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By Scott Barrett3/26/03
North Adams Transcript

LANESBORO -- Nicole Darrow likes to wrestle boys. She's good at it. But the Mount Greylock freshman is much better when it comes to grappling with people of her own gender.

Darrow, who finished second in the 103-pound weight class for the Mounties at the Division 3 Western Mass. Championships in February, will be heading off to the United State Girls Wrestling Association National Championship Tournament this weekend with a full head of steam.

This past weekend, she won the Maryland State Tournament and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at 114. In the past month, Darrow has claimed victory in the Colonial States Tournament (in Washington D.C.), the New England Championship and the New York State Championships

"I'm going to be going into nationals with a lot of confidence having won so many tournaments," said Darrow, who has compiled a 14-0 mark through the four competitions. "But the competition is going to be a lot tougher there. I haven't really been challenged yet, but I know when I get to nationals there will be the best wrestlers in the country -- I really don't know what to expect."

With her impressive showings at the prior four tournaments, Darrow is looking to be ranked in the top four at 114. She has defeated Courtney Martell, the fourth-ranked wrestler at 114, and Teresa Ayala, who is seeded sixth at 120. Through the four tournaments, only one wrestler scored points on her.

Darrow wrestled past Andrea Giacomozzi -- a junior at Bridgewater State College -- and was also the given the Most Outstanding Wrestler award at the Colonial States Tournament.

"I feel like all the hard work I have been putting in has been paying off," said Darrow, who commutes four nights a week to a wrestling club in Albany, N.Y.

Having come within one win of being the first female to win a WMass title, Darrow says wrestling girls is a lot different.

"The whole attitude is different," she said.

"We'll talk before the match, we'll wrestle, and then talk after the match. Everyone is friends with everyone -- it's not like that with guys.

"Also, girls are harder to pin than guys are. They are a little more squirmy."

The 2003 USGWA National Championships will be held at Lake Orion, MI. on March 29-30. For more information, you can visit www.usgwa.com .

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Grim looking to add to her portfolio

By Vince D'Adamo 3/25/03

VALLEJO - The term "coming out party" is uttered in sports as often as most people say, "Hi, how are you doing?"

In Bethel High School 100-pound wrestler Maribeth Grim's case, however, that notion applied very succinctly to the 2002-2003 season. With Vallejo's duo of Sheila Lerit (110) and Lenci Landaker (105) along with her sister, Melanie Grim (105), graduating, Maribeth Grim viewed this season as a chance to bring her skills to the forefront in terms of female wrestlers from the city of Vallejo.

She has.

Grim, a junior, has visions of continued success this week as she heads to Lake Orion, Mich., to compete in the USWGA national meet. Grim leaves town Thursday with the tournament going Friday-Saturday.

"It's more about me putting a name out there for myself and for my school," Grim said. "A lot of the girls come from Vintage, Vallejo, and Hogan. I'm happy to put a name out for my school."

Vintage, a Monticello Empire League foe of Bethel, has three wrestlers (Jessica Hsieh, Nicole Mazzafero and Maika Watanabe) headed for the national meet. The top 12 wrestlers in each weight class earn a medal while the top eight achieve All-American status. Grim would love to attain greater heights after seeing her sister, Melanie, place 10th in last year's event while Maribeth went 1-2.

"I have a lot of confidence," Grim said. "I think I have a good chance to place this time. I have high goals. I want to place either top five or ten. If I do place this would be my best season so far since I started wrestling."

Grim has enjoyed a banner season so far. Two prominent highlights are taking first at the Napa Valley Girls Wrestling Classic along with the California Shootout, which is the female version of the State meet.

"Winning that was amazing," Grim said. "I never thought I'd make it that far, especially seeing my sister wrestle. The state championship was one of my goals."

Grim was also invited to compete in the girls exhibition at the CIF State Meet at the University of Pacific's Spanos Center. Grim lost to Damaris Barrios of University (San Diego) 6-0.

"I was really nervous," Grim said. "I didn't expect a huge crowd. It was like, 'Wow.' Being invited was great. I didn't think I was going to get invited at all. It was such an honor to be invited and to be one of the first girls to go."

Grim became interested in wrestling because the idea of being able to control your fate in an individual sport as opposed to relying on teammates was an appealing factor. Grim is also as much an advocate of promoting the sport of female wrestling, which is still in the growing stages in California.

"I think I've made a lot of progress this year," Grim said. "I think girls are working a lot harder and getting more recognition. There's a lot of coaches out there that don't think we should be on the mat but they can't deny us because we're so good. There's girls coming out and whooping on boys. What can they do?"

Grim is also one to promote the quality of her sport as it pertains to California. Midwestern and Eastern states tend to have the reputation for wrestling greatness but winning a state title in California is a bigger achievement because there is no splitting of divisions.

Even though California won the team title last season with 304.5 points, while Hawaii (204) and Michigan (96) distantly trailed, Grim believes some folks still have a prejudice against California wrestlers.

"There's definitely a prejudice but California has the toughest girls,' Grim said. "There's good girls coming from New York, Minnesota and Hawaii but the toughest come from California."

And Grim is looking to be a part of that trend this weekend.