Womens wrestling news

This past weekend, March 14-16, USA Wrestling completed its first ever Girls Folkstyle National Tournament. In the past years, we relied on other organizations and people to run this. Now USA Wrestling has put together a great product. The tournament was conducted in a very high level thanks to an outstanding group of people involved. Hats off to Patricia Fox and Lenna Fagerman. They are outstanding volunteers, quality people and great workers. We couldn't have succeeded without them.

This event had all of the elements of a first class production. from a great announcer to gook looking medals. Garry Abbott was a driving force and made things look very professional. A special thank you goes to Archie Randal and the OCU Wrestling Team for making all the arrangements, and organizing many things for this tournament. In addition to setting up, breaking down and running weigh-ins, there were banquets for the athletes and coaches after weigh-ins and a clinic for wrestlers on the first day of competition.

Because the high school competition was run in one day it gave opportunity to set up some dual-meet competition on the second day. California, Florida and Texas has a three way dual. It was great. Something that we can expand on and may do in the future. I can see this event being as big or maybe even bigger than Fargo Junior Nationals. The word will get out, the numbers will triple and in years to come this will be an event everyone in USA Wrestling will be very proud of.

Everyone from USA Wrestling employees, announcers, volunteers to OCU Team made this event a great success. From USA Wrestling, Women's Coaching Staff and from myself personally, I would like to say "Thank You" to everyone for a job well done!!!

Karissa Avallone of Newkirk last week was a part of a Channel 4 (KFOR in Oklahoma City) feature on female wrestling.

Avallone was competing in the USAW GIrls' Folk Style Nationals wrestling event and was chosen for to be interviewed as part of the TV station's feature story.

She will be a freshman at Newkirk High School and has been wrestling since she was in kindergarten competing in the Newkirk and Ponca City youth wrestling programs. She now wrestles out of a club in Wichita, primarily because there aren't many opportunities for girls to wrestle in school competition.

She currently holds the distinction of being No. 1 nationally in her 96-pound weight division.

In the event in Oklahoma City, she won her opening match against Aleah Lafrancis of Vista, Calif., came back to defeat Amber Sparks of Buhler, Kan., in the second match and then won a gold medal by pinning Tyra Grady of Wisconsin.

Only a freshman, Avallone knows where she is going to college. Oklahoma City University is her choice, because of the program they have for women wrestling there.

After the television interview, the Newkirk wrestler and her father, Tony, were approached by Terry Lafrancis, father of her first round opponent.

He told them that he and his daughter had been following Avallone's career and that his daughter had been especially training for an opportunity to wrestle the Newkirk girl.

Avallone acknowledged after her match with Lafrancis that she had met her fiercest competition ever in the California grappler.

Karissa didn't find out till she got home Sunday that the girl from California had just won gold at both the U.S. Judo Association National Championship and the USA Judo Junior Olympics in her age group (11-12) and weight class . She also won her division's national freestyle wrestling title and was named California female judo athlete of the year.

After receiving her medal, she was pulled aside by a photographer with USA Wrestler Magazine for a picture which will be in the next upcoming issue

Karissa will be traveling with her father to USGWA Nationals in Detroit, Mich. March 29.

She is obtaining corporate sponsors to be placed on t-shirts to earn her way to Detroit. And she is having a bake sale at Heartland Foods on Saturday to help defray her costs. Anyone wishing to help support Karissa's Detroit Nationals journey should call 580-362-1182 or email at tavallone@sbcglobal.net.

No grappling with decision to wrestle

Moore went to mat for Greater Lowell

Jen Moore recently completed her fourth year as a girl among boys on the wrestling team at Greater Lowell Technical High School. This year, she competed in the State Open, finishing second. (Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

W hen Jen Moore walked into her first practice session as a freshman for the wrestling team at Greater Lowell Technical High, she was the only female on the mat. That wasn't tough. Nor was hearing about the intense and strict training regimen, or shaking off negative comments from doubters.

more stories like this

No, the toughest part was applying her makeup before school each morning.

"Oh, I was so sore, I couldn't lift my arms up above my shoulders," Moore said with a laugh. "I was pretty much sore that entire season. I went in to the first practice and coach said if I could stick it out, I could stay. The next morning, putting on makeup was the toughest thing, because my arms hurt so much."

Moore recently completed her fourth season with the program, competing in the 135-pound class. The Gryphons senior this month competed in the Massachusetts State Open tournament, followed by the New England Girls Open, earning a pair of runner-up finishes. On Saturday, she will travel to Michigan to wrestle in the National Girls Open.

A cross-country runner in the fall and a member of the outdoor track team during the spring, Moore was seeking to compete in the winter when she initially approached Greater Lowell wrestling coach Tom Cassidy.

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, guy or girl," Cassidy said. "If you win, you're in. If you can beat the guy on the other side of the lineup as you, you're on the mat. That's all I care about. She did everything I asked her, she doesn't mind getting dirty, and she just took to it and seemed to like the sport."

As a freshman, she competed at 119 pounds. Her sophomore season, she finished with a winning record, and her junior year, she was invited to her first all-girls state tournament.

In that competition, she had a one-point loss to an opponent nearly 10 years her elder. A week later, she returned the favor and beat the same grappler.

"It shows you how she is," Cassidy said. "She worked her butt off that week and came back to win against the same person. We really didn't have a chance to see how she matched up against other girls until that tournament. That's when we really saw how good she was."

Though she may be smaller and perhaps not as strong as her male counterparts, Cassidy said Moore was probably the smartest wrestler he has coached the last four years. Perfecting technical moves and spending hours in the weight room every day, Moore began gaining the respect of her once-apprehensive teammates.

The doubters were quieted once Moore began winning matches, and opponents who once refused to wrestle her then welcomed the challenge.

"I hear it from my parents or friends who hear it from other people," said Moore, who plans to attend Salem State College and continue wrestling for an all-girls state team. "It takes twice as much strength for a girl to wrestle, because girls naturally have less muscle. They should be impressed with any girl who goes out and does it. I'm proud of guys who wrestle against girls and have good sportsmanship about it. I just want to wrestle. It should be the same if you're watching two guys or a guy and a girl wrestle."

While Moore has completed her high school career, freshman Emily Lovell just finished her first year on the mats for Tyngsborough High. Like Moore, Lovell is the only female wrestler in the program.

And like Moore, she embraces the challenge.

"When I first walked in to practice, the guys looked at me like, 'What?' But, as time went on, we got closer and now, I'm like their little sister. At first, I thought maybe I shouldn't be doing this because a lot of people had negative things to say. But I'm having fun, the team wants me there, so who cares?"

Lovell initially considered wrestling as a joke with a group of her girlfriends. She was the only girl to show, however. When she reported to Tyngsborough head coach Jim Tansey, he said that he would treat her the same as any of his wrestlers.

Wrestling at 112 pounds, Lovell earned her first varsity win this season. In the Girls State Open, she placed fifth in her weight class. Lovell also played for the junior-varsity soccer team in the fall and is a sprinter on the outdoor track team.

Though her parents were initially surprised, Lovell wrestled each match with both parents cheering in the stands. "My mom was like, 'What? After all these years of being a girly-girl, you want to wrestle?'

"My dad was a little worried about it being with guys, but they were both supportive the whole season. My boyfriend wrestles, too, and he thinks it's cool that I'm doing this. I could probably beat him if I really wanted to."

Springstowne lady wrestlers head to Hawaii

Spring break is almost always a happy time for students, but for Vallejo's Springstowne Lady Wildcats, it's also a chance to visit Hawaii.

Nine Lady Wildcats, who are part of the school's wrestling program, will be departing for Hawaii on April 1 to compete in a dual against the Hawaiian Island All-Stars. In addition, the girls will compete in the inaugural United States Girls Wrestling Association Hawaii Kick-Off Classic in Honolulu.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said eighth-grader Monica Leones, one of the wrestlers going on the trip.

In addition to meeting their Hawaiian competitors, Leones said the team is looking forward to shopping, snorkeling and visiting Pearl Harbor.

"It's team bonding," she said.

The trip is meant to include historical and cultural immersion, said Jason Guiducci, one of three coaches in the school's wrestling program, which includes boys and girls squads.

Since 2001, team members have been offered opportunities every year to compete in out-of-state tournaments, Guiducci said. Parents and community sponsors make the trips possible.

"It's a tradition that's been established," Guiducci said. "The sixth- and seventh-graders now are looking forward to it. It's a reward."

The Springstowne wrestling program is one of the most popular middle school athletic activities in the Vallejo City Unified School District, Guiducci said. The district does not provide funding for interscholastic sports at the middle school level, but a number of teams exist through fund-raising and partnerships with the city's recreation department.

"It's a wonderful program," said Vallejo school board member Hazel Wilson. "I am very excited the girls have this opportunity to travel and have this experience. It's educational, too."

Wilson said "travel is one of the greatest classrooms," adding she hopes more Vallejo students have the opportunity to visit other cities and states.

"You would be surprised how many students there are who have probably never gone to San Francisco," Wilson said. "So to get the opportunity to travel, it's such an education."

Assistant Springstowne wrestling coach Mo McNally said he hopes the program can eventually visit all 50 states. So far, different team members have visited 12 states in the last seven years.

"All these trips make history real for the kids," McNally said, referring to past trips the White House, Yellowstone Park and the OK Corral. "The main thing is the kids. A lot of kids never get out of Vallejo."

E-mail Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.