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Giacomozzi brings it on
Former Scituate High wrestling star takes second at Women’s Nationals

By MIKE SPELLMAN 3/28/02
MSPELLMAN@CNC.COM

If you’re a Giacomozzi, you wrestle. It’s almost that simple.

The tradition started with brothers Tom, Eddie, Anthony, Don and Paul wrestling for Scituate High in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and continued with their offspring. Tom’s sons Ben and Kyle Giacomozzi starred on the S.H.S. wrestling team, as did Paul’s son Dave. Eddie’s sons, Nick and Adam, are now standouts with the Marshfield High team, returning next winter for their senior and junior years, respectively. And there are a handful of younger Giacomozzis on the horizon.

But Andrea Giacomozzi, the daughter Tom and Joan sandwiched between Ben and Kyle?!

Although he’d taught Andrea a few moves " for fun, " big brother Ben would hear nothing of his two years junior sister joining him on the wrestling team.

So they compromised…so to speak. When Ben graduated in 1998, there wasn’t a lot he could do about Andrea joining the team.

With supportive dad Tom serving at that time as the team’s assistant coach (he’s now the head coach), the spunky 4-foot, 11-inch junior won four matches in her debut season on the mats, wrestling in the 103-pound division. But wrestling was everything Andrea hoped it would be and more. She committed herself fully to honing her skills over the next nine months, and closed out her high school career with a 22-10 record. The 10th loss, coming in the Div. 3 South Sectionals, was by far the most difficult to bare, as it cost her the honor of becoming Massachusetts’ first-ever female wrestler to advance to the State championships.

If anything, though, this made her all the more hungry to plunge ahead with wrestling. She applied only to schools that had female wrestling programs, and eventually settled on American International College in Springfield, where she is now in her sophomore year majoring in physical therapy.

This past weekend, Andrea took second place in her 107-pound collegiate " folk style " weight class at the annual Women’s National Wrestling Championships in Lake Orion, Michigan. She lost in the finals, 8-3, to Audrey Caruso, but gave the defending Junior World Championships’ silver medalist quite a battle, nearly taking her on to her back a few times in the match.

" Andrea came within a hair of being national champion, " reported proud pop Tom, who accompanied Andrea to the nationals for the second consecutive year. " That was an extremely exciting match, and Andrea really did a great job. "

Before the finals showdown, Andrea got a huge 6-0 win in the quarterfinals over Rachel Bernardes, of Missouri Valley State. Andrea had lost to Bernardes, the third-ranked female " freestyle " wrestler in the U.S., in two previous meetings, including an 8-1 loss the day earlier in the " freestyle " tourney.

Andrea proved early on that go-round number three, in her more familiar " folk style " division, was going to be a different kind of deal. The first period ended with no points on the board, but Andrea finally broke the ice midway through the second with a well-executed " switch " and near pin for three points. With Bernardes pushing hard for a takedown in the third, Andrea was able to get her in a chicken wing and another near pin for three more points. She then kept her immobilized for the final minute or so to run out the clock.

In the semifinals, Andrea had little problem with Cumberland University’s Becky D’Ambrosia, taking her 10-2, to move on to the match-up with Caruso.

As a result of this showing, Andrea and Tom had a chance to speak with several representatives from collegiate women’s wresting programs larger than AIC’s, including coaches from Cumberland (Kentucky) and Missouri Valley. In addition, it is expected that Andrea will now get her first national ranking.

" Andrea opened some eyes, and it was great to see, " said Tom. " I thought she had it in her, but you don’t know until you get out there. "

Something else Andrea accomplished was inspiring 8-year-old sister Katherine to continue on with her latest " hobby. " The Wompatuck School third grader made up her mind only recently to give wrestling a whirl. Tom, Andrea and Kyle all worked with her, though, and she fared quite respectably at the highly thought of Colonial tourney, taking a third place, and then at this weekend’s Nationals in the Open Division, taking fourth place. She surprised even her " coaches " at both venues, taking points from a couple of considerably more seasoned wrestlers.

" I didn’t think she’d practiced enough to wrestle in those tournaments, but she went out and wrestled real tough, " said Kyle, now a freshman at Bridgewater State who finished second at Sectionals last year and went on to become the first S.H.S. wrestler in a decade to advance to All-States. " She was real impressive. "

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Jessica Benson

By
Hob Lessman

Who says girls can't wrestle? And who says girls can't wrestle better than boys? Jessica Benson, a 12-year-old wrestler from Sioux City, has done both.

Benson started competitive wrestling during the 1999-2000 season, following in the footsteps of her father and uncle who wrestled in the past. She practices at home, Lawton-Bronson, and with the Sioux City Saints on Thursday nights.
"During practices and meets Jessica wrestles with boys. There aren't many girls who wrestle in the area," says her dad, Chris. "During the state and national tournaments she wrestles against girls."
Jessica continues to put together a very successful resume in her relatively short wrestling career. Some of her accomplishments are: 1st in state in 2001, 2nd in nationals the same year, Won nine trophies and four medals in two years, mostly against boys.
She takes her grappling skills to many locations. Some of the meets are in Sioux City, whereas other meets are located at Hinton, Ida Grove, and other NW Iowa towns. The only one outside of Iowa was the national tournament located in Michigan.
The only wrestling mentors Jessica has are her dad and uncle. "We are very proud of her. I wish I had the talent to learn so fast. She can learn things in a heartbeat and a lot of the boys don't want to wrestle her," says her dad. Her Uncle Dennis adds that some of the team charger wrestlers quit because of her.
Jessica plans to keep wrestling, but the family will have to watch the development of her body before making a decision to quit or not. Her mom, Kristi, says Jessica would wrestle

more if they would find places that girls wrestle at.
The family's words of wisdom for girls who want to wrestle would be to just stay in it. "There were coaches from Iowa who wanted to talk to her about receiving a scholarship." says her dad.
"Wrestling is the best self defense sport for anyone. The grapplers always win," says her uncle. "For parents who want their girls to learn a martial art to defend themselves and which has discipline as well, then they should choose wrestling."
They add that just because a girl wrestles does not make them less of a lady. There isn't a better-conditioned sport than wrestling.
Most people think that wrestling is a boys only sport, which holds the girls back. Dennis doesn't really like to watch basketball that much for girls or boys, but he'd watch the boys more. He also says that he'd watch girls wrestling because of their technique as long as they are serious at it.
They all think that girls wrestling is expanding and hope that at some point it gets to all 50 states.

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Area wrestlers compete at girls' national tourney

LAKE ORION, Mich. 3/26/02

-- Rachel Kelly of Newton and Chelsea Arnhold of Marion both finished 0-2 in their respective weight classes in the High School Division of the U.S. Girls' Wrestling Association National Championships Saturday and Sunday in Lake Orion, Mich.

Both qualified for nationals by placing second in the first girls' state tournament March 3 in Atchison.

Kelly, a sophomore at Newton High School, competed at 114 pounds. She received a first-round bye and was defeated in the second round by Yesenia De La Mora of California by decision 5-0. Kelly received two byes in consolation rounds and lost in the third consolation round to Darlene Bellefville of Michigan by decision 8-1.

Arnhold, a freshman at Marion High School who qualified for the Class 3-2-1A state tournament, competed at 100 pounds. She opened with a first-round bye and lost in the second round to Tabitha Coffey of California by decision 4-0. After two byes in the consolation rounds, Arnhold lost in the third round to Justine Swafford of Hawaii by decision 6-5.

The Kansas delegation was led by Santa Fe Trail senior Brooke Bogren, who won the title at 118 pounds.

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Newton wrestler takes second at girls' tourney

ATCHISON -- Newton High School sophomore Rachel Kelly took second at the first U.S. Girls' Wrestling Association Kansas State Championships March 3 in Atchison.

The tournament drew a field of more than 100 wrestlers from five states ages five and older.

Kelly competed at 116 pounds in the high school girls' division. She opened with a pin over Diane Riaf of Lawrence in the opening round. In the semifinals, Kelly decisioned Katty Weber of Stafford 8-6. Kelly lost in the finals to Krisha Childers of Goddard, a seven-year wrestler.

Kelly has qualified for the fifth USGWA National Tournament March 23 and 24 in Lake Orion, Mich. A fund has been set up to help sponsor Kelly's trip to nationals at Midland National Bank. Contributions can be made at any branch. For information, call Kari Silvernale or Nancy Harmon at 283-4246.

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She wrestles with two sports

By Ken Silman Oakland Tribune Online
STAFF WRITER 3/16/02

SAN LEANDRO -- When Matt Briones came home from middle school wrestling practice and worked on his moves by pounding on his younger sister, he had no clue that he was training a future state champion.

Madeleine Briones, two years younger than Matt, decided to take up the sport in eighth grade. Now a junior at San Leandro High, Madeleine captured the 130-pound USGWA California championship Saturday, capping a 24-0 season.

"She has great natural athletic ability ... speed and power," said San Leandro girls wrestling coach Dylan Souza. "I think (her emergence) probably started at the end of last year in freestyle, when she took third at nationals. She took it up to another level. Since then she is undefeated."

Briones was also the starting shortstop for San Leandro's North Coast Section 3-A finalist softball team last season. Unfortunately for Briones and the Pirates, a shoulder injury she suffered wrestling will relegate her to designated hitter duties this season.

"It took place at one of the first tournaments of the year," said Briones. "In the finals, I pinned the girl and as the referee raised my hand, I felt a sharp pain down shoulder. I started to put my shirt on and it still hurt. I iced and rested it, but the trainer said I sprained the inner part of my rotator cuff."

It didn't take long to find out that Briones still will be a great asset for the softball team as she blasted a first-inning home run Tuesday night in a 5-0 victory over Amador Valley.

Briones' wrestling and softball accomplishments earned her the Daily Review Prep of the Week award, just one of a long list of accolades Briones likely will receive.

Briones pinned 22 of 24 opponents during the high school season, including Sierra Vista's Julie Daurte in the state final on Saturday.

As the softball season starts, so does Briones' freestyle season. The practice schedule for Briones is a busy one. After school, she heads to softball practice for an hour. Briones then leaves practice early to spend an 11/2-2 hours at freestyle practice.

As for her future, Briones thinks that any type of scholarship offers will come from wrestling, not softball. Souza said that there are seven or eight colleges with varsity wrestling programs and that half of them already offer scholarships.

With the arm injury, Briones fears she won't be able to throw right again, limiting her softball ability.

"It is kind of depressing," said Briones. "It kills me to sit on the bench and watch. But I am out there with team, giving what I can."

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BUILDING A LEGACY: San Leandro softball player Madeleine Briones is building her own lasting legacy, but not on the diamond. Briones, a standout softball player on last year's NCS finalist team, is an even better wrestler.

Briones continued her tremendous girls wrestling season earning All-American honors as the national runner-up in the National Asics USGWA Women's Championship in Detroit Michigan on March23.

The event was the largest in the short history of women's wrestling with over 550 wrestlers competing. Briones entered the tournament seeded No.3 in the country and proceeded to defeat the No.2 seed in the semifinals. Briones dropped the championship match to the top seed from New York to finish her season with a 29-1 mark.

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