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Breaking barriers
Whittier's Martinez wrestles on boys team
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 10, 2001
By Roger Murray
Staff Writer
Melissa Martinez has seen the looks and heard the comments.
"Another girl trying to break into a guy's sport," they say. "What's she
trying to prove?"
She has watched eyes roll and heard the snickers when she walks into the
gym. It's old stuff now.
It bothered Martinez a bit when she began, but her skin is thicker now. This
is her thing. If it's not their's, that's their problem.
Focus is her key. She just wants to be the best she can be -- in wrestling.
Martinez recently competed in a USA School Girls Regional Wrestling
competition in San Diego, finishing fourth and qualifying for the state
championships next Saturday in Stockton.
It is a remarkable accomplishment, considering she started wrestling only
within the past year. This past season, because Whittier High School does
not have a girls wrestling program, Martinez competed with the boys.
She said she wanted to wrestle as a freshman, but everyone told her how
coach Jack Coppes felt about girls wrestling.
"They said he wouldn't let me do it, or if he did, I wouldn't have any fun,"
she explained during a recent interview on the steps outside the auditorium
before her first class.
As a sophomore, Martinez worked as a sixth-period teacher's aid and went to
all the matches. It was then that she realized how much she wanted to
wrestle, no matter how the coach felt.
She worked hard during the summer, then went through tryouts this past
season and earned a spot in the 119-pound weight classification.
"In the beginning, it was hard to feel like part of the program. But by the
middle of the year, the other wrestlers saw that I was very serious about it
and began to accept me more," Martinez said.
"My teammates said they would help me, and they have -- a lot."
She also said it wasn't as easy being accepted by Coppes.
"He was the head coach," Martinez said. "I did what he said to do. He was
there. I was there. We were just there. My teammates encouraged me. They
told me not to let (Coppes) get to me."
Martinez said that she, her parents and Coppes met with assistant principal
Dr. Mike Graber before she joined the program.
"They wanted to know why I wanted to do this, and I wanted them to know I
wasn't trying to prove anything other than I just wanted to wrestle,"
Martinez said. "I didn't want any special treatment. I just wanted to be
treated like everyone else, and get the same chance to wrestle."
Coppes admits he was uncomfortable with a girl wrestling in the program, but
said it was because of the potential for injury. He said he warned
Martinez's parents of that risk.
"If we had a girls program here, it would be different," Coppes said.
"Actually, I take my hat off to her. She's come a long way in a very short
time.
"Her mat experience is restricted, but she's a tough kid, an aggressive
girl. She made all the practices, worked very hard."
Teammate Ralph Tapia, who wrestled at 135, said he saw no problems with
having Martinez in the program.
"I know (Coppes) wasn't comfortable at first, but I think he got used to it.
It seemed like he was worried about her getting hurt.
"As for her, she worked harder than a lot of the guys. She is very serious
about it."
Martinez said that assistant coach Mike Noriega has spent the most time with
her.
"I think her feelings about how Jack felt actually helped her," Noriega
said. "It made her more intense. She wanted to show she belonged, that she
deserved to be here. She was much hungrier than some of the boys.
"She's still learning how to wrestle, but the most important thing is that
she never gives up. She just keeps going. She had the biggest heart on our
team."
Noriega said Martinez's record in matches against girls is 6-2. She is 2-10
against boys.
She was 2-1 in qualifying for the state tournament, losing her only match by
a point on what Noriega said was a "bad call by the referee that cost her
two points."
Martinez said losing that match was tough for her emotionally.
"It bothers everybody when they lose, especially that way," she said. "I'm
very competitive at whatever I do. I like competition. I grew up around boys
-- not family, but in the neighborhood. I had to like competition in order
to play with them."
When Martinez wrestles Saturday, it won't seem the same. No snickers, no
wide-eyed looks, no whispers.
The coach in her corner really is in her corner, so focusing should be a
breeze.
And that could mean trouble for the young ladies who will challenge her.
-- Roger Murray can be reached via telephone at (562) 698-0955, ext. 3046,
or through e-mail at roger.murray@sgvn.com.
Profile
Name: Melissa Martinez
Age: 16
School: Whittier High
Class: Junior
Notable: In addition to wrestling, the slender, 5-foot-6, 113-pounder, who
was born in Duarte and moved to Whittier just before her second birthday,
also is one of the Cardinals' best distance runners, competing in both cross
country and track.
Help needed
Whittier High School cannot contribute financially to Melissa Martinez's
trip to Stockton because the wrestling competition is not CIF-related. To
help defray her costs, a car wash fund-raiser will be held from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. Sunday at Whittier High School (corner of Hadley and Whittier Avenue).
Martinez also is seeking donations. Anyone interested can send a check made
out to Martinez in care of Whittier High, 12417 E. Philadelphia St.,
Whittier, CA 90601-3994. For more information, call (909) 467-2558.
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Rosemead gets a woman's touch
Serna adds her feat to Panthers' wrestling annals
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 23, 2001
By Steve Ramirez
Staff Writer
ROSEMEAD -- Rosemead High School's Nadean Serna is not a girl wrestler, but
a wrestler who happens to be a girl.
"She's a Panther," said Rosemead wrestling coach Louie Madrigal of Serna, a
sophomore who won the 110-pound division at last weekend's USA Girls State
Wrestling Championships in Stockton.
Serna added to a Rosemead tradition that includes 105 individual
CIF-Southern Section divisional champions.
"I think by the time she is a senior, she could place or win at CIF (against
boys competition)," Madrigal said.
That type of potential didn't bode well for her fellow competitors at last
weekend's girls championships. It also didn't help them when Serna, who was
12-3 on the Panthers' boys' frosh-soph team, was unseeded.
"That motivates me, when no one believes I can do it," said Serna, who
captured the 13-14 age division at 97 pounds two years ago. "(Winning last
weekend) was great, especially because no one thought I could do it."
Serna did it in dominating fashion. She pinned all three opponents en route
to the title.
"That was neat because that's what I said I was going to do," Serna said. "I
predicted it and it was great to go out and do it."
Serna's interest in the sport dates back to a few years ago, when she would
watch older brother Victor practice.
"I was in the seventh grade and I would watch him practice," Serna said. "I
thought how fun it looked and I wanted to try it."
Serna even had individual duals with her brother, which has helped her
achieve her present status.
Serna experienced a lack of respect early from male competitors who didn't
think much of a girl wrestling.
"They were snobbish about it, at first," Serna said. "They thought, 'Oh,
this is going to be easy.' "
But Madrigal says they soon found out otherwise.
"She is tough," he said. "She is one of the toughest competitors I've ever
coached. She just has the mindset that she doesn't want to lose.
"I've seen her in practice go up against boys and break them down."
And that comes from the one trait you can't teach -- desire.
"I'm just not a quitter," Serna said. "I will do whatever it takes to win.
"It's like I said when I was wrestling in practice. They thought it would be
an easy win. But I wasn't going to give up, and they lost."
It was the same last weekend when she went from unseeded wrestler to class
champion.
Now she joins past Rosemead champions who are honored in the school's
wrestling room on the Panthers' wall of honor.
"It's great," Serna said. "I'm the first girl up there and that's great. But
what's really terrific is that I beat my brother up there."
Now she will work on refining her talents.
"I just want to improve," Serna said. "I don't know what I can do (at the
varsity level against boys). That will depend on how I develop. I just want
to wrestle and see what happens."
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Eureka girls heading to state wrestling championships
March 14, 2001
Eureka Times Standard
By Miriam Harmon
EUREKA -- There will be some local interest this weekend when the United
States Girl's Wrestling Association hosts the California State Invitational
in Stockton Saturday, and the National Championships on March 24-25 in
Michigan.
Going to state this year are a group of wrestlers from Eureka High School:
Sarah Capik, Bridgette Sjoquist, See Yang, Michelle Petek and Chantal
Downing.
Girls wrestling has surprisingly been around for quite a long time.
Particularly big in the East, it has gradually worked its way to California
over the years.
Last year, many of the girls didn't place, but did well racking in several
second and third places. The only one to place first from the squad is Sarah
Capik, who took the girls state title in her weight class (over 167) and
based on the score Capik received last year she is now ranked seventh in the
nation.
Capik broke into the sport of wrestling three years ago in junior high,
attributing a majority of her influence on her "big" brother Matthew Capik,
who graduated last year from Eureka.
Sarah hopes to keep her title in the girls heavyweight. "I am really happy,
because I was only a freshman and I got that," Sarah said, "in nationals I
hope to rank in at least the top three."
The girls of Eureka plan on attending both state and nationals this year. To
get to the competitions, they each need to raise between $700-$800. Because
the high school is unable to sponsor the girls, they will accept donations,
and anyone interested should send their donations to the finance office at
Eureka High School to the girls wrestling team.
--------------------------------------------
Bulletin Board (USGWA News)
3/30/2001 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
WRESTLING: Five San Diegans placed at the U.S. Girls Wrestling
Association National Championships last weekend in Lake Orion, Mich. In the
high school division, Santana senior Alicia Wilson placed second at 165
pounds, Ramona junior Stacia Anderson seventh at 122 and Montgomery junior
Tabitha Coffey seventh at 100. In the elementary tournament, Sabrina Coffey
of Chula Vista was third at 62 pounds. In the middle school bracket,
Caitlynn Watson of Rancho Penasquitos took eighth at 109.