Tina George of Cleveland has her sights set on a gold medal in wrestling at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
News Page
11/9/2002
Burnaby Mountain, Canada
Entered by Abbott
Team Scoring
Women’s Teams
1. Univ. of Calgary, 42 pts.
2. Burnaby Mountain WC, 41 pts.
3. Brock, 17 pts.
4. tie. Mexico, 10 pts.
4. tie. Gator WC, 10 pts.
4. tie. Jr Huskie, 10 pts.
7. Bears, 8 pts.
8. tie. Japan, 7 pts.
8. tie. El Salvador, 7 pts.
Outstanding Wrestler - Lyndsay Belisle, BMWC, 48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Results By Weight
48 kg/105.5 lbs.
1. Lyndsay Belisle (Canada/BMWC)
2. Shoko Yoshimura (Japan)
3. Julie Harris (Canada/UCWC)
4. Kristin Fujioka (USA/Pacific)
5. Angela Mott (Smithers)
6. Audrey Carrasco (USA/Manitoba)
51 kg/112.25 lbs.
1. Katie Kunimoto (USA/USOTC)
2. Magdelena Arellano (Mexico)
3. Sarah White (Canada/SFU)
4. Karla Arqueta (El Salvador)
5. Nancy Mendez (Mexico)
6. Katherine Takedo (USA/SFU)
55 kg/121 lbs.
1. Tonya Verbeek (Canada/Brock)
2. Erica Sharp (Canada/UCWC)
3. Heather Sweezey (Canada/Brock)
4. Kate Eckfeldt (Canada/UCWC)
5. Saira Martinez (El Salvador)
6. Laura McCaugall (Canada/UCWC)
59 kg/130 lbs.
1. Breanne Graham (Canada/UCWC)
2. Emily Richardson (Canada/SFU)
3. Jessica Peterson (Canada/Douglas)
4. Heidi Kulak (Canada/Bears)
5. Virginia Mendoza (Mexico)
6. Jennifer Miyahara (USA/Pacific)
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
1. Trish Leibel (Canada/UCWC)
2. Viola Yanik (Canada/Huskies)
3. Theresa Vladicka (Canada/Bears)
4. Sally Roberts (USA/USOTC)
5. Jennica Day (Canada/SFU)
67 kg/147.5 lbs.
1. Shannon Samler (Canada/BMWC)
2. Megan Dolan (Canada/Brock)
3. Ashley Buchanan (Canada/Douglas)
4. Megan Buydens (Canada/Huskies)
5. Ashlea McManus (Canada/SFU)
6. Daniela Leanos (Mexico)
72 kg/158.5 lbs.
1. Christine Nordhagen (Canada/UCWC)
2. Ashley Cross (Canada/Douglas)
3. Christy Wark (Canada/SFU)
4. Marcela Carias (El Salvador)
5. Kristina Wolff (Canada/SFU)
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Upholding a family tradition
Katy Klammer is keeping a family wrestling tradition going after
getting into the sport by accident.
Klammer said she started wrestling last year as a freshman at Lake
Highlands, thanks to older brother Karl.
"We had a girl wrestler, Jessie Hayne, and Coach [Pete] Grieder asked
the team if they knew any girls wrestlers," Katy Klammer said. "Karl
volunteered me. It turned out that I love the sport a lot."
Klammer turned out to be a natural, finishing fourth at 215 pounds at
the UIL state meet. Good wrestling runs in her family. Her
great-grandfather, Karl Doppel, won a European title for Germany in 1921.
Klammer, who will wrestle at 185 pounds this season, also competes in
tae kwon do, which she said helps with her balance.
Finding practice partners has been difficult. Klammer has received
permission from the Richardson school district to practice with male
teammates. Klammer said finding girls from other schools to compete
against has also been difficult.
Klammer said she will press on and hopes for a higher finish at state
this season. At the very least she wants to avoid the color ribbon that was
attached to her state medal last season.
"The ribbon on the medal is pink," Klammer said. "Jessie said pink is
not a wrestling color. I don't like pink ribbons."
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Women's wrestling enjoying new status
By LISA ORKIN
Associated Press
11/13/2002
|
Tina George of Cleveland has her sights set on a gold medal in wrestling at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. |
HALKIDA, Greece - Olympic wrestling is no longer a man's world.
The athletes at the 2002 Women's World Wrestling Championships hope to keep it that way.
Two years before the debut of women's wrestling in the Olympics, the latest championships served as an important step toward the 2004 Games.
"I want that Olympic gold," said wrestler Tina George of Cleveland, who competes in the 121-pound category. George has already moved to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
There is no guarantee women's wrestling will remain in the Olympics for the 2008 Games in Beijing, organizers said at the recent championships in Halkida, about 55 miles from Athens.
The International Olympic Committee is under pressure to pare the number of sports, and Athens will be a key test on the future of women's wrestling.
"The IOC decided to have women participate in (wrestling) in the Olympics and today. . . . We are trying for something better," World Wrestling Organization President Raphael Martinetti said.
The women are enjoying their new Olympic stature nearly two decades after they began to wrestle in international competition.
"I think that it's really awesome that some countries are really putting a conscious effort into their women's wrestling and develop it," said Sara McMann of Lock Haven, Pa., who competes for the U.S. team in the 139-pound division.
Japan's Saori Yoshida, who won the freestyle 121-pound category at this year's Asian Games, has been waiting for years to make the Olympics.
"Before we always wanted that it would be a major sport. Now that is included. Everything is forgotten, and I am happy," said Yoshida.
U.S. national women's coach Terry Steiner says the women still haven't earned "total respect" in a traditionally male sport.
"In the U.S. I think the coaches there think it should be a man's sport forever because it's been a man's sport from the beginning of time," Steiner said.
Although only four weight events will be held during the Olympics, the international federation is using seven at the world championships. The next women's world championship, the last before the Olympics, is scheduled for September 2003 in New York.
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Girls' Wrestling Exhibition Highlights
2003 Championships
The CIF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of the CIF Wrestling Advisory Committee to include exhibition matches for girls' wrestlers at the 2003 state championship tournament. Paramaters, as approved by the Executive Committee, are as follows:
Number of Weight Classes
Consistent with weight classes used in USA Wrestling Senior Women's competition, the following eight weight classes will be established:
105.5 lbs.
112 1bs.
121 lbs.
130 lbs.
138.5 lbs.
147.5 lbs.
158.5 lbs.
158.6 + lbs.
Number of Exhibition Matches
A maximum of 16 matches (two per weight class) will be held during the state championship meet.
Criteria for Invitation
Wrestlers competing in these exhibition matches will be selected by invitation only. Criteria would include, but not be limited to, overall interscholastic record and record at girls' invitational tournaments.
Selection Committee
A selection committee will be formed, chaired by the chair of the CIF State Wrestling Advisory Committee. The selection committee would be comprised of high school wrestling coaches and officials who have specific experience with female wrestlers in California, with a balance of Northern California and Southern California members. Every effort will be given to ensuring no members of the committee carries any conflicts of interest.
Invitation Delivery and Acceptance Process
The Selection Committee will notify initial invitees no later than the third Friday in February (2/21/03). The deadline for response will be no later than Sunday, March 2. If a female wrestler qualifies for the State Tournament through her CIF section competition, she will have the option to choose to compete in the state tournament or to accept the invitation to compete in the girls' exhibition.
Schedule of Exhibition Matches
State Meet Director Chuck Chandler has indicated that our state championship schedule can accommodate eight exhibition matches on Friday and eight on Saturday.
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October 2002
Wrestling with Title IX
I was moved to write by the short blurb in the Light & Verity section of the Summer YAM regarding the Yale Wrestling Association taking part in a lawsuit challenging Title IX because it alleges that Title IX is reverse discrimination. To me, a woman athlete (crew and rugby) who benefited from previous Title IX fights, this seems like a huge step backwards, one that makes the Yale wrestling community seem terribly short-sighted and even misogynistic. It would make more sense to simply start a women's wrestling program.
Many high schools in the U.S. offer girls' wrestling either as a separate program or alongside the boys, but only six U.S. colleges and universities have women's programs. The girls coming up in wrestling have few options if they want to continue the sport. In addition, there are likely many other girls and women who would love to wrestle if they were given the chance: Girls and women have been joining traditionally male sports (such as ice hockey and rugby) in record numbers, and they have been doing martial arts for years.
There are many reasons why Yale should start a women's team, and no reason why it should not. In the words of Doug Reese, the coach of the University of Minnesota-Morris women's wrestling team: "It's an inexpensive sport, especially if you already have a men's team. It seems like a no-brainer."
Harmony Folz '92
Vancouver, BC
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11/13/2002
Laz Benitez/NYC2012
New York, NY (November 13, 2002) – NYC2012, along with USA Wrestling and the Metropolitan Wrestling Association (MWA), is proud to announce that New York City will host the prestigious 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling at Madison Square Garden from September 12-14, 2003.
More than 500 competitors from over 60 countries will take the mat at the Garden for three days of exciting wrestling action. The Championships will feature both men’s and women’s freestyle wrestling matches and will mark the first time women will be competing in the World Championships in the United States.
This is the first world championship event announced by NYC2012 since New York was selected by the United States Olympic Committee this past November 2nd as the U.S. Bid City for the 2012 Olympic Games.
"We are honored to have the world's best freestyle wrestlers coming to New York for these championships," said Wendy Hilliard, Managing Director of Sports, NYC2012. "With New York's large ethnic diversity, we are confident that the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling will stir national passions and demonstrate why New York is such an extraordinary home for great international sports competitions."
Wrestling Olympic gold medallist Jeff Blatnick was on hand at today’s announcement to express his support for the upcoming Championships, as well as for New York’s Olympic bid. Blatnick was an Olympian in 1980 and again in 1984, where he won a gold medal. Blatnick survived Hodgkin’s disease only two years before the 1984 Olympic Games.
"USA Wrestling is excited to partner with NYC2012 and the Metropolitan Wrestling Association to host what we believe will be the greatest wrestling competition ever staged on U.S. soil," said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director. "New York City and Madison Square Garden will be a great showcase for international wrestling. We are pleased to bring the world's greatest freestyle wrestlers to the media capital of the world."
USA Wrestling was represented at the press conference by its President, Stan Dziedzic.
The event marks the first time since 1995 that the U.S. has hosted the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling. USA Wrestling postponed the 2001 World Championships, originally scheduled for Madison Square Garden in New York City from September 26 – 29, 2001, after the events of 9/11.
“On behalf of the MWA, we are proud to be able to assist NYC2012 and USA Wrestling in putting on a first-class world competition here in New York,” said Setrak Agonian, President of the MWA.
The United States has hosted four previous World Wrestling Championships, most recently the World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in 1995 at the Omni Arena in Atlanta -- the year before the 1996 Olympic Games in the same city. The 1979 World Championships - in Freestyle and Greco-Roman - were held in San Diego, Calif. Previous World Wrestling Championships were held in Toledo, Ohio, in 1962 and 1966.
NYC2012 is the committee leading New York’s bid to become the Host City for the 2012 Olympic Games.
MWA is an allied member of USA Wrestling and leader in the development of amateur wrestling programs throughout the New York Metropolitan area.
Tickets for this event go on sale on Wednesday, November 13th at noon.
Ticket Information
* Denotes medal round
Session Dates and Times
Session 1 Friday, September 12 - 9am
Session 2 Friday, September 12 - 5pm
Session 3 Saturday, September 13 - 9am
Session 4 Saturday, September 13 - 5pm
Session 5 Sunday, September 14 - 10am*
Session 6 Sunday, September 14 - 4pm*
Ticket Prices
All-Session Passes (all six sessions) no TicketMaster surcharge
Call: 1-877-NYC-2003
Lower Level Reserved (Loge) - $185
Club Level Reserved (100’s and 200’s) - $120
General Admission - $80
Single Session Passes
Call: Ticketmaster at 212-307-7171
Lower Level Reserved (Loge) - $40*
Club Level Reserved (100’s and 200’s) - $30*
General Admission (Sunday only) - $25*
General Admission (Friday and Saturday) - $10*
*plus ticketmaster surcharge
VIP Gold Pass (all six sessions) $495
Call: 1-877-NYC-2003
* Includes VIP seating
* VIP hospitality with food and beverage Saturday and Sunday evening
* VIP gift pack
* Commemorative Program
* Daily pairings and brackets delivered to seats
* Ticket to Sunday evening event party
Visit the World Championships webpage at
http://www.nyc2012.com/wrestlingworlds