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By Mike Keltner 4/3/04
Free Press Staff Writer
JERICHO CENTER -- Trying out a new sport doesn't usually involve a trip to the principal's office.
For Erin Clodgo, 13, of Richmond, that's just what it entailed.
"I remember someone kicked a ball at me during recess one time," said Clodgo, an eighth-grader at Camels Hump Middle School in Richmond. "I got angry and threw it back at him, and in return I was sent to see the principal. The principal then told me to join the wrestling team."
It didn't take long for the trip to pay off.
Clodgo took first place in the middle school-age division last week at the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championship held in Lake Orion, Mich.
Clodgo competes on a regular basis with the Mount Mansfield youth wrestling team.
Clodgo's athletic career began with seven years of gymnastics.
"I'll admit it," said Clodgo. "I wasn't very good at it."
Erin's mom, Donna Clodgo, said Erin's discouragement with gymnastics grew when she began to grow at a faster rate. Her time spent in gymnastics wasn't a waste. The skills she learned in that sport helped her in wrestling, according to Donna Clodgo.
"It turned out to be a perfect fit," she said.
It wasn't always. Clodgo's first trip to the wrestling room was a little ... uncomfortable.
"I remember I walked in, and I got one of those 'is she really going to stay here' looks," said Clodgo.
Art Hamlin, Clodgo's coach for the Mount Mansfield youth team, also has a pretty clear memory of that day a little more than a year ago.
"I remember thinking that this was going to be different," said Hamlin.
Although Clodgo competed in the girls national tournament as well as winning her weight class at the New England Girls Wrestling Championships, much of Clodgo's in-state wrestling is co-ed.
"Guys are physically stronger," Clodgo said. "They're built differently, indicating they have different styles, but I still like the challenge."
Hamlin and Donna Clodgo said Erin competes well against the boys.
"The ones that are in trouble are the ones that see her and start laughing at her on the mat, simply because she is a girl," said Donna Clodgo. "Usually they're the ones at the end of the match crying because they lost."
Hamlin also said Clodgo will practice with anyone, no matter the size.
When Clodgo is not on the mat, she'll usually be found on the sidelines rooting on her team.
"She's the most supportive wrestler on the team," said Hamlin. "No matter if we win or lose."
Clodgo plans to wrestle in high school at Mount Mansfield Union in the fall. She's unsure of her wrestling future beyond that.
"I like to focus on my upcoming weekend tournaments," said Clodgo. "I try to stay away from thinking too far ahead."
Clodgo isn't the only female wrestler from Vermont enjoying success. Two of her friends, Courtney Martell of New Haven and Casey Moulton of Moretown also competed at nationals and New England Championships in the high school division. Martell took second in nationals and Moulton took first at New Englands. Both have inspired Clodgo with the sport, and both act as coaches.
"Courtney coached me at nationals," said Clodgo, "and Casey kept points."
Clodgo's season continues when she travels to Maine this weekend for the Marshwood New England Youth Wrestling Classic, a co-ed meet. She competed in the event last year with little success. Clodgo feels she'll fare better this year.
"I guess I just want to win one at this year's Marshwood tournament."
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Girls wrestling getting a chance
3/31/04
Girls wrestling is still in a fledgling phase, but two girls wrestlers from the Inland Valley are hoping to bring it to the attention of more people.
Last weekend, at the United States Girls Wrestling Association national championships in Michigan, Diamond Ranch's Jessica Medina finished fourth in the 110-pound weight class, while Diamond Bar's Valerie Prise took sixth at 105 pounds.
Neither school has a girls wrestling team and given the current state of budgets for high school athletics, they won't anytime soon.
They aren't the first girls wrestlers ever in the Inland Valley, but for a sport that is getting more notice they may be two of the more prominent ones.
Prise compiled a 15-15 record as the starting 103-pounder for Diamond Bar's varsity, including a 4-1 mark in the Sierra League. She would have been the No. 1 seed at league finals, since the only league wrestler she lost to, didn't compete at league finals. She missed league finals, however, because the girls state tournament was the same day.
"I think it's a blossoming sport," Diamond Bar coach Jack Cooprider said.
The difficulty for men coaching girls wrestling is that wrestling is such a full-contact, physical sport. But that wasn't a problem for Prise, Cooprider said.
"It bothers her when guys treat her differently," Cooprider said. "She never missed a second of practice. She's just a great kid."
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Girls Athlete of the Week
By Shannon Shelton | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 1, 2004
JENNY GLOVER
OSCEOLA GIRLS WRESTLING
Osceola/Polk
STATS: The 165-pound junior placed fourth in her weight class to earn
All-American honors at the United States Girls Wrestling Association
national championships in Lake Orion, Mich.
SIDELINES: Glover said religion is an important part of her life. Her
brothers, Johnny and Josh, got regular updates of her performance over
the phone from her dad.
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IN THE ZONE -- MISCELLANEOUS
Osceola girls excel at national event
By Emily Badger | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 1, 2004
The state champion Osceola girls wrestling team took nine athletes to
the United States Girls Wrestling Association national championships in
Lake Orion, Mich., over the weekend, where five girls placed in the top 12
at their respective weight classes.
Jenny Glover placed fourth at 165 pounds, ahead of 10th-place teammate
Brandi Castro. Candice Pellerin placed eighth at 114, Krystalee Navarro
11th at 144 and Jolene Sun 12th at 130.
About 350 girls competed at the high-school level, although each
represented her state team and not her individual high school.
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Rob Vanstone
Leader-Post
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Michelle Anderson was battling more than her opponents at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association wrestling championships.
She also had to contend with a severe cold.
Despite the illness, Anderson -- a Grade 9 student at O'Neill -- won the girls 60-kilogram title on Saturday at Marion Graham Collegiate in Saskatoon. She also helped O'Neill win its second consecutive provincial girls team title.
"My first match on Friday was painfully long,'' recalls Anderson, 14. "I was very sick. I was so drained. It was hard to do moves against the girl because I couldn't get enough energy.
"But I kept going and Mr. G (O'Neill wrestling coach Ron Gonzales) kept pushing me and I won it -- barely.''
After the opener, Anderson had a discussion with O'Neill teammate Sarah Kimmie (the 65kg bronze medallist).
"I was absolutely dying after my first match,'' Anderson says. "Sarah, who is in Grade 11, walked me through it. She took me aside and we walked around. She said, 'In the next match, tell yourself that you're absolutely fine and you're feeling lovely.'
"I did that, and it paid off. I owe her, big-time.''
Anderson ended up winning all four of her matches, including the final against Caileigh Beckman of LeBoldus. Beckman had defeated Anderson in a semifinal at the Regina High Schools Athletic Association championships. Beckman finished first at that event. Anderson was third.
"The first time I wrestled her, I was nervous,'' Anderson says. "She had more experience and she had to drop to make weight, so she was a little bigger than me. I wasn't very confident going into that match.
"In the provincial final, I was very confident. Mr. G said I should focus for the match and I did -- and it paid off.''
Anderson was able to enjoy a triumphant ending to a season which had been frustrating at times. For example, she was sidelined for two months after suffering a dislocated left elbow Jan. 2.
"My brother Taylor dislocated his elbow a week or two after I dislocated mine,'' she says.
"Everyone was bugging me that Andersons have weak elbows.''
And strong wrestling backgrounds.
Taylor and Trevor Anderson have used the O'Neill program as a springboard to the University of Regina Cougars wrestling team.
"I used to go and watch their tournaments and it just sparked me,'' Michelle says.
"I thought, 'Maybe it runs in the family,' so I gave it a try. I'm glad I did.''
- - -
Suzie Pullar is celebrating a three-peat.
Pullar, who is in Grade 12 at Thom, won her third provincial wrestling title on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Pullar pinned Shannon Kuehn of Saskatoon Bedford Road to win the girls 85kg title, avenging a loss to Kuehn in the 2003 provincial final. Pullar was also a provincial champion in 2001 (75kg) and 2002 (81kg).
"It's kind of shocking,'' Pullar says. "In all my years of high school, from Grade 9 until now, I've been (in a provincial final). Being able to hold that up for a while is kind of crazy, I think.''
Pullar had not wrestled before taking up the sport in her first year at Thom.
"I never even knew what it was,'' she recalls. "When I came to high school, I thought I'd give it a try and it was fun. I've been pretty successful.''
That is evidenced by her four medals -- three gold and one silver -- in as many trips to the provincials.
"A lot of times, I'll sit back and look at the medals and think about how it's a big accomplishment in my life and what I should do now,'' says Pullar, who is also an avid rugby player.
"I think, 'What would have happened if I hadn't taken up wrestling? What if I had won last year?' If I hadn't had a lot of injuries last year, I think I could have won gold. I sit back and I'm pretty amazed with how I've done.''
Pullar hopes her success will enable female wrestlers to overcome some misconceptions and stereotypes.
"A lot of people think that because we're girls, we shouldn't do the things that we do,'' she says. "They think that wrestling is a man's sport. Many of the girls are in their first or second year of wrestling. I'd like to see them be a provincial champion three or four times.
"At times, it'll be like, 'You wrestle? Isn't that for guys?' I don't think that it is. It's something that we enjoy and something that we're becoming good at.
"It's something I'd like to see us dominate more and show the men.''
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Akiyama wins national girls wrestling crown
2004-03-30
by Lena Tibbelin
Journal Reporter
Newport junior Leilani Akiyama won her first national wrestling title on Sunday.
Akiyama won the 118-pound title at the 7th Annual United States Girls Wrestling Association National championships in Lake Orion, Mich., by winning all her four matches by pin.
She pinned Courtney Martell from New Haven, Vt., at the 3:17 mark in the final.
Akiyama entered the tournament as the top seed in the weight class, which consisted of 20 girls.
``It feels so good,'' Akiyama said.
Last year, she placed fifth and prior to that she didn't place.
``It was great,'' Akiyama said. ``I love the feeling of wrestling. It's feels so good to go out there and wrestle again.''
Akiyama made history during the high school wrestling season when she won the 112-pound 3A Kingco title, the first girl to do so. She qualified for the state tournament for the second year in a row.
The national wrestling title comes a week after Akiyama won the women's 52 kilo U.S. Judo High School national tournament in Miami.
The transition from judo to wrestling was easy for Akiyama, though she spent only two days in Bellevue between the two tournament.
Now, Akiyama has 22 national judo titles and one wrestling title. She keeps some of them displayed in her room, others are in the closet.
``The ones that actually mean something, they are displayed,'' Akiyama said.
Akiyama said the wrestling medal is already up-- hanging above her bed.
Next on Akiyama's schedule is the judo senior nationals at the end of April, followed by the judo Olympic trials in June.
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Hanson is third at girls' national tournament
By Joe Slezak, The News-Herald
PUBLISHED: April 2, 2004
It was a thrill, a disappointment and an improvement all rolled into one.
Kelsey Hanson was 11th out of 20 girls at 105 pounds at last year's United States Girls' Wrestling Association tournament at Lake Orion High School.
Last weekend, the Grosse Ile High School senior went back to the national event in Lake Orion as the No. 2 seed at 105, and finished in third place out of 23 girls.
"I was pretty happy to finish third, but I could have done better," Hanson said.
She drew a first-round bye. She pinned Nikki Pender of Iowa in 1 minute, 47 seconds in the second round and scored a 17-8 major decision over Angel Diaz of Texas in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, though, she lost 6-4 to eventual runner-up Katherine Fulp Allen of El Granada, Calif. Hanson got an escape with about 20 seconds left to tie it at 4 and tried for a takedown. Instead, Fulp Allen got the takedown with about five seconds left to clinch the win.
Hanson dropped into the consolation bracket, where she beat Ashley Hudson of Missouri 4-3 to advance to the third-place match, in which she beat top-seeded Susie Levitt of Danbury, Conn., on a 15-0 technical fall. The match was stopped 4:55 in.
"She was a very defensive wrestler," Hanson said. "She's shorter and stronger. I decided I was going to try to get the first takedown and hold her there."
Hanson twice had Levitt on her back to record near-fall points.
The national tournament came on the heels of a whirlwind prep season for Hanson. While wrestling against boys at 103 pounds, she was 32-12 with 18 pins. She was second at both the Huron League meet and a Division 3 individual district.
At a regional, she split her first two matches, but lost her third. A win in that match would have guaranteed her a spot in the top four and a trip to the state meet at The Palace of Auburn Hills. No Downriver girl has ever wrestled at the state meet.
The week of the regional meet, she came down with the flu, which sapped her strength.
Hanson -- who moved to Grosse Ile from Golden, Colo., last summer -- said she had mixed feelings about her only season at Grosse Ile High.
"I never expected to do as well as I did," she said. "Despite that, it was still disappointing (not getting to state)."
Hanson is considering competing at a USA Wrestling women's national freestyle event in Fargo, N.D., in late spring. After that, she said she's hoping to start a female wrestling program.
One of four GIHS valedictorians, the straight-A student is still deciding where to attend college.
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Letters - Sports for girls, too
04/02/04 - Editor, Index-Tribune:
I was having a fine day until I read what Michael Mulas wrote to the editor about how girls shouldn't play football or wrestle. I had to read it three times to fully comprehend his sexist words.
He or any other boy has no right to say whether or not girls are able to handle "manly" sports. Only a girl can say this because they know what it is like to be a girl. I can agree that some girls may not be able to handle certain sports, but it's the same way with boys. Men and women vary in many ways - shape, size, ability, everything. Some men can handle sports, others are made for different things.
I play rugby with a lot of huge tough girls, but one of the girls on our team is about 5 feet, 2 inches and weighs probably 90 pounds. She is also fast, tough and just as able to pound and tackle girls five times her size. When I was in eighth grade I was on my school's wrestling team, along with five other girls. Even though I wasn't the largest girl (5 feet, 3 inches, 130 pounds) I beat almost every guy on my team, and another smaller girl placed second in the SCL tournament.
Michael stated that guys might feel embarrassed if they grabbed the girl they were wrestling with in the wrong place. I say wouldn't a guy be embarrassed if they grabbed a guy in the wrong place? But with six girls on my team that was never a problem between the sexes.
I have a strong belief that women need to break the old ways and get into sports that are traditionally played by men. If we don't evolve we die; if we don't adapt we die. The people of this world need to open their eyes and accept that women are going to play these sports, whether men like it or not.
Emily Hayward