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WINSTON-SALEM - On Friday, only six of the original 45 Western North Carolina wrestlers advanced to the Saturday semi-finals of the NCHSAA wrestling championships being held at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Only wrestlers from Enka got into the 3-A semis, with Daniel Owenby (125) and Justin Guthrie (152) making the grade.

In the 1-A/2-A semis, Avery’s Jonathan Hensley (130), Brevard’s Eric Evanger (112) and a trio of Robbinsville wrestlers made it to Saturday.

The three Black Knights include Weston Haney (112), Chandler Turpin (215) as well as Erick Messick (103), who defeated the first female wrestler ever to qualify for the state tournament, Rosewood’s Olivia Neal who won her first two matches of the day to make it into the quarter’s.

State's First Female Wrestler Eyes Championship

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High School senior Olivia Neal is the first female to compete in the state wrestling championships.

Winston-Salem, NC - A female wrestler's dream to win a state championship ended Friday night. But she still made history. Olivia Neal became the first girl to compete in the state finals. She won her first match, but lost her second on what some call a controversial decision.

"I'd be kind of nervous and I wouldn't take it lightly," said wrestler Malachi Honeycutt.

Olivia's technique is wonderful," said wrestling coach Charles Nash. "She's really fast from one move the next."

Out of the 600 wrestlers at Friday's state championships, all eyes were on Neal.

"I've heard she's pretty tough for a girl and she's pretty amazing this tournament," said wrestler Casey Walker.

The senior all star from the Goldboro area notched 46 wins and 37 pins this year. But came just shy of her dream win and the championship.

"She had her back in his chest and then turned him so he was against the mat," said Nash. "I've seen points awarded for that very move before."

The crowd along with Nash consider the final call controversial. "I think she could have won that match," he said. "They have referees for judgement calls. I say yes, he says no; but his vote counts, mine doesn't."

She proved to the male dominated sport, girls can wrestle too. "I'm really proud of her although I don't really know her," said Walker. "But her making it here is going to set the standard for all girl wrestlers," he said.

I'm glad it's over and I'm looking forward to the next one," said Neal. "It's finally over and I hope I don't have to prove anything else to anybody else."

Along with wrestling, Olivia Neal also competes in beauty pageants. She finished second in the junior miss pageant in her hometown. Neal will wrestle for third place in her weight class Saturday afternoon at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

In Division II, Schuylerville's Sarah Anderson was the only female wrestler to win a title, at 103 pounds. Duanesburg's Brian Borst improved to 44-1 with a pin at 119.

Lady Longhorns grab fifth straight title

UIL State Wrestling Tournament

By Terrence Hunley 2/24/08
terrence.hunley@amarillo.com

AUSTIN - The Caprock girls wrestling team is unstoppable. So is the Amarillo-area's dominance.

The Lady Longhorns claimed one individual state title en route to winning their fifth straight state title Saturday at the UIL State Wrestling Tournament at the Delco Center.

"Somehow we always find a way to win," senior Lisa Martinez said. "We have weights that need to be filled every year, and then we have girls who come out of nowhere that you would never expect."

Caprock's victory makes it nine straight titles for Amarillo ISD. Caprock won its first title in 2000.

"It is easy to get to the top," Caprock coach Scott Tankersley said. "But it takes character to stay there, and our girls have a lot of character."

Caprock topped second-place Coppell, 101-79, after having a seven-point lead over Waller entering Day 2.

"It gets tougher and tougher every year," Tankersley said.

The Lady Longhorns' only individual title came from a girl who plans to be back several more seasons. Freshman 102-pounder Hilory Cordero claimed a gold medal.

"Hilory was outstanding," Caprock assistant coach T.J. Johnson said. "She stepped up where we never thought she would."

Cordero credits her coaches for helping her become more determined.

"They told me I was a great freshman," Cordero said. "So I worked harder and ended up here."

She defeated Alba Mendoza of El Paso Franklin, 10-8, in the championship match.

"It felt great to be named state champion," Cordero said. "But it became perfect when I was told we won it as a team."

Cordero said she will return.

"Now that I won one as a freshman, I have to win the next three years, too," Cordero said.

Junior Daffney Barbosa earned second-place honors in the most exciting finals match.

Barbosa was matched against Coppell's Tessa Plana, the defending state champion who had pinned all three of her opponents.

Barbosa opened strongly, using a double-leg takedown to grab an early 2-0 lead. She held that lead heading into the second period. But Plana tied it in the second period with a reversal, and the third period began with the score tied at 3-3.

Barbosa was able to wriggle free of Plana's grasp to earn the 4-3 lead until she was called for stalling. The call tied the match at 4-4 and sent it into overtime.

Plana put Barbosa in a head and arm headlock takedown and was able to hold her down for the pin.

"I didn't think I was backing up," Barbosa said. "It is just more motivation to do better next year."

Caprock hopes to repeat its success but it will be difficult because the team is losing six seniors.

"It's going to be hard," junior Candy Martinez said. "But like Lisa said, we have girls who seem to come out of nowhere."

Barbosa singled out the the area most needed for improvement.

"We are really going to need to fill the upper weights," she said.

Caprock wasn't the only area school with strong efforts.

Hereford's Luzette Villegas, a senior, claimed a second-place medal in the 128-pound division after losing to Stephanie Han of El Paso Irvin in the closing seconds of the match.

"I know I could have beat her but I did my best," Villegas said. "I had opportunities to pin her but I let them slip away."

Tascosa's Breena Maul, wrestling for only the second year, put a head-and-arm-headlock takedown on Shelby Fellers of Waller and pinned her.

"She was dominating me at the beginning, but I knew I had to win it for (head coach Johnny) Cobb," Maul said of her retiring Tascosa coach. "I asked myself, 'How bad do I want to win it for him,' and I dug down and threw her in a headlock, and I hate headlocks."

Maul's win helped propel the Lady Rebels to a third place finish, 41 points behind first-place Caprock and 19 behind Coppell.

The area's success also extended into the consolation bracket.

The Lady Longhorns had third-place efforts from Candy Martinez (95) and Lisa Martinez (110), as well as a sixth-place showing from Nicole Almanza at 119 pounds.

Jodi Martinez (128) had a fourth-place effort for Tascosa and Marissa Schrepel (215) was fifth. Katie Jones (128), the first girls state qualifier in Boys Ranch history, had a third-place showing in the tournament.

Hereford's Luzette Villegas (148) finished fifth.

Article Launched: 02/23/2008 10:15:58 PM PST

Three MCAL girls win section titles

FREMONT - Courtney Madson of Novato, Danielle Cohen of San Rafael and Kelley Charlton of Tam all earned championships at the North Coast Section girls wrestling meet at Kennedy High.

At 103 pounds, Madson came into the tournament the top seed and went 3-0 to win the section title. Madson finished the season with a 32-5 record.

"Courtney pretty much dominated," Novato girls' coach Steve Sanner said. "We kind of expected she was going to walk through this tournament."

In the finals, Cohen (118) won by technical fall over top-seeded Brittani Romero of Pittsburg High.

"I'm still kind of in awe," said Cohen, who went 3-0 in the tournament and 21-14 during the year. "I just had a really good season."

Novato's Julia Sanner (122) went 4-1 to place third and 18-8 on the season. Marin Catholic's Anna-Sophie Liebrand (126) took second in her first girls varsity tournament

Central Texans fall shy of state wrestling titles; Bowie 8th in team race

A handful of Austin-area wrestlers had to settle for runner-up finishes at the UIL state meet on Saturday, with two losing in the agonizing final seconds of their championship matches.

First, LBJ's Katie Brackin fell to Katy's Alana Jimenez 6-1 in the championship of the girls 165-pound class. Brackin was unbeaten in her previous 21 matches.

On the boys side, Bowie's Dustin Stiegemeyer brought a 47-1 record into his 103-pound title match against Grapevine's Joe Andrews, who had finished fourth in his regional. Andrews jumped to a 6-0 lead in the third period, but Stiegemeyer scored three points in a matter of seconds to close it to 7-5. He had Andrews in a controlling hold late, but was unable to score a tying takedown before time expired.

Anderson's Bobby Barney and Vista Ridge's Brandon Sheldon might have suffered even more agonizing defeats.

For the vast majority of his 140-pound match against Tyler Lee of Flower Mound Marcus, Barney was in control, and he held a 7-2 lead with 1:03 to go. However, Lee closed the score to 8-6 in the closing seconds and then put together a three-point near-fall in the final 10 seconds to pull out a 9-8 victory. It was Barney's first loss this season in 42 matches.

Sheldon held a 3-2 lead in the closing moments of the 180-pound final, but Will Morris of Katy Cinco Ranch notched a two-point takedown with 14 seconds remaining to take the title.

"I didn't wrestle my best match," said Sheldon, a junior who finished with a 30-2 record. "I didn't win, so it wasn't good enough. I was probably too tentative and nervous."

Bowie's Greg Gogonas ran into a buzz saw in the championship match of the 119-pound class. Arlington's Danny Luttrell won his second straight state title with an 11-2 decision, as he ended the season with a 53-0 record. Gogonas won the 103-pound state title in 2006 as a freshman, and Luttrell defeated him last year in the 112-pound semifinals.

Bowie was the top Central Texas boys team, finishing eighth while LBJ placed eighth on the girls side. Canyon Randall won the boys team title, and Amarillo Caprock claimed the girls crown.

Colleyville Heritage's Jeremy Sandoval continued his quest for four individual state championships, winning his third consecutive title. The junior finished atop the 130-pound class to push his career record to 102-1.

Carlene Sluberski of Fredonia became Section 6's first female overall champion when the junior captured the 96-pound title with an 11-6 decision over Ben Haas of Salamanca at Jamestown Community College. The feat earned her Most Outstanding Wrestler honors for the meet, which served as a qualifier for next weekend's state tournament in Rochester.

IRON MAIDEN

Washington County's first female champion, Smithsburg's 103-pound Monica Hovermale -- who bench presses 150 pounds -- looks to repeat.

Published: 02/21/2008

by Lem Satterfield
Pictures 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 /

As a freshman last season, Smithsburg's Monica Hovermale achieved her goal of becoming the first girl to win a Washington County League tournament title when she pinned South Hagerstown's Dane Devin.

That was the third time she had pinned Devin in as many meeting, but Hovermale would not win another match.

At last year's Class 2A-1A West Regional, Hovermale lost twice, and was done.

So this year, the sophomore has returned to the 103-pound class with more determination than ever.

"My long term goals for wrestling are to have an undefeated season and to hopefully reach 100 wins," said Hovermale, 15, whose two-year victory total has reached 39 with 30 falls as she looks to defend her county title this weekend.

"This year," said Hovermale, "I want to go to states and place."

If Hovermale does place at states, she will be the first girl to win a match at the Maryland 2A-1A state championships.

In 2005, Jade Hendricks of Western Tech was the first girl to qualify for the Class 2A-1A states, this, during the same year that Arundel's Nicole Woody was the first girl to reach the Class 4A-3A version.

Hendricks and Woody each went 0-2.

But the following year, Woody and then-freshman Helen Maroulis of Magruder qualified, yet again, at 103, and, 112-pounds, respectively.

Maroulis became the first girl to place, finishing fifth that year. Woody did not place, but she did become the first girl to pin a boy at states.

Last year, however, Woody became the state's first female runner-up, again, at 103 pounds, when she lost to River Hill's Scott Mantua in the Class 4A-3A state title bout.

And Woody's accomplishment came only one week after having become the first female to win a Maryland regional crown when she captured the Class 4A-3A East Region title during a tournament in which Mantua was third.

Maroulis qualified last season, again at 112 pounds, but went 0-2.

Maroulis is a junior who not only is the No. 2 seed entering this weekend's Montgomery County Tournament, but who is also the owner of a victory over the top seeded, defending champ, Danny Lethbridge, of Paint Branch, who was third at last year's states at 112.

"I always try to perform 100 percent, no matter what, and to always do my best," Hovermale said. "Helen and Nicole are older than me. I hope to do as good as they've done."

Smithsburg coach Joe Dietrich is one who believes that Hovermale not only can, but will.

"She's not just a good girl wrestler, she's a good wrestler -- period," said Dietrich, who coached Monica's brother, Justin, to a county championship finish, a third place effort at regions and an overall 33-3 record last season.

Among the more impressive things about Hovermale is her strength and power.

"Monica was a freshman last year, so she took a required physical education class and then she signed up for my strength training class," said Dietrich. "Monica broke all of the girls' school records for the lightest weight class and body percentage by 100 percentage points."

Hovermale, who also plays soccer and lacrosse, said she hears "surprisingly, nothing negative from anyone about being a girl wrestler."

"I have the support of my teammates, family and friends," said Hovermale. "I plan on attending many girl wrestling tournments this year. I would like to wrestle in college, and also, play soccer and lacrosse."

Monica Hovermale, at a glance:

Age: 15

Grade: Sophomore

Height: 5-feet

GPA: 3.2

Age at which she started wrestling: 5

Parents: Richard and Trisha.

Siblings: Justin, 18, and Shane, 7.

Comments about family: "I have been wrestling for nine years. Prior to high school, I wrestled junior leagues. My dad was my coach. I watched my older brother wrestle since I was 3."

"It was something I wanted to do. My mom doesn't agree with it, but I like it, so she supports me anyway."

"Justin wrestled for 13 years. He made it to states one year. This is Shane's third year wrestling. He has only two losses. He's a beast."

"All three of us siblings have a good relationship. We're all very competitive and we wrestle with each other to get better. Justin is like another coach to me."

Hobbies: "Lifting weights, working out, playing all sports. I spend about an hour a day doing some type of excersizing."

Occupational goals: "I would like to be either a teacher or a nurse. I'm still undecided."

Invitational tournament placement: First at Smithsburg, second at Parkville and Springbrook

This year's losses: by 8-0 to Atholton's Kevin Beck; by 19-3 technical fall to Owings Mills' Avi Friedman. Beck and Friedman are the No. 1 seeds in their respective Howard and Baltimore County Tournaments.

Other notable wrestling facts:

--Returns to the 103-pound weight class where, as freshman, last year, she became Washington County's first female champion, pinning South Hagerstown's Dane Devin in 3:13.

--Went 20-13 last year with 15 falls, four forfeits, one decision

--Takes a 19-2 record, 15 falls, three forfeits, one decision into this weekend's Washington County Tournament

--Bench presses 150 pounds; Squats 215; Dead lifts 315; Power cleans 140.

Oh, brother - Hovermale has a sister

SMITHSBURG - Perhaps the only thing worse than having to wrestle Smithsburg senior Justin Hovermale this season is having to wrestle his freshman sister, Monica Hovermale.

"That's almost one of the worst things that can happen - to get beat by a girl," Justin Hovermale said, smiling. "I feel sorry for the guys she wrestles."

The Hovermales each went 2-0 Saturday as host Smithsburg split its tri-meet with South Hagerstown and Walkersville. The Leopards walloped the Rebels 66-18 in an MVAL Antietam match and fell 46-27 to the unbeaten Lions in nonconference action. Walkersville (11-0) beat winless South 59-24 in the other match.

"She's good," her brother said. "But she wrestles even better against me at home. We beat each other up every once in a while. She'll put up a fight, but I'm too old and heavy for her."

Justin Hovermale, a 152-pounder, is lighter than he was last season, when he was the Washington County champ at 160.

"I feel faster," he said. "And now that I'm at a lower weight class, I feel stronger."

Hovermale's on a mission after last season's huge disappointment. He went into the Maryland 2A-1A West tournament as the region's top seed at 160, but failed to place in the top four to qualify for states.

"Huge can't even describe how bad that was for me," he said. "I'm just trying to come back this year and prove to everybody that I can go to states and wrestle well the whole season and not stop at regionals like I have the past three years."

Hovermale had two pins Saturday to improve to 8-0 on the season. Brandon Knight (145) - Smithsburg's lone representative at states last season - and Alex Akers (160) also had a pair of pins each, while Jeremy Harbaugh (189) also went 2-0 for Smithsburg (3-1, 2-0).

After squeaking by Middletown 36-35 and Brunswick 40-37 to begin their dual-meet season, the Leopards' luck ran out against Walkersville.

"It's always disappointing to lose a match, but we hung with them," Smithsburg coach Joe Dietrich said.

James Reilley - last season's county champ at 119 - lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Walkersville's Ty White at 130, one bout after Smithsburg's Wes McKenen lost by injury default to Paul Bell. McKenen led 5-0 in the first period before suffering a shoulder injury.

"I heard a crack. I tried to continue, but I couldn't do anything," McKenen said. "I'm going to go get it checked out. I just hope it's not too bad."

Seniors Derick Boerstler (125) and Chris Bell (285) each went 2-0 for South (0-6, 0-5).

Bell, in his first day of action this season, needed only 65 total seconds to pin both of his opponents and remain unbeaten for his career. He went 10-0 in limited action during his first year of wrestling last season.

"I got injured and overweight last season," Bell said. "It felt good to finally break into them today. I've been pretty anxious."

Chris Stauffer (112), C.J. Cotterman (119), Ty White (130), Zack White (135), Luke Milyard (140), Jordan Walsh (171) and Tim Wheatley (215) each went 2-0 and combined for 10 pins for Walkersville.

RICHMOND -- C.C. Weber has won a boatload of medals during her first three years on Goodrich's wrestling team.

The Martians' junior grappler has won so many medals that she has started to lose track of how many she has. She's even lost some, literally. One medal she knows she wouldn't lose is a team state championship.

"That is all of our dreams," Weber said. "If we win a state title, I would cherish that one."

Wednesday, Goodrich, ranked No. 1 in Division 3, moved one step closer to the school's first state crown by winning a regional championship at Richmond.

The Martians beat the host Blue Devils 46-18 in a semifinal match before ousting Capac 61-9 in the championship match.

"I'm just ecstatic," said Weber, who moved her career mark to 104-29 with two wins Wednesday. "I'm all about the team. The only thing that matters is a state championship."

Goodrich (42-2) advanced to the state quarterfinals where it will face Gladstone at 3:15 p.m. Feb. 29 at Battle Creek's Kellogg Arena.

It is the Martians first trip to the Cereal City since they took runner-up honors in 1999. Gladstone lost in the state quarterfinals last year.

"We're not complacent about where we're at," Goodrich coach Matt Turnbow said. "Those losses to Davison and Rockford helped us with that. It taught us a lesson that every point in a match counts."

Goodrich dominated Wednesday's regional. At times, it looked too easy for the Martains. Goodrich recorded 13 pins in both matches combined -- eight against Capac.

Against Richmond, Goodrich captured seven of the first eight weights to eliminate any drama from the match.

It was only the second time in the last 16 years Goodrich has beaten Richmond, which won the 2006 Division 3 state title.

"Behind Davison, (Goodrich) is the second best team in the state in all divisions," Richmond co-coach Brandon Day said. "The depth they have from top to bottom separates them from everybody else."

The championship match against Capac, which started at 285 pounds, was even more lopsided than the semifinals.

Leading 7-6, Goodrich won nine straight weights from 103-152, to take a commanding 46-6 lead.

"They're pretty tough," Capac coach Jason Klink said. "They're not ranked No. 1 in the state for no reason. There are not many teams that will match up with them."

Capac advanced to the championship match by beating Birch Run 45-29 in a semifinal contest.

The Panthers entered the match shorthanded, weighing in only 12 of the 28 boys on their roster.

"Some kids were sick, some were hurt," Birch Run coach Nick Stricker said. "We had to win 103 to 135 to win this. In the lower classes, we didn't do what we needed to do."

Goodrich 61, Capac 9
285 - Alex Wegner (C) d. Carlin Rettberg 2:56; 103 - C.C. Weber (G) d. Andrew Bollaert 14-5; 112 - Kristi Garr (G) d. Eric Bollaert 9-8; 119 - David Garr (G) d. Joshua Kaiser :40; 125 - Kirk Britton (G) d. Aaron Smith 1:23; 130 - Grant Overcashier (G) d. Mike Parks :37; 135 - Mark Weber (G) d. David Shindak 1:24; 140 - Joe Hopkins (G) d. Clay Colwell 1:24; 145 - Jarrad LaBelle (G) d. Brian Kulman 2-0; 152 - Nick Gatchell (G) d. Brandon Lossing 5:49; 160 - Derek Gottschalk (C) d. Brad Armstrong 4-2; 171 - Kyle March (G) d. Dan Patton 5:08; 189 - Kyler Elsworth (G) d. Tom Bolday 1:09; 215 - Nick Lovell (G) d. Shawn Kaiser 4-2

Goodrich 46, Richmond 18
215 - Kyler Elsworth (G) d. Bryan Fusan 3:42; 285 - Nick Lovell (G) d. Shane McCleary 5:45; 103 - C.C. Weber (G) d. Casey Martin 4-2; 112 - Cam Sebring (R) d. Kristi Garr 5-3; 119 - David Garr (G) d. Josh Rivard 5-2; 125 - Kirk Britton (G) d. Emery Pitcel 10-0; 130 - Grant Overcashier (G) d. Scott Smead 5:29; 135 - Mark Weber (G) d. Sean Clancy :19; 140 - Brett Burg (R) d. Joe Hopkins 7-1; 145 - Mike Mack (R) d. Nick Gatchell 4:35; 152 - Jarrad LaBelle (G) void; 160 - Drew Well (G) d. Roger Crump 4-2; 171 - Kyle March (G) d. Josh Schroeder 6-4; 189 - Mike Lasinski (R) d. Ryan LaBarge 2:41.

Capac 45, Birch Run 29
215 - Shaun Kaiser (C) void; 285 - Alex Wegner (C) void; 103 - Andrew Bollaert (C) d. Bobby Merrihew 7-3; 112 - Eric Bollaert (C) d. Craig Kelly 2:56; 119 - Evan McCann (B) d. Joshua Kaiser 9-8; 125 - Sean Fent (B) d. Andrew Smith 21-4; 130 - Brandon Schalm (C) d. Craig Bolf 1:43; 135 - David Shindak (C) d. Matt Lynn 16-12; 140 - Brandon Massey (B) d. Clay Colwell 4:31; 145 - Brian Kulman (C) d. Josh Williams :46; 152 - Derek Gottschalk (C) d. Dan Rigda 3:50; 160 - Preston Cherry (B) d. Brandon Lossing 3:46; 171 - Josh Crawford (B) d. Dan Patton :59; 189 - Tom Bolday (C) d. James Hartley :40

HARRIS PLACES THIRD: Green River's Seth Harris placed third in Class 4A's 119-pound weight class. Harris, last year's 103-pound champion, forfeited his first round match to Natrona County's Jessica Brenton because he doesn't believe in wrestling girls.

With the forfeit, third place was the best the Green River senior could finish.

"It was fun," Harris said. "It was a good way to end it."

Harris said it was tough at first to sacrifice the chance at a second title, but that he wanted to stick by his morals.

"I made the right decision," Harris said.

Harris beat Cheyenne Central's Leandro Arias 5-0.

High school wrestling notebook

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