News Page
by Tim Hipps 8/15/03
Last week in the Pan American Games wrestling competition, Pfc. Tina George defeated one of her arch rivals twice Aug. 5 to make history at Pabellon de Combate.
George, a member of the U.S Army World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colo., was one of four Americans to win gold medals in the inaugural women's wrestling competition at Pan American Games XIV.
George not only twice pummeled Canada's Tonya Verbeek, she also came from the lofty altitude of the Rockies to conquer stifling, Caribbean heat and humidity, plus the loss of a contact lens in the second round of her 4-3 victory in the 121-pound finale.
"In my semifinals match I didn't feel the same as I did this morning [in her first two matches] and it kind of had me nervous," said George, who twice vomited during her final practice the day before because of dehydration and an overload of South American fruit.
"You always want to go out and give your best, but I felt like I was dragging a little. I was kind of scared because the girl I wrestled from Venezuala [Marcia Andrades] was the one who hurt my shoulder [earlier this year] and I had been watching her the whole tournament trying to rip girls' shoulders out of their sockets the whole day. So I was kind of wrestling with that fear."
George defeated Andrades 4-1 in the semifinals Tuesday night. Then she braced for a rematch with Verbeek, whom she defeated earlier in the day in pool competition.
"I know I'm number one, my coaches know I'm number one, and my people back at home know I'm number one, but the people here don't know that," said George, who won a silver medal in the 2002 Women's World Wrestling Championships at Halikada, Greece. "I had to prove it. I had to fight for everything I wanted, and I wanted a gold medal."
Verbeek opened the scoring in the finale with a takedown and a one-point ankle lace for an early 2-0 lead. George tied the score in the second period with her second takedown, and a two-point gut wrench gave her a 4-2 advantage.
Verbeek later forced a fleeing-the-mat call against George to make the score 4-3, but she was unable to muster any more offense.
"I realized at the halfway point that I didn't want to give that match away," said George, 24, a carpentry and masonry specialist from Cleveland. "I didn't come out with the intensity that I usually like to show. I'd go home with a broken arm if need be, but I just wanted to win. I got off to a slow start, but I just had to reach down and pick it up."
The match was halted momentarily in the final minute for George and officials to look for her missing disposable contact lens, but they didn't find it until after she had secured the gold medal.
"When your eye is hurting and you can't see, it's kind of hard to get the job done," George said with a grin. "I don't think the referee believed me because we couldn't find my contact."