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Wrestling with stereotypes Miranda can defeat men, women equally
BY KEVIN BAXTER 8/5/03
kbaxter@herald.com
SANTO DOMINGO - Patricia Miranda won't reveal the man's name for fear of embarrassing him. But if things go according to plan tonight, the male wrestler from Oregon whom she defeated three years ago might someday gather his grandkids to tell them about the time he lost to the best wrestler in the Americas.
And pound for pound, Miranda just might be that if she beats Canadian Lyndsay Belisle and Venezuela's Mayarlin Laripa in tonight's four-match Pan American Games wrestling tournament. Part of the reason is because men don't wrestle at Miranda's 48-kilogram (105.5 pounds) weight class. (Not that Miranda hasn't thumped men before, but we'll get to that later.)
The main reason, though, is because she's good. Really good.
''I don't really like that pound-for-pound stuff,'' U.S coach Tricia Saunders said. ``But if she wrestles like she does in practice, I don't think there's anybody that can beat her. She's on a learning curve that seems unstoppable.''
Just around that curve is September's world championships, then next summer's Olympic Games, where women's wrestling will debut as a medal sport. And Miranda is sacrificing everything to make sure she's there, preferably on the medal stand.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Stanford, she has already been accepted into Yale Law School, but she's delaying that -- and a lot of other things -- until after the Games.
''I have a God-given opportunity right now,'' said Miranda, who, at a well-muscled five feet tall, struggles to make her international wrestling weight limit. ``I'm giving everything I have for two years. I'm training like a mad person [because] I want to know if I can hit the ground running, sprint for two years, get as good as I can get.
``My dad flipped out. He thinks I'm going to be a lifetime athlete.''
It's not the first time Miranda, 24, has fought dad José, a Northern California physician, over wrestling. In fact, for all the attention she got beating boys in high school and men in college, the toughest male opponent she has ever faced is her dad.
''My dad was very much against me wrestling,'' she said. ``So one of our deals that we struck for him to quit threatening the [high] school and striking me out of tournaments and stuff was I had to keep above a 4.0 [grade-point average].
``So I was either in practice or up till 1 in the morning studying. Every night of the week. That's how I remember high school.''
Others remember her time at Saratoga High for the two years she captained the boys' wrestling team or for her winning record and fourth-place finish in the league meet her senior year. Just as her time at Stanford was distinguished not by her near-perfect GPA or the masters she earned in international studies, but by the fact that, as a fifth-year senior, she won a spot in Stanford's starting lineup in perhaps the most physical of all college sports.
Women have played for college teams in part-time roles, as kickers in football or as pitchers in baseball. But no one can remember a woman starting all season for a major college program in wrestling, as Miranda did three years ago. Given that José Miranda had to flee his native Brazil because of his part in leading student opposition to the military government there, you would think he would nurture, not oppose, his daughter's rebellious streak.
But then Miranda never saw her actions as a strike against the status quo. She just wanted to wrestle.
''Ever since I could choose my own sports, I wrestled,'' said Miranda, a five-time member of the U.S. national team who finished second in the 2000 world championships. ``I wrestled with the boys and then wrestled against guys in college. It's not like there was a viable alternative. It wasn't even a matter of preference -- you know, `Do I prefer to train with boys or girls?'
``It was just if I wanted to wrestle. If I wanted to be a good wrestler, it meant training with the men and not caring about the gender.''
But now, thanks to the pioneering work of Saunders, a former world champion, Miranda and others, women's wrestling is winning wide acceptance in the U.S. Six colleges now field women's teams, and about 3,000 girls compete in high school wrestling, according to USA Wrestling, the sport's governing body.
The sport is already wildly popular in Japan, Europe and Canada, where high school and college wrestling programs have existed for years. Yet Miranda says she still finds herself fielding strange questions when people learn she wrestles for a living.
'They ask, `Does the oil ever get stuck in your hair?' Or they think it's like the [WWE] with chairs and stuff,'' she said. ``I realize that you're not going to change a lot of people. I just hope that one day maybe [they] walk into a practice in a gym or something and they just see the wrestlers training.
``It's a legitimate sport. Some people dedicate their entire lives to it. [That] just kind of reaffirms my dedication toward my goals.
``Even though it's sort of a self-centered pursuit, it's also an example to the rest of the world: Somebody can train this hard for a gold medal, and it can be a woman wrestler.''
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Women wrestlers ready for big time/ Local athletes vie for national spots
JESSICA SIDMAN, THE GAZETTE. 7/31/03
As six-time world champion Kristie Marano circled her opponent during
the Women's Special Wrestle-Off, her 5-year-old daughter, Kayla, nearly in
tears from excitement, clenched her fists and screamed, "Snap her, mommy,
snap her! Go for the legs! "
Marano and five other women faced off Tuesday at Doherty High School to
compete for spots on the U.S. World Team.
The team will compete Sept. 12-14 at the 2003 World Championships of
Freestyle Wrestling in New York.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, women's wrestling will be
an official event for the first time.
"There are only four Olympic weights. There are seven weights in the
world championships, so what's happening is a lot of girls are flocking to
the Olympic weights," said World Team coach Terry Steiner.
The wrestle-Off gave women who placed second or third in the Olympic
weight categories during the World Team trials a chance to compete in the
world championships in the three non-Olympic weight categories. All three
best-of-three matches Tuesday ended in two matches.
In the 112.25-pound weight class, World Team champion Jenny Wong
protected her spot against challenger Clarrisa Chun.
At 130, challenger Sally Roberts defeated World Team trials champion
Erin Tomeo when Tomeo defaulted after the first round because of a
concussion. Roberts had to beat Marcie Van Dusen in a challenge match, 6-3, Monday
to face Tomeo.
At 147.5, challenger Marano defeated World Team trials champion Katie
Downing. The women spend almost all of their time living, lifting,
running and wrestling together at the Olympic Training Center.
"It's actually kind of hard sometimes because we like each other so
much, but then we have to compete against each other," said Wong, who is a
biology major at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Roberts, who runs three miles a day in addition to team workouts, said,
"I work out so much that when I'm not wrestling, I'm resting."
Wong and Roberts will be competing in the world championships for the
first time. Marano will compete for the seventh time. She has won four silver
medals, a bronze, and a gold.
The top five at the world championships will qualify for the Olympics.
"It's definitely a commitment," Steiner said. "It's basically their
job. Some of these girls are giving up years of their life for the Olympic
dream, putting off school, putting off jobs, putting off careers."
Marano began wrestling eight years ago after training for the Olympic
Judo trials and tearing a muscle in her knee.
Marano's No. 1 goal is to make it to the Olympics.
"I just really wanted to . . ."
"Win," interrupted her daughter.
"Wrestle my best."
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MARS SIBLINGS THRIVE IN WRESTLING NATIONALS
Pittsburgh Post - Gazette. 7/30/03
The Smetana family will not soon forget last week's trip to Fargo,
N.D., for the USA Wrestling National Championships.
On July 21, Adam Smetana earned All-American status by placing second
in the Cadet National Greco-Roman tournament at 105 pounds.
Five days later, his sister Ashley won the 95-pound title in the Girls'
Junior National tournament.
"It's clearly the biggest accomplishment of my wrestling career," said
Adam Smetana, a rising junior at Mars Area High School. "And to have Ashley
win her weight class made the week even more memorable."
Adam was one of 57 entries in the 105-pound weight class. He won eight
consecutive matches before running into returning champion Henry Cejudo
of Arizona.
"Henry won the 91-pound title last year and was clearly the best
wrestler in our weight class this year," said Smetana, who lost to Cejudo, 15-0, in
the title match. "He didn't allow a point the entire tournament and was
named the Outstanding Wrestler."
In fact, Cejudo continued his dominance by winning the Cadet National
Freestyle Tournament. Smetana didn't get a chance to avenge that
Greco-Roman defeat.
"I hurt my shoulder in the final on the last move he made on me," said
Smetana. "I tried to wrestle in the freestyle tournament, but it just
hurt too much."
Smetana withdrew from the freestyle tournament after being pinned in
his first match.
"My opponent must have watched the Greco-Roman final, because he went
right for my bad arm," said Smetana, who had limited use of his arm at that
point. "He caught me in a three-quarters nelson and really wrenched on it.
"After he pinned me, I withdrew from the tournament and had a trainer
look at my shoulder. He told me I've got a rotator cuff strain and that I
should be OK with rest. I'm glad it's nothing serious, but I'm still a little
disappointed that I wasn't able to wrestle."
Adam has been wrestling for several years and was making his second
trip to Fargo. Sister Ashley, however, began wrestling only four months ago.
"I've been watching Adam wrestle for a long time and decided to give it
a shot," said Ashley, who graduated from Mars last month. "I went to
Fargo to watch Adam last year and that was the first year they had the girls'
championships."
After some coaxing from Ray Brinzer and Ty Moore, co-founders of the
Angry Fish Wrestling Club, Ashley Smetana decided to give it a try and won
her only match at the state qualifier.
"Neither Adam nor I would have made it this far without the Angry
Fish," Ashley said. "The help we received from Ray, Ty and the Angry Fish
played a big part in our success."
Because girls' wrestling is in its infancy, that tournament isn't as
well attended as the boys' tournaments.
"There were 110 girls competing in nine weight classes," said Ashley,
who was entered in the smallest weight class. "Unfortunately, I was one of
only four girls at 95 pounds."
Smetana was supposed to wrestle all three girls in a round robin, but
was declared champion after beating two of the three.
"I didn't have to wrestle the third girl because she lost to the other
two," Smetana said. "I wish there would have been a few more girls in my
weight class, but I did have a lot of fun."
But not enough to continue her career. She has decided to retire with a
3-0 record.
"I will be attending the University of Michigan to major in aerospace
engineering, so I don't think I'll have any time for wrestling."
Two NA All-Americans
Two members of the North Allegheny wrestling program earned All-
American status.
Jake Herbert, a recent graduate, placed sixth at 171 pounds in the
Junior Greco-Roman tournament after defaulting twice because of a knee injury.
That injury forced him to withdraw from the freestyle tournament.
Rob Waltko, a rising freshman, placed seventh out of 50 in the
145-pound class in the Cadet Greco-Roman tournament. He did not place in the
freestyle tournament.
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