17 year old Fair Lawn HS senior wrestler Kim Salma, who wrestles on the boys team at 103 lbs, practices with Luke Hintzer. (THOMAS E. FRANKLIN/THE RECORD)
News Page
By RON FOX
Staff Writer 2/27/03
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17 year old Fair Lawn HS senior wrestler Kim Salma, who wrestles on the boys team at 103 lbs, practices with Luke Hintzer. (THOMAS E. FRANKLIN/THE RECORD) |
FAIR LAWN - Kim Salma has them where she wants them. Finally, no male wrestler can run away from the Fair Lawn senior.
Friday night, at her home gym for the District 6 wrestling tournament, she will get her chance. The recent habit of forfeit rather than face a girl in a dual match is no longer a play. A first-round loss in the districts ends a wrestler's season.
"My whole goal is to place in the districts," Salma said. "If I do, it'll have been worth it."
Salma's quest has been four frustrating years in the making just to earn a varsity starting spot and one chance Friday night. Her best chance, she realized going into this season, was at 103 pounds, so she pared nearly 20 pounds off her barely 5-foot-1 frame.
"I've worked all these years for it," she said. "I just had to break the lineup. I dieted. I did a lot of exercises, and a lot of extra running."
Fair Lawn coach Frank Guadagnino has admired her determination and talent.
"She's tough and hardworking, and she has skill, but it seems she's always been stuck behind outstanding wrestlers."
Cracking the varsity lineup for a strong team has been her personal crusade. In the 2000 Bergen County freshman tournament, she finished fourth and as a sophomore and junior she stood out in junior varsity tournaments.
"Sophomore year, I wrestled a boy from Absegami who was 22-0 and I lasted two periods," she said. "Last year, I had only one varsity match, with a girl, Danielle Heslep from Mahwah."
Salma won her celebrated showdown last February, 3-2. This year she's been in the starting lineup five times and won three matches, all by forfeit.
"It's a lose-lose situation for a boy," Salma, 17, said. "If you lose, you've lost to a girl. If you win, it's not really big because you're expected to beat a girl. I understand them, but it's stupid."
Her first opportunity came against Pascack Valley.
"I was out there getting psyched," she said "and [her scheduled opponent] was out there warming up. I was thinking I'd have a match. And then he forfeited. That's the frustrating part."
But Pascack Hills sent out freshman Randy Strobel to face Salma and the match went into overtime.
"I was really nervous. [In regulation], I took him down and he reversed me," Salma said. "A couple of times, I almost got out, but I couldn't. And in overtime, I shot in and he spun around me for the takedown."
The 4-2 loss stung, but it couldn't deflate the excitement of competing.
After regular-season forfeits by Paramus Catholic and Glen Rock, she faced Vernon's varsity starter Mike Ryan and lost, 8-2. She'll take that experience into her match Friday, where she won't be alone in spirit. Her boyfriend, Saddle Brook 171-pounder Frank Phelan, will be cheering for her.
"He's not worried about me when I'm on the mat," Salma said. "He knows I'm tough."
And finally, with a chance to prove it.
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02/26/2003
There oughta be a law
I read recently how a State Senator in Iowa has called for a special commission to study the status of men. Being one, my interest piqued. But then I found that what he was talking about was really not much different from what I have believed in for years. There are fewer and fewer things that the sexes, races, and denominations can call their own anymore. The Great American Melting Pot is getting hotter.
Take for instance what has been going on this winter with the AGWSR wrestling program. While they have had girls in the youth program, the school has yet to have a girl on the team. Other teams this year have had girls, and AGWSR wrestlerÐall menÐhave had to wrestle them.
I am somewhat torn on what I would do if I had to wrestle a girl, or if some future son of mine would be lined up against a girls. I guess I would go ahead and wrestle. I'm one for equal equality. If a girl wants to wrestle, she may as well be a boy in my mind. And if I knew I could beat her? Fugghedaboutit!
Now if it were my son, a child I would have raised to never raise a hand to a woman, I guess I would leave it up to him. I would like to think that if the team needed the win (or at least for him to not get pinned) in order for the team to win, he would choose to wrestle. But if he didn't want to wrestle her, I would understand. It's a no win situation. If a boy beats a girl, he should have. If a boy loses to a girl, well...
While the good State Senator was comparing academic test scores of boys and girls, and came to the conclusion that the push for equal treatment between the sexes has now been skewered to the girls' side, that is behind the scenes. The things that happen publicly when girls want to do what boys do are what I'm talking about.
Big deals have been made about girl wrestlers and football playersÐnot on their own teams but on boys'.What if it were reversed? What if a boy wanted to play volleyball? There is no boys' volleyball in Iowa, so his only option would be to play on his school's girls' team.
Is that fair? When given the fact that more and more girls are being seen on boys' wrestling teams, sure. But would it be fair in the realm of the game? Let me preface this by saying that I am not sexist, really, but men are just physically superior to women. Now I'm not talking about the women of the WWE here, but naturally. As a gender on a whole, men are stronger and faster than women. The odds would dramatically tip in the favor of whoever had the boy on their team.
Now, with that said, I wouldn't want to face down a Dike-New Hartford spike anytime soon. Even at my athletic peak, I would have probably been stuffed on the volleyball court, but does that mean I didn't have the right to play?
Now women want to play on the PGA men's golf tour. Isn't there a Ladies' PGA? What if Tiger Woods demanded to play on the women's tour? No what? That's not a bad idea! Nobody watches women's golf anyway. With Tiger in the field, television ratings would go through the roof. Of course, nobody but Tiger would ever win.
While I am all for equal opportunities and such, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that Òequal opportunitiesÓ in the eyes of our government is Òfewer opportunitiesÓ. Look at Title IX. The equal rights measure recently came up for review. Despite the fact that hundreds of men's collegiate athletic programs have been cut since Title IX's inception, nothing was done to change it.
The law basically tells colleges and universities that they must provide equal athletic opportunities for women. How schools are interpreting this, however, is to not create opportunities for women, but take away opportunities for men.
Any way you slice it, that's wrong. So is the intermingling of the sexes in sports. Athletics have long been one of the final bastions for us males. Women have come to dominate the worlds of education, business, politics and just about everything else. Sports, however, remains the one true divider. All to soon there will be nothing that is ours alone, men. Maybe that'll be a good thing, but I don't see how. It's kind of hard explaining the mano-a-mano thing.
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Miranda wins gold at Kiev Grand Prix; Heskett, Murata claim bronze medals
2/23/2003
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Patricia Miranda (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) claimed a gold medal in the women’s division at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. at the Kiev Grand Prix in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 22.
Miranda won two matches on Saturday to win the tournament. In the gold-medal finals, she stopped 2002 World Champion Bridget Wagner of Germany, 3-0. Her semifinal victory was less challenging, an 11-0 technical fall over a Ukrainian opponent.
Miranda is currently ranked No. 1 in the USA at her weight division. A 2000 World silver medalist, Miranda also competed in the 2002 World Championships for the United States.
Winning bronze medals for the United States were Joe Heskett (San Luis Obispo, Calif. /Gator WC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Stephanie Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. Both were defeated in the semifinals, but came back to win their third-place matches.
Heskett had a forfeit in the bronze-medal match, to claim his first Senior level medal at a major international tournament. Murata defeated a German opponent 4-0 in her bronze-medal bout.
The other U.S. athlete who won his pool competition on Friday, Franklin Lashley (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs., did not claim a medal.
Coaching the U.S. athletes are National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner of Colorado Springs, Colo. and U.S. Army coach Mike Van Arsdale of Colorado Springs, Colo.
Complete information on the event and results will be provided when available.
Kiev Grand Prix
2/22/2003
Kiev, Ukraine
Entered by John Fuller
Team Scoring
Results By Weight
Top 10 Placewinners
48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Gold - Patricia Miranda (USA)
Silver - Brigitta Vagner (GER)
Bronze - Ludmila Balushka (UKR)
4. Yulia Voitova (UKR)
5. Nikoletta Bade (ROM)
6. Olga Levkovska (UKR)
7. Fadilla Loetti (TUN)
8. Tatyana Kolesnikova (BEL)
9. Olga Predonnikova (BLR)
10. Yulia Stelmakh (UKR)
51 kg/112 lbs.
Gold - Yana Stadnik (UKR)
Silver - Polina Koscheeva (BLR)
Bronze - Inessa Rebar (UKR)
4. Alena Malyshko (UKR)
5. Bischeyi Ieur (TUN)
6. Christina Kroitery (ROM)
7. Yulia Lisechko (UKR)
55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Tatyana Lazareva (UKR)
Silver - Olga Krigina (UKR)
Bronze - Stephanie Murata (USA)
4. Christina Dershli (GER)
5. Jesseina Bekhtel (GER)
6. Ulanbator Single (MGL)
7. Bjeuyi Faisa (TUN)
8. Maria Egorova (BLR)
9. Sabrina Lots (GER)
10. Kitti Godo (HUN)
59 kg/130 lbs.
Gold - Sabrina Espasino (ITA)
Silver - Natalia Efimtseva (RUS)
Bronze - Monica Mikhailic (POL)
4. Mariana Bavdik (UKR)
5. Olena Komarova (UKR)
6. Maryana Kvyatkovska (UKR)
7. Olga Serbina (BLR)
8. Evelina Glogovska (POL)
9. Silvia Meniketti (ITA)
10. Tatyana Mikheeva (UKR)
63 kg/138.5 lbs.
Gold - Olga Khilko (BLR)
Silver - Aline Gaine (MLD)
Bronze - Lydmila Golovchenko (UKR)
4. Yana Poltavska (UKR)
5. Maluzhata Basse (POL)
6. Tori Adams (USA)
7. Olga Budkevich (UKR)
8. Steffania Gross (GER)
9. Evelina Prushko (POL)
10. Olena Shevchenko (UKR)
67 kg/147.5 lbs.
Gold - Katerina Yavorska (POL)
Silver - Daria Ibragimova (UKR)
Bronze - Zlatova Valeria (UKR)
4. Tetyana Kondratenko (UKR)
5. Molly Keith (USA)
6. Yulia Illicheva (RUS)
7. Serense Monica (HUN)
8. Tetyana Zakharina (UKR)
72 kg/158.5 lbs.
Gold - Anitta Schetule (GER)
Silver - Katerina Burmistrova (UKR)
Bronze - Tetyana Komarnitska (UKR)
4. Anna Vovzjhitska (POL)
5. Nina English (GER)
6. Katerina Yuzchok (ITA)
7. Gyzel Manyrova (RUS)
8. Svetlana Mikhailina (RUS)
9. Relbi Seida (TUN)
10. Anzhela Tsurkan (UKR)
U.S. Results
105.5 lbs. - Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Dave Schultz WC) - 1st
tech. fall Nikoletta Bade (Romania), 13-1
fall Olga Predonnikova (Belarus)
tech. fall Ludmila Balushka (Ukraine), 11-0
dec. Brigitta Vagner (Germany), 3-0
121 lbs. - Stephanie Murata, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) - 3rd
dec. Sabrina Lots (Germany), 5-0
dec. Marta Voitanovska (Poland), 8-0
lost dec. Tatyana Lazareva (Ukraine), 3-1
dec. Christina Dershli (Germany), 4-0
138.5 lbs. - Tori Adams, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC) - 6th
lost dec. Aline Gaine (MLD), 10-8
dec. Irina Legotska (Ukraine), 4-0
147.5 lbs. - Mollie Keith, Aurelia, Iowa (Missouri Valley) - 5th
tech. fall Serense Monica (Hungary), 13-3
lost fall Zlatova Valeria (Ukraine)
lost fall Katerina Yavorska (Poland)
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2/26/2003
Gary Abbott/TheMat.com
The February 2003 TheMat.com North American Women’s College Wrestling Rankings for teams and individuals has been released.
Simon Fraser Univ. of British Columbia, Canada remained the top North American college team in the poll, receiving all five of the first place votes from the coaches panel for 100 points. Simon Fraser traditionally competes in the NAIA as this year joined the CIS (the Canadian university college association).
Simon Fraser won the team title at the Canada West Championships on February 14, one of the qualifying events for the CIS National Championships. On the next day, Simon Fraser’s second team placed second in the Northwest Conference Tournament held in Oregon.
Moving up to the No. 2 position was the Univ. of Calgary, a Canadian CIS school, which was tied for third in the January poll. Calgary was second behind Simon Fraser in the Canada West Championships.
Cumberland College, a NAIA school, remained the top ranked school from the United States, with a No. 3 ranking. Cumberland slipped one spot from its No. 2 ranking last month. Next came another U.S. NAIA school, Missouri Valley College, which came in at No. 4.
Cumberland has been active all season, and most recently appeared at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo. Missouri Valley College had an active month, winning team titles at the Cougar Open in Canada and the Northwest Conference Championships in the United States.
There was a tie for fifth place in the poll between Neosho County CC, a junior college in the United States, and Brock Univ., a CIS Canadian school. Neosho, which also competed at the Schultz Memorial, has a number of talented individuals on its team. Brock, which made a tremendous jump from No. 10 in the last poll, won the team title at the OUA Championships on February 15, one of the qualifying events for the CIS National Championships.
Rounding out the Top 10 were No. 7 Univ. of Minnesota-Morris; No. 8 Univ. of Guelph; No. 9 Queens College and No. 10 Pacific Univ.
The team ranking poll is elected by a panel of women’s college coaches, three from Canada and two from the United States. Eligible for ranking are college varsity and club women’s wrestling programs.
Canadian athletes dominated the individual rankings again, with seven of the eight No. 1 ranked wrestlers hailing from Canadian schools.
The Canadian athletes with No. 1 spots this month were Carol Huyhn of Simon Fraser at 48 kg (105.5 lbs.), Belinda Chow of the Univ. of Regina at 51 kg (112.25 lbs.), Heather Sweezey of Brock at 55 kg (121 lbs.), Emily Richardson of Simon Fraser at 59 kg (130 lbs.), Tara Hedican of Guelph at 63 kg (138.5 lbs.), Shannon Samler of the Univ. of BC at 67 kg (147.5 lbs.) and Pamela Wilson of McMaster at 77 kg/169.5 lbs.
These athletes represent a core of the best women wrestlers in Canada, regardless of age. Huyhn, Richardson, Hedican, Samler and Wilson were members of the 2002 Canadian World Team.
The only U.S. wrestler with a No. 1 ranking was Toccara Montgomery of Cumberland College at 72 kg (158.5 lbs.) Montgomery, a sophomore and a 2001 World silver medalist, won a gold medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International earlier this month.
It will be a busy month ahead for women college programs. The Canadian CIS schools will complete their season with CIS National Championships at Brock Univ. in Ontario, Feb. 28-March 1. There will be two major events in the United States. The Missouri Valley International will be held in Marshall, Mo. on March 15. The USGWA Can-Am North American Championships, will be held in Lake Orion, Mich., March 29. (This year, the Can Am event is sanctioned by USA Wrestling). In addition, the Canadian Junior National Championships (ages 17-20) is set for Fredrickton, New Brunswick, March 14-16.
The individual rankings are selected by TheMat.com, with assistance from the panel of coaches. Athletes who are considered for ranking are eligible full-time college students, and are members of their college women’s varsity or club program, or a member of their college men’s wrestling team.
Women’s wrestling is a growing sport in Canada and the United States on the college level. The International Olympic Committee has named women’s freestyle wrestling as the newest sport added to the Summer Olympic Games program. The United States and Canada are among the most successful women’s wrestling nations in the world.