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Grim reaps state wrestling crown
By Randy Johnson, Times-Herald sports writer 2/03
It was a very long day at Vallejo High School's Bottari Gym, but it turned out to be an awfully special one for Maribeth Grim.
Grim, a junior wrestler for Bethel High School, won the state title at 100 pounds with a 4-0 decision over Half Moon Bay's Katherine Fulp-Allen on Saturday at the Girls California Wrestling Championships.
"It feels good," said a fatigued Grim between breaths. "My goal was just being aggressive and wrestling my best every match."
That she did, posting a pair of pins and a trio of decisions for a perfect 5-0 showing on the day (and night).
"She did great, especially considering the conditions," said Grim's coach, Mike Sariano. "She's been sick, and she missed a couple of practices this past week. The way she wrestled shows that she has a lot of heart and a lot of confidence."
Saturday was a pretty darn good day for Vallejo High, as the Apaches trailed just San Leandro and Vintage in the team standings at press time, with matches continuing into the night.
The top Vallejo grappler on Saturday was 118-pounder Jamie Sage, who lost in the finals to San Leandro's Alexis Gonzales by pinfall.
Still, Sage had to win her first four matches just to get to that point, and the sophomore was very excited about her effort.
"I think I did real well," said Sage, gasping for air like Grim afterward. "I've got two years of high school left, so this is only the beginning."
Teammate Anita Xiong placed fifth with a win over Mallory Martinez of South Hills in the 100-pound bracket. Other results were not available at press time.
Hogan's top finisher was 100-pounder Marissa Gonzales, who took fourth after dropping the third-place match to University's Damaris Barrios. Spartans teammates Andrea Santos and Jessica Robles took fifth in their respective classes.
Grim's teammate, Ashley Bayongan, dropped two straight matches in the double-elimination format after a first-round bye.
As for the fourth local team, St. Patrick-St. Vincent, the Bruins were in 49th place out of the 82 teams at press time.
In an unusual twist to an earlier consolation match, St. Pat's teammates Sheila Delmendo and Alex Tolero were forced to take the mat against each other.
Tolero, a freshman, earned a win over Delmendo, a junior.
"I've wrestled her a lot in practice, and she's a hard worker," said Delmendo of Tolero.
"I knew this was going to be a challenge, but I'm not really looking forward to wrestling my teammates," she said with a smile. "It was just experience, and it benefited both of us."
Vallejo coach/tournament organizer Mike Minahen said that 82 schools and a total of 207 wrestlers participated in the tournament, over 40 more than the previous high of 161 grapplers.
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Grim makes history at state tourney
By Chris Navalta
Staff writer 2/1/03
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Considering the trying times Bethel High School coach Mike Soriano has had to go through over the past week, he's got to feel good about this one.
Soriano, who had to dismissed nearly half of his wrestling team due to disciplinary reasons earlier this week, saw another wrestler make school history by becoming the first Jaguar to win a state championship in any sport at Vallejo High School Saturday.
One-hundred-pound junior Maribeth Grim breezed by the competition in her weight class, picking up for wins without a single loss, including a 4-0 win over Catherine Fulp-Allen of Half Moon Bay in the championship match to win the state title at 100s.
"She wrestled a real good match," Soriano said. Maribeth wrestled really tough. She's been winning every tournament that she's been at in 100s. She was very ecstatic. But she's been beaten Fulp-Allen two times before. So, she knew she was capable of beating her. She was very proud of herself. She knew she did a really good job."
Grim was just a handful of local wrestlers who were fortunate coming out of the first round. For Hogan, all but one wrestler was unable to pick up a win in the first round. Jessica Robles (100s) was the fortunate round, going all the way to the semi-finals before finally dropping down the consolation round after losing to Grim.
Vallejo's Jamie Sage had a shot at becoming state champion, going 3-0 entering the championship match. But Sage lost by pin to San Leandro's Alexis Gonzales, picking up second place. Teammate Anita Xiong finished in fifth at 105s.
Robles, along with 126-pounder Andrea Santos, wound up in fifth place while teammate Marissa Gonzales was the highest Spartan to place at fourth in 105s.
Over 200 wrestlers from all over the state participated in Saturday's event, making it by far the largest girls wrestling tournament in state history. The previous tournament had over 160 participants.
"It was a great tournament," Vallejo coach -- and tournament director -- Mike Minahen said. "We did start (two-and-a-half hours) late because we had so many wrestlers come and not have their registrations complete. But that's ok."
More than one-tenth of the total participation represented the Vallejo area. Hogan had the most representatives with 13 wrestlers, Vallejo was second with seven. St. Pat's had six wrestlers and Bethel had two.
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98 pounds, no weakling
Rashona Colbert is all girl, but she outwrestles boys
By LARRY HARTSTEIN 2/1/02
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kent D. Johnson / AJC
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With a lightning whip move, Rashona Colbert pinned a boy at the Hall County wrestling championships.
Then she apologized.
The 98-pounder doesn't normally say "sorry" to boys she beats on the mat. If she did, she'd be handing out apologies right and left.
"This boy was claiming that she was choking him and that he couldn't breathe, yet at the same time he was yelling, so the ref didn't stop the match," said Shane Lancaster, Rashona's coach at Flowery Branch High School. "It was a legal hold."
Still, Rashona went up to the boy to make amends.
"I guess that's just me being a girl," said the 15-year-old sophomore.
"It's just her nature," Lancaster said. "She loves to compete, but at the same time she hasn't lost her manners."
She hasn't lost many matches, either. Wrestling in the 103-pound division, Rashona is 25-13 with 11 pins in varsity matches.
Female high school wrestlers aren't unheard of in Georgia. According to the latest survey by the Georgia High School Association, 39 schools reported 123 female participants in wrestling. That figure, however, includes girls who don't wrestle but serve as assistants.
But girls who excel at wrestling are rare. Probably the most acclaimed in recent years was Patrice Crenshaw of Tri-Cities High, who qualified for state in 2001 and finished second in the 115-pound division of the United States Girls' Wrestling Association tournament.
Rashona comes from a wrestling family.
Her stepfather, Keith Martin, wrestled for East Hall High in the 1980s. Videotaping her younger brother's club matches, Rashona thought she could wrestle and asked Martin to let her try. She began competing two years ago with a Buford club team.
Now Martin attends, and videotapes, all of Rashona's matches. When she gets home from practice, he tutors her on technique in their living room.
"Because she's so small, she overcomes the strength of her male competitors by using technique," Lancaster said. "That's one thing about this sport: It's always technique and knowledge over muscle."
Sometimes the message doesn't get through.
During a recent tournament, Rashona couldn't wait to face a Gainesville High School wrestler who had pinned her weeks earlier.
"He beat me, but I'm going to beat him this time," she told Martin as she paced in her black, gray and red Falcons sweat suit. "I'm getting my hopes up."
But when Rashona took the mat against Gainesville's Travis Hendrix, she tried to pin him and was overpowered.
"He's too strong and he turned her over," a disappointed Martin said as he replayed the tape. "She should have tried to beat him on points. I'm hoping she learned from it."
Though she stands just five feet tall, Rashona is treated by her teammates like one of the boys, and they push her just as hard in practice. But opponents sometimes find facing a girl a distraction.
"It kind of throws them off their game," said Rashona's teammate, junior Zach Davis.
Boys get conflicted when wrestling a girl, said Oconee County High coach Jimmy Herring.
"Society says you don't manhandle a girl, you don't treat her rough and you don't hit your sister," said Herring, whose team took on Flowery Branch recently. "On the other hand, it's a chance to show that this is a man's sport."
Rashona realizes that boys dread losing to her.
When she pinned a Johnson High wrestler, he yelled "No!"
Rashona's matches in the Flowery Branch gym draw extra attention. Runners stop and hang over the balcony, and people leave the concession line to watch.
In school hallways, Rashona has heard it all.
"I can't believe you're wrestling."
"Are you crazy?"
"I'm proud of you."
Talk doesn't affect her. She's not wrestling to prove a point.
"I like winning," she said. "And I get to be on a team with wrestlers."
In her spare time, Rashona likes to draw and take pictures and play with her family's dogs. But her biggest focus now is placing high enough in the area competition to make it to the state tournament.
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They're back
SERVICE WINS: Cougars pour it on in convincing fashion
By J.R. Rardon
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: February 2, 2003)
Parke MacDowell was a freshman when the Service High wrestling team wrapped up a run of 26 straight Region IV championships in their home gym three years ago.
On Saturday, the Cougars returned home and returned triumphant at the top of the awards podium with a convincing team victory in the Region IV tournament.
"It feels good to bring it back," an emotional MacDowell said after claiming the 140-pound title, one of four Service championships. "We had a great group of guys this year, and we had it all come together."
The Cougars also had a great big group of guys, and their overwhelming numbers played a large role as they piled up 363.5 points to 259 for runner-up Chugiak and 204.5 for third-place Dimond.
Service entered a meet-high 27 wrestlers -- of a possible 28 -- and advanced 20 of them to this week's Class 4A state championships in Ketchikan with top-5 finishes.
"We just needed more numbers," said Ed Bailey, a Chugiak senior who won at 119 pounds for his third region title. "(Service) had more people come through the back brackets."
Service's 27th Region IV title ended Chugiak's two-year run as champions. Both of those titles came when the tournament was held at Bartlett High, when a season schedule change left it in conflict with the Class 2A state basketball tournament at Service.
While Service had both home-mat and superior numbers advantages, the Cougars earned this the old-fashioned way. Victories by Matt Blakeslee at 103 pounds and Jason Macrander at heavyweight bookended Saturday's finals, with Parke winning his second straight title and Matt Malone adding the 160-pound crown as Service matched Chugiak and Dimond with a meet-high four winners.
Malone, who joined the squad late and had just one match before the tournament, came through as the No. 3 seed for his victory.
"I didn't want to wrestle this year because I was working out to get ready for college football," said Malone. "I got talked into it by (teammate) Ryan Ersland. We've been going at it for the past six years, so I couldn't let him finish by himself."
For Chugiak, Bailey was joined in victory by his brother, 145-pound junior Dan Bailey, by 135-pound senior Stan Brown, who won his second title in as many region-tournament appearances, and by 112-pound senior Josh Herr.
Dimond senior Darin Pestrikoff matched Ed Bailey with three Region IV championships by putting on a takedown clinic in his 19-7 major decision over Chugiak junior Travis Schultz at 125 pounds. The Lynx also got wins from senior Brian Davis-Lucero at 130, senior Mike Croffut at 171 and junior Keenan Chirhart at 189.
Bartlett claimed the other two individual victories, including junior Jeff Herren's 3-2 win over East's Brant Jensen at 152 pounds that earned Herren the meet's Outstanding Wrestler Award. Senior 215-pounder Greg Marlow pinned Chugiak senior Tom Vickrey in the third round to produce one of just four pins in the 14 finals matches.
Action picked up considerably Saturday after a Friday session devoid of major upsets and marked by lopsided wins by top seeds.
Five of Saturday's titles -- including Herron's and Malone's -- were claimed by wrestlers seeded either second or third.
Dan Bailey got the upset wagon rolling in the 145-pound championship, jumping to a 9-0 lead over top-seeded Service sophomore Wade Wilson and survived a near-pin late in the match to hang on for a 9-7 win and join his more decorated older brother in the winner's circle.
The Bailey brothers also reached the finals in the season-opening Bob Bailey Invitational at Chugiak, which is named for their late father, but Dan was unable to match Ed's victory there while settling for second place.
"This makes up for it," Dan said after collecting the champion's loot of a medal and the poster-sized weight bracket at Service. "This is the one I really wanted."
Wilson, who pinned Bailey in their last meeting two weeks ago, nearly overcame his slow start when he reversed Bailey to his back and held him there for 27 tense seconds late in the final period.
"I was real nervous, and he just outwrestled me in the first period," said Wilson, appearing in his first region tournament. "In the third, I just really wanted it, and I kinda spazzed. It was a desperation move, but it almost worked."
The top five wrestlers at each weight qualified for the Class 4A state tournament that begins Friday at Ketchikan High.
The group includes West senior Iris Mucha,who two years ago was the first girl from Region IV to advance to state. At that time, she was one of only four wrestlers vying for six state berths. Saturday, however, she faced two elimination matches and won them both, including a 7-5 overtime decision over East's Larry Jones in the fifth-place match at 130 pounds.
"I'm glad I did it for the team and for my coaches," said Mucha. "This is something I worked four years for."
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Fun-filled Saturday of girls wrestling at 'The Bo'
By Vince D'Adamo
1/30/03
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VALLEJO - Female wrestlers and coaches have a distinct aim in proving the sport is not just here for shock value in Saturday's California Girls Shootout.
The event is entering its third year and is not yet sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation but Vallejo head coach Mike Minahen is hopeful of such a scenario at some stage.
"It's been very good for California," said Minahen, who doubles as the school's athletic director. "It's the toughest girls wrestling state in the country. We won the national last year going away. Our girls have done very well in the freestyle as well as the high school style girls national. We just need the California Interscholastic Federation to get on the bandwagon and move things forward to make it an official state tournament."
This event coupled with the Napa Valley Girls Classic at Vintage (Napa) High has opened the gate for more females to participate in the sport, Vallejo coaches say.
"The turnout we've had this year is really positive," St. Patrick's head coach Larry Marino said. "Last year, we had one girl and she was the first that lasted a season. Lo and behold this year she brings out a bunch of friends. I know Vallejo and Hogan had a lot. All the sudden this year we'vr got six. I didn't realize there was that many girls out there in the whole area."
Added Hogan head coach Ric Manibusen: "It gives good exposure to the team and the entire state of California. It lets it be known that there is girls wrestling available to everybody. Every year it increases but we're averaging almost 20 girls a year. We lose many to graduation but we have many that are interested."
Added Bethel head coach Mike Sariano: "We've got some girls interested this year from that as well. They may not have stuck it out but we have five girls in here and it's good for exposure and the popularity of the sport."
Two weeks ago at the Napa Valley Girls Classic, Bethel's Maribeth Grim (100-pounds) and Jamie Sage (118) shine by winning the tournament in their respective weight classes.
"It's really fun," Sage said. "It's hard to describe. I never felt this many girls would be wrestling."
Sariano added that Grim has progressed quite well.
"Maribeth is doing a really great job," He said. "She's put in a lot of time and effort into her practices to better herself. She did very well at the Napa Tournament, which is a big accomplishment for her. In the other tournaments she has wrestled at 100 pounds, she has placed first. She has not met the No. 1 seeded girl at 100 pounds yet but I think she's up for the challenge."
The weight class will range from 100 on the low end to 165 on the high end. In addition, roughly 120-165 competitors will be present. There is no division splitting.
"If you win a state title in wrestling in this state, whatever the level or gender is, that's a big deal," Marino said.
Girls wrestling in Vallejo continues to have the Sheila Lerit and Lenci Landaker influence even though the two former Vallejo stars have graduated.
"I think they are the reason we've got eight girls on our team this year because of their notoriety," Minahen said. "It's been impressive seeing how the girls around this area from Napa, Vintage, Vallejo, Hogan and St. Pat's. Hogan's got a ton of girls now. St. Pat's has some good ones and so does Bethel."
Perhaps there is a trend.
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National Girls and Women in Sports Day now a four-day event.
Jimmy Watson / The Times
Posted on February 1, 2003
LSU-Shreveport education professor Cay Evans has a dream and she's expanding on it.
Evans began the National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration last year on a shoestring budget and the event was held on one day lasting a couple of hours. This year the NGWSD party is much bigger and much better, covering nearly a week of activities.
Held by LSUS, its Sports Science Institute and its departments of Education and Kinesiology and Health Science, the celebration kicks off this morning with a 5K Race, 5K Kids' Race and a 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk at 8 on the LSUS campus under the direction of Sportspectrum.
"I think this event is excellent because it reaches out to young people and females who sometimes think there is nothing to do in Shreveport," said Mary Murphy, adult sports Coordinator with SPAR. "A lot of times we go and watch our mates work out or play a sport, but this program gives women an opportunity to find out about activities they can participate in.
"This also allows women to be recognized for what they can do."
The entire celebration brings into focus Title IX, which has been in the news this week with the Bush Administration's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics meeting to discuss sweeping changes in the law. Since the institution of the 30-year-old mandate, the number of girls participating in high school sports has risen from 294,000 in 1971 to 2.8 million in 2002 and the number of women in college sports increased fivefold during the same time.
No major changes were approved by the council to the delight of Plain Dealing girls basketball coach Sheila Bryant, who will bring her team to one of the NGWSD events.
"I'm very pleased that nothing big changed, but we have to keep pushing," Bryant said. "We're definitely headed in the right direction to get women the attention and publicity they deserve.
"Title IX shouldn't take a step backward. We should continue with it and look for areas where men's and women's sports are an equal partner."
In addition to the race events, Saturday's activities include exhibits and demonstrations in the LSUS gym from 9 a.m. to noon. Demonstrations will include: girls wrestling, cycling, martial arts, ballet, dance, cheerleading, fast-pitch pitching, weightlifting, ropes challenge, golf, kids' running clubs, race-car driving, professional bullriding, water skiing, outdoor recreation, soccer and sailing.
"This has become very time consuming but we're very excited about the way all of the programs have come together," Evans said. "Sports and physical activity does have a big impact on young girls' lives, especially with their self-esteem."
Other booths will highlight both Senior and Special Olympics, along with the Girl Scouts. Professional bullrider Mandy Shipskey will bring her mechanical bull, while physically challenged water skier Janice Duvall will demonstrate her sport.
Each sport will be given approximately 10 minutes to feature their activity and all events are free and open to the public.
"We'll have the booths around the gym so people will have easy access to visit with those people in them," Evans said. "Each group will bring their equipment, uniform and other items applicable to their sport."
An areawide recognition ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday in the University Center Theater. Several hundred area female athletes will be recognized in the all-encompassing program, for which KTBS-TV News Anchor Sherri Allen will serve as the emcee.
"We've been able to reach more people this year and we're expecting a large contingent from the surrounding communities," Evans said. "A lot of local high schools have said they're coming, but it doesn't have to be a school team. Church league or city team or simply individuals are welcome."
Friday and Saturday, the NGWSD celebration steps up to another level with the National Conference on Girls' and Women's Health, Physical Activity and Sport seminar on the LSUS campus.
An impressive line-up of speakers from all over the country, as well as Italy, will speak on a wide variety of topics in women's athletics. Speakers from Florida to California, Michigan to South Louisiana and Cagliari, Italy, will participate.
The conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. both days with the Friday sessions continuing until 4:30 p.m. The conference will conclude at noon on Saturday. A $25 registration fee includes the Friday luncheon. There is no conference fee for students, but there is a $10 charge for students who attend the luncheon.
Friday's agenda features a dozen presentations on topics such as eating disorders, exercise, the "Not-On-Tobacco" program, female weightlifting, stress, common female athletic injuries, and kinematic and kinetic evaluation of throwing velocity in the softball windmill pitch. The noon luncheon will feature a presentation by Darlene Kluka, of Grambling State University.
Saturday's half-day agenda opens with four concurrent presentations covering gender bias; sports and gender; girls on the run, and goal orientation in women practicing traditional martial arts, led by Maria Sau, of Cagliari, Italy. Presentations on sexual harassment in athletics, the effect of exercise on the body image of women, and positive coaching will be followed by a psychological perspective on sport injury in women, and the conference will conclude with a panel discussion of "Title IX: Then, Now and the Future."
A registration form, along with the conference agenda is available online at: www.lsus.edu/khs/ngwsd/eventsanddates.html#conference. Contact Dr. Ronald Byrd at rbyrd@pilot.lsus.edu or (328) 798-4107 for conference information.
"If you want to participate, please call me ... we want you there," Evans said. "You can be involved physically by participating, by volunteering or certainly as a part of the recognition ceremony."
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