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Sun-Herald.com 3.13.04

ENGLEWOOD -- Circling her opponent on the wrestling mat, Fleetwill Hernandez isn't following anyone's footsteps but her own.

"Try it again," said Lemon Bay High School wrestling coach Greg Rivera. "And don't be nice about it."

Today, the 15-year-old freshman, who beat three boys this season, will compete for the first time against girls at the state high school girls wrestling championships in Orlando.

Fleetwill, named for her grandmother, isn't intimidated by girls or boys. They're all just opponents to her. And her teammates don't see her as anything but a wrestler.

"All of us accept her," said Brendan McLaughlin, her sparring partner for this session. "She's another teammate."

Female wrestlers aren't new at Lemon Bay. In fact, Fleetwill's sister, Angela, was a standout, finishing first in the state 103 division in 1999. Fleetwill competed in the 110 division.

But Fleetwill's interest in wrestling wasn't exactly inspired by her sister. Carmella Hernandez recalled her youngest's reaction when they went to Angela's meets: "She thought it was the stupidest thing she ever saw. She said it was boring."

Fleetwill played football in junior high school and, wanting something just as aggressive when she became a freshman, she gave wrestling a try.

"I fell in love with it," she said.

But her sister's achievements do loom over her. Her goals, she said, are "just wanting to be better than her, and to show her and my mom I could be better than her."

Carmella said her daughter is determined.

"She isn't one of these kids who talks on the phone all night or goes to parties," Carmella said. "If there was ever an angel child, (she) is it."

Fleetwill had a season record of 8-23. Five of her victories came from forfeits, but none of them were boys who refused to wrestle her, Rivera said.

"It's a tough record," he said. "But it shows her character. When she beat the guys, she manhandled them."

The male opponents she vanquished seemed to take it well.

"They were nice about it," she said. "They shook my hand after the match. But I'd see them later throwing their headgear to the side."

Though some parents questioned having a girl on the team, and one purportedly went so far as to distribute a letter calling for Fleetwill's removal, Carmella said the controversy settled down.

"There was some concern that some boys couldn't be able to distinguish between sex and wrestling," Carmella said. "But it's a sport. The kids enjoy it. Let 'em do it."

Like a lot of wrestlers, Fleetwill had to make weight. And like some of them, she fell into some bad habits. She cut down from 110 to 105 pounds for districts on an all-protein diet of eggs for breakfast, meat the rest of the day and hardly any water. It made her feel tired, but Rivera turned her around.

"She got onto a good, healthy diet and did the extra work she needed," Rivera said.

A natural athlete, Hernandez has played softball since third grade. Next year, she wants to coach a Pop Warner team. She's also thinking about enlisting in the Navy or Air Force with an aim toward becoming an engineer.

Rivera said she still has a lot to learn about wrestling, but he has high hopes for her this weekend.

"I try to tell her to be relaxed, be loose, be aggressive and go after her," he said. "Some of my guys could learn a thing or two from her."

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Girls Wrestling

3/16/04

Lauren BoggioBalmoral Barons

She's a girl who can truly dance circles around her competition on the mat.

Balmoral Grade 10 grappler Lauren Boggio has taken a modern dance background and translated it into the perfect recipe for success in the ring.

This winter season, Boggio grabbed first-place finishes in her 70-kilogram-plus weight class at the Port Alberni Invitational and the North Shore and B.C. championships and posted a third-place finish at the cadet national championships in Calgary in April.

Balmoral wrestling coach Ian McDonald has watched Boggio - who will attend Carson Graham secondary this fall - develop into a wrestling force to be reckoned with in just two years.

"Her brother Mike wrestled, and she was a big girl who wasn't into basketball so much and she had me for Phys. Ed in Grade 8 and we did a wrestling unit. She liked it and thought she'd give it a try," says McDonald. "That's the way it is for a lot of the non-traditional sports: unless you do it in PE the kids don't know it. Once they try it and get an introduction to the sport, they're interested.

"Lauren's strength is just that - her strength," says McDonald. "Lauren's an extremely powerful girl and she's also a consummate dancer, which means she has great flexibility and very good footwork."

McDonald, who had a hand in the development of rising national wrestling stars Emily Richardson and Shannon Samler (both Carson Graham grads), says that if Boggio sticks with her training, in years to come she could share similar fortunes with the marquee local duo.

"If her work ethic stays at the level it has to be, she has all the tools - mentally and physically - to go a long way. She has to develop the same kind of work ethic that Samler and Richardson both have, which is they never miss, they are consistent and they train all the time."

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Leland coach sees need for girls league
Westmont lady wrestlers execute reversal on conventional wisdom

By Karl Laucher
Staff Writer 1/8/04

One at a time they came onto the mat to get their hand raised in triumph. The opponent was a lack of similarly adventurous young women at Leland High School, which does not have a girls wrestling team. So, each of the Westmont High School lady wrestlers were destined to win by a forfeit, as they will many times before the end of their season.

Courage aplenty. Westmont Warrior women wrestlers are, front row, from left: junior Amanda Nelson and freshman Theresa Dinh. Back row: freshman Jessina Pena, senior Amy Horowitz and freshman Brittney Gugliemini.
The Westmont lady wrestlers are rare birds indeed as the only girls team in the county.
But these Warriors are prepared to challenge the status quo to have their day as respected participants in one of the most daunting of athletic endeavors. Wrestling is a one-on-one test of strength, skill, balance and fortitude, a warrior in the most challenging and civil sense of the word.

Led by senior Amy Horowitz, who already has earned a No. 1 ranking in the state at 185 pounds, the Westmont distaff team has sacrificed much to be part of this ancient sport. They wrestle with the Westmont boys at virtually every practice, and go long stretches of time with no opponents at all. Horowitz, notes, however, that there are some 1,800 girls state-wide who compete in wrestling. She finished fourth in the league in boys junior varsity competition the last two years, has this season twice defeated the former top-ranked girl in the state, Vanessa Gutierrez of Gilroy. Horowitz hopes to confirm her No. 1 status at the Vintage Tournament in Napa on Jan. 17.
As for wrestling with the boys, Horowitz says she did experience some sexual harassment when she gave the sport a try as a middle school student. As for her mindset now, she says, “I suck it up and get on with it. They (the boys) are going to do their own thing. Most of them are serious wrestlers. I just try to beat them and get it over with.” She notes that she has written a senior project thesis on wrestling emphasizing that girls who wrestle with boys ultimately earn better results as wrestlers.

Leland High School Co-Coach Val Esquivel indicated that bringing girls into the wrestling program may be the only way to save the sport. He noted that Title IV, a provision that necessitates equality in numbers of male and female in interscholastic sports, has led to the demise of wrestling because many schools have dropped the sport to balance the numbers across the athletic program.

“That’s where we are headed (more women in wrestling),” said Esquivel. “We have to make the sport more popular. We have to incorporate a women’s wrestling league.”

Esquivel says he has no problem with boys wrestling girls, but noted “it can be a lose-lose situation for a boy who loses a match to a girl. I had a boy lose a match to a girl last year and he didn’t come out for wrestling this year.”
Westmont Coach Dennis Mamola says the young women on his wrestling team “are the most hard working group of athletes I’ve ever had. It’s a pleasure working with them.” As for Horowitz in particular, he says, “she’s very focused, and she gets focused, she stays focused.”

Despite her dedication to breaking through social barriers to participate in a bruising game, Horowitz doesn’t need wrestling for recognition. She placed fourth in the girls shot putt competition at the Central Coast Section track and field meet last spring, and holds the Westmont school record in the shot at 38 feet, 8 1/2 inches. She also is a versatile musician, playing saxophone, tuba and Sousaphone in the school jazz and marching bands and the ElCamino Youth Symphony. She hopes to major in architecture or music in college. She currently is hoping to acquire a track scholarship at Northridge State University. Northridge doesn’t have wrestling for either men or women, but what university wouldn’t want a young person with an uncommon brand of versatility and courage?
More women wrestlers, in fact, may be just what this country needs. A provision for the Patriot Act, perhaps?

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Contra Costa Times article on the Tournament:

Summers pins way to title
By Bill Kolb
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
February 8, 2004

Amador Valley wrestler, Lauren Neves, placed 4th at the State Meet. Quite an accomplishment for a competitor in just her freshman year. The tournament was held in Vallejo Friday and Saturday. In order to participate wrestlers had to place in regional qualifiers throughout California. Lauren was 3rd in Region 1 a week ago. She followed that up with an outstanding effort against the best in the State. That's awesome," Amador Valley girls coach Joe Rose said of Neves' finish. "She's fourth in the state with three more years to go. She's got a bright future." Congratulations Lauren!

Unbeaten? Emphatically.
Berkeley High School wrestler Jere' Summers maintained her perfect run through the girls tournament season on Saturday in the California Girls State Wrestling Championships at Vallejo High School, adding two more pins to her already burgeoning total.
After her two matches at state, Summers, a junior, has wrestled 23 times this season. She is 23-0. She has 23 pins.
Read that last sentence again. That's right, Summers is 23-0 with 23 pins.
Only once has she gone into the second round this year -- against the girl she beat Saturday for the state title, Rachel Knight of Etna. Last week in the state qualifying tournament at San Leandro, Knight battled Summers to a stalemate through the first two minutes of 162-pound action, only to get tossed on her back and pinned 46 seconds into the second period.
Berkeley girls coach Hugh Johnson appreciates what he has in Summers.
"It's a real treat to be able to work with elite-level girls," Johnson said. "It's kind of a kick."
In the state final, Summers and Knight spent a good minute sizing each other up before things got interesting. Much to her credit, Knight shot a nice single-leg on Summers, but was unable to do anything with it.
Summers quickly countered, wrapping Knight up with a devastating head-and-arm 1:20 into the first period, flipping her on her back and pinning her at 1:23.
It is Summers' first state championship.
"It's cool," she said after the match. "Since we had a qualifier, this year is better than last year."
Summers, who opted out of last year's tournament, was referring to the fact that, for the first time in the four-year history of the event, the Girls State Championship was not an all-comers occasion. Wrestlers were forced to compete in regional qualifying tournaments to earn the right to compete for a state crown.
Over 200 wrestlers from 137 teams across the state qualified and competed in Saturday's championships.
"It's hard to get too excited about it because I kind of expected it," Johnson said of Summers' title. "But this tournament is getting better and better. Winning it at any weight is pretty prestigious."
Summers was a little more excited.
"I like (being a state champion)," Summers said. "I wouldn't like to get beat. I didn't want to lose one match. It's an ego thing, I guess. I set high goals for myself this year. I shot for an undefeated season, and I shot for pins."
And she got them.
In fact, Summers is so dominant at 162 that other wrestlers in the state have either tried to drop down to 154 or bump up to 173 to avoid her.
"(Knight) confirmed what other coaches have said," Johnson said. "A lot of girls dropped to other weights to avoid Jere'. That's a pretty big compliment."
Summers' teammate, 116-pounder Lily Dorman, also won a medal on Saturday. Dorman, also a junior, dropped a tough 8-6 overtime decision to Balboa-San Francisco's Hanna Carlberg in the semifinals, but battled through the consolation semifinals and finished with a pin of Amador Valley's Lauren Neves at 2:57 to place third.
"Lily has wrestled really well," Johnson said. "She pretty much handled all of her other opponents."
Despite the loss, Neves, a freshman, headed home with her head held high.
"That's awesome," Amador Valley girls coach Joe Rose said of Neves' finish. "She's fourth in the state with three more years to go. She's got a bright future."
Also placing fourth in the state was Ygnacio Valley freshman Cameo Grenier, who was pinned by Castro Valley's Katrina Dutchover at 2:57 in their 146-pound match.
Grenier's teammate Adele Webster, another freshman, was seventh at 162 after pinning Pittsburg's Brianna Robinson in 1:29.
"They're doing their best, and they're both doing really well," Ygnacio Valley girls coach Bob Ward said.

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Girl wrestler has a hold on national ranking
Ballston-- At 8th in the country, Diana Acors competes in all-female tournaments

By FELLICIA SMITH, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, March 16, 2004

When Diana Acors used to tag along with her father and her little brother to the T-N-T Wrestling Club in Schenectady, she would usually be one of only two girls in the gym.
After sitting on the sidelines and watching for a while, Acors was recruited by a PeeWee coach at the club to be become her brother's practice partner. Before long, Acors wasn't only practicing, she was wrestling and winning in club tournaments, which she continues to do today.

"I like the competitiveness of it," said Acors, who also wrestled on Burnt Hill's boys varsity team. "It's one-on-one. You versus the other person."

With the high school season coming to an end for her in February at the sectional tournament, where she fell one match short of placing in the top six, Acors is now in the midst of the national girls' wrestling scene.

This past weekend, T-N-T sponsored the Burnt Hills ninth-grader's trip to St. Joseph, Minn. to wrestle in the Body Bar Fila Cadet and Fila Junior National Championships. Acors was one of four female wrestlers from the Capital Region to compete at the all-female tournament.

Along with Acors, Juanita Russell of Galway, Heather Thompson of Schuylerville and Hillary Frey of Duanesburg also wrestled at the junior nationals competition. Nicole Darrow, who comes from Mount Greylock, Mass. to wrestle at the club, also went to the meet.

Darrow and Thompson, who wrestled at 114.5, finished first and fifth, respectively, in their weight classes in the cadet women's freestyle championships. Wrestling at 158.5 pounds in the junior women's freestyle portion of the championships, Russell finished second.

Wrestling at 101.25-pound weight class, Acors finished fifth in the cadet women's freestyle championship. Acors defeated Frey, her practice partner for the spot. Cadet wrestlers are 15-17 years old.

Last year as an eighth-grader, Acors finished first in the girls' middle-school Class C division, which included wrestlers in the seventh and eighth grades.

Still, for Acors, who was one of only two regular girls in the area wrestling at T-N-T four years ago, just being able to wrestle at all-female tournaments is a victory in itself.

Acors has wrestled in all-female tournaments throughout the country and abroad. Last year, she wrestled in Puerto Rico and Germany.

"To me, they're getting better and a lot bigger," said Acors of wrestling tournaments for girls. "There are more and more girls wrestling."

Jack Prest, who founded T-N-T 11 years ago, said Acors is one of 15 girls from elementary school age to high school age who practice at the club. The 15 wrestlers represent the second highest number of girls he has had in the club; the club has had as many as 20.

Prest said he considers Acors one of his best female wrestlers.

"If she continues to progress, colleges are going to come knocking at her door with scholarships," said Prest, who noted that although men's college teams are on the decline, women's NCAA-sanctioned teams and clubs are growing.

Although Acors' father, Jim, said there was a bit of hesitation on his part about letting his daughter wrestle at first, he said he soon realized that it was what she wanted to do and she could handle the pressure of the sport both physically and mentally.

"She's strong minded," Jim Acors said, "and she works hard."

At just 15 years old, Acors is now wrestling and practicing to prepare for a spot on a future Olympic team. Women's wrestling debuts as an Olympic sport this summer.

"I want to wrestle on the Olympic team in 2008," said Acors, who is currently ranked 8th in the nation at 101 pounds. "It's a pretty big goal."
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2003 - 2004 OFFICIAL U. I. L. STATE PHOTOs(Girls Finals)

2003 - 2004 OFFICIAL U. I. L. STATE PHOTOs (page 2)