News page

Champlin earns silver medal in Girls Invite at Mat Classic

Story and photos by Matt Pranger2/23/04

Andrea Champlin rebounded for a second-place finish in the Girls Invitational at the Mat Classic XVI Saturday, Feb. 21 in the Tacoma Dome. Champlin, a 103-pound Friday Harbor wrestler, lost her first match by a third-round pin. She pinned her second foe in 13 seconds and her third opponent in 32 seconds. Senior teammate Courtney Jones finished her career in the Tacoma Dome, going 0-3 against some of the strongest female wrestlers in the state. Sixty-eight girls from small to large schools competed in the tourney.

"It’s fun seeing all the girls here," Jones said.

Lisa Keyes of North Mason pinned Champlin, a 103-pound wrestler, with four seconds to go in the second period of the first session of the round-robin style tourney.

The contest marked Champlin’s first competitive match against another girl for the first time since the end of last season. "It’s different than wrestling guys.... It was just wierd," the junior said.

Champlin enjoyed competing against a girl in front of thousands of high school wrestling fans, though. "It was really fun... I’m just happy to be here. It’s a good opportunity," she said.

Champlin pinned Lily Chen of North Beach in 13 seconds in her second match and stopped Erin Beckham in 32 seconds of her third outing.

Jones, a senior in her first year of wrestling, faced some of the most experienced and strongest competition in the invite. Jessica Mann of Elma pinned Jones in 1:44. Edith Cruz of Evergreen won a 14-1 major decision over Jones in the second round. Serena Watlamett of White Swan defeated Jones by a 15-0 technical fall in the third round.

MORE PICS

2004 WIAA Girls Invitational Tournament
Final Results

---------------------------------------------------

know her from adam
Patricia Miranda

By Adam Schefter 2/22/04
Denver Post Sports Writer

Patricia Miranda graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford. She is heading to Yale Law School this fall. But first, she is going for gold in the first women's Olympic wrestling competition this summer in Athens. Today, as her tune-ups continue, Miranda is wrestling in the finals of the Kiev International. Before her match, we pinned her down.

Adam Schefter: Do your family and friends ever tell you to be careful?

Patricia Miranda: Yes, but I hear it a lot less now that I'm wrestling women instead of men. But I used to hear it before every match. Don't get hurt. They weren't even worried if I was going to win or lose. They were just worried I was going to get hurt.

AS: Is there anything worse than having a man on top of you?

PM: All I can think about it is, Get off me! But that was half of my college matches.

AS: Did men ever trash talk you?

PM: A little bit. The worst thing I ever heard was, You're a joke. That was something that got thrown around a lot when I was starting in high school. That statement drove me to keep wrestling at the beginning. Because the fact is, I didn't know if I was a joke. I just knew for better or worse, I wanted to answer that question. If I was delusional, I wanted to know. I was going to wrestle until I figured that out.

AS: Your reaction when you heard the IOC was adding women's wrestling as a medal sport for the 2004 Olympics?

PM: I was really excited. But the fact is, I was so focused on my collegiate goal, which was to win against a guy. But when they put us in, that made it easy for me think about whether or not I was going to go on to law school or train full-time for 2004. I was like, "Oh, I can do this! I can be No. 1."

AS: How difficult will it be to transition from using brawn to brains?

PM: I just read Yale's website, and I think I might miss the first day of orientation because I'll be in Athens. It'll be a real shock because I'm going from working out all day long, but it's not the same caliber of brain usage as law school. Everybody is going to think I'm the dumb jock. But don't worry. I'll pull ahead by the end.

AS: Any sumo wrestlers in your Japanese heritage?

PM: No athletes, actually. That's what first threw my dad for a spin. He said there are no athletes in the family. We didn't even play marbles. He likes to joke about how every human being is born with a set number of heartbeats. Why waste them by speeding them up?

AS: Do you have to fret over your weight more than most women?

PM: I fret about my weight a lot. But it's not ever, "Oh, I look fat." It's, "I really have to shed about 7 pounds so I can be at a good fighting weight."

AS: How strict is your eating regimen?

PM: It's more organizing my calories. I stay away from fluff calories like cake. But I feel like it's a slight sacrifice. I don't get to have cheesecake, but I get to go to the Olympics.

AS: What do you miss eating most?

PM: Grilled cheese sandwiches. I think that's God's food. I love cheese. But I got to have some when I was competing against men in college because the lightest weight class for men is 125 pounds. So I actually had to bulk up to make that weight. I swear, the 7 pounds I added were all cheese. I ate cheese all the time. It was heaven.

AS: Ordinarily it's rude to ask a woman what she weighs, but not with you.

PM: Oh yeah, it helps keep me accountable. I love it when people ask me. It's about 115 pounds.

AS: What will it be this summer in the Olympics?

PM: The night before we'll weigh in, it'll be at 48 kilos, which is 1051/2.

AS: What stands out about the journal you keep?

PM: I'll even write the talking I do with myself. The number of times I have written, "Be My Own Friend," is ridiculous. I have that written down all the time. Because for me, in wrestling, that's one of my biggest struggles. I'm such a harsh person on myself, sometimes it affects me negatively. So I write, Be My Own Friend. And I think I'm doing it more. And the more I do it, the better I compete.

AS: Three journals?

PM: It's the thing I do at night. It just recounts what I ate, what I worked out, what I learned today, what time I woke up, just to see trends. Then I have my wrestling journal, and that has techniques, things I have to work on, my checkoff list. Then I just have my own journal, which basically has to do with boys.

AS: Biggest thing you've learned about yourself?

PM: That's why I wrestle, really. It gives me so many chances to look into myself. You get those moments when you're in a car crash or you're in a heated fight, those traumatic moments when you get to glimpse into, What am I really like? What is my character? At one point, I really believed that I had no inherent self worth, that all my self worth was built on what I accomplished. That was sort of propagated by my dad, saying, You have to build yourself up. You, Patricia Miranda, have to realize you add value by accomplishing something. And what I'm finding is that is not a very good way to think if you want to be fulfilled as a person. It's too outcome focused. So the most valuable thing that wrestling has taught me is, I myself, have value.

AS: Is your weight training done so you'll be able to carry around your law school books?

PM: No, but I am really excited for school. I have people asking me, why would you walk away when you're on top? You worked so hard to get on top, why don't you just stay there? But I don't think anything excites me more than getting on top and going to start on the bottom of some mountain again.

AS: What type of law do you want to practice?

PM: I've always been attracted to arbitration. I'm really attracted to getting parties to communicate and understanding economics to help move something toward resolution.

AS: Which movie inspired you more, "Vision Quest" or "Legally Blonde?"

PM: "Legally Blonde"! I loved that movie! It's sort of cliche, but the dialogue is just so relaxing for my brain. The main character is just so different from me. But I'm not threatened by it. I'm empowered by it. She gets things done in her own way.

AS: Which is your favorite city to visit?

PM: Kiev is my best memory. My first time there last February, everything went wrong but everything turned out all right. It was my first lesson in taking the positives everywhere you can and things work out. First of all, they didn't know we were coming. USA Wrestling forgot to send them the list. It was right before we went into Iraq. Nobody liked the Americans anyway. So nobody would help us out. They put us in rooms without toilet paper. I just remember that first night, going through my head everything I owned and wondering, what would I not trade for toilet paper? I ended up using athletic tape, and I thought that was a godsend.

AS: What is it your most looking forward to this summer in Athens?

PM: I am most looking forward to answering my questions. It's not some negative, am I joke now, but can I believe in myself enough to fulfill my potential on a given day?

AS: And the answer will be?

PM: I think I'll be hearing my national anthem on that podium. And that's the thing I'm second-most looking forward to.

---------------------------------------------------------

Emotions run high

JON NAITO; For The News Tribune 2/21/04

Leilani Akiyama didn't come to the Tacoma Dome to make friends.

The Newport High junior, ranked No. 2 nationally in the 112-pound weight class for girls, was the only girl in the open wrestling competition Friday, going 0-2. And she was perhaps the only competitor at Mat Classic to grapple with a coach, albeit verbally.

After losing to Chehalis' Andrew Hanson, 17-8, in the consolation round, a visibly angry Akiyama had words with Chehalis coach John Taylor.

"(Hanson) was going across my throat and I couldn't breathe," Akiyama said. "I don't know what the refs were doing ... at the very, very end he shoved me off him. That was uncalled for. You won, why would you do that?"

Taylor's response was terse: "If you're going to get your butt kicked, you better be able to stand up and take it. You're not wrestling with the girls anymore."

Akiyama, who lost to Sequim's Vann Brasher, 4-3, in the first round, pressed in the third period after falling behind to Hanson, 13-5, and never caught up.

The fiery Akiyama, accomplished in judo, is still learning the sport, said Newport coach Michael Chenoweth.

"She needs to wrestle and stop using her judo skills so much," he said. "But she was trying to do better than last year. There's not much to say (about her outburst), her season was over and we talked afterward. She's still got another year."

Akiyama did not participate in the exhibition tournament for girls. While her coach would like to see a separate girls division sanctioned, Akiyama said she wants no part of that.

"I don't see the point," Akiyama said. "I wouldn't see it as great competition to win the women's title in Washington state. If I won against boys, that's an accomplishment."

The final chapter - After 28 years at the helm of one the state's most powerful programs, Moses Lake coach Ron Siebel is coaching his last Mat Classic.

Siebel is retiring, and once the final whistle blows for the last of his charges, he'll leave with nine state championships and seven state runners-up. His Chiefs placed in the top four in the state 23 times in 28 seasons.

After spending his entire coaching career as a teacher, as well as coach, Siebel did not teach this year (he had been on a year-to-year contract) and that was a big part of his decision to hang it up.

"I couldn't put 100 percent into it," Siebel said. "It felt like a letdown. If I was still teaching, I would be back. But a head coach needs to be in the school. I wanted them to be able to come in and see me and I could keep tabs on them too. I miss (teaching) all the time and that desire won't go away."

But this team is special to him. Expected to do nothing by many, the squad finished third in its region and brought seven wrestlers to Tacoma.

"This is the least talented group I've had," Siebel said. "But they kept getting better every week. This group came a long way from the start of the season to the end."

Special occasion - A few minutes past noon Friday, the Issaquah Indians celebrated their third consecutive 3A state gymnastics championship at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.

And, as coach Ryan Fleisher, who moments before was named the classification's coach of the year, accepted pats on the back and shouts of congratulations, her mother was already back on I-5 making the trip north.

She had a chemotherapy appointment.

"My mom, God bless her, had to leave for her chemo treatment for her breast cancer," Fleisher said. "She scheduled her chemo around this so she could be here. It really can't get better than this."

His mother's cancer is not yet in remission, but she has begun a six-month cycle of aggressive treatments - all of which were scheduled around the Indians' schedule.

No place like home - Peter Wicklund, Skyline's two-time defending state champion in the 100-yard backstroke, has decided to continue his swimming career at the University of Washington.

Wicklund said he likes the swimmers and the coaches there. And after a lifetime of travel, he feels no need to move again.

"I think a lot of kids feel the need to get away from home, go somewhere new for college," he said. "But I've been all over: I've lived on the East Coast, I've lived on the West Coast. I've lived in the Southwest. I've been all over, so I really don't feel the same need to get away. I like living here."

Wicklund is the son of a Coast Guard captain whose duties have taken the family to Virginia, Northern California, Rhode Island, the San Francisco Bay Area, Oregon, back to California, Texas and Washington state.

Swimsuit styles - Swimmers in the boys swimming and diving championships at King County Aquatic Center seem almost evenly divided in their choice of swimsuit styles.

Swimmers split between traditional Speedo briefs and the jammers style, which stops just above the knee. A small sprinkling of competitors wore fastskins, which reach down to the ankle.

All a matter of personal preference, said Skyline coach Susie Miller.

"Some people feel more comfortable in the jammers, some people feel more comfortable in the Speedo briefs," she said. "It's up to the swimmer and what they feel more comfortable in."

Coaching honors - The WIAA released its wrestling coaches of the year in each classification. They are: Ron Hudiburg of South Kitsap (4A), Brian Smith of Bellingham (3A), Anders Blomgren of Vashon (2A) and Rick Bowers of Warden (1A/B).

The 2003 inductees into the coaches Hall of Fame are Dan Hensley, former Clover Park High, Decatur High and Pacific Lutheran University coach; Charles Hinds of Camas; and Les Hogan of eastern Washington and Alaska.

Notes - The first victory of the 2004 Mat Classic tournament went to 103-pounder Neal Ward of Kelso, who pinned Mercer Island's Sean Embly in 29 seconds. ... Of the 26 state wrestling champions crowned in 2003 who were underclassmen, 25 returned to the Dome Friday. The lone absentee was Heritage's Ricky Yeager (4A 112 pounds), who left the team after subdistricts in Vancouver two weeks ago. ...

The family of former three-time Washington state wrestling champion Graham Morin of Squalicum High in Bellingham is offering a $3,000 scholarship to a graduating senior wrestler. Morin died suddenly on the mat while competing at Cornell University. Applications are available at any of the classification's main tables on the floor of the Dome.

-------------------------------------------------

Girl barely misses state
Johnson finishes an impressive third

By DAN McCOOL
Register Staff Writer
02/22/2004

Centerville, Ia. - Cindy Johnson of West Burlington Notre Dame earned a spot in Iowa high school wrestling history Saturday - but not in the state tournament.

The freshman 103-pounder did not qualify for the Class 2-A state wrestling tournament, but she finished third at her weight in the Class 2-A district meet at Lakeview Elementary.

Had she finished among the top two Saturday, Johnson would have become the first female wrestler to qualify for the Iowa state tournament, which begins Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines.

Jason Knipfer of New London/Winfield-Mt. Union beat Johnson, 17-3, in the wrestle-back match for the No. 2 spot. Johnson finished the season with a 17-13 record after her third loss to Knipfer this season.

"Maybe next year," said Chad Johnson, Cindy's oldest brother who was on the first West Burlington wrestling team when their father, John Johnson, started the program in the 1998-99 school year. "We're all really proud of her."

Cindy Johnson said she didn't want to be just a novelty in the district meet.

"I came here to prove a point, to show that I can do something if I really put my heart into it," Johnson said. "This pushes me to do it again. I impressed myself with what I did. I improved from the beginning of the season and kept on improving."

Johnson's day was not without some excitement.

She scored a reversal on defending 103-pound state champion T.J. Sebolt and had the Centerville wrestler who is ranked No. 1 nationally by Amateur Wrestling News on his back for a brief time in her first bout. Sebolt easily recovered and pinned Johnson with 1 second left in the first period.

The history came in Johnson's consolation match. She pinned Colten Taylor of Davis County of Bloomfield in 1 minute 10 seconds, making Johnson the first girl in Class 1-A or Class 2-A to win a district match.

Ashley Pender of Colfax-Mingo was the state's first female wrestler to qualify for district last season. Pender, a sectional runner-up, lost both of her matches.

Johnson earned a wrestle-back when Sebolt pinned Knipfer in 30 seconds in the district championship match. After getting the first takedown and leading, 3-2, after one period, Johnson got swamped under a barrage of near-fall points.

"I felt like I was going to beat (Knipfer)," Johnson said. "I had a lot of confidence, but I guess I didn't have enough. He just came back with more power."

John Johnson had his coach's hope that his daughter might change things in the final period.

"I believe that the match is never over until the end," Johnson said. "My son, Christopher, who made it to state three times, had so many times came back and won in the last 5 seconds. Cindy copied that, and she's won a lot of matches in the last few seconds."

When it was over, Johnson removed her green ankle band, shook hands with New London/Winfield-Mt. Union coaches John Siegel, Brian Swafford and Mark Chiri, got a hug from West Burlington Notre Dame coaches Lee Lundvall and Mike Sayre, then shared a group hug with her brothers and her sister, Cathy, the first girl to wrestle at their school.

Knipfer said Johnson earned his praise for her determination.

"I give her a lot of respect," Knipfer said. "Most girls would quit, but hey, I give her all the credit. She's got a good chance to make it to state next season."

Another wrestler who was impressed by Johnson was Matt Ries of Albia, who won the 171-pound district championship.

"Especially when she had the reversal against T.J. Sebolt," Ries said. "Everybody in the crowd was just cheering for her. When she pinned the Davis County kid, that was amazing. She's doing really good for a freshman. I hope to see her in years to come."

--------------------------------------------------------

ONE OF US: Stanton student finds fun in wrestling losses

www.jacksonville.com 2.23.04

In a world that sometimes places too much emphasis on winning, Faith Fetzer is as refreshing as she is unusual.

The 18-year-old senior at Stanton College Preparatory School likes winning as much as the next person. But she doesn't subscribe to the theory that winning is the only thing.

What matters to her is doing.

Which is why she decided this year to go out for wrestling, a sport in which she had never before participated.

Because Stanton had no other regular wrestlers to compete in the 130-pound weight class, Fetzer got to wrestle for the varsity.

If you judge what happened during the year in terms of winning and losing, Fetzer didn't have a good year. In fact, she had a very bad year.

Although it's not that uncommon for girls to wrestle at the high school level, all of Fetzer's opponents were boys, and all of them pinned her.

But the thing is, Fetzer didn't go out for the wrestling team because she expected to win a lot. She went out because when she watched the Stanton wrestling matches last year, she though it looked like fun.

Which it was, she said.

"I had a lot of fun."

Her father, Charlie Fetzer, said he isn't sure where his daughter's amazingly upbeat attitude comes from.

But he was impressed by her capacity to measure her season not in terms of wins and losses but in terms of small improvements.

"She was able to see progress," he said.

Faith Fetzer said she has always loved sports.

When she was younger, she played soccer. She's competed in swimming most of her life.

And now that her wrestling season has ended, she's begun practice in track. She ran track as a sophomore and didn't do particularly well. She knows she probably isn't going to win many races when her best time ever for the mile, her favorite event, is 6:45.

But that doesn't worry her.

"It's just fun to try new things and stay active," Fetzer said.

Fetzer, who is enrolled in the prestigious International Baccalaureate program at Stanton, is a good student.

She has been accepted at Tulane University but is still waiting for word from her first-choice school, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

When she's not studying or practicing for whichever sport is in season, Fetzer said she likes to relax by reading a novel or watching television.

"I guess I'm kind of a dork," she said.

A dork who understands that the richest lives are lived by people who are more interested in having fun than in looking good.

---------------------------------------------------

Tulare Union's Mercedes Creason the only female in the tournament went 2-2 with a pin and a major decision victory.

Tulare Western's Mercedes Creason pinned Monache's Daniel Milke in the first period. (Recorder photo by John Tipton)