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GAL WRESTLER WINS DESPITE PIN

By LENN ROBBINS
NEW YORK POST 12/6/2001

December 6, 2001 -- These are not the words most young girls grow up dreaming to hear from their college teammates:
"They told me to go out there, do my best and, you know, kick his rear-end," Christina Luksa said.

Maybe not the best way to get your man but Luksa's idea of getting over is to put her male opponent on his back and pin him. She is the first woman wrestler in the history of Hunter College and last night the freshman from Brooklyn wrestled her first match at 141 pounds.

When the horn sounded at the end of the first three-minute period and Luksa was still standing, the crowd of about 100 at Hunter College gave her a boisterous ovation, even though she was trailing SUNY Maritime's Mike Loeuis, 5-1.

With 38 seconds left in the second period, Loeuis pinned Luksa. It was a nerve-wracking experience for both. Tears of joy streamed down Luksa's face after the match.

"It's worth it," she said.

Loeuis admitted to feeling as if he was in a no-win situation. He didn't know he'd be wrestling a woman until 30 minutes before the match and several of his teammates couldn't hide their grins during introductions.

"I never wrestled a woman so I didn't know what to expect," Loeuis said. "I just wanted to pin her like any other wrestler."

When the Hawks first entered the gym, Luksa looked like any other wrestler. Her gray sweatshirt was pulled up over her head. She kept turning to her teammates for support.

"It was a natural fit," Hunter coach Bob Gaudenzi said. "At our first team meeting, I told the guys we were going to have our first woman wrestler at Hunter and they treated her like any other wrestler. She did everything the guys did. She did everything in training they did."

Luksa proved she was serious about wrestling and looks forward to the day when two television networks and two daily newspapers don't cover her matches.

"It comes with the territory," Luksa said. "If I could just be a wrestler, that would be cool. The attention wouldn't be there. It would be easier."

Luksa has a smile that can light up a room and shoulder-length, dirty blond hair that she keeps tied in a pony tail. You don't see any of that when she dons her purple and yellow Hunter College singlet and straps on her wrestling headgear.

The hair is tucked away. Her face is set in a steely vise. All you see is a wrestler, albeit one who wears a sports bra, which is exactly what Luksa wants.

"If she's tough enough to be out there, she gets treated like any other wrestler," referee Stuart Kohn said. "She gets no quarter and I'm sure she doesn't want any. All athletes want to be treated the same."

Luksa is not the same. She's a she in a he-man sport.

She is not cut like a former East German track star. After the match, she is much like any other coed. She works as a dental assistant and wants to be a pediatric dentist. She's close to her niece and nephew.

After the match, the head gear came off and her hair fell to her shoulders. She was mobbed by her teammates and that huge grin was pinned across her face.

"Even though I didn't win," she said. "I still feel I kicked his rear-end."

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The Woodlands flexing its veteran muscle

By JEFF JENKINS

Houston Chronical 12/5/2001

After beefing up during its first two years of varsity wrestling, The Woodlands plans to join the state's heavyweights this season.

With five returning state qualifiers (three boys and two girls), several other veterans and an influx of talented newcomers, the Highlanders are a team to be taken seriously.

"I think we've got a chance to be pretty good," said coach Patrick Dunn. "The kids have worked really hard in practice, and they seem to get better with every match."

That was obvious at The Woodlands Invitational last weekend, where the Highlanders ruled on their home mat. Despite a tough field that included the powerful Katy and Klein teams, The Woodlands' boys won four titles, grabbed a second and had two fourth-place showings. The girls did even better, claiming four of the seven divisions and having more than one athlete medal in several weight classes.

On the boys' side, sophomore Sean Glassel prevailed at 119 pounds, upping his season mark to 9-0. Glassel, who is ranked No. 5 in the state, qualified for state at 103 last year and ended the year at 40-6.

"Sean's improved so much in terms of his technique and conditioning," Dunn said. "He's got the potential to be a state champion."

Also winning last weekend was junior Brad Medchill at 135 pounds and senior Ivan Pinney at 215. Both wrestlers are listed at No. 4 in the state in their respective classes and, like Glassel, have 9-0 records.

Medchill was fifth at state last year at 112 pounds with a 49-2 mark. Pinney matched that finish at 180 and was 46-9. Both are expected to return to state, despite moving up weight classes.

"Those two can got toe-to-toe with anyone in Texas," Dunn said.

As good as The Woodlands boys are, the girls might be even better. The Highlanders could be stronger than the squad that placed sixth at state a year ago.

Sophomore Emily Medchill was second in state and 24-1 at 102 pounds last year. She is wrestling at 110 at the moment. Junior Kristen Williams took third at state and was 19-4 at 119 pounds.

Neither Medchill nor Williams has dropped a match all season, and both won at their home meet.

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Cook follows family tradition by wrestling

December 06, 2001

By Steve R. Waterhouse
STAFF WRITER

FREMONT -- There aren't too many around prep girls wrestling, but the sport is still on the upswing.

Take American High's Cassie Cook. A senior, Cook is wrestling on American's team for the second year. And she has shown much improvement over last year. Cook won the 114-pound division at the North Coast Women's Classic at Del Mar High last weekend.

At the same tournament last year, Cook lost her first two matches.

"I like it," Cook said. "It's fun."

If the name Cook sounds familiar, it's because her older brother Kenneth was a state champion last year at 162 pounds. Kenneth has since earned a wrestling scholarship to Iowa State.

"I picked up a lot from him," Cassie said.

Cook's three wins at the North Coast Classic were impressive, a pin in her first match, one point away from a technical fall in her second match and an 8-6 decision in her third match.

"I wanted to do better than last year," Cook said.

When it comes to Mission Valley Athletic League dual meets, Cook will have to wrestle boys because there are only a handful of girls wrestling in the league.

"It's kind of fun to see where I match up with the guys," Cook said. "In my mind sometimes I don't want to beat them, it might ruin their manhood. But my dad tells me not to worry about it."

Dad Steve Cook is in his daughter's corner for every match. That is one of the reasons Cassie decided to go out for wrestling.

"I wanted to get closer to my dad," Cook said. "I love having him in my corner all the time. He gives me tips and encouragement."

Cook also doubles as a cheerleader for an all-star team in Milpitas.

"That's kind of a contradiction, being a wrestler and a cheerleader," Cook said. "But I don't care."

Last year, Cook placed seventh in the state for girls wrestling. Cook has vastly improved since last year.

"I hope to do well at state this year," Cook said. "My goal right now is to win state."

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Knights win their 2nd tourney of young season

Paul MacKinnon 12/5/2001
Special to the Times

It's too early in the season to call it a roll, but the Hanks High boys wrestlers definitely have their momentum headed in the right direction.

The Knights ended two solid days of wrestling in style, storming through Las Cruces High 59-21 in the championship match of the Montwood Boys' Dual Tournament that concluded Saturday at Montwood High.

The meet victory was Hanks' second since the season opened Nov. 14, with the Knights also claiming the Del Valle Invitational Tournament two weeks ago.

Hanks got off to a quick start in the final match, with 130-pound Danny Hernandez, 140-pound Mike Garza-Peña and 145-pounder Gilbert Garay pinning their men while Mike Skorup beat Justin Walkey 15-0 on a technical fall as the Knights swept the first five of the 15 matches.

"Our team really feeds off of each other," Hanks coach Anthony Carter said of the avalanche of 11 wins -- including eight pins -- in 15 finals matches. "At the same time, Las Cruces was banged up and wanted to rest some of their guys for (next week's) Las Cruces Tournament."

Hanks went undefeated throughout eight separate dual matches, with third-place Las Cruces Mayfield coming the closest to knocking off the Knights, dropping a 37-31 decision in the pool-play opener for both teams.

"Everyone was guaranteed eight matches and that's great because, this early in the season, we need mat time," Carter said. It gives me a chance to see where we need to improve. This type of dual meet, I just love."

As did 180-pound Reggie Armstrong, 189-pound Jake Ramirez and 102-pound Lou Perez, who all went unbeaten for Hanks over the two days.

"We were prepared," 180-pound champion Armstrong said of having to wrestle eight matches in a 30-hour period. "The ones who didn't prepare, they were dying at the end."

Perez was definitely prepared, picking up Ryan Shults and pancaking him for a pin at the 2:36 mark. That was an emphatic conclusion to a banner week for the junior, who outpointed the division's top returning wrestler in Texas with a 4-2 decision over Ysleta's Enrique Rodriguez in Friday action. That victory avenged a Perez 4-3 loss to Enriquez in a Tuesday Hanks-Ysleta dual match.

"There were some good teams out here," Perez said. " We just had to step it up more."

Stephanie Jenkins (102), Yvonne Fernandez (119), Kim Quiñonez (128) and Diane Reveles (165) were all winners to lead the Hanks girls to victory in the girls' individual tournament, also at Montwood.

The Knights girls scored 106 points to hold off 16 other teams, including second-place Irvin (74), Montwood (third, 60) and Franklin (fourth, 55).

District meets in wrestling are scheduled for Feb. 2, with regionals set for Feb. 8-9 at Socorro.