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Loss to rival costs Lang a berth on U.S. team
06/26/03
DOUG BINDER
Samantha Lang took her bid for a spot on the U.S. women's wrestling team at this year's World Championships and Pan American Games to the finals, but it ended against a familiar opponent.
Toccara Montgomery of Cleveland defeated Lang, who will be a senior at Tualatin High School, 8-7 in overtime and 8-5 in regulation to win the 158.5-pound weight class at the USA Wrestling World Team Trials in Indianapolis last weekend.
Montgomery, who is 4-2 against Lang this year in what has become one of the best rivalries in women's wrestling, was on the 2002 U.S. World Team.
"She's one of the toughest opponents I've had," Montgomery said of Lang, who was ranked No. 1 by Mat.com. "She's always pushing me and always on me, which will only make both of us better."
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By Patrick Kennedy
Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 07:00
Local Sports - The upcoming Commonwealth wrestling championship will mark the start of a grinding-but-glorifying journey for three Kingston grapplers, a journey they hope will end five years hence at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Kingston Wrestling Club members Cleo Ncube, Krista Wells and Terri McNutt all harbour Olympic hopes and therefore realize the importance of acquiring international seasoning.
“I’ve never wrestled at the world level before, so it’s definitely going to be different for me,” Regi grad McNutt said of the 14-country tournament, July 5-6 in London.
“I’ll be seeing a lot of different styles for the first time and from some of the best competitors in the world.”
McNutt, a third-year student at the University of Western Ontario who turns 21 Saturday, captured the 2002 Ontario University Athletics title (53 kilograms) and was named the conference’s outstanding female wrestler.
She finished fourth at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship.
“Terri has such natural ability,” remarked club coach Marcus Niemann. “She’s a little more aggressive than Krista and tends to wrestle instinctively, rather than methodically
Aurora native Wells is entering her fourth year at Queen’s University. She, too, is coming off an OUA title-winning season (48 kilos). As well, she copped a CIS silver and placed fourth at the senior national championships.
“Krista’s only just started wrestling yet she’s made such phenomenal gains,” observed Niemann. “She has incredible desire and determination and works out two and three times a day and then practices every night with the club.”
At the risk of getting a tad ahead of herself, Wells, too, listed 2008 as a long-range goal.
“I’ll be 28 in 2008,” she pointed out. “If my body holds up, I think I have a chance, and it all starts [with the Commonwealth championships].”
Ncube needs little introduction in regional, provincial or even national circles. “He’s the best high-school wrestler in Canada,” Niemann stated with conviction. “He has tremendous potential.”
The 19-year-old capped his high school career at Regiopolis Notre Dame with a second consecutive provincial gold medal in the 60-kilogram division. He also won the junior men’s provincial and national crowns.
Both Wells and Ncube have wrestled internationally, the former in New York City last winter, the latter in South Korea, the U.S. and just last month in Moldova, a former Soviet republic.
“Cleo was the top Canadian,” longtime coach Tom Mastantuono noted on Ncube’s matches in Moldova. “He finished fourth in his weight class, which was an excellent performance considering he competed in a higher weight class.”
With no 60-kilogram division, Ncube was forced into the meatier 68-kilo class, where opponents outweighed him by almost 20 pounds.
“I was proud that I kept right there with them and beat a couple of them,” said Cleo – short for Cleopas – whose twin sister’s name, incidentally, is Cleopatra.
Ncube will represent the country at three international tournaments this summer, including the world junior championship in Istanbul, Turkey.
As for university this fall, Ncube had a few from which to choose.
After mulling over full-scholarship offers from such American giants as Ohio State and Stanford, he opted to stay in Canada. In September he’ll join the Simon Fraser Clan for his freshman year.
Wrestling powerhouse Simon Fraser prevailed over big-budget U.S. institutions by simply offering the touted wrestler a comparable full-ride deal.
No doubt Ncube’s decision was swayed somewhat by the 18 national senior titles collected by the Clan. The school churns out top-drawer wrestlers the way the Dominican Republic spits out big-league shortstops.
“I love everything about Canada,” said the Zimbabwe native whose family emigrated to these parts when Cleo was seven. “I have no need to leave and no desire to leave.
“This is where my dream started and it’s where I want to be when I reach my ultimate goal, the 2008 Olympic Games. I’m a firm believer in the old saying, Once you start something, finish it.”
Next weekend’s high-level tournament in London will feature entries from Scotland, Malta, India, Bangladesh, Gambia, Namibia, Uganda, England, New Zealand, Australia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Canada.
The following weekend (July 11-12) in Guelph, the same trio, along with Regi wrestler Darren Manion, competes at the Canada Cup international tournament.
ID