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The Struggle of Women in Wrestling

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Girl, 13, has passion for wrestling

Junior varsity wrestler stands out at matches, but is just one of the boys to teammates

By Ed Richards
Daily Press 2/23/2001

SMITHFIELD - As a wrestler, Warry Woodard has been laughed at, ridiculed, and heard cuss words in her ears, but she's loving the body-slamming, head-butting sport more and more each day.

Yes, the 13-year-old with the heart of a daring fighter realizes she's invaded a typically all-boys domain, but what's she to do? Turn cheerleader or gymnast just to please public opinion?

No way. She's been a member of the Smithfield Youth Wrestling Club team for the past four years and there's no bailing out. She's also landed a spot on Smithfield High School's junior varsity this season.

At 5-foot tall and a wiry 95 pounds, she is no laughing matter when it comes to taking on the boys in her weight and age division. Her opponents have gone away with everything from a bloody nose to a battered ego.

Of course, the current Smithfield Middle School eighth-grader has had her share of busted lips, scratches and bruises. It's part of the sport, but she isn't afraid of getting hurt; nor is she intimidated by bigger and stronger opponents.

She's always loved a challenge. In a recent JV match against Matoaca, Woodard thought she might have to sit out the match because there was no one in her 95-pound weight class on the other team. Rather than do that, she moved up to the tougher 112 class.

Matoaca's 112-pound wrestler found that amusing. He took one look at Woodard -- who's not that imposing-looking -- and started smiling.

"He didn't even warm up; he probably thought he was going to pin me in 30 seconds," Woodard said.

She got the last laugh, winning on points with quickness and better technique.

"I was ready. I was in a zone; you have to get into a zone to wrestle," she said emphatically prior to a recent practice.

Woodard has been in a zone most of the season, especially with the youth club. In her first tournament last month, she won a gold medal -- a first -- by winning the 95-pound Schoolboy Division in the Bayside Winter Classic.

It wasn't a fluke. Woodard went 3-0, pinning her last two opponents.

In the recent Poquoson Classic, she took third place. After a couple of byes, she lost her first match in overtime, then pinned her next opponent.

"She's really improved," said SYWC coach David Bugin. "Technically, she's very good and that's what it takes to beat the boys."

To Woodard, wrestling is fun. It's so much fun that she does double duty several days a week after leaving classes at Smithfield Middle School. First, she practices with the Packers' JV team Monday through Friday, then after a short breather goes through a normal two-hour workout with the SYWC on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Going against older and stronger boys, Woodard hasn't had as much success as the only girl on the JV team but she's still winning almost half of her matches.

"If she sticks to it, we're expecting her to land a spot on the varsity next year," Bugin said.

It's easy to see why Woodard got stuck on wrestling. She comes from a wrestling family. She has four brothers -- their last name is Batchelor -- who currently compete for the SYWC. They are Tommy, 8; Perry, 7; George, 6; and Ransom, 5. Her 16-year-old brother, Robert, used to wrestle for the team.

Sibling rivalry had a lot to do with her getting into the sport. Her older brother, Robert, kept teasing her about not being good enough to wrestle; that was a mistake.

Woodard admits she's gone through some tough times. In the end-of-season Peninsula Youth Wrestling League Tournament, she's failed to win a match the past three years.

But she vows that's going to change this season.

"This year I'm going to win it; I know it. I just feel the power; I'm determined," she said.

Learning a couple of new moves and increasing her strength and endurance by running and lifting weights with the JVs have bolstered her confidence.

Woodard's mom, Rebecca Batchelor, is her daughter's biggest cheerleader and makes all the practices and tournaments she can. Yes, she's heard the typical negative comments that her daughter shouldn't be wrestling against the boys, that girls aren't supposed to do that.

"But I'm behind her," she said. "Whatever she wants, that's what I want."

Woodard has become accustomed to some boys trashing her at tournaments, "things like 'she's a girl, she can't wrestle, I'm going to pin her.' "

She said one boy said cuss words in her ear at a match last year. He paid the price.

"I was losing at the time, but that made me mad. I got so mad that I got a boost of energy and beat him," Woodard said.

Woodard's mom has seen a gradual change in attitude.

"For most of the boys, you don't hear anything negative now because she's been in the league so long that they know her."

It's been different with the SYWC.

"I've never seen them view her as a girl but as a teammate," Batchelor said. "And I don't think they've taken it easy on her just because she's a girl. They're still out to get her, but in a good way."

Woodard has won the respect of teammates. Ten-year-old Clay Collins, a state champion last year, sees her as a tough training partner.

"We're good competition for each other," he said. "Last year I used to win against her, but now that she's learned some moves on the JV team, she wins."

Collins isn't uncomfortable wrestling against Woodard. He's so used to going head-to-head against her that "it's nothing now."

Woodard wasn't the only girl on the team last year. Another girl about the same size but older than Woodard wrestled about half the season before dropping out.

Bugin, coach of the team since its inception six years ago, said the girl's mother didn't want her wrestling.

"The biggest part of the battle (for a girl wrestler) is what mothers think; a girl has to fight lots of odds," Bugin said.

Batchelor doesn't feel her daughter's passion for wrestling is a bad thing.

"As much as she is athletic, she's just as much feminine. She does all the things other girls do. She does her hair, paints her nails and likes going to dances."

Woodard and her mom see rewards in wrestling -- like the prospect of a ticket to college and a shot at the 2004 Olympics. Colleges like Iowa and Washington State offer college scholarships in wrestling to females, and the next Summer Games will include women's wrestling for the first time.

"I'm going to work my hardest to somehow get to the Olympics," Woodard said.

Her mom isn't about to discourage anything she does in wrestling.

"I believe in her. I know she has the skills, the ability and the heart for it," she said.

Ed Richards can be reached at 247-4645 or by e-mail at erichards@dailypress.com

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Ledford's Blake blazes trail as female wrestler

By Will Sullivan 2/18/2001

Some are in her heart and some are in her head. Some are neatly typed on a folded white slip of paper and some are scribbled on the back. Wherever Christi Blake goes, she carries the cherished bible verses and the inspirational quotes of celebrated authors with her.

Every little bit helps when you’re the first female wrestler in Ledford High School history.

“It’s been tough,” Blake said during a break in a recent practice. “But I’ve grown a lot since I’ve been on the team. It takes a lot of self-discipline and self-control to be a wrestler. This has helped strengthen my faith.”

It’s been more than enough to test the junior’s faith. Blake, who competes in the 103-pound class, has met with obstacle after obstacle since breaking into the male-dominated sport Dec. 18. Her coach discouraged her participation. Many of her teammates didn’t want anything to do with a girl wrestler. Some still don’t.

That’s made the going rough for this Panther pioneer, forced to spend most of her time wrestling for respect.

“Some of the guys refuse to wrestle me and I respect that,” said Blake, who became interested in the sport partly because her father, George Blake, was a high school wrestler at High Point Andrews. “I’m a girl, but I consider myself one of the guys.”

As one of the guys, Blake is subjected to the same rigorous drills as the rest of the team. Her initial workout with the team is one she won’t soon forget.

“My first day we had three laps around the track, 25 bleachers (running up and down the football bleachers), two more laps around the track, came back here, did up-downs, push-ups, sit-ups,” said Blake, looking exhausted just from recounting the practice. “Someone told me that was the hardest day they’ve had all season.”

All last season – and the first part of this one – Blake served as a wrestlerette for the Panthers. Her duties were to clean the mats, keep score and videotape the matches. Little did she know she’d soon be appearing in one of those matches.

Blake may have stayed behind the camera if Ledford hadn’t been in such dire straits at the sport’s lightest weight class.

“One of the coaches told me that they tried to recruit some guys at 103,” Blake said. “Out of 15 guys, only one of them came for the first week. They ended up saying it just wasn’t for them. But I’ve stuck with it. I’m still here.”

Blake parlayed her persistence into a spot with the Panthers.

“I’ve discouraged girls from joining the team in the past,” said Ledford coach David Reed, who was concerned about the possibility of an injury and the distraction a female could have on his team. “But she kept asking and asking, so we finally gave her a chance.”

Blake knows she has not won her coach’s full confidence yet.

“The first day (of practice), Coach Reed was like ‘Well, how did you like your first day?’” Blake said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I like, I love it, I want some more of it.’ I don’t know if he liked my comment or not. He’s not 100 percent for it. But he’s come around some. (Assistant) coach (Chris) Watford has helped me. He’s backed me up from the beginning. He said, ‘I want to see you make history.’”

After joining the team a week before Christmas, Blake made her historical varsity debut last Tuesday as Ledford traveled to North Stanly. It lasted all of 19 seconds.

“We locked up and I got slammed,” Blake said. “My back was sore for a couple of days.”

She lost the match, but Blake gained some much-needed support from her hard-to-please teammates.

“She was slammed pretty hard, and she came back,” said senior 112-pounder Nick Paul. “A lot of people wouldn’t come back after that.”

Blake did, and two days later played a key role in the Panthers’ upset victory at Salisbury, then the fifth-ranked 2A team in the state. Blake made weight at 103, and recorded a forfeit win in the Panthers’ narrow 42-36 triumph. Her six points turned out to be the difference in the match.

“Nobody expects her to win, but the forfeit she got against Salisbury won the match for us,” Paul said. “I give her credit for trying. She’s working hard every day. She really wants to do it and she’s trying to get better.”

Paul admits he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of having a female on the team.

“At first, I wasn’t too happy about it,” he said. “But I respect her for wanting to do it. She hasn’t complained and she’s been blending in with everyone else and working as hard as everybody else.”

But Paul, who admits he won’t wrestle Blake in practice, isn’t sold on the notion of females competing in a traditionally all-male sport.

“I think it’s good to get girls started in sports like this,” Paul said. “Somebody had to start it. I believe it will bring girls into other sports and get them involved. But I don’t really agree with a girl being on a guys’ team because they could get hurt and their bodies are made different. If there was a girls’ wrestling team, I’d say go for it.”

The trail-blazing Blake said she hopes her involvement will one day lead to that.

“Others girls have said they wanted to wrestle,” she said, “but I’m the only one right now. Hopefully, it will open the doors for other girls later. I would like to see an all-girls wrestling team.”

For now, though, just trying to be one of the guys will have to do.

Will Sullivan can be contacted at 888-3526

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