News Page
Updated: 4/8/2003 10:57 PM
By: Duarte Geraldino
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Two local girls have proved their power in Schuylerville.
Eleven-year-old Sarah Anderson and 14-year-old Heather Thompson are both national wrestling champions.
For the second year, Sarah has been named number one in the 60 pound class by the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association.
Heather holds the second place title in the 115 pound class. In most local and regional tournaments these girls wrestle and beat boys.
Sarah Anderson said, "It's kind of fun when you make them cry or something because they run away. They cry because they've been beaten by a girl or something"
Buck Anderson, Sarah's father and the Assistant Wrestling Coach said, "If they're good enough and their heart's in it, they can compete. At the national level, the girls that are at the nationals, I would put against any high school team in the area and I think they'd probably win."
Together these girls have won more than 35 trophies and awards. Most of the figures on top of their trophies are male, and that's because in order to win they had to beat boys."
Their coaches don't worry about the girls wrestling boys. They said wrestling is 90 percent brains and 10 percent strength.
Larry Thompson, Heather's Father said, "It's when you have the 90 percent and 10 percent that you have the whole package. And girls at a younger age are able to mature into that 90 percent mental sooner than boys."
These girls are surely strong. They're members of the Tough and Tenacious Wrestling Club.
Buck Anderson said, "At 10 years old, she's better than I was in high school, and right now she's 11 and she moves like a college wrestler."
The duo trains five days a week.
Sarah said, "You try to work your hardest so that way when it comes to a tournament, it's really easy, so like if you work really hard and start to cry because you work too hard, sometimes I do that."
She believes her sweat and tears are a small price for a big goal.
"I want to go to the olympics and I want to win," said Sarah.