattimer
said. "The kid, he's the nicest kid you could ever meet, and he's still
a competitor.
"He's got great opportunities to go to college already based on grades
and academics, so you just hope he makes the right choice for him. As
far as I'm concerned, the way his attitude is and the way he holds
himself means way more than a wrestling match ever could."
But the match does mean plenty, which makes the decision tougher -- and
more admirable to many.
"This was a kid that started working for this tournament last March,"
Heslep said. "He's the kind of kid that works out all year long.
"He doesn't play football, he doesn't run track -- he wrestles. Last
spring when this tournament was over, he wrestled all summer, he
wrestled during the fall."
Heslep just won't get to coach him in the first round.
Contact sports reporter Austin Ward at (307) 266-0634 or
austin.ward@trib.com.
 |
Shannon McDaniel, girl athlete, was once talked into going out for the Floyd County High wrestling team. It seemed like something of a lark at first.
"One of my friends, Angie Moses, went out, but she said the guys had been kind of rough on her and she wanted somebody she could practice with," McDaniel said.
The girls were freshmen then. Not long into the season, Moses hurt her back and couldn't continue. McDaniel stayed with it.
"I found out I liked it," she said.
Wrestling is a sport that is by no means easy. Not a victory had she her whole freshman year. She was discouraged.
"Losing isn't much fun," she said.
Her outlook changed in the postseason that year when she went to the United States Girls' Wrestling Association state tournament and won her weight class. With that boost to her confidence, she decided she was going to stay with it.
Since then, there have been a couple of other girls in the Floyd County program. One thing or another caused them to drop out. McDaniel stayed with it.
She's seen other girls wrestling on guys' teams from time to time. Grayson County has a couple of girls, as does Lebanon. Another girl wrestles for Franklin County's B team. Only twice has she wrestled a girl in high school competition.
Now a senior, she's making her plans for next week's Group A Region C tournament. Her aim is for the first time to make it through regionals and qualify for the state tournament.
That she's the only girl wrestling for the Buffaloes has long since worn off as a novelty.
"I don't even think about her as a girl wrestler anymore," said Floyd County coach Mike Murphy, in his first season as head coach but his third with the team. "I just think of her as a wrestler."
She's developed into a pretty good one, too. Included in her 38-69 career record is 13-11 this year with four pins. She was the second seed in the three-team Three Rivers District meet Thursday night.
McDaniel has had her mat moments. One of them came this year when she beat Radford's Jacob Sheppard in a two-point thriller that earned her that second seed at district.
Bobcats coach Chris Vicars conferred with Sheppard recently as they discussed a potential rematch.
"I told him, don't look at her as a girl wrestler this time; just look at her as a wrestler and wrestle her the same way you would anybody else," Vicars said.
Vicars has been around the sport long enough to have seen other matches between girls and boys. His observation is that often you'll notice that the boy seems to be holding back in some respects. The coach suspects that a boy's natural reluctance to engage in contact with a girl that could be somehow be regarded as impolite or improper might be a factor.
You can't approach it that way, Vicars said.
Never mind the goofballs among your teammates and friends who would try to find humor in the situation.
"Look," Vicars told somebody when he heard some snickers in practice while he was discussing Sheppard's match with McDaniel, "none of you have anything to laugh at. She could have beat you, too."
Vicars has watched her a couple of years and says he's seen her improve substantially.
"She's a right solid wrestler," he said. "She's really gotten better this year as she's gotten stronger."
Twice she's won the girls' state tournament and once was runner-up. Last spring as a junior, she wrestled her way to a 10th-place finish at girls' nationals in Michigan.
Among the bigger thrills was her first victory over a guy. She was a sophomore and the guy was from Chatham. They tangled at the Staunton River tournament. When her hand was raised by the referee to announce her victory, she really got a charge.
"I've never heard a gym get so lound in my entire life," she said.
She's had plenty of success since. Not all of it has been entirely enjoyable.
"Usually, when I beat a guy, he doesn't take it too well and can be pretty unsportsmanlike," she said. "That gets old."
McDaniel also plays volleyball and soccer and runs track. When she graduates, she'll have earned 12 varsity letters including four in wrestling. She's thinking about accepting a walk-on offer for women's wrestling from the University of the Cumberlands, a NAIA school in Kentucky.
No short-term sporting lark this.
"It's been a whole lot of fun"
This year's Sullivan Award finalists include NCAA champions and world recordholders in a variety of sports. AAU officials, U.S. Olympic Committee members and college sports information directors are among those who vote for the top amateur athlete. Fans can cast their ballot at sports.usatoday.com or on their mobile phones. The fan votes count one-third toward the final tally. Voting ends March 10. The winner will be announced April 1. The finalists and their 2007 accomplishments:
Kristie Marano, wrestling
Marano, a 12-year veteran of the U.S. women's freestyle wrestling team, was the 2007 Pan American Games gold medalist. She came in second in the Warsaw Cup and won a silver medal in the World Wrestling championships in Azerbaijan in September. She is a two-time world champion and nine-time world medalist (the most for U.S. women). Marano, 29, of Albany, N.Y., was named the 2007 USOC Female Wrestler of the Year.
“We are so proud of her,” Heidi Bohannon, Molina's mother, said on Monday.
The event is set to attract some of the best female wrestlers
from across the United States. For Grants, Molina wrestled at
112-pounds, but her classification will be determined after she weighs
in at the event.
The women's championship is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday
at Cibola High School.
By Will Kie
Beacon senior sportswriter
.
Jessica Kirk, also of North Park, grabbed a gold medal in the girls' 67.5-kg weight division.
Kirk and Guillemette were voted by the coaches as the most outstanding female and male wrestlers in the tournament.
Madison Parks of Assumption College won a gold medal in the girls' 47.5-kg weight division.
Jason Staats of North Park wrestled his way to a silver medal in the 47.5-kg weight class.
Three members of the Paris District High School Panthers won silver medals.
Those medals went to Bryanne Henry in the girls' 64-kg division, Mariah Swanson in the girls' 44-kg class and Chase Perry in the 72-kg section.
Sydney Sallazzo of Brantford Collegiate Institute won a silver medal in the girls' 72-kg class and Rachel McNeill took bronze in the 44-kg division.
Geordy Schweertman of Delhi took silver in the 83-kg division and Mike Meadows won bronze in the 77-kg class.
Schools are responsible for reporting home and away same day results with first and last names of scorers for both teams. Call David Grossman at The Star's hotline number 416-869-4394 or toll free at 1-866-249-1387 or email dgrossm@thestar.ca.
YORK REGION
Varsity Girls' Wrestling — Champions - 47.5k - Amanda Correia, Father Bressani; 51k - Annie Nikolakakos, Maple; 54k - Sarina Suppa, Father Bressani; 57.5k - Kaklika Thav, Maple; 61k - Kim Drimmel, Keswick; 64k - Michelle Eisner, Bayview; 67.5k - Rosemary Altobelli, Father Bressani; 72k - Julia Carere, Father Bressani; 77k - Melissa Dobrovich, St. Joan of Arc; Heavyweight - Sabrina Altobelli, Father Bressani; Varsity Boys' Wrestling — Champions - 41k - Tony Sarkes, Maple; 51k - Daniel Accardi, St. Elizabeth; 54k - Andrew Arce, Father Bressani; 57.5k - Julian Batistella, St. Elizabeth; 61k - Alexander Franchuk; Father Bressani; 77k - Stefan Gatti-Cavanagh, Father Bressani; 83k - Anton Shchipillo; Vaughan; 89k - Arthur Rodian, Vaughan; 95k - Stephen Patullo, Father Bressani; Heavyweight - Ramin Rayegan, Maple; Sr. Boys' Hockey — Semifinal — Stouffville 6 (Sam Carrick, Nathan James, Jamie Wise, Scott Vanallen, Matt Raguseo, Luke Bartell), St. Theresa of Lisieux 1 (Daniel Bitondo). Stouffville wins best-of-three, 2-0; Jr. Boys' Hockey — Semifinal - Brother Andre 5 (Cameron Brice, 2, Anthony Moore, Connor Kennedy, Lloyd Davis), Sacred Heart 2 (Derek Kendale, Ryan Mulcahy); Sr. Girls' Volleyball — Tier Two Semifinal — Thornhill 2, Brother Andre 0 (25-21, 25-22)
Published: February 20, 2008
Setting a path, making history
By Jessie Denning, Katie Flannigan, and McKenna Marstall
We've never held the foam finger, we've never been covered in black and gold paint, and we've definitely never started the wave. If we're not in the game, then we tend to have little interest in it. But Kelsey Carl definitely has caught our attention.
Kelsey Carl first became interested in wrestling when she was in the fourth grade. Her brothers began wrestling at the same time. Whenever she watched their matches, she thought it would be fun to try it out. She decided that she wanted to be in this sport. Her dad however, was not so enthusiastic about this idea.
"I had to convince my dad to let me try it," said Kelsey, "But when I got first place in my first tournament, he was okay with it."
In a male dominated sport, Kelsey is among few other girls. When we asked if she was treated any differently from the male competitors, she responded with a neutral, "no, not really." She is not discriminated against; she is neither favored nor looked down upon. Fellow teammate Travis Moore doesn't see a difference either, except in the reactions of those she defeated.
"They felt crappy, ‘cause they got beat by a girl," he chuckled. Rumor has it that some boys even cried after Kelsey showed them that a girl wrestler was someone to be reckoned with.
This weekend, Kelsey made Oregon history when she placed fourth in the State Tournament – the highest any girl has ever placed at State. Things did not start off well for Kelsey; she lost her first match. However, she easily won her next two matches. But the second to last match was the most difficult.
"It was the match where they decided if I wrestled for fifth and sixth place or third and fourth place; it was the hardest one," she admitted.
She won that match, despite the tough opposition. Unfortunately, she lost her final match. Her loss was still met with excitement; fourth place in state is an achievement to be proud of. On the subject of her win, all Kelsey had to say was, "it felt pretty cool."
We are looking forward to next season. Don't be too surprised if we show up to the next home tournament waving a foam finger, covered in black and gold paint, and attempting to start a wave. Congratulations to Kelsey and all the other wrestlers. We are sure that they will return to State to make history once again.
Harding & Moore crowned 3A State Champions
Published: February 20, 2008
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Kelsey Carl makes history, first female to finish 4th
Three wrestlers traveled to Portland to participate in the state wrestling championship held at the Memorial Coliseum. Travis Moore and Brandon Harding both came home as state champions in the 3A division in their respective weights (Brandon at 135 lbs, and Travis at 189 lbs). Kelsey Carl placed fourth.
Each bracket had twelve wrestlers. To get to the championship, a wrestler had to wrestle four times. To participate at the state championship, a wrestler had to have placed first, second, or third at their respective district tournments.
Kelsey made Oregon history as being the first female wrestler to place that high. A female from Waldport received fifth place two years ago. Kelsey also participated in a women's division which were unofficial exhibition matches. Kelsey placed first and received a plaque.
By Tiffany Williams
Feb 19 2008
Katie Walcheske won silver in wrestling in the 56 kg division. Helena Winter won bronze in wrestling in the 46 kg division. Isaac MacDonald won bronze in wrestling in the 65 kg division. Rebekah Harper placed fourth in wrestling in the 60 kg division. Nicole Marburg placed fourth in wrestling in the 65 kg division. Brett Rogalski placed fifth in wrestling in the 51 kg division. Chanal Mandrusiak placed fifth in wrestling in the 60 kg division. Jacob Gartner placed seventh in wrestling in the 83 plus kg division. Jenna Brake played on the 14 and under volleyball team who placed eighth. Duro Baden placed eighth in the 43 kg division. Ian MacDonald placed eighth in the 37 to 40 kg division. Ponoka was a part of the Zone Four team, which for wrestling placed eighth overall. Victoria Boardman placed tenth in figure skating in the junior bronze ladies free skate. Cole Hogarth did not place in the judo 45 to 50 kg division.
Zone Four won 45 medals including 12 gold, 13 silver and 20 bronzes.