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Athlete of the Week--Sara Fulp-Allen

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Sport puts half-Nelson on area

PAULA HUNT , The Beaumont Enterprise 01/31/2003

BEAUMONT - Prior to last winter, wrestling shoes, singlets and earguards were as scarce as lacrosse sticks at Beaumont high schools.

Canada's national sport hasn't caught on yet at Central, Ozen and West Brook but wrestling has.

And, just one year after starting wrestling programs, all three schools are preparing to compete at the district meet Saturday at The Woodlands.

Wrestling has been a UIL sport since 1999 and in the years since, the number of high school wrestlers in Texas has jumped from 2,070 to 8,507 last year.

West Brook has 30 wrestlers this year, nine more than when coach Phil Hemmings started the program.

Hemmings said the students themselves have been the best advertisement for the program.

"There are guys here who really want to build a team," said Hemmings. "And it's a great sport for somebody who is too small for football or too short for basketball."

The fact wrestlers come in all shapes and sizes can been seen by the range of athletes at West Brook, from 112-pound Steven Garcia to 215-pound Edward Acclis.

The students practice in a small room on the second level of the school's gym. Soft blue mats, each with a 28-inch six white circle outlined with tape, line the floor.

When Hemmings blows his whistle to start the 30-second drills, there is flurry of flailing legs, spinning bodies and a chorus of grunts. Practice is hard, sweaty and intense.

Ask the athletes at West Brook what they like about wrestling and they'll use words like "awesome," "exciting" and "outrageous."

Team captain Josh Kemp, a senior who wrestles at 119 pounds, said he was the first person to sign up for wrestling when Hemmings announced he was starting a team.

"I've tried every other sport," said Kemp. "Football, akido, cross country and gymnastics. This is the best. It's one-on-one and there's nobody else to depend on but yourself."

Kemp enjoyed the sport so much he even inspired his girlfriend, Catherine Creason, to join the team.

Creason and Megan Gilbert, both sophomores, are the first girls to wrestle for West Brook.

"The amount of physical contact really surprised me," said Gilbert. "But I really like it a lot. It's like nothing that I've ever done. When you wrestle you use every muscle in your body."

Creason and Gilbert practice wrestling with the smaller boys on West Brook's team but can only compete against other girls in meets. Because there are not many girl wrestlers in the area, the two haven't had as much work as they'd like, but they will be competing Saturday.

All girls who compete at district can move on to the regional meet on February 7-8, but only the top two boys finishers in each weight category can advance.

The Beaumont schools will be competing against programs that have been in existence far longer, but local athletes are still shooting for success.

"I'd like to go to regionals," said Kemp. "I won't lie to myself and say I'll go to state. There's guys that have been wrestling eight or more years there. But my goal is regionals, that would be fine."

Even if they don't come home with a team trophy Saturday, Hemmings is proud of what his students have accomplished in a short period of time.

"When we started last year we looked like we were learning how to wrestle," said Hemmings. "This year we look like a wrestling team."

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, West Brook will host the first Beaumont Bowl City Wrestling Tournament where the Bruins will face coach Tony Baltutis' Central and coach Bo Granger's Ozen team.

Upcoming matches

District 21 wrestling meet

Who: Central, Ozen and West Brook high schools

Where: The Woodlands High School, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

When: Saturday

Beaumont Bowl City Wrestling Tournament

Where: West Brook High School

When: Wednesday

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Oak Ridge standout Amy Drennan has sights set on state wrestling title

Mike Jones, Sports Editor January 29, 2003

Oak Ridge High senior standout Amy Drennan, who has lettered in five sports during her athletic career at the south county school, will get to relax and take it easy this weekend during the district wrestling meet at The Woodlands High School.
Drennan has been good enough this season that you could say she has had no competition during her run to a 17-0 mark. But at this weekend's district meet, that will be just the case. She literally has no competition, giving her an automatic berth in the upcoming regional tournament in Allen Feb. 7-8.

Drennan, who has also competed in basketball, volleyball, track and field and golf, the latter of which she has made all-district the past three years, is the defending regional wrestling champion. She finished in fourth at the state event in 2002.

"We have a lot of great people on our wrestling team and we all get along very good," said Amy, who has been invited to go to the USGWA Nationals in Detroit with the Texas team. "I think we will go very far and will have lots of kids who have a good chance to go all the way to state. I am just happy to be a part of the team."

Drennan credits new wrestling coaches Don Burt and Mike Lynch for her continued success this season.

"They are doing awesome," she said. "A big thanks to both of them."

Drennan has competed in seven tournaments this year, compiling the 17-win, no-loss mark with all pins, most of them coming in less than a minute.

After the state tournament, which will be Feb. 21-22 in Austin, Drennan will focus on where she will be attending college.

"Amy has been contacted by Pacific University out of Oregon and Cumberland College out of Kentucky to wrestle," said Amy's father, Don. "The coach from Pacific will be at the state finals looking at a few girls, including Amy."

Along with all the wrestling honors this year, including titles at the A&M Consolidated Tiger Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 18 and the Doc Hess Invitational in Bryan on Dec. 21, Amy received another award this year that she truly cherishes.

"She was named, along with Tonya Edlund, the most athletic female at Oak Ridge this year," said Don.

Notes: The district meet will take place Saturday at The Woodlands High School at 9 a.m. TWHS and ORHS will have full teams competing in boys and girls matches. Some of the other ORHS competitors will be Camille Evans (won division at A&M event), Morgan Cameron, Emily Cooper, Kristen John, Nathan Lambert (won division at A&M event), Jesse Otoole (won division at A&M event), Justin Cameron, Matt Campos, Tommy White and Brandon White.

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She's one of the guys at Northeastern

By KERMIT ROWE, News-Sun 1/31/03

Northeastern junior Megan Rousculp is a lot of things, among them an honor roll student, 4-H Club president, state record-breaking powerlifter and possible future nurse or sports trainer.

But a high school wrestler? You’ve got to be kidding!

At least that’s what her mother, Melissa, thought when she first heard it.

“Last year, she kept teasing me that she was going to wrestle and I would say, ‘No way,’ ” said Melissa. “I thought she was doing it as a joke, that she wasn’t serious about it and that it would die down. But it didn’t. Now here she is, pink shoe laces on the wrestling shoes and all.”

Yes, here she is: a girl competing in a boy’s sport. And here she plans to stay, despite anything others might think or say.

“I’ve played a lot of sports, but I like wrestling the best because it is a lot of one-on-one contact,” said Megan. “It’s just you against your competitor. I think it is fun.

“I took stats last year for the South Vienna (Middle School) team and I really liked it,” she continued. “Some of the coaches talked to me about it, but last summer I really wasn’t sure yet. Then I went to conditioning and really liked it, so I gave it a try.”

Some, as you might imagine, would rather she hadn’t.

“There have been a couple of kids who were apprehensive about it,” said Northeastern head coach Ben Obee. “One guy, once he got her down on the mat, he didn’t feel comfortable working on pinning combinations, so he just let her up and worked for another takedown.”

At least her teammates didn’t have a problem getting used to it.

“Most of the guys, honestly, have treated her like one of the guys,” said Obee. “They go out and wrestle her just like they would anyone else.”

Well, almost like anyone else.

“Most of them don’t want to wrestle me so they try to make it a quick match,” said Megan.

They had better get used to it.

“There’s starting to be more girls in wrestling,” she said. “We have two middle school girls who are wrestling, too, and they are pretty good. There was a team at our last tournament that had one.

“All the girls who are wrestling have started out when they were younger. I wish I would have started out in middle school because I would be a lot better now.”

Instead, she accepts that she has to take her lumps.

“You’ve just got to be positive about it, but realistic, too,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t going to win many matches the first year, but I’m sure I’m going to win some the next year. I just want the experience.”

She has had her share of successful athletic experiences.

“My freshman year I got a state record in powerlifting and last year I broke four state records,” she said. “I’m a little better at powerlifting than wrestling, but I just like wrestling more.”

That’s just fine with Obee and the rest of the Jets team.

“No one thought she’d last this long,” said Obee. “But she hasn’t missed a practice. The guys think of her as another member of the team.

“She does everything that the guys do,” he continued. “I coach her just like any wrestler. We run the halls, she runs the halls. We hit the weights, she hits the weights. If she’s two pounds over, she is sweating to make weight.

“I think there are no sexist remarks because she has earned the respect of the guys on the team.”

So it is about respect, not getting attention or publicity.

“It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing,” said Obee. “She was a powerlifter last year and she approached me after our wrestling banquet at the end of last season. I told her some things she should do to be sure (if she wanted to wrestle).”

Veteran South wrestling coach Shawn Jarzab, who attends her family’s church, was also encouraging. Yes, the same Shawn Jarzab who has made a spot for a wrestler with cerebral palsy in the past and currently has a blind athlete on his team.

Jarzab, and Obee, see tolerance and acceptance as the key to success.

“It rubs off on people,” said Obee. “That’s my theory in building a program here. We have one wrestler with one leg shorter than another. My philosophy is, ‘the kid gets more from wrestling than wrestling gets from the kid.’ With some kids, it can help turn them around.

“It teaches you work ethic, and that’s a key with kids nowadays,” Obee continued. “And it teaches you dedication and family, too. You spend three long months with kids in that (wrestling) room and bus trips to sweaty gyms on the weekends. For some kids who don’t have a family, they need that. Now they have a family.”

Still, it hasn’t been easy for Megan.

“She’s filled in to take some forfeits for us, she’s wrestled in the London and Tri-County North tournaments and she filled in last week for us when we had some injuries,” said Obee. “She hasn’t won a match in actual competition. Technically, she has been wrestling above where she is certified. She is certified at 135, but she has wrestled at a higher weight to help the team.”

Which just makes things tougher.

“It looks easy when you watch it, but once you get out there, it isn’t,” said Megan. “It’s not just physical, it is mental competition, too.”

But she hasn’t given up.

“As a matter of fact, she just recently said, ‘Next year I’ve just got to certify at 130.’ Another time, she came up to me and said, ‘Do you know (the University of) Minnesota gives scholarships for women?’

“Actually, there are a lot of women’s wrestling scholarships out there that go unclaimed. It’s the best way to tackle Title IX.”

One thing at a time, said Megan, who nonetheless is looking to the future.

“I’m planning on going to a few girls tournaments this summer,” she said.

And if a college scholarship comes up?

“I’m really not sure what I’m going to do. If they offer me a scholarship, I’ll consider it. But that’s not why I’m wrestling.”

So what is she hoping to get out of wrestling?

“I’d like to know the fact that I actually did it,” said Megan. “There are not too many girls who can say they actually competed in a guy’s sport.

“Next year, I want to win some matches, too — just to know that I can beat a guy. I’d like more wins, but I’d be happy with just one.”

Many think she’s already won a great victory, just by not quitting. And now, everyone is a believer. Even mom.

“I was really skeptical at first,” said Melissa. “Why would she want to try this? But her main thing was the challenge of it.

“It took a lot of people to talk me into it, but I’m glad it let her do it,” Melissa continued. “I’m glad because she needed to know that she could do it. We are very proud of her. She has stuck it through, and that’s what counts.”

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Tough kid, big dreams
Bakker wrestling for national team spot

By GLEN DAWKINS 1/31/03

Theresa Bakker is quite familiar with the 45-minute drive from Selkirk to the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus.

For the last two years, the 16-year-old Lord Selkirk Grade 11 student has piled into her car five times a week and made the journey south.

But that's a measure of her single-minded devotion to becoming an Olympic wrestler.

"Last year, my dad drove me almost all the time and if it wasn't him, it was my grandma or my mom," said Bakker, who got her license in July and now handles the driving herself.

To quote an old advertising slogan, she's driving to be the best.

Her commitment has certainly impressed Bison Wrestling Club and provincial head coach Nat Brigante.

"That's probably why she gets the results she does," said Brigante. "I tell these guys that I can teach you but you've to want it (to succeed)."

In the five years since she first took up wrestling in junior high in Selkirk, Bakker has put together a string of impressive performances on the mat.

Last year, she struck gold at the cadet and juvenile national championships and she wrestled regularly in high school and university meets.

Last month, she picked a bronze in the university event and a silver in the high school event at a tournament in Thunder Bay, was named the outstanding female wrestler at a tournament at J.H. Bruns Collegiate and picked up gold medals in back-to-back meets in Kitchener and Sarnia, Ont.

Last weekend, she took the silver at the Cougar Open in Regina, defeating a former U.S. Senior National team member before losing to world senior silver medallist Viola Yanik from Saskatoon.

"I prefer not to know too much about (her opponents in advance) because it gets you all psyched out," said Bakker, who will be wrestling this weekend at the Manitoba Open at the University of Manitoba Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Bakker was encouraged to take up wrestling by her junior high coach who liked her "natural scrapper ability." With the support of her father -- a high school wrestler himself -- she threw herself into it.

"I've been told that (wrestling isn't for girls) quite a few times but I put it off in the back of my head," she said. "It gives me more determination to continue on."

"She's a tough kid, strong and pretty determined," said Brigante. "That's all I ask of these kids. If they give me that, the results will come."

"You have to be mentally and physically fit for wrestling," said Bakker, who plans to study at the U of M and hopefully get a spot on the national team and go to the 2008 Olympics. "If you're not mentally fit, your mind is always someplace else instead of on the mat focused on what you can do."

Next up for Bakker is the junior nationals, March 14-16 in Fredericton, N.B., and the Cadet and juvenile nationals, April 4-6 in Calgary.

"Manitoba Open will pretty much be the last big thing before my nationals," said Bakker, who is the assistant coach and captain for the Lord Selkirk high school wrestling team.

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District wrestling titles on the line

By John Kaltefleiter 1/31/03
jkaltefleiter@amarillonet.com

For hundreds of metro and area high school wrestlers, the dream of making the state wrestling tournament starts this weekend.

The area's top three districts - District 5, 6 and 8 - are set to conduct their district meets. The top two wrestlers from each weight division advance to the regionals. From there, it's on to state.

Perhaps the district with the most parody this weekend is District 6, which includes host Dumas, Boys Ranch, Pampa, River Road and Borger. Those five schools, which boast at least a dozen state-ranked wrestlers, square off against one another starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Dumas gymnasium.

"This is a highly-respected district," Dumas coach Kurt Baxter said. "There's going to be a lot of state-ranked kids going head-to-head in this tournament.

"With that caliber of wrestlers, of course, it's going to be a good tournament. These kids have been trying to put their A-games together all season for the district, region and state tournaments."

Among the most competitive weight divisions will be the 112-pound and the heavyweight classes, Baxter said. Borger's Jerry Elliot and Dumas' Adrian Aguilar have split their last two meetings at 112 pounds. Heavyweights Jim Melton of Boys Ranch, Pampa's Kevin Parks and Aubrey Munoz of Borger are all state-ranked and are vying for the coveted two spots that will send them to regionals.

Also wrestling at the meet will be Boys Ranch's Caleb Rogers and Chad and Chase Cooper of Borger. The biggest question mark is whether River Road's Devin Velasquez will wrestle. The No. 6-ranked Wildcat grappler has battled injury throughout the season. As of Thursday, it was not known whether he'd be able to compete.

Meanwhile in District 5, Caprock, Palo Duro, Tascosa and Amarillo High will face off today starting at 5 p.m. at the Amarillo High Activity Center. There are expected to be several tight matches, including PD's Michael Gerber (23-2) against Amarillo High's David Hanson in the 119-pound division. Both wrestlers are state-ranked.

In addition, the Sandies' Michael Vigil gets another shot at Tascosa's Elliot Sierra (12-8) in the 125-pound class. Sierra needed overtime to beat Vigil the last time the two met. Caprock's Carlos Ornelas (24-12) has the potential to make that matchup meaningless.

"This is the first step (toward the state tourney)," Tascosa's head coach Johnny Cobb said. "If you don't make it past this step, then you can forget about taking any other steps."

As far as other matchups with a lot of potential, there's plenty of them. Cobb highlighted the 103-, 152- and 160-pound matches.

"The 152 with (PD's) Trey Gerber and Michael White of Amarillo High should be a good one. That ought to be one to really watch," he said. "And the 160? Man, that's a toss-up in that weight."

In girls action, the last three state champions will collide, with Palo Duro and Caprock hoping to unseat the defending champion Lady Rebels. Matchups to look out for reside in the 97, 130 and 150-pound weight divisions.

Fresh off the state duals in Houston last weekend, Caprock's Crystal Valdez (97 pounds) will take on Palo Duro's Stormy Greer.

The 130-pound class is chock full of contenders, including Tascosa's Maggie Parker and Gina James, Palo Duro's Roberta Gallegos and Caprock's Amanda Holland. The 150-pound division features Nina Rodriguez, Hannah Skinner and Krista Guzman of Caprock, and Tascosa's Shelbee Hutchens and Tamica Jules and PD's Anne Thomas.

Three-team District 8, which features matchups between Randall, Hereford and Vernon, starts at 4 p.m. today at Randall and will showcase some of the state's best wrestlers in Hereford's Luis Perez (119 pounds), Refugio Alvarez (125) and Randall's Cory Brown (119).

Randall head coach David Quirino, whose Raiders are going for a three-peat as District 8 champions, is led by J.D. Jones at 160, Corey Brown at 119, and Craig Fenwick at 180.

Fenwick went undefeated in an Oklahoma tournament last weekend. He beat defending state champion Sean Kelley of Tascosa earlier in the season.

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Facing Colbert a tough dilemma

By ROBERT WATSON
The Zone 12/19/02

You're a wrestler.
You've trained all week for your match. You're mentally prepared. You look over and see your opponent ... is a girl.

Something isn't right.

That's what Johnson High sophomore wrestler Spen-cer Arnold faced Monday as he took the mat against Flowery Branch's Rashona Colbert in Jasper in a 103-pound match.

"I'm thinking, 'I'm wrestling a girl,'" Arnold said. "It's hard to get over that you're wrestling someone of the opposite sex."

Colbert presents psychological problems for male wrestlers, according to Falcons coach Shane Lancaster.

"It's kind of a lose-lose situation," he said. "If they beat her, they've simply beaten a girl. But if they lose to her, they've lost to a girl. A lot of times those guys are beaten before they ever step out on that mat."

Most fathers may not want their sons to wrestle girls, and Arnold's case is no exception. His father, Paul Arnold, requested his son be moved to a higher weight class the last time Johnson wrestled Flowery Branch, so Spencer would not have to face Shona.

She defeated Thad Bowers in Arnold's place.

"I guess that's the first time I've heard of any guy doing that," Shona said.

Asked how she felt about that, Shona responded: "I wonder why. I don't know if it's religion."

Shona's father, Keith Colbert Sr., had a different take on the situation: "There are two reasons why you don't wrestle. Either you're scared or you're scared."

Spencer wrestled Shona for the first time Monday. She pinned him in the second period.

"He wanted me to wrestle her to end what he saw as cockiness," Spencer said of his father. "He saw the crowd as enjoying a girl beating a guy, and he wanted me to end that. Obviously didn't."

Shona led 7-5 at the time of the pin. Distraught at the thought of losing to a girl and upset by the loss, Spencer left the gym to regaining his composure.

"Down south, we've got this mentality not to put our hands on girls in certain ways," first-year Knights coach Garry Glenn said. "That can be a psychological disadvantage. However, it is your responsibility as a wrestler, no matter who they are or what sex they are ... to beat them."

Spencer nearly defeated Shona, but she reversed a move to pin him. Later, Spencer requested videotape of the match to correct his mistakes in future meetings.

Female wrestlers

are nothing new

For all intensive purposes, the first female wrestled in high school in 1986. The next year there were 18, and today there are more than 3,000 female wrestlers nationwide

"Initially there was opposition to this happening," said Bruce Howard, director of publications and communications for the National Federation of State High School Associations. "The courts really gave precedent for allowing girls to wrestle as schools saw they weren't going to be able to prevent girls wrestling on boys teams."

According to a 2001-02 participation survey conducted by the NFHS, 261 Georgia high schools reported 6,237 male wrestlers. Meanwhile, 39 schools reported 132 female wrestlers. The figure is inflated because a number of schools counted managers as participants, Georgia High School Association spokesman Steve Figueroa said.

The GHSA has no rules against girls participating in wrestling.

"Our philosophy, our rule, for any sport is that the female can participate as long as there is no corresponding female sport," Figueroa said. "In other words, if that school had a female wrestling team, then she couldn't wrestle on the boys team. But since there is no female wrestling team, then she can wrestle (with the boys)."

Female wrestling team? Don't laugh.

Since 1998, Texas has held its own 10 weight-class, girls state championship meet, which runs simultaneously with the boys meet. Girls qualify for state through local and regional meets.

The state has more than 150 schools with girls teams. Last year, 941 girls participated in wrestling, more than any other state.

"We feel it has been very successful," said Mark Cousins, assistant athletic director for the Texas University Interscholastic League, the equivalent of the GHSA.

"The number of girls participating has continued to rise. The only time we had an empty spot in the state tournament was the first year, and only two spots were empty out of the 80 that we had."

Howard thinks the next movement will be establishing teams for girls, "but we're probably a long way away from that universally."

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Girl Wrestlers Ready to Dominate
New girls team gets ready to compete against San Leandro, others during the season

By: Alex Allphin
12/02

The art of wrestling has been practiced by men all around the world since the days of Ancient Greece. It is regarded as one of the most exciting, challenging and dangerous sports ever, and now girls will be doing it too.

This winter season marks the beginning of the first-ever girls wrestling team at CVHS.

"We have a good group of girls that are very enthusiastic," said head coach Steve Solis of the brand new team. "And they’ve been training hard."

The debut of the team was prompted by Solis, a veteran wrestling coach at Canyon Middle School. Solis got the idea from San Leandro High School, who started a girls wrestling team last year.

"[Our boys team] always beat San Leandro," said Solis. "So we started talking to [Marie] Gray about it and she was very positive about the idea."

The team consists of 22 girls. There are nine freshman, nine sophomores and four juniors.

"What I like about wrestling is that it’s challenging," said junior Trisha Williams. "This is my first year, but I think the girls Castro Valley wrestlers are going to kick some butt."

The girls wrestling team will face San Leandro and Vintage High School in Napa during the regular season, and Solis seems optimistic about how his team will do.

"As long as we keep up the good work ethic, I think we’ll do real good," said Solis.

The new team is also arranging CVHS’s first-ever novice girls tournament.

"It’s for beginning wrestlers without any high school experience, and all freshmen," said Solis. "It gives them a chance to experience wrestling without getting their butts kicked by experienced wrestlers. So they’re all starting on the same page."

The tournament will be held on Dec. 9 in the CVHS gym and spectators are welcome.
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GIRLS WRESTLING:

1/30/03

The CIF State Wrestling Finals will hold exhibition girls matches for the first time this year.

Eight different weight class will be used for girls staring at 105.5 pounds.

The competitors will be chosen based in part on overall interscholastic record and record at girls' invitational tournaments, like the one held at Eisenhower last weekend.

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Stockton to lose state meet
This will be the last year UOP will host the tournament.

By Mark McDermott -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Thursday, January 30, 2003

Unfortunately for Northern California, this will be the last time the State Wrestling Championships will be held at the Spanos Center on the University of the Pacific campus, the site since 1988.
The three-year contract between the city of Stockton and the California Interscholastic Federation will not be renewed. The tournament just grew too large, according the CIF sports information director Jim Duel.

"Stockton's been such a great site for us. But it's gotten to the point where we've outgrown it. The state meet is too popular," Duel told The Modesto Bee.

Spanos Center seats 6,100 and no longer can handle the overflow crowds. Nor can Spanos Center compete with 10,000-seat venues in other cities seeking the tournament. Hundreds of fans were turned away at the door for last year's finals, which were sold out more than 48 hours before the first match.

The top two candidates for the 2004 State Championships are Selland Arena (11,300 seats) in Fresno, the locale of the 1987 state meet, and Centennial Gardens (9,200 seats) in Bakersfield. Bakersfield High won the team state championship last year.

Over the past 15 years, the Sac-Joaquin Section has earned 17 state individual titles and the Sacramento area eight competing in Spanos Center.

* Despite a 174-pound title by Jordan Polly at the Foothill-Asics tournament over the weekend, Del Oro is hurting, with injuries taking their toll.

The ninth-ranked Golden Eagles have lost Josh Summers (128) to a shoulder injury, Bryan Ryerson-Bisig (148) to knee surgery and David Hodges (163) to a dislocated elbow. Also, Micah Ferguson (115), ranked fourth in the state, sat out the Asics with a recurring shoulder problem.

* For the first time in the 31-year history of the state meet, there will be girls matches.

The CIF Executive Committee approved the inclusion of 16 girls exhibition matches, two each in eight weight classes beginning with the 105 1/2-pound division and concluding with the 158.6-plus division, in this year's state meet. The wrestlers will be selected by invitation only. The girls will be notified no later than Feb. 22.

Should a girl qualify for the state meet through section competition, she has the option of competing against the boys or competing in the exhibition matches.

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