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Katie Downing to Represent the United States in the First Women's World Cup of Wrestling

UMM ,Doug Reese

World Cup of Wrestling - November 2-4th in Levallois, France

Katie Downing, a member of the U.S. National Team and an alternate to the 2001 Women's Wrestling World Championships has been selected to represent the United States in the 1st Annual Women's Freestyle Wrestling World Cup. The event will be held on November 2-4th in Levallois, France at the Marcel Sports Center, just outside of Paris. The tournament will be held in conjuction with the 19th Annual Greco-Roman World Cup - an event that former UM-Morris wrestler Dennis Koslowski had won a number of times.

Katie Downing of UM-Morris is a member of the first U.S. World Cup Team

The World Cup is a dual meet tournament with the best women's teams in the world - China, Tunisia, Japan, France, Canada, Russia, and the United States. Individual wrestlers will alos be honored based upon win-loss records during the tournament.

"This is quite an honor," said head coach Doug Reese. "Next to the world championships, this is the most prestigious event in the international calendar. It is an honor to be selected. Any time you represent your country in international competition it is a thrill. This is the type of competition Katie needs to keep her focused on her ultimate goal - the Olympics in 2004. This is a great first step."

"I know Katie and I want to thank the UM-Morris adminstration, and her professors for working with her academically so she can attend this important event. They have gone out of their way to be supportive - and that means a lot to the both of us," said Reese.

Katie Downing is a senior from Pendleton, Indiana, and is majoring in History and Social Sciences. Downing is making her third trip to Europe as a member of the U.S. National Team. In August of 1999, Downing won a silver medal in the FILA-Junior World Championships in Bucharest, Romania.

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Arizona State to co-host 17th Annual Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open Held at Desert Vista High School This Weekend

10/25/2001
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State wrestling will make its unofficial debut under first-year head coach Thom Ortiz this weekend, serving as the co-host of the 17th Annual Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open Saturday, Oct. 27 through Sunday, Oct. 28, at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Ariz., an event which will showcase elite wrestlers from around the world.

The majority of the 2001-02 ASU wrestling squad is scheduled to compete, as well as assistant coach Aaron Simpson and other former Sun Devils. The tournament features men's freestyle, men's Greco-Roman and women's freestyle competition.

Because the competition is not an NCAA event, participation for ASU wrestlers is considered "exhibition." Included among ASU's competitors will be two-time All-American junior Eric Larkin, the top-ranked collegiate wrestler at 141 pounds going into this season, and senior All-American David Douglas, ranked third at 133 pounds.

Last year, Simpson, a two-time All-American at ASU and now in his fourth year as an assistant coach, won the 85 kilogram men's freestyle title with a technical fall over Hidekazu Yokoyma 13-2. The highest finish for a current Sun Devil wrestler was fourth place by then-redshirt freshman Chris Knox in the 54 kilogram freestyle category.

Tournament action Saturday begins at 9 a.m. with preliminary rounds of freestyle, followed by Greco-Roman and women's competition at 1 p.m. Freestyle action continues at 4 p.m., with Greco-Roman and women's competition at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, prelims take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with all finals scheduled for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The 2001-02 wrestling season officially begins for ASU Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Missouri Open in Columbia, Mo.

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A Panther Fix: Addiction takes Roddis to accept wrestling job

By JAMES S. TYREE -- H&R Staff Writer 10/25/2001

DECATUR -- The best man for the job really did turn out to be a woman.

Eisenhower recently hired Jan Roddis to become the school's head wrestling coach. According to Bob Ferraro, executive director of the National High School Coaches Association, Roddis is the only woman known to be the head coach of a high school wrestling team.

"I'm not nervous," she said. "I've been around wrestling for years. It's an addiction. Wrestling is an addiction, and we love it."

A female coach may be new to high school wrestling, but the sport is nothing new for Roddis, a first-grade teacher at South Shores Elementary School. She and her husband, Rick Roddis, have coached various levels of youth wrestling for 22 years.

Their son Aaron Roddis was Eisenhower's head coach until last spring, when he became one of many teachers laid off by the Decatur School District because of budget cuts. He is now teaching and coaching in Washington state.

"We have a boy who wrestles down in Missouri -- he's a redshirt freshman now -- and Aaron wrestled in college," said Jan Roddis, a 33-year teacher who lives in Bloomington. "We've been on all levels. We do freestyle, we do Greco; we wrestled 12 months of the year, my family. Some people watch TV, we wrestle."

The Eisenhower wrestling coach position remained vacant through the summer and into the fall. After discussing it with her husband, Roddis decided to apply for the job, fearing that Eisenhower may not otherwise have a wrestling team.

She may have been right.

"One person applied for the job, and that was her," said Eisenhower Athletics Director Bob Smith. "But that didn't mean we had to take her."

Smith was understandably surprised when she applied. But once the process began, administrators treated Roddis like any other candidate.

"I wasn't interviewing a woman," Smith said. "I was interviewing a person who was applying for the head job, someone who was interested in enhancing the Eisenhower program. I wanted to know 'What can you do for the Eisenhower program, and what's your experience?' "

Smith learned from his interview with Roddis and in consulting with people involved in wrestling that she has extensive experience with Kids Club wrestling, as well as Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling tournaments.

Eisenhower junior Demetrius Terrell, a 171-pound wrestler, remembers Roddis attending many of his team's matches last season when her son coached the Panthers. Terrell soon realized that Jan Roddis, who spent years helping to train Eisenhower's former coach when he was a lad, could also help his team.

"I thought it would be a little different, but she knows her wrestling so it should be a good season," Terrell said. "She's always upbeat and always happy, no matter what's going on. And her enthusiasm -- she wants for us to do the best and she wants to do the best for us."

Roddis will have three knowledgeable assistants to help: Rick Roddis, Jerry Seeforth and Shane Mendenhall. Jan Roddis is quick to point out that her assistants are as committed to saving Eisenhower's program as she is.

The four coaches bring more than 60 years of combined coaching experience to the teams, along with several teaching perspectives. Seeforth has spent years coaching youth wrestling in Mount Zion, and Mendenhall is a Millikin senior who wrestled at Mount Zion High School through 1998.

"We'll coordinate as much as we can," Roddis said. "I'm real good at remembering who wrestled who for seeding, and I'm going to keep those records anyway. My husband and Jerry are very good technicians, and Mendenhall will be out there practicing a lot."

Mendenhall grew up wrestling with the Roddis' sons and is an Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brother of Shawn Forst, MacArthur's new wrestling coach and fellow Millikin senior.

"With all of the issues going on in Decatur, we've got to get as many kids as possible to come out for athletics," Mendenhall said. "We talked about it beforehand, that if she got the job, could we work together. And I said 'Yeah.' "

Seeforth said he grew up in Decatur when wrestling had more popularity and the city had four public schools. "It's going to take some work," he said, of making wrestling a vibrant sport in Decatur again. But Eisenhower's new coaching staff is intent to buil
d on what Aaron Roddis tried to start.

"Aaron and Jonathan Schulz did a very good job of taking a small nucleus and building them into quality wrestlers," Smith said. "He was building a program, and that's hard to do. It takes a certain kind of individual to do that."

Jan Roddis is confident she can be that person. She expects to spend several years teaching the sport at Eisenhower.

"I've got several years before I retire, and I'm looking forward to it," she said.
James S. Tyree can be reached at 421-7970.

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The Very Little TheatrePresentsA WORLD PREMIERE"TAKE DOWN, BREAK DOWN"

by William Mastrosimone Directed by Michael Fisher
The play focuses on the phenomenom of girls competing in high school
wrestling and the unsettling effect it can have on boys who have to wrestle
them. A motivating quote for the play was one boy's lament: "You can't win
when you wrestle a girl; if you win, all you did was beat a girl, but if you
lose, you got BEAT by a girl." Coaches report that it's devestating for some
wrestlers.
"Take Down, Break Down" pits one boy against just such a scenario; Ryan is
an able wrestler, and at the beginning he's up against last year's state
champion, Dan. Ryan is able to beat Dan, but can tell that something's not
quite right with him. They talk after the match and he discovers that Dan
went up against a girl-the "Amazon," they call her-and though he is likely a
more capable wrestler, the cultural taboos against roughing up girls kept
him from doing his best. She takes him down, and in humiliation he fakes an
injury just so he won't have to finish the match. Ryan must face her next.
In the meantime, we see Jenna, the girl wrestler,who has had to overcome
stereotypes and pressure from boys just so she can have an even chance at a
sport she loves. She respects Ryan's abilities and is eager to wrestle him.
What the play really deals with is not girls in wrestling, but how boys
begin to develop their sense of manhood. Ryan's problem with a girl wrestler
isn't that she wants to compete, but his own discomfort in having to touch a
girl in a way that might seem like harassment any other time. For Jenna, she
wants respect not as a girl, but as a competitor. They discover a great deal
about each other and, at the end of the play, it doesn't matter who wins
between them-only that they overcome their mutual prejudices.
The cast includes Steve Knight as Ryan, Kenny Landmon as Dan, Chris Hall as
Jenna, and Mikell Young as the coach. Others in the company include Joe
Clark, Dennis Murphy, Sarah Dandurand, Krista Mickalson, Katie Maack, Lizzie
Hardcastle, Jenna Washington, and Joby Jarvis.
"Take Down, Break Down" is a continuing collaboration between William
Mastrosimone and Michael Fisher to create theatre appropriate for advanced
high school and college theatre (their first joint venture was the acclaimed
"Bang Bang, You're Dead," inspired by the tragic shootings at Thurston High
School). "Bill's a master of characters, dialogue, rhythm, and
interaction-qualities frequently lacking in most 'high school' theatre
texts," said Fisher. "So much of what is typically called 'high school'
theatre doesn't provide for quality acting opportunities for
students."Mastrosimone's goal is to get the scripts on the internet and
e-mail performance copies to interested schools and production companies. He
and Fisher hope to be able to produce one or two new scripts a year.

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Thurston teacher directing new play

The Very Little Theatre, in collaboration with playwright William
Mastrosimone, will open a two-week run of his newest play, "Take Down, Break
Down," Thursday through Saturday.
Curtain is 8:15 p.m. The box office is open today from 2-5:30 p.m.
All seating is general admission and tickets are $10; students through high
school can attend for $5.
The Very Little Theatre is located at 2350 Hilyard St., Eugene. Phone number
is 344-7751.
The show is directed by Michael Fisher, drama director at Thurston High
School. The play focuses on the phenomenon of girls competing in high school
wrestling and the unsettling effect it can have on boys who have to wrestle
them. A motivating quote for the play was one boy's lament: "You can't win
when you wrestle a girl; if you win, all you did was beat a girl, but if you
lose, you got beat by a girl."
"Take Down, Break Down" pits one boy against just such a scenario. Ryan is
an able wrestler and at the beginning, he's up against last year's state
champion, Dan. Ryan is able to beat Dan, but he can tell that something's
not quite right with him. They talk after the match and he discovers that
Dan went up against a girl, "the Amazon," they call her.
She takes him down, and in humiliation he fakes an injury so he won't have
to finish the match. Ryan must face her next. In the meantime, Jenna, the
girl wrestler, has had to overcome stereotypes and pressure from boys so she
can have an even chance at the sport she loves. She respects Ryan's
abilities and is eager to wrestle him.
The cast includes Steve Knight as Ryan, Kenny Landmon as Dan, Chris Hall as
Jenna and Mikell Young as the coach.
Others in the company include Joe Clark, Dennis Murphy, Sarah Dandurand,
Krista Mickalson, Katie Maack, Lizzie Hardcastle, Jenna Washington and Joby
Jarvis."Take Down, Break Down" is a continuing collaboration be-tween
Mastrosimone
and Fisher to create theater appropriate for advanced high school and
college theater.They plan to produce one or two new scripts a year.

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Wrestling women wreak havoc in political minefields of sport

August 29, 2001
By Anna Trbovich

BEIJING -- Pam Wilson hopes to go where no woman has gone before.

The native of Ennismore, Ont., is the reigning queen of Canadian university wrestling, winning gold in the under-77 kg weight class at the CIAU championships last spring.

However Wilson, who studies kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, could be among the beneficiaries of a groundbreaking decision in international sport which was approved in Beijing recently.

The Federation International de Sport Universitaire addressed a major inequity in university sport on Aug. 19 when it voted to allow women to compete in the 2002 world university wrestling championships, to be held in Edmonton next June.

"This situation really gives me something to look forward to," says Wilson, who learned of the decision when she arrived in Beijing to compete in judo at the world university games, also known as the Universiade.

In spite of the fact that Edmonton won the right to host the women's competition at the 2002 championships, the fate of women's university wrestling is still very much undecided.

"FISU has not finalized the decision to keep women's wrestling in the world championships," explains Wendy Bedingfield, past president of the CIAU and one of Canada's FISU delegates.

"At this point, Iran is the only country to have bid for the 2003 championships but the bid committee has stated that Iran will not host women's events."

The Edmonton organizing committee for the championships, composed largely of individuals from the University of Alberta, was the driving force that first raised the issue of including women's events. "Gender equity is one of the fundamental philosophies of the CIAU," says Pierre Baudin, a member of the committee who also serves as director of the CIAU international programs office which is based at the university.

The Edmonton-based institution is a strong supporter of women's wrestling in Canada as well, being one of the first universities to have a women's team. In fact, Canada's most successful women's wrestler, Christine Nordhagen of Valhalla Centre, Alta., began her wrestling career as a member of the Alberta Pandas.

In order to win the right for women to compete, the FISU board, composed of 23 men and just two women, asked the Edmonton organizers to demonstrate that at least eight countries would be prepared to send women wrestlers to the championships. Edmonton reported that Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Ukraine and the United States had all supported their proposal.

"We conducted a survey to demonstrate how many countries were interested but FISU disagreed with the level of support that we found," says Baudin. "FISU then conducted their own survey and claim that they found only three countries supported our proposal, while five others considered themselves a 'maybe'."

Baudin was unaware of any countries represented themselves as "maybes".

With Edmonton's plans (and the hopes of women wrestlers) in jeopardy, the organizing committee brought in their heavy hitter -- Ed Zemrau, a former director of athletics at the University of Alberta, who currently serves as first vice-president of FISU. According to Zemrau, he stepped in when the discussion was going poorly.

"I was the one who fought with my colleagues," Zemrau says. "The problem is that the Muslim countries are quite opposed to any competitions for women and the FISU technical chair for wrestling, Akbar Iranmanesh, is from Iran. For Iranmanesh, women's wrestling is out of the question and when the technical chair of the sport opposes a proposal, you have a real battle on your hands."

At Zemrau's urging, FISU finally approved the inclusion of women at the Edmonton championships. "I'm very happy about the decision," says Zemrau, "especially because Canada and I, as a Canadian representative, have fought for gender equity in many sports."

Wilson, the 2001 world junior wrestling champion in the under 75- kilogram class, is no stranger to international competition, albeit in a different combative sport. At the world university games, she competed in the under 70-kilogram judo competition. Although the national "D" team member lost both her bouts in judo, she was grateful for the chance to compete at the Games. "I knew the competition would be strong, but it was a good experience," says Wilson.

Although she has been competing as a judoka for 14 years, this is Wilson's first, yet extremely successful, year as a wrestler. Despite her relative inexperience, Wilson is ranked second in Canada -- behind Ohenewa Akuffo of Guelph, Ont., --in the under-75 kg class at the senior national level.

"One of my major goals is to become the number one ranked women's wrestler in Canada," explains Wilson. "But now winning at the world university wrestling championships has become another big goal for me."

According to Baudin, FISU has reserved the right to make a final decision on the future of women's wrestling at the championships.

"FISU may open up the bidding to another country that is prepared to host women wrestlers if the Edmonton championships are successful," he said. "In general, FISU is quite good with respect to gender equity in sport, with the exception of wrestling and waterpolo."

Waterpolo is played solely by men at this year's Games, which end on September 1. Both Baudin and Bedingfield attribute this particular inequity to the lack of aquatic facilities that can be provided by the Universiade host.

"Creating a women's waterpolo competition puts a lot of pressure on an organizing committee to come up with more pools," says Baudin. "This is sometimes quite difficult for a host."

Nevertheless, this situation could be easily addressed. "A Universiade host could take fewer waterpolo teams from each gender or play a reduced schedule," offers Bedingfield, a kinesiology professor at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S.

"It's still going to be a little while yet for women's waterpolo to make it into the Universiade," predicts Baudin, "But the FISU technical chair for waterpolo, Jean-Paul Clemençon, supports the concept."

When asked if Canada intends to continue to act as an advocate for equitable FISU competitions for men and women, Baudin replies, "Absolutely."

Wilson, unaware of the politics that encompassed the decision to host women's wrestling in Edmonton, continues to focus on the championships as she prepares for her second season of university wrestling.

"I'm looking forward to an even better year," says Wilson. "The Edmonton championships will give me more competition at a higher level. The decision was an unexpected surprise and I'm glad that women's wrestling is taking a step ahead. Hopefully, we'll see it in the Olympics very soon."

One small step for woman wrestlers, one giant leap for womankind.