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Berube gets historic Elks mat victory
Escanaba senior becomes first female to capture tourney title
ANTHONY GIESE Daily Press Berube 1/7/2002
ESCANABA ? The Escanaba Elks wrestling tournament has seen its share of special wrestlers along the way. It probably hasn?t seen someone as special as Esky?s Alaina Berube though. The senior became the first female wrestler to win a title in the 29-year history of the Escanaba Elks Invitational Saturday. Fittingly, Berube was bestowed the Most Outstanding Wrestler trophy at the tournament. It wasn?t just that Berube won the 130 pound title, it was how she came out of the unseeded ranks. She defeated the first, third, and second seeds to win the tourney. Afterward even Berube was a little shocked when asked if she saw her big day coming. ?Not really,? Berube said. ?I just practiced hard this week. I looked forward to this tournament.? In her first match, she beat top-seeded Jim Bleau of Westwood 18-12. Bleau had a 12-2 record going into the tournament. Up next was Gwinn?s unranked Joey Brady, who Berube dispensed of in only 25 seconds. Berube then faced number three seed Joe Chernach (10-3) of West Iron County in the semi-finals. Berube pinned Chernach with one second left to reach the finals. Munising?s Adam Wieczorek (the fourth seed) stood in the way of Berube and a title and he seemed to have the upper hand with control of her leg before Berube escaped and pulled off a stunning upset with a pin 45 seconds into the second period. ?She has great balance,? Esky wrestling coach Jamie Segorski said. ?The boy from Munising is a real good wrestler. He got out of position and she took advantage of it. Her balance is really good. If somebody gets out of position, she really takes it to them.? Added Berube about her sudden turnaround in the final match: ?He kept locking my leg up, he got his head over the side. I was able to get a headlock and (subsequently) put him away.? The crowd erupted after Berube?s victory. The first to reach her was her brother, Jason, Esky?s 135 pounder. Following the tournament Berube was the no-brainer choice as the Most Outstanding Wrester.
Upper Peninsula's Wrestling Forum courtesy of MI Wrestling
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Vintage High hosts girls tournament
Saturday, January 19, 2002
From Register Staff
More than 100 grapplers are expected at today's Napa Valley Girls Classic wrestling tournament at Vintage High -- all battling for individual honors, but one group taking home a first-ever team trophy to be awarded at the tournament.
Organizers call the fourth-annual NVGC "California's first with real team scoring," and the host Crushers will contend for that inaugural championship on their home mats.
First-round action at the all-day event begins at 9:30 a.m., with the Championship Finals round set for 4:15 p.m.
Vintage's nine-girl lineup finds its largest advantage at the small end of the scale -- 100-pounder Maika Watanabe, who wrestles for the VHS varsity and finished second in the state at 99 pounds last season.
Watanabe, an aspiring college wrestler whose brother Brian is one of the top-ranked 119-pounders in the state, may be a step above most of today's other lightweights.
"I had a pretty good season against the guys (in Monticello Empire League meets) last year," she said. "I like MEL meets better than only girls meets -- I like the competition better."
For other girls -- especially those in middleweight classes where the male competition can be tougher in the league season -- will benefit from today's competitive structure.
"The weight classes in girls tournaments are more designed for high school girls," said Carl Murphree, in his 18th season coaching with the VHS wrestling squad, including last season's state-champion team. "There are more classes in the lower weights, (but) the rules are the same with the girls."
Murphree's daughter, Emily Murphree, took second in her first two years in the NVGC but enters this year's event 8-0 versus girls so far this season. The senior wrestles with the Vintage junior varsity.
"It's really exciting to have (the tourney) here," she said. "It's frustrating wrestling against the guys because it gets harder in the upper weight classes -- we have to win with technique.
"I'd like to see more girls wrestling tournaments, I wish it was separated like other high school sports. You don't see professional girls tennis players playing against the guys."
Carina Valle-Santana, a VHS junior who won the 127-pound class at the NVGC last season, and 118-pounder Christie Rafanan lend further strength to Carl Murphree's squad.
"It's great to wrestle in girls tournaments because we get recognition at these tournaments," Valle-Santana said. "It's more exciting when we beat guys, but easier to beat girls."
Vintage's top team competition should come from Thousand Oaks High -- a 20-member team coached by 1997 world silver medalist Shannon Williams -- and last year's state runner-up, San Leandro High.
Other partial teams and individual wrestlers will come from Vallejo, Roseville, Orland and other areas, including Half Moon Bay's Sara Fulp-Allen, after her third-straight title at 104 pounds.
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Vallejo's Landaker, Lerit dominate at girls tournament
By Chris Navalta - VallejoNews.com
Staff writer 1/20/2002
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NAPA - Area female wrestlers made a strong showing at the annual Napa Valley Girls Classic Tournament, held Saturday at Vintage High School.
Three area wrestlers participated in the finals of their respective weight classes.
Vallejo's Sheila Lerit successfully defended her championship from last year, going 4-0 in the 118-pound weight class. Lerit's final match was a pin over San Leandro's Alexis Gonzales.
"It feels good," said Lerit, whose Apaches finished third as a team. "But I don't think I did well in the finals. I felt bad when I got taken down. My coach had me doing moves I didn't know."
Apache teammate Lenci Landaker also went 4-0 in the 110 class, capping off the run with a 7-2 victory over Silvia Cortez of Hanford.
Also for the Apaches, Tiffany Thomas placed fifth in the 126 class while twin sister Tara Thomas took seventh in the 138 class.
Hogan sent one wrestler to a final match. Ereene Belamide took second in the 114-pound division, going 3-1.
Also for Hogan, Liza Sana place fourth (100s), Jessica Robles took fifth (100s), Marissa Gonzales placed fifth (105s), Sonia Ali placed fifth (105s), Andrea Santos took sixth (138s) and April-Ann Bauzon placed seventh (100s). Hogan wound up placing fifth as a team.
Bethel's Jayme Bordon (105s), Maribeth Grim (100s) and Ashley Bayongon (100s) also participated in this weekend's tournament.
Akeiko Fukuda of Benicia was the only representative for the Panthers. She finished the tournament 1-2.
"I thought I did great," said Fukuda, who's seen limited action on the mat this year. "I was pretty excited (going into the tournament) because I haven't really wrestled any girls before. I was kind of worried. But it was cool."
