News Page

REGINA -- There were holds of a different nature in Robert Usher Collegiate's wrestling room after school on Tuesday.

Four female wrestlers from Usher embraced 11 grapplers from Miller High School in appreciation of a selfless, symbolic and sportsmanlike gesture.

To the surprise of Usher grapplers Becca Maskewich, Danielle Anderson, Lisa McKibben and Sara Lapchuk, the Miller wrestlers voluntarily turned over the provincial 3A girls championship plaque they won Saturday in Saskatoon.

"This is where it should go,'' said Miller's Daphne-Anne Hodgson, who won a 45-kilogram girls gold medal at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association championships. "They deserve it.''

View Larger Image Members of the Robert Usher high school girls wrestling team got a surprise Tuesday afternoon when members of the Miller girls team presented them with the provincial wrestling title for their division. Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post

Miller registered the highest points total among female teams at the provincial championships. Based upon that, members of the Miller delegation thought they were in line for an SHSAA title in the 4A division, which is for larger schools.

However, it turned out that Miller was classified as a 3A school because it has 239 female students between Grades 10 and 12. The 4A division is for schools with female populations exceeding 250.

Miller, which wrestled in 4A in previous years, dropped down to 3A because its student population decreased. The school's wrestling team was not aware of this until Saturday's medal presentations.

To follow through on its desire to compete in 4A as a 3A-sized school, Miller would have had to apply for reclassification in advance of the SHSAA meet. Because that did not happen, the SHSAA awarded the 4A girls team title to O'Neill and gave Miller the 3A crown. Usher was next in line in the 3A category.

The SHSAA will continue to recognize Miller as the 3A champions, but that did not deter the Miller wrestlers from visiting Usher on Tuesday.The Miller wrestlers perceive themselves as the 4A winners, although the SHSAA results state otherwise and are irreversible.

"If we're not going to be recognized (by the SHSAA), that's fine,'' Hodgson said. "We're happy with our accomplishments.''

The four Usher wrestlers who competed at provincials were not aware of Miller's plans until they entered the wrestling room on Tuesday. When they arrived, they were greeted by the Miller wrestlers and their coach, Mark Fitzpatrick, along with some reporters.

"We weren't expecting the media to be here,'' Fitzpatrick said. "We wanted this to be done as discretely as possible.

"We don't want to attack anyone. The SHSAA was in a tough position. They go by the book and we understand that. We want to do the right thing by Usher and that's to recognize their accomplishments this year.''

The Usher wrestlers were initially perplexed when they entered the wrestling room and discovered the extra company. Hodgson then read from a prepared statement and commended Usher on its accomplishments before unofficially bestowing the provincial title upon the wrestlers from the smaller school. Afterward, all the wrestlers -- some of whom were in tears -- hugged.

"I can't believe anybody would do that -- that they would come all this way to present us with the plaque,'' said Anderson, a provincial champion at 56kg. "It was so great -- just awesome.

"When we walked in and saw the whole Miller girls team, we were thinking, 'What's going on?" Then we saw the cameras and the plaques and everything and we heard their speech. It was so sweet.

"This is so unbelievable. I don't even care if the SHSAA doesn't recognize us as champions. If Miller does that, it means a lot to me.''

The gesture was especially in meaningful in light of the circumstances at Usher. The Miller wrestlers visited Usher four hours before the school's fate was to be decided by the Regina Public School Board. The board voted to follow through on its proposal to close Usher, along with the Herchmer and Stewart Russell schools.

"All of this in one day is overwhelming,'' Anderson said in the afternoon. "It definitely put a positive in our day as we wait for the decision.''

Fitzpatrick said the Miller girls decided on their own to honour the Usher wrestlers. The timing of the presentation was purely coincidental, but it did enhance the day.

"It helps them out and makes them feel good about themselves when we don't know how they'll feel tonight,'' Hodgson said after the ceremony.

"It really touched us. I really feel we did the right thing.''

rvanstone@leaderpost.canwest.com

Canada

Ens crowned wrestling champ at Ontario Winter Games

Wednesday March 12, 2008

Alaska

By Matias Saari

Published Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wrestling — The coed squad won gold in the team competition by completing its round-robin dual meets with a 45-15 win over Alberta.

Canada

Local wrestling teams bring home the gold 

Date: 2008-03-11
By Catherine Whitnall

Lindsay wrestler Andrea Wakelin was joined by fellow area competitors Julie Graham and Carly Pereira at the 2008 Ontario Winter Games, held recently in Collingwood. All three returned home with hardware.

Taking matters down to the mat isn't a problem for local wrestlers who returned home with heavy-duty hardware from this year's Ontario Winter Games.
Lindsay's Andrea Wakelin was joined by Janetville's Julie Graham in securing gold medals for their teams - the Kawartha Wrestling Club and Kawartha Team Impact, respectively - with Karly Pereira, also representing the Kawartha Wrestling Club, picking up a bronze.  
The wrestlers were part of the roughly 3,500 athletes, coaches and officials participating in the Games.
Held earlier this month in Collingwood, the Ontario Winter Games are the province's largest multi-sport event, including both team and individual sports. The Games are held every two years, in even numbered years. Provincial level athletes qualify for the Games through a regional selection process conducted by provincial sports organizations. Athletes from the Ontario Games have the potential to progress to national championships, the Canada Games or even participate on junior national teams.
"This is just like going to the Olympics for younger athletes," stated Dave Wakelin, who coaches Andrea at Lindsay Collegiate and Vocational Institute where she is a member of the school's wrestling team. "There was a big opening ceremonies at Blue Mountain and 20 different sports competing over three days."
Hot on the heels of her gold-medal win, Andrea is now preparing to compete in the Canadian Wrestling Championships, taking place April 10 to 13 in Saskatoon. Andrea is hoping to obtain support from local businesses and service clubs to complete the trip, which is expected to cost her $1,100 just to take part in the competition.
As an added bonus, Andrea has also been invited to a training camp at Guelph University in preparation for the 2009 Canada Summer Games.
Julie, on the other hand, is looking to take things a little easy, for now.
The I.E. Weldon Secondary School student has been wrestling for six years, inspired to take up the sport by her brother Michael, also a competitive wrestler.
Julie said being at the Winter Games was a good experience.
"There were lots of people there. It was lots of excitement," said the Grade 10 student, noting her final match was especially rewarding. "The girl was pretty strong. It was a good match."

Patiala, Mar 11 (UNI) 

A 21-member strong men and women Indian wrestling contingent will participate in the Olympic qualifying Asian wrestling championship slated for March 18 to 23 in Jeju, South Korea.

The grapplers are: Free-style: Vinod Kumar (55kg.), Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg.), Sushil Kumar (66 kg.), Paramjit (74 kg.), Parveen Shewale (84 kg.), Naveen Mor (96 kg.) and Rajiv Tomar (120 kg.).

coaches: P.R.Sondhi and Vinod Kumar.

Greco-Roman: Rajinder Singh (55 kg.), Rawinder Singh (60 kg.), Gurwinder Singh (66 kg.), Naresh Kumar (74 kg.), Manjit Singh (84 kg.), Ashok Kumar (96 kg.) and Parwinder Singh (120 kg.).

Coaches: A.N.Yadav and Mahavir Singh.

The women grapplers are : Neha Rathi (48 kg.), Poonam (51 kg.), Alka Tomar (55 kg.), Anita (59 kg.), Geetika Jakhar (63 kg.), Suman Kundu (67 kg.) and Anmol (72 kg.).

Coaches : Ishwar Singh Dahiya and Jabbar Singh.

The Freestyle matmen, who are training here at the NIS, will leave for Delhi on March 13, while the Greco-Roman and women wrestlers will leave Patiala for Delhi on March 15, according to camp officials.

USA

Teams Prepare for First NCWA Women’s National Championship

DATE: 3/11/2008 10:54:00 AM

By Tabitha Wilson
NCWA

After announcing the addition of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Women’s Division this past summer, colleges from all over the United States and Canada are set to compete in the first ever National Championship to be held March 13-15 in Lakeland, Florida.

Among the newly established NCWA programs is Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, which is known for its deep seeded tradition in Division I men’s wrestling.

“I am hoping we set the stage for collegiate women, said Lock Haven’s Rachael Groft.

Groft, who is currently ranked #5 at 112-pounds had quit wrestling two years ago and was convinced her post-high school wrestling career was finished due to lack of competitive opportunities.
Groft was coaching a girls club team while working and attending community college near her hometown when she responded to an e-mail from Lock Haven’s Women’s Coach Terry Fike, who was spreading the word about the new Lady Eagles wrestling program.
“Rachael mentioned that she attended Lock Haven University previously and had worked out with a member of the men’s team, but had no competitive opportunities,” said Fike. “I read between the lines in her e-mails, and I told her it sounded like she had some unfinished business to attend to, and apparently, she agreed.”
Groft said she probably wouldn’t have returned to Lock Haven if not for the creation of the women’s team. “I would have probably completed my education at community college” she said. “Once I learned about the women’s program, I knew I’d also have an opportunity to compete.”

The newly established Lady Eagle program follows in the steps of 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann, as well as nationally ranked and Olympic team contenders Jenny Wong, Erin Tomeo, and Jenna Pavlick, all of whom attended and trained at Lock Haven University in the past, without the benefit of a women’s program.

Although this is a historical first year for the NCWA Women’s division, many of the programs and competitors are no stranger to an elite level of competition.

Pacific University in Oregan has had their program established since 2001, and has produced some of the nations top ranked wrestlers including 2004 Olympic team member, Tela O’Donnell.

Adding to the already elite level of United States women’s competition in this year’s championship will be two Canadian teams: Douglas College and Simon Fraser University.

Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, established their women’s program in 1990 and is one of the oldest and most successful women’s programs in both the United States and Canada.

Just last weekend, the team captured the Canadian University CIS National Championships held in Calgary. Among the Seven SFU National Championship team members set to compete at the NCWA National Championships are CIS National Champions Ashley McKilligan (105-lbs), Miranda Dick (121-lbs) Stacie Anaka (148 lbs) National Runner-ups Rita Pare (112 lbs) and Danette Torgeson (138 lbs) and third place place finisher Erin Church (158 lbs)

Among the other colleges and universities set to attend this years championship event are: San Jose State (CA), Stony Brook University (NY), University of California-Santa Barbara, The University of Florida, and The University of Texas-Arlington.

This year’s Championships are hosted by The University of Central Florida and will be held at The Lakeland Center’s George Jenkins Arena in Lakeland, Florida. The NCWA Men’s National Championship competition will begin at 10 am Thursday March 13 and the Women’s competition begins on Friday at 10 am. Both tournaments will run simultaneously together with both the men’s and women’s finals set for Saturday March 15th at 4 pm.


Contact:
Jim Giunta, Executive Director – National Collegiate Wrestling Association
Phone: 214-378-8700 extension 107
Email: jim@ncwa.net
Address: 13111 North Central Expressway, Fifth Floor, Dallas, Texas 75243
Web: www.ncwa.net

Oregon

Amy Bloom Pictures

10 Pictures

5 Pictures 

Gallery