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Awe grips first winner

By Jeff Kolpack
The Forum - 07/28/2002

The excitement peaked for Rachael Holthaus when she ascended the raised center mat at the Fargodome. Her name was just announced in the cavernous building.

Friends back home in Little Falls, Minn., probably had no idea what she was doing in Fargo this weekend.

“They haven’t experienced a big national tournament,” she said. “You’re the only one on the raised stage.”

She’ll be the only answer to the following trivia question: Who was the first girls Junior National gold-medal winner?

Her weight class was the first title match in the first-ever tournament.

“It was awesome,” she said.

It was one small step for female wrestlers, one giant technical fall for Holthaus. She was dominating in defeating Bernadette Javier of Honolulu, 11-0.

The girls tournament preceded the Junior boys freestyle national championships on Saturday. That tournament has been a fixture since 1971.

And once again, it delivered some top-gun performances. It featured 13 finalists who ! will enter Division I schools this fall.

In perhaps the featured match, Iowa-bound Todd Meneely of Omaha, Neb., defeated Oklahoma-bound and two-time defending Junior freestyle champion Teyon Ware of Edmond, Okla., 5-4 at 135 pounds.

Meneely won a Greco-Roman title earlier this week and was a four-time state prep champion. Ware was 140-0 in high school.

The featured high school Saturday was Blair Academy, N.J. It had two champions — Robert Preston at 119 and Zach Esposito at 152 – and one runner-up in Mark Perry at 160.

In a rarity, Minnesota did not have a finalist, leaving girls team members Holthaus and Alicia Mena of St. Paul as the state’s national champions.

“It’s just a big step for the whole women’s program,” Holthaus said.

She’ll be a sophomore at Little Falls High School. She was 13-5 on the boys varsity team last year.

“It’s just great they started the women’s tournament,” she said. “It will open up so many more opportunities.”

One opportuni! ty Holthaus has her eyes on will be held in Athens, Greece, in 2004.

“I’m going to get ready for the Olympics,” she said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546

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Grappling with men:Three Women Wrestlers Finding a way to compete

Takedowns and flips outside the gym

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S.C. update

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Berubes bring home hardware

ANTHONY GIESE
Daily Press 5/2/02

ESCANABA — Alaina Berube didn’t break down barriers, she shattered them.
She not only wrestled for the Escanaba varsity team but also accomplished a first at the Escanaba Elks Tournament this season. She was the first female to ever win an Elks title. Recently Berube won her fourth United States Girls’ Wrestling Association title at the Nationals in Lake Orion. In her six times wrestling at the Nationals she has either won her weight class title or taken second. She won the 130-pound division this year.
The Berube name is synonymous with wrestling success. Seven Berubes have wrestled on the varsity team in Escanaba.
Countless relatives and younger grapplers have been or are involved in the youth program.
Alaina’s sister, Sherri, took third at the Nationals. Sherri said her sister has been a big part in helping her learn new moves.
“She helps out, teaches me some moves,” Sherri Berube said.
Alaina Berube’s varsity career came to a crashing halt when she partially tore a ligament in her shoulder at the U.P. Finals.
She was sidelined for the Michigan State Girls’ Wrestling Tournament which was held a week after the U.P. Finals. Berube, a senior at Escanaba High School, had five weeks to heal for the Nationals.
She recovered and showed no ill-effects going undefeated at the Nationals. Berube pinned previously unbeaten Jennifer Miyahira in the finals at the 5:28 mark.
“I was a really nervous because I wasn’t sure how my shoulder was going to hold up,” Berube said.
“I was nervous about that, plus I had lost some conditioning from not being able to run and move my arm as much as I would have like to have.”
Berube credits Dr. Michael Keeker (an area physician) for helping her recover from her shoulder injury. Dr. Keeker was with Berube every step of the way and got her into physical therapy right after her injury.
Following her wins at the Nationals, Berube is set to wrestle in a tournament in Fargo, N.D.

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Berube lauded as All-American
Esky grappler also gets college spot

DENNIS GRALL
Daily Press 5/18/02

ESCANABA — An injury prevented Alaina Berube from getting a shot at an Upper Peninsula wrestling championship, but she has landed quite a consolation prize.
Berube, a senior at Escanaba High School, has been named to the Wrestling USA Magazine All-American high school girls wrestling team. She has also received an academic-athletic scholarship to Cumberland College, an NAIA Division I school in Williamsburg, Ky.
Cumberland is one of just a handful of schools offering varsity wrestling for women, and has only had the sport for three years. “I wish a Michigan school would have it,” she said, noting numerous schools offer women’s wrestling on a club level.
Berube received a certificate for her All-American status, which will be published in the magazine later this month. She is a four-time U.S. Girls Wrestling Association national champion, taking the 100-pound title in 1998, the 123 crown in 2000, 129 title in 2001 and 126 title last month. She finished second in 1999 at 113 pounds.
She was particularly proud of her fourth title, which came five weeks after suffering a partially torn ligament in her right shoulder at the U.P. Finals. She became the first female to win a championship at the 29th Escanaba Elks tournament in January.
“All my hard work has paid off,” Berube said Friday as she proudly displayed the All-American certificate..
Berube was 25-15 wrestling for the Eskymos this year, all against boys. She has competed in about 80 matches against boys during her three varsity seasons, and has only about 50 matches against girls during her five years at the nationals.
“I always had to wrestle boys. I don’t think of it any differently,” she said, noting the boys hold an obvious strength advantage. To counter that, Berube works on her moves and techniques. “I’m more flexible than the guys. I want to be flexible and strong at the same time.”
She is also extremely aggressive on the mat. “Most people won’t be able to hang in there for six minutes,” she said.
While she has been a trailblazer in women’s wrestling, Berube downplays her role. “I just considered myself as one of the guys, just a wrestler,” she said, noting she has been wrestling with her EHS teammates since fourth grade. “They are like my big brothers. I didn’t try to get any special treatment. My teammates and practice partners have really helped me become better.”