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Patricia Miranda named 2003 USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year

4/5/2004
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

Patricia Miranda(Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) has been named the 2003 Women’s Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Miranda has won this prestigious award.

Miranda won a silver medal at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. at the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in New York, N.Y. It was the second World silver medal of her career. Her effort helped lead Team USA to a second place finish.

Miranda dropped a 5-4 finals match to Irini Merlini of Ukraine, who captured her third World title. Miranda had a close match prior to the finals, a 3-1 win over Canadian star Lyndsay Belisle in the opening match. She followed with technical fall wins over M. DelMar Peralta Osuna of Spain and Angelique Berthenet of France, then pinned Fani Psatha of Greece in the semifinals in 1:51.

Miranda was one of the most active international wrestlers on Team USA. She won a gold medal at the 2003 World Cup, and was named the event’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. She helped lead the U.S. team to an upset victory over host Japan.

She was also a gold medalist at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the first time women’s wrestling was contested at the event. The U.S. swept all four gold medals at the competition, a historic performance of dominance.

Other individual international gold medals for Miranda in 2003 were won at the Henri Deglane Challenge in France, the Kiev Grand Prix in Ukraine, the Gilbert Schaub French Open, and the Dave Schultz Memorial International.

Events that she won medals included a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Championships (the qualifier for the Pan Am Games) and the Klippan Ladies Open in Sweden.

Miranda swept the major U.S. domestic events, winning the U.S. Nationals and the World Team Trials. She defeated Clarissa Chun of the Gator WC in the finals of both events.

Miranda attended Stanford Univ., where she was a member of the men’s varsity team and was a starter during her senior season. She is originally from Saratoga, Calif.

USA Wrestling will be announcing major award winners each day this week on TheMat.com.

PAST WOMEN'S WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
2003 - Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo., Dave Schultz WC
2002 - Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
2001 - Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio, Sunkist Kids
2000 - Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1999 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1998 - Kristie Stenglein, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1997 - Sandra Bacher, San Jose, Calif., Dave Schultz WC
1996 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1995 - Vickie Zummo, Hamburg, N.J., New York AC
1994 - Shannon Williams, Ontario, Calif., Sunkist Kids
1993 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

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Notebook: Three local girls place at national wrestling tournament

Tuesday, April 6, 2004
The Columbian

Melissa Simmons from Ridgefield took second place at the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Tournament, held March 27-28 at Lake Orin, Mich.

Simmons finished second at 152 pounds to two-time national champion Ali Bernard. Simmons pinned Ana Jenkins, the outstanding wrestler in this tournament in 2003, on her way to the finals.

Kelsey Hanson from Washougal finished in fifth place in the 100-pound weight class for middle school girls.

Christina Cox from La Center placed sixth in the 110-pound middle school division.

Among the 13 girls who represented Washington at the tournament, Leilani Akiyama from Bellevue won the championship in the 100-pound high school division.

Two elementary school wrestlers from Washington won championships: Kianna Witt of Kingston and Alysia Pohran of Mount Vernon.

Katelin McNeal of Woodland also competed in the high school tournament at the eighth-annual event, which attracted more than 1,000 girls from the United States and Canada.

The Washington team was coached by Kim Simmons from Ridgefield. Four wrestlers from Washington advanced to the finals in the high school tournament.

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Junior standouts earn top wrestling honors
2004 El Paso Times All-City Wrestling Team

Lenny Jurado 4/6/04
El Paso Times

Two names stood out above the rest of El Paso's talented wrestling pool this past season: Tressa Yocum and Justin Reyes.

Reyes, of Franklin High School, was rock-solid at 189 pounds, retaining his regional title from last season and then finishing second at the state championships.

Eastwood High's Yocum went a step further, going undefeated in the 165-pound weight class and powering her way to a state title in just her first complete season at Eastwood.

As such, it may not come as a surprise that the two juniors have been selected the male and female El Paso Times 2003-04 All-City Most Valuable Wrestler.

"It feels pretty good," Reyes said. "Wrestling doesn't get much recognition, so this is pretty good."

Yocum said winning the award "felt good" as well.

"It took a lot of work," she said.

That it did, although it may not have seemed like it.

The 5-foot-7 Yocum emerged from relative obscurity this season to compile a 30-0 record, all of her victories pins, with only one match lasting into the second period.

Her might was revealed early in the season at the prestigious Amarillo Caprock Tournament, where she pinned four girls in less than 15 seconds on her way to Outstanding Wrestler honors.

"I like to pin them fast so I can have more strength for the next match," she said.

Entering the season, she made it her mission to win the state crown. Before it was over, she did just that.

"(Competing at state) was pretty exciting," Yocum said. "I got a lot of experience over there (Austin), and I got to wrestle a lot of people I hadn't seen before."

Though Yocum was a rookie at state, Reyes was returning after a fifth-place finish as a sophomore.

With hopes of a state title in mind, the aggressive 5-11 grappler wasted no time preparing for the challenge.

"I trained in the summer and worked out with my coach's son (Jaime Hernandez), who's in college," Reyes said. "He taught me how to be quicker and helped me perfect my moves."

Those sweat-filled hours paid off as Reyes went 48-2 and finished second at state to Katy High's James Ashton, a fellow junior and last year's state champ.

However, Reyes is intent on winning the gold next season. And should he face Ashton again ...

"I think I'll be more prepared," he said. "He pretty much out-strengthed me. But I've been working harder. Hopefully I can go back stronger and more aggressive and see what happens."

As for Yocum, some may say she had the perfect season, but she still feels there's room for improvement.

"I need to take better advantage of the pin when I have them," she said.

Speaking of pins, Yocum said she would be up for wrestling Reyes to see who could get one first.

"It'd be a good match; I don't know (who would win)," Yocum said, chuckling.

And could she win?

"Yeah," she said with a smile

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2004-2005 Season Pre-Season
High School Rankings USGWA

These ratings may be adjusted at any time without warning. Input from coaches, parents, wrestlers, and writers are welcomed. Most recent update: March 30, 2004.

100 lbs.

1st - Joey Miller, Woodward, Oklahoma / Woodward HS / Freshman
2nd - Alyssa Lampe, Tomahawk, Wisconsin / Tomahawk HS / Junior
3rd - Whitney Conder, Puyallup, Washington / Puyallup HS / Junior
4th - Joleen Oshiro, Ewa Beach, Hawaii / Iolani HS / Senior
5th - Kelli Rasmussen, Winnebago, Minnesota / Blue Earth HS / Junior
6th - Jen Hicks, Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue HS / Senior
7th - Carla Watase, Honolulu, Hawaii / Iolani HS / Sophomore
8th - Dianna Acors, Charlton, New York / Burnt Hills HS / Sophomore

105 lbs.

1st - Katherine Fulp-Allen, El Granada, California / Half Moon Bay HS / Junior
2nd - Ashley Hudson, Wildwood, Missouri / Lafayette HS / Sophomore
3rd - Susie Levitt, Danbury, Connecticut / Danbury HS / Senior
4th - Angel Diaz, Amarillo, Texas / Tascosa HS / Junior
5th - Marsha Boucher, Racine, Wisconsin / Horlick HS / Junior
6th - Billie Jean Dill, Otego, New York / Otego HS / Junior
7th -
8th -

110 lbs.

1st - Amnorina Porter, Sterling, Michigan / Standish-Sterling Central HS / Senior
2nd - Brittany Woodall, Buckhannon, West Virginia, Buckhannon HS / Sophomore
3rd - Caitlyn Chase, Bloomingdale, Illinois / Glenbard North HS / Junior
4th - Amanda Breezley, Goshen, Ohio / Blanchester HS / Junior
5th - Jenny Schridde, Great Bend, Kansas / Great Bend HS / Senior
6th -
7th -
8th -

114 lbs.

1st - Nicole Darrow, Lanesboro, Massachusetts / Mount Greylock Regional HS / Junior
4rd -
5th-
6th -
7th -
8th -

118 lbs.

1st - Leilani Akiyama, Bellevue, Washington, Newport HS / Senior
2nd -
3rd - Ashley Bice, Clinton, Iowa / Clinton HS / Junior
4th - Kristy Bishop, Big Bear Lake, California / Big Bear Lake HS / Junior
5th - Lily Dorman, Berkeley, California / Berkeley HS / Junior
6th -
7th -
8th -
9th - Laine Orabona, New Bern, North Carolina / Havelock HS / Junior
10th - Shasta Olson, Ishpeming, Michigan / Ishpeming HS / Freshman

122 lbs.

1st - Sarah Peasley, Escanaba, Michigan / Escanaba HS / Junior
2nd - Lauren Primiano, Wahiawa, Hawaii / Punahou HS / Senior
3rd -
4th -
5th -
6th -
7th -
8th -

126 lbs.

1st - Deanna Rix, South Berwick, Maine / Marshwood HS / Senior
2nd - Cheyenne Stokes, Tulsa, Oklahoma / East Central HS / Freshman
3rd - Na'Tasha Umemoto, Portland, Oregon / David Douglas HS / Senior
4th - Kayla Chambers, Napa, California / Vintage HS / Junior
5th -
6th -
7th - Bethany Harris, Valley Center, California / Valley Center HS / Junior
8th - Beth LaRowe, Milan, Michigan / Milan HS / Junior
9th - Amy Woenkhaus, Fort Wayne, Indiana / Monroeville Heritage HS / Sophomore

130 lbs.

1st -
2nd -
3rd - Jessica Pierce, Parish, New York / Altmar-Parish-Williamstown HS / Junior
4th -
5th - Samantha Gorman, Allendale, Michigan / Allendale HS / Freshman
6th -
7th - Kylee Glant, Union City, Michigan / Union City HS / Junior
8th - Amber Miracle, Berlin, Wisconsin / Berlin HS / Freshman
9th - Paige Rife, Fowlerville, Michigan / Fowlerville HS / Freshman

134 lbs.

1st - Vanessa Oswalt, Mount Vernon, Ohio / Mount Vernon HS / Junior
2nd -
3rd - Shelby Brown, Monterey, California / Monterey HS / Junior
4th -
5th -
6th - Alisha Zahn, Minneapolis, Minnesota / Roosevelt HS / Junior
7th -
8th -
9th -

138 lbs.

1st - Stefenie Shaw, Waterford, Connecticut / Waterford HS / Junior
2nd - Chelynne Pringle, Hugo, Minnesota / Forest Lake HS / Junior
3rd - Elena Pirozhkov, Greenfield, Massachusetts, Greenfield HS / Junior
4th -
5th - Alisha Swenson, LeRoy, Minnesota / LeRoy-Ostrander HS / Sophomore
6th - Maraela Ferguson, Minneapolis, Minnesota / Central HS / Junior
7th -
8th - Stella Brown, San Leandro, California / San Leandro HS / Sophomore
9th -

144 lbs.

1st -
2nd - Anna Jenkins, Lake Orion, Michigan / Lake Orion HS / Junior
3rd - Amanda Chittenden, Greenville, Michigan / Greenville HS / Junior
4th - Melissa Simmons, Ridgefield, Washington / Ridgefield HS / Sophomore
5th -
6th - Aren Delmonico, Lakewood, Colorado / Bear Creek HS / Freshman
7th -
8th - Jenna Strickler, Lake Zurich, Illinois / Lake Zurich HS / Junior

152 lbs.

1st -
2nd -
3rd -
4th -
5th - Toni Copeland, McDonough, New York / Oxford Academy Central HS / Sophomore
6th - Lacey Novinska, Fennimore, Wisconsin / Fennimore HS / Junior
7th - Ashley Lee, Bolivar, Missouri / Bolivar HS / Junior
8th - Caitlin Dammann, Spencer, Iowa / Spencer HS / Freshman
9th -
10th -

165 lbs.

1st -
2nd - Juanita Russell, Galway, New York, Galway Central HS / Junior
3rd - Dallas Berner, Oak Park, Illinois / Oak Park HS / Sophomore
4th - Jere Summers, Berkeley, California / Berkeley HS / Junior
5th -
6th -
7th - Ashley Weber, Katy, Texas / Katy HS / Junior
8th -
9th - Susan Scott, Fayette, Iowa / Fayette HS / Sophomore
10th - Sara English, Beachwood, Ohio / Beachwood HS / Sophomore

165+lbs.

1st - Lizz Sanders, Masonville, Iowa / Arlington Starmont HS / Junior
2nd - Sarah Deardorff, Mundelein, Illinois / Mundelein HS / Freshman
3rd -
4th - Alesia McFarlane, Somerset, New Jersey / Franklin HS / Sophomore
5th -
6th - Jessica Deardorff, Mundelein, Illinois / Mundelein HS / Freshman
7th - Colette Curtis, Gardner, Kansas / Gardner HS / Junior
8th - Tonia Mahotiere, Verona, New Jersey / Verona HS / Sophomore
9th -
10th - Bridgett Boger, Vero Beach, Florida / Vero Beach HS / Junior
11th - Kaccee Ravenberg, Katy, Texas / Katy HS / Sophomore
12th -
13th -