News Page

Friday Reuters story - Ex-champion Yarygin's widow becomes first woman on FILA board

12/7/2001
Reuters /

MOSCOW, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Natalya Yarygina, widow of former Olympic wrestling champion Ivan Yarygin, has become the first woman to be voted on to the executive board of the sport's international ruling body FILA.

"It was a unanimous decision," Russian wrestling chief Mikhail Mamiashvili told Reuters on Friday from Patras, Greece -- site of this week's world championships.

"It is really a landmark case for international wrestling as Natalia became the first woman to be included into FILA's hierarchy since it was formed almost 100 years ago."

Yarygina will be responsible for the women's competition which is set to make its Olympic debut at the 2004 Games in Athens.

Ivan Yarygin, who won Olympic gold medals for the Soviet Union in freestyle wrestling in 1972 and 1976, was killed in a car accident four years ago.

-------------------------------------

Grapplers square off at JV tournamentt

By James Wiseman, Times-Herald staff report 12/3/2001

Four area high school wrestling teams took the scouting trip of a lifetime on Saturday, getting a look at 20-plus top programs from all over Northern California. And they didn't even have to leave Vallejo.

Hogan, Bethel, Vallejo and St. Patrick-St. Vincent High Schools competed against virtually all of their prospective 2001 opponents at the Dave Lidell Invitational, held at Vallejo High's Bottari Gym. And this year's edition of the annual event yielded positive results for representatives from each local school.

Host Vallejo was the day's biggest winner, taking first place in six different classes. Defending state champion Lenci Landaker coasted to the girls' 109-pound title, pinning Ygnacio Valley's Jennifer Harvey in the finals. Defending Times-Herald Athlete of the Year Shiela Lerit also garnered an easy first, outclassing athletes from Berkeley High and Hogan on her way to the 116-pound finals.

"They both looked sharp," VHS coach Mike Minahen said about his dominant girls' contingent. "There were a few girls that were tough, but they were looking very solid. We're looking forward to a great year for both of them."

While the well-reputed Apache girls stole the spotlight, the Vallejo boys also held their own against the formidable competition, finishing first in four classes and winning consolation brackets in five others. Eric Velasquez won the day's most hotly contested match, coming from behind to beat St. Patrick-St. Vincent's Jason Bustos in the thrilling 106-pound final.

Chris Dart also brought home the gold for VHS, defeating Berkeley's Luc Mahew in the 143-pound finals, while Ramon Vasquez and Mark Taylor won championships at the 139- and 126-pound brackets, respectively. Enrico Payne, Corey Padilla, Phillip Brooks, Nelson Alemar and Julian Vinatieri all won consolation brackets.

"We really had a very solid tournament," Minahen said. "Our whole goal for the JV kids is to continue to develop, teach them how to win, and in some cases lose, the right way."

The Hogan squad, composed almost entirely of first-year competitors, defied its inexperience with a number of strong finishes on both the boys' and girls' sides. Marcus Moore and James Tili won their respective brackets in the 221- and 173-pound weight classes to take home first-place medals. Turrone George, also competing as a heavyweight, narrowly missed another Hogan title, taking sec

ond in the 203-215-pound bracket. Tristan Arenal pinned Jesse Barkume of Clovis to win the 143-pound class - Hogan's last boys' championship - while Eric Lum settled for second in the 105s. Steve Narine and Vicente Cruz also took first in their consolation rounds.

On the girls side, the Spartans were represented by April Bauzon, Nicole Arenal and Andrea Santos, who each won a consolation bracket, and Marissa Gonzalez, who placed second in the 103-pound class. Rowena Hernandez also garnered a second-place finish, losing to Arenal in a Hogan-Hogan battle in the girls 116-pound consolation match.

"I'm very impressed with the kids. We showed a lot of improvement," Hogan coach Rick Manibusan said after the meet. "It's a new experience, and for some of them, it's an eye-opener. They surprised me a lot. I'm very satisfied."

Bethel's Maribeth Grim was the athlete that finally stopped Gonzalez, defeating the Spartan in the 103-pound finals to garner first place. The Jaguars also got a pair of wins on the boys' side, with David Reay pinning Vintage's Josh Gore in the finals to win the 93-pound championship, and Rashied Hudson taking the 250-pound class.

Bethel also took home several consolation medals, as Ricky Abdelaziz, Zach Winger and Josh Billeci were all victorious in their respective losers' brackets.

Though St. Pat's was the smallest and least-represented area school in attendance, the Bruins did manage to turn some heads on the wrestling mat. After Sean Daly set the tone with a win in the consolation bracket of the 110-pound class, Alexander Dowell and Andrew Altman both won consolation matches to give St. Pat's three of its four medals. Jason Bustos fell to Vallejo's Velasquez in the 106-pound final to take second - the Bruins' best finish of the day.

"That was probably the most exciting match of the tournament," Minahen said about the 106-pound championship. "They really left everything they had out there on the mat."

----------------------------------