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A Panther Fix: Addiction takes Roddis to accept wrestling job
JAMES S. TYREE -- H&R Staff Writer10/25/2001
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
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Saturday evening AP story - Coverage of gold-medal finals
11/24/2001
Associated Press/
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Bulvaisa Saitiev of Russia captured his fourth world championship with a 3-1 victory over Korea's Eui-Jae Moon in the 168-pound weight class at the wrestling world championships on Saturday.
Saitiev, who narrowly defeated Joe Williams of the United States in the semifinals, also has two Olympic and five European championship titles. Williams lost 5-4 after the judges ruled he had stepped outside the mat on a spectacular thow that brought down Saitiev.
Another Russian, Georgi Gogchelidze, successfully defended his title in the 214-pound class, winning 3-0 against Bulgaria's Krassimir Kochev. Gogchelidze was a silver medalist at this year's European Championship.
Bulgaria's Serafim Barzakov took the men's 139-pound title with a last-minute victory over world and Olympic champion Alireza Dabir of Iran. After a 1-1 tie in regular time, Barzakov, a silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics, scored two technical points from a clinch and seal the victory.
Belarus's Herman Kantoev took the gold medal in the men's 119-pound category, with a 4-1 win over Iranian Babak Nurzak.
Three titles were also awarded in the women's competition.
Defending world champion Christine Nordhagen of Canada defeated American Toccara Montgomery 4-1 to win the gold medal of the 150-pound class.
Earlier, Montgomery won her fourth straight match, pinning Russia's Sveta Yaroshevich in 3 minutes, 12 seconds to advance to the finals. Nordhagen had defeated Germany's Anita Schatzle 10-4 in her semifinal.
Ukraine's Irina Melnik defended her title in the 101-pound final when she beat Canada's Carol Huynh 3-0.
Japan's Seiko Yamamoto also reclaimed her championship title in the 123-pound class in a tough, 7:40 minute battle against newcomer Liubov Volosova of Russia. Yamamoto and Volosova were tied 1-1 after more than seven minutes, when Yamamoto scored a decisive 3-point takedown.
Yamamotu had pinned Lee Na Lae of South Korea for a 6-0 victory in the semifinals while Volosova ousted Tatyana Lazareva of Ukraine 4-2. Lazareva won a silver medal at the 2000 world championships.
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Bulgarian web page - Results of Medal matches on Saturday
11/24/2001
Bulgarian Wrestling Federation/
Medal match results, as reported on Bulgarian web page
Men’s Freestyle
54 kg/119 lbs.
Gold - Herman Kantoyev (Belarus) dec. Babak Nourzad (Iran), 5-1
Bronze - Alexander Kantoyev (Russia) dec. Maulen Mamyrov (Kazakhstan), 4-1
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Gold - Serafim Barzakov (Bulgaria) dec. Ali Reza Dabir (Iran), 3-1
Bronze - Elbrus Tedeev (Ukraine) dec. Mehmet Yozgat (Turkey), 4-0
76 kg/167.5 lbs.
Gold - Bouvaisa Saitiev (Russia) dec. Moon Eiu-Jae (Korea), 3-1
Bronze - Joe Williams (USA) won by tech. fall over Radion Kertanti (Slovakia), 10-0
97 kg/213.75 lbs.
Gold - Georgi Gogchelidze (Russia) dec. Krassimir Kotchev (Bulgaria), 3-0
Bronze - Vadim Tasoev (Ukraine) won by tech fall over Zoltan Farkas (Hungary), 10-0
Women’s Freestyle
46 kg/101.25 lbs.
Gold - Irena Melnik (Ukraine) dec. Carol Huyhn (Canada), 3-1
Bronze - Brigitte Wagner (Germany) dec. Farah Touchi (France), 4-2
56 kg/123.25 lbs.
Gold - Seiko Yamamoto (Japan) dec. Liubov Volosova (Russia), 4-1
Bronze - Tetiana Lazarova (Ukraine) dec. Lee Na Lae (Korea), 5-2
68 kg/149.75 lbs.
Gold - Christine Nordhagen-Vierling (Canada) dec. Toccara Montgomery (USA), 4-1
Bronze - Anita Schatzle (Germany) won by tech. fall over Sveta Yarashevich (Russia), 11-1
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Saturday morning AP story - U.S. Woman Advances in Wrestling
11/24/2001
Associated Press/
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Toccara Montgomery of the United States won her fourth straight match with a pin Saturday and advanced to the finals of the wrestling world championships.
In the men's competition, Joe Williams of the United States narrowly missed a spot in the 168-pound finals. He was beaten was Russia's Buvaisa Saitiev, an Olympic and three-time world champion.
Montgomery pinned Russia's Sveta Yaroshevich in 3 minutes, 12 seconds in the semifinals of the 150-pound category. She was to face Canada's Christine Nordhagen, last year's world champion, for the gold medal later in the day.
Nordhagen defeated Germany's Anita Schatzle 10-4 in the second semifinal.
In other semifinals, Russia's Lyubov Volosova ousted Tatyana Lazareva of Ukraine 4-2 in the women's 123-pound category. Lazareva won a silver medal at the 2000 world championships.
Volosova next meets defending world champion Seiko Yamamotu of Japan, who pinned Lee Na Lae of South Korea for a 6-0 victory to advance to the finals.
Irina Melnik, Ukraine's reigning world champion in the women's 101-pound class, won the right to defend her title by defeating Germany's Brigitte Wagner 5-1.
Williams, a newcomer to the U.S. team, lost 5-4 to Saitiev. Making a last-ditch effort at winning, the American brought down Saitiev with a spectacular throw, but the judges ruled he had stepped outside the mat.
Saitiev meets Moon Eui-Jai for the gold medal. The South Korean eliminated Radion Ketani of Slovakia 6-0. Williams and Ketani will contest for the bronze.
In other categories, two Bulgarians, Serafim Barzakov (139 pounds) and Krasimir Kochev (214 pounds) advanced to the finals.
Barzakov defeated Ukraine's Elbrus Tedeev 5-2 and Kochev ousted Hungary's Zoltan Farkas 7-0.
Barzakov will vie for the gold medal against world and Olympic champion Alireza Dabir of Iran. Dabir advanced after defeating Turkey's Mehmet Yozgat 3-0.
Kochev also faces a tough rival in the 214-pound class - Russia's Georgi Gohchelidze. He downed Ukraine's Vadim Tasoev 4-0 in the semifinals.
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CAWA web page - Christine Nordhagen wins 6th World Wrestling Championships
11/24/2001
Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association/
Christine Nordhagen of Calgary just became the most successful wrestler in women's international wrestling history winning her 8th World Championships medal, and her 6th Gold medal. In the Final of the 2001 World Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, Christine beat her American opponent, Tocarra Montgomery, 4-1 in the 68 kg. category. Christine scored three single leg takedowns and a gutwrench to secure the victory.
Canadian Carol Huynh of Burnaby won the silver medal in the 46 kg. category. In the Final Carol lost a close 3-0 match to two-time World Champion from the Ukraine, Irina Melnik. The only points in the match were scored from the clinch position which occurred after a 0-0 first period. The Ukrainian wrestler scored off an arm throw at the whistle.
In the Semi-final, Carol Huynh at 46 kg. defeated Farah Touchi of France 6-0 to advance to the Gold medal match. This was Carol's secondworld medal after winning the bronze last year.
Tomorrow, Canadian Lyndsay Belisle, 51 kg., will compete in the Semi-Finals against wrestler Stephanie Murata of the USA. The Finals will take place tomorrow evening.
Coaches Comments:
Head Women's Coach, Todd Hinds:
"We are ecstatic about her (Christine's) perfomance. Winning her sixth championship, she is a true champion. She and the rest of the Canadian Team have been a pleasure to work with."
"Carol also had a great year and has now won two straight World medals. Next year I look forward to seeing her improve and assume the top spot on the medal podium."
Christine had the following comments after her match.
"I was very emotional seeing the Canadian Flag and hearing the anthem. I'm really proud of the Canadian Team and all of my teammates and I am especialy proud of Canada."
Carol had the following comments after winning the Silver medal:
"I am proud of my accomplishments and looking forward to improving further, so that I can return next year in hopes of claiming the top spot."
Igali Knocked Out Of Competition, Sissaouri Still Looking for Gold
On the men's side, 2000 Olympic Champion, Daniel Igali, 69 kg., was eliminated from competition after losing a close match to Cuban wrestler, Yosmany Sanchez, 5-2. Daniel got behind 3-2 with two minutes left in the match and lost the final two in the last seconds in a scramble to tie the score.
Four time World Medallist for Canada, Guivi Sissouri, 58 kg., had a bye this round after winning his pool last night. He will compete against Ukranian wrestler, Vasil Fedorishin in the Quarter Finals tomorrow morning. Semi-Finals will also take place tomorrow morning with the Finals in the afternoon.
Coaches Comments:
Men's Head Coach Dave McKay had the following comments concerning today's matches.
"Daniel wrestled well in his first match today beating a top Russian opponent. However, was unable to continue the momentum in his match with Sanchez. This year has been a struggle for Daniel due to a series of injuries, but this result should provide him with the impetus to regain the title."
"Guivi Sissaouri is looking sharp and confident and is positioned well for a top performance tomorrow.
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