News Page
2002 Asics/Vaughan Cadet & Junior National Championships
Fargo, ND - July 20-27, 2001
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7/26/2002
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
The first ASICS-Vaughan Junior Nationals for girls featured 103 entries from 24 states, making it the largest age-group national women’s tournament ever hosted by USA Wrestling.
The tournament is being held alongside the ASICS-Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals for boys, at the FargoDome on the campus of North Dakota State Univ. in Fargo, N.D.
What was especially encouraging was the quality of the athletes entered. Of the 14 girls selected for the First Team of TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Team this year, 12 were entered in the inaugural Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
This group of TheMat.com/ASICS First Team members includes:
101 - Sara Fulp Allen of California, Gina Heinzelman of Michigan
110 - Malinda Ripley of California, Mary Kelly of Illinois
128 - Brooke Bogren of Kansas, Alaina Berube of Michigan, Shawn Swartzlender of Oregon
138 - Brandy Rosenbrock of Michigan, Wendy Casey of New York
150 - Ali Bernard of Minnesota
165 - Samantha Lang of Oregon
175 - Alicia Mena of Minnesota
Special recognition goes to Team California, which had the largest women’s team featuring 21 athletes. Michigan, Minnesota and Texas brought teams of 10 athletes or more.
The first match in Junior Nationals girls history featured Na'Tasha Umemoto of Oregon against Lisa Paquette of New York at 110 pounds. Umemoto secured a headlock and won the bout by pin in just 19 seconds.
A number of the Olympic-level women athletes volunteered to coach the state teams. Kristie Marano, a 2000 World Champion and five-time World medalist, is one of the New York coaches. Julie Gonzalez, a U.S. Nationals finalist a number of times, is on the California coaching staff. Rachel Glogowski, a U.S. Nationals placerwinner, is helping coach the Pennsylvania team.
Only nine athletes will earn the recognition of champions at the first ASICS-Vaughan Junior Nationals for girls. Years from today, these pioneer women athletes will be remembered as those who helped build a tradition for girls wrestling as part of the Junior Nationals, the most prestigious youth wrestling event in the United States.
"This is historic," said Terry Steiner, USA Wrestling's National Women's Coach. "It's a start for everything. Look where the Junior Nationals for boys started back in 1971. This is the start of something big. We need to start somewhere."
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ASICS-Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals extends entry record as largest wrestling tournament in history, with final total of 4,490 participants
7/26/2002
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
With the start of the first ASICS-Vaughan Junior Nationals for girls on Friday, USA Wrestling extended its record for the largest wrestling tournament in world history.
USA Wrestling's combined 2002 ASICS-Vaughan Junior and Cadet National Championships broke the record on Thursday, and set the new mark on Friday morning, The tournament is being hosted at the FargoDome on the campus of North Dakota State Univ. in Fargo, N.D.
Twere a total of 4,490 entries in the event, a tremendous increase over other years. This total included the 103 girls who weighed in and will compete on Friday and Saturday.
Previously, the largest wrestling tournament in history was the 1997 Junior and Cadet National Championships, which had 3,641 athletes in the competition.
The tournament this week is now 849 entries higher than the 1997 record.
"It is a tremendous tribute to USA Wrestling's state leaders and state associations in setting a new record for any tournament ever," said Mark Scott, Director of State Services. "All of the volunteers in our state association have contributed to providing opportunities for a record number of athletes, including for the first time, female wrestlers. USA Wrestling is proud to be associated with so many people who are dedicated to the sport."
High school wrestlers in grades 9-12 are eligible to compete on the Junior level. Wrestlers who are 15 and 16 years old are eligible to compete on the Cadet level.
This is a historic first for girls wrestling in the United States, with female athletes included. The Junior Nationals were started in 1971 with a small group of freestyle boy wrestlers, and has now grown to the most prestigious youth wrestling event in the nation. Many expect the Junior Nationals for girls to have steady growth in future years.
Women's freestyle wrestling has been added as an official medal sport at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. It is one of the fastest growing youth sports for girls in the United States, and colleges are beginning to develop women's wrestling teams.
To recap Thursday's news, every individual tournament and style during this week's combined tournament set new entry records.
Both the Junior National Championships and the Cadet National Championships for boys set new records for participants, and as a combined tournament, the events shattered the previous mark.
The Cadet Nationals set an overall record of 2,219 participants, topping the previous mark of 1,820 at the 1995 Cadet Nationals.
Included this year were 1,208 Cadet freestyle wrestlers and 1,011 Cadet Greco-Roman wrestlers, both records in their specific style.
The Junior Nationals set an overall record of 2,168 participants, blasting the previous record of 1,838 athletes set in the 1997 Junior Nationals.
Included this year were 1,254 Junior freestyle athletes and 914 Junior Greco-Roman athletes, both records in their specific style.
Each style also set a new record. The Junior and Cadet National freestyle competition included 2,462 athletes, the largest freestyle wrestling event ever held. The Junior and Cadet National Greco-Roman competition featured 1,925 athletes, the largest Greco-Roman wrestling event ever held.
One of the main reasons the records were set was the addition of weight classes in both the Junior and Cadet divisions. In order to align with existing high school wrestling weight classes, USA Wrestling added four Cadet weight classes and three Junior weight classes to the competition. The leaders in each USA Wrestling state association have worked hard and developed larger teams to match the new opportunities.