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Mullen: Girl wrestling with familiar obstacles
By Holly Mullen 11/21/04
Salt Lake Tribune Columnist
My Tribune colleague Christopher Smart wrote on Friday about 14-year-old Candace Workman, a Vernal Junior High student whose parents have waged a legal battle for her to wrestle in a boys tournament next month in Spanish Fork.
Reading the Workmans' story, I got that hazy, wavy deja vu feeling.
I had been here before. Or rather, a young woman I once knew had been here before. I met Courtney Barnett, a senior at Arlington Martin High School in Texas, in January 1997. I was a reporter for the Dallas Observer, and this is how I began her story:
On the final night of Courtney Barnett's high school wrestling season, she is waiting, as usual. Waiting to see if any of the boys on the opposing team will agree to face her. Waiting to learn which weight class she might compete in. Waiting to see if a referee will deign to officiate a match involving a girl.
Waiting, when it comes right down to it, to find out if she'll be allowed to wrestle at all this night.
Courtney was already nationally ranked in judo. Like Candace Workman, Courtney was a tough athlete. Also like Candace, she had wonderfully supportive parents. Her coach believed in her. Her male teammates treated her as an equal.
Courtney was willing to wrestle girls - but there were only a half-dozen or so who competed.
I watched her coach try to enter her in several wrestling meets. Entire teams refused to go against her school, simply because they had a girl along. Typically, they would forfeit the whole night rather than have one boy face a girl.
Her parents, Mike and Rai Barnett, sued.
Eight years later, little has changed.
In Courtney's story, opposing coaches, referees and many parents of boys trotted out predictable protests: She would get hurt. Girl-boy wrestling is sexual. And perhaps the deepest truth of all: It would be too embarrassing for a boy to lose to a girl.
In Utah, the same old arguments have been applied.
Eight years ago, I recall thinking how great it would be if coaches and parents could view wrestling like any other coed sport. Sure, there is an intimacy involved that does not exist in say, soccer. But we have all manner of intimate, coed interaction in this society that is not about sex. It's business. It's life.
Don't male gynecologists treat women? Last year, a female nurse set my husband up for his first colonoscopy. I once had a male massage therapist who worked my bare back until the baseball-sized knot there turned to pudding.
Courtney Barnett's teammates understood this distinction. They respected her as a competitor. It was the adults, they said, who wanted to make this about sex.
As for the matter of bruising a male ego, I liked this response from one of Courtney's teammates, a 180-pound boy:
"Losing to a girl, you know, boys don't want to. But nobody wants to lose, period. If it's a fair match, it shouldn't matter."
Courtney's case was still in limbo when I moved away months later. I never learned the outcome.
She had a big support network, which helped. Candace Workman appears to have the same kind of family.
One night, after Courtney had waited an hour for an opponent, officials matched her with a boy two weight classes above her, hoping to intimidate her.
If her parents were worried, they didn't show it. Mike Barnett just squeezed her and gave her some advice: "Just get in there, pin his ass and save your energy."
UPDATED: USEOC women’s team splits four dual meets in Canada, and participates in open tournament
11/23/2004
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
The U.S. Olympic Education Center (USOEC) women’s university team, which is based at Northern Michigan Univ., split four dual meets over the weekend in Canada, as well as participated in an open tournament.
These dual meets were held in addition to the Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling, held at Lakehead University in Canada.
On the first night, the USOEC faced Canada’s top two college teams on Friday, Nov. 19.
The USOEC team defeated the No. 2 college team in Canada, the Univ. of Calgary, 5 matches to 2. In the second dual of the evening, the No. 1 Canadian college team, Simon Fraser Univ., beat the USOEC team 6 matches to 3. The new rules of international wrestling were used in the dual meets.
Only one USOEC wrestlers won both matches for the evening, Brandy Rosenbrock (Harrison, Mich.), who competes at 59 kg/130 lbs.
In perhaps the top matchup of the evening, Rosenbrock defeated the No. 1 ranked Canadian on the Senior level, Emily Richardson of Simon Fraser, in a tiebreaker. Rosenbrock is ranked No. 1 in the USA in the most recent TheMat.com U.S. Women’s rankings. Rosenbrock also pinned Justine Bouchard of Calgary in that dual meet.
Joining Rosenbrock with wins during the Calgary dual meet were Liz Short (Lombard, Ill.), Linse Meadows (Katy, Texas), Ku Johnson (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Donell Bradley (Aiea, Hawaii).
Joining Rosenbrock with wins against Simon Fraser were Mary Kelly (Mahomet, Ill.) and Debbi Sakai (Mililani, Hawaii).
On the second day, Saturday, Nov. 20, the USOEC wrestled against a pair of all-star teams. The USOEC defeated the OUA (the college conference in Ontario), 5 matches to 3. In the final dual, Canada West (the college conference in Western Canada), defeated the USOEC, 7 matches to 1.
Scoring wins in the OUA dual meet were Short, Kelly, Meadows, Elena Mena (St. Paul, Minn.) and Randi Miller (Arlington, Texas).
The lone USOEC winner in the Canada West dual was Sakai, who pinned Simon Fraser’s Sarah White for the second time of the weekend.
The USOEC team also participated in a tournament on Sunday morning, where athletes from the teams entered in the weekend dual meets were paired off into pools and wrestled three or four matches.
Four USOEC wrestlers had perfect 3-0 record in the tournament action: Short, Kelly, Meadows and Sharon Jacobson (San Diego, Calif.)
The USOEC women’s team is coached by Shannyn Gillespie, who was pleased with the performance of the team, as well as the opportunity to get the athletes numerous quality matches during the weekend.
On Saturday, the eight-team Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling, a dual meet tournament featuring college teams, was also held. Cumberland College, one of the powerhouse women’s college teams from the United States, defeated Canada’s top team Simon Fraser in the championship match of the tournament. Complete results of this competition will be posted when available.
USOEC 5, Calgary 2
48 kg - Liz Short (USOEC) pin Krista Wells (Calgary)
53 kg - Andrea Ross (Calgary) dec. Mary Kelly (USOEC), 2-1, 1-1, 2-1
57 kg - Brit Laverdure (Calgary) dec. Sharon Jacobson (USOEC), 3-7, 5-1, 6-4
61 kg - Linse Meadows (USOEC) pin Laura McDougall (Calgary)
65 kg - Brandy Rosenbrock (USOEC) pin Justine Bouchard (Calgary), 3:33
70 kg - Ku Johnson (USOEC) dec. Elisa Howes (Calgary), 4-1, 4-1
80 kg - Donell Bradley (USOEC) pin Vanessa Wilson (Calgary)
Simon Fraser 6, USOEC 3
Ashley McManus (Simon Fraser) pin Linse Meadows (USOEC), 2:20
Shayla Turncotte (Simon Fraser) pin Randi Miller (USOEC), 2:20
Mary Kelly (USOEC) pin Miranda Dick (Simon Fraser)
Ashley McKilligan (Simon Fraser) dec. Liz Short (USOEC), 1-0, 1-0
Debbi Sakai (USOEC) pin Sarah White (Simon Fraser), 2:29
Leah Pare (Simon Fraser) dec. Amy Borgnini (USOEC), 0-2, 4-1, 1-0
Jessica Peterson (Simon Fraser) dec. Danyelle Hedin (USOEC), 4-2, 4-2
Brandy Rosenbrock (USOEC) dec. Emily Richardson (Simon Fraser), tiebreaker
Angela Mah (Simon Fraser) dec. Teri Lopez (USOEC), 3-1, 6-7, 2-0
USOEC 5, OUA All-Stars 3
48 kg – Liz Short (USOEC) dec. Laura Skopelianos (OUA/Western), 3-0, 3-3
53 kg – Mary Kelly (USOEC) dec. Terri McNutt (OUA/Western), 7-4, 4-3
57 kg – Melody McCague (OUA/Lakehead) dec. Amy Borgnini (USOEC), 1-1, 4-2
61 kg – Tasha Eady (OUA/Lakehead) dec. Teri Lopez (USOEC), 3-1, 2-1
65 kg – Linse Meadows (USOEC) pin Allison Rockwood (OUA/Memorial), 1:03
70 kg – Gillian McCallum (OUA/Western) dec. Ku Johnson (USOEC), 5-3, 3-1
80 kg – Elena Mena (USOEC) pin Jenn Hanson (OUA/Brock), 3:15
80 kg – Randi Miller (USOEC) dec. Katie Woodenfinden (OUA/Lakehead), 3-0, 4-1
Canada West All-Stars 7, USOEC 1
48 kg – Krista Wells (CW/Calgary) dec. Liz Short (USOEC), 3-1, 0-3, 3-1
53 kg –Debbi Sakai (USOEC) pin Sarah White (CW/Simon Fraser), 0:12
57 kg – Emily Richardson (CW/Simon Fraser) dec. Sharon Jacobson (USOEC), 8-3, 8-3
61 kg – Justine Bouchard (CW/Calgary) pin Teri Lopez (USOEC), 0:18
65 kg – Heidi Kulak (CW/Alberta) pin Linse Meadows (USOEC), 1:37
70 kg – Ashley McManus (CW/Simon Fraser) dec. Ku Johnson (USOEC), 3-1, 1-3, 5-0
80 kg – Shayla Turcotte (CW/Simon Fraser) pin Donell Bradley (USOEC), 1:11
61 kg – Angela Mah (CW/Simon Fraser) dec. Danyelle Hedin (USOEC), 3-0, 4-0
USOEC athlete records during the Lakehead Open Tournament
Note: There were no weight divisions. Athletes were paired based upon weight that day.
Liz Short, 3-0 record
Mary Kelly, 3-0 record
Linse Meadows, 3-0 record
Sharon Jacobson, 3-0 record
Elena Mena, 2-1 record
Randi Miller, 2-1 record
Donell Bradley, 1-2 record
Amy Borgnini, 1-3 record
Teri Lopez, 1-3 record
Debbi Sakai, 0-1 record
Ku Johnson, 0-2 record
Information provided by Lakehead Univ. as well as from USOEC coaching staff
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Wrestlers unwind with a little more action
By Reuben Villagracia - The Chronicle-Journal
November 22, 2004
What was considered the dog day of the Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling weekend at Lakehead University was a welcome sight, say the country’s top coaches.
Finishing a 13-class individual round-robin tournament on Sunday morning in less than three hours, coaches and wrestlers had plenty of time to mix and mingle until the next large scale wrestling event.
Lakehead bench boss Francis Clayton played the role of dutiful host, checking in with every school and group to make sure everything went smoothly.
Simon Fraser University standout Emily Richardson, one of the world’s top 10 wrestlers in her weight group, had enough time to sneak off to Tim Horton’s a block from C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse before catching the afternoon flight.
Some put in a little overtime. Canadian Olympic coach Marty Calder and one of his Brock students were the last to leave the mat. The cleanup crew had to gently nudge them to end their session.
“It’s a learning opportunity for our girls and everybody,” said Calder of Sunday’s relaxed atmosphere.
Added SFU coach Mike Jones: “For the majority of us, especially if you come from any kind of distance, you have a certain expense there and you want to maximize your exposure to more wrestling.
“Today you’re wrestling for yourself. Especially this time of year, there’s nothing like more matches,” added Jones, whose B.C. school finished second to Kentucky-based Cumberland College in Saturday’s team event.
Cumberland and SFU, the top-ranked squad in Canada, and the United States Olympic Education Centre each won three division crowns on Sunday. Wrestlers from the University of Alberta, Memorial University (Nfld.) and University of Calgary had taken early flights and did not compete.
Tasha Eady was the lone Lakehead wrestler to won her grouping. Teammates Emily McCague, Alex Demars and Mary Jo Mitchell each finished second in their respective classes.
Calder was quick to shake off Brock’s surprising exit at the hands of the Thunderwolves on Saturday. He’s looking at the big-picture goals his No. 3 ranked school has in mind.
“For us, (rankings) are just someone else’s opinion about what might happen in the end,” he said. “What does matter is our conference title and our national championship tournament.”
Notes: Hammarskjold coach Harry Curtis invited his students and other Thunder Bay high school wrestlers to help with timekeeping and scorekeeping on Sunday. The city’s high school season begins Wednesday with the St. Patrick Saints’ annual takedown tournament. . . . Lakehead finished fourth on Saturday.
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By David Trifunov - The Chronicle-Journal
November 21, 2004
The Thunderwolves surpassed expectations against North America’s best at the Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling on Saturday at C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
The Lakehead University team defeated the defending Ontario champion Brock Badgers and fell just short of bronze against the Calgary Dinos to finish the tournament in fourth place.
Brock is ranked third in Canada while Calgary is second.
“As a team we probably did better than I thought,” Lakehead coach Francis Clayton said.
Melody McCague, her sister Emily McCague and Christina Jones were Lakehead’s three winners in seven matches against Calgary.
Jones, a third-year wrestler from Brampton, Ont., pinned Calgary’s Elisa Howes early in the first round of their match.
“I wrestled well considering I have a knee injury right now,” said Jones, who was fourth at the Ontario championships last year. “I’ve spent a lot of time off the mat in the past few weeks. It’s nice to get going again, especially with decent results.”
Melody McCague is Lakehead’s leader and the only fourth-year athlete on the squad. She defeated Calgary’s Justine Bouchard 5-3.
“That was a good match,” said Melody McCague, who finished third at the national university championships last year. “I’d wrestled her at senior nationals last year, too, and I beat her there. But it’s still a nice win to get.”
The ninth-ranked T’Wolves are bound to migrate north in the standings especially considering their performance against Brock.
“Everybody worked really hard, everyone’s been training really hard,” Emily McCague said. “I think that had something to do with it.”
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By David Trifunov - The Chronicle-Journal
November 21, 2004
There was barely a moment when you couldn’t hear Toccara Montgomery encouraging her teammates.
The 21-year-old Olympic wrestler and her Cumberland College Patriots won the team title at the Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling at Lakehead University on Saturday.
The only time that Montgomery, who finished seventh at the Summer Games in Athens, was silent came during her final match against Simon Fraser University’s Shayla Turcotte.
But 40 seconds later, after Turcotte was pinned, Montgomery was right back at it as Cumberland defeated the same SFU team it lost to one year ago.
“Last year we wanted to win and everything, but our team just wasn’t as strong as Simon Fraser’s,” said Montgomery, who is from Cleveland. “I just think this year we had a much stronger team and I think we more prepared to come in a wrestle hard against everybody.”
Montgomery is a two-time world medallist and a four-time national champ south of the border. But she suffered a disappointing loss in Athens to Japan’s Kyoko Hamaguchi, the reigning world champion.
“I was a little disappointed at first,” said Montgomery, FILA’s 2001 female wrestler of the year. “But now, it being almost 2 1/2 months after the Olympics, I’ve gotten over it. It’s still a disappointment, but it’s not hampering what I’m doing in the wrestling room or on the mat lately.”
Cumberland, based in Williamsburg, Ky., won four of seven matches against SFU in the final on Saturday. The gutsiest performance came from Othella Lucas. She won her first round 7-3 before suffering a grisly elbow injury to SFU’s Miranda Dick, who won the second round 4-0.
After getting the wing taped, Lucas gritted her teeth to a 4-0 result of her own in the third round.
“If we had finished sixth or eighth it would’ve been worth the trip to come up here,” Cumberland coach Kip Flanik said. “Coach Clayton puts on a great tournament and I’m honoured he invited us to come up. I think we got a lot of great matches in.”
The University of Calgary Dinos won four of seven matches against Lakehead Thunderwolves for the bronze medal.
The second-annual Championship Cup has already established itself as one of the premiere women’s tournament’s in North America. Seven of Canada’s top 10 university programs were here as well as Cumberland, ranked first in the U.S.
Wrestling continues today at 9 a.m. with an individual tournament and will feature even more competitors, including those from the U.S. Olympic Education Centre.
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By David Trifunov - The Chronicle-Journal
November 20, 2004
If you need any indication as to the seriousness of U.S.A. Wrestling, just ask Shannyn Gillespie.
The U.S. Olympic Education Centre coach brought 13 women from Northern Michigan University 10 hours by car just for a series of exhibition matches this weekend at Lakehead University.
Because women’s wrestling was only added to the Olympics for 2004, many countries, where the sport barely survived, are now magnifying development of athletes.
The American model is to draw high school and transfer students from other colleges into Marquette, Mich., where they can study and train at NMU.
It’s similar to strategies in the four other Olympic training centres — especially Colorado Springs, Colo. — operating in the U.S. right now, says Gillespie.
“The model in the Springs was successful because we had elite level coaches and elite level women. This is the same situation here where we have a variety of girls from all over the country and all of them are good,” Gillespie said. “And we have the funding from U.S.A. Wrestling, the funding from the United States Olympic Committee.”
But there are only a handful of U.S. schools offering the sport, so Canada becomes the likely source for high-calibre competition. There are about 17 schools wrestling in Canada and fewer than 10 in the U.S.
The USOEC wrestled against the Simon Fraser Clan and Calgary Dinos on Friday night in advance of today’s main draw at the second annual Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling tournament. They will also wrestle Ontario and Canada West select teams today.
Although not a hard-and-fast rule, athletes at the USOEC are ranked among the top 10 Americans in their sport.
Athletes must meet strict requirements to enter, and remain, but can expect a maximum scholarship of about $20,000 (US).
Wrestler Liz Short, 21, said this opportunity was essential to the growth of the women’s game in the U.S.
“We’ve all been kind of waiting for it,” she said. “There’s been kind of a buzz around women’s wrestling community. We’ve all just been waiting for it. Some girls have even been putting off college just to wait for this.”
The talent level is certainly high. Brandy Rosenbrock is ranked No. 1 in the United States at 59 kg while seven other wrestlers are top 10 south of the border.
The team finished its first ever tournament — the Arizona State University Open on Oct. 28 — third overall.
But Lakehead coach Francis Clayton is unsure if the model would work in Canada. The two-time CIS coach of the year is always mindful of the grassroots development of the sport.
Clayton said if you limit the number of people who participate, do you discourage a potential referee, coach or sponsor from giving back to the sport later?
And if you take away the best from a particular area for a training centre, where do the new leaders come from?
“High performance is good, but it can scare away a lot of other people,” Clayton says.
Wrestling continues all day today and Sunday.
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Women's wrestling takes over Fieldhouse this weekend
By David Trifunov - The Chronicle-Journal
November 19, 2004
Tasha Eady is willing to make the sacrifice for her teammates and her sport.
The Thunderwolves wrestling rookie is part of the underdog Lakehead Thunderwolves team that is hosting this weekend’s Championship Cup of Women’s Wrestling.
The competition features seven of the top 10 varsity squads from Canada, the No. 1 team in the United States and the American Olympic development team.
Some intimidating company for a youngster straight out of high school.
“Very intimidating for me,” said Eady. “(It’s my) second big tournament, I guess. But it’s so good for women’s wrestling.”
Olympians, national champions and the best varsity wrestlers from across North America have converged at Lakehead University for the tournament.
Tonight’s action features the U.S. Olympic Education Centre facing the Calgary Dinos and Simon Fraser Clan in exhibition dual matches (7:15 p.m. at the Thunderdome). SFU and U of C are Canada’s top two programs while the USOEC is a new venture that brings top wrestlers together to train at Northern Michigan University.
Saturday’s schedule includes dual matches beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing all day. Lakehead is in a group with SFU, the Alberta Pandas and Brock Badgers. The other group is comprised of the Dinos, Memorial Sea-Hawks, Western Ontario Mustangs and Cumberland College Patriots from Williamsburg, Ky.
“It’s a pretty good opportunity to wrestle competition we don’t get to see throughout the year,” said Mel McCague, Lakehead’s only fourth-year wrestler. “It’s good to see the competition a little earlier than at nationals.”
Cumberland is ranked No. 1 in the United States and features Athens Olympian Tocarra Montgomery.
Lakehead’s Emily McCague, Mel’s younger sister, lost to Montgomery last year at this tournament.
“Are we looking at the positives?” Emily McCague said with a quick laugh.
“I think it’s a great experience,” she added. “It will give us a chance to wrestle people more experienced than us. We get to learn by just watching others and it will be fun at the same time.”
Individual matches end the competition on Sunday.
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Lakehead sends both the men’s and women’s basketball teams to Ottawa for games against the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees.
The men (1-1) are in tough against the two-time defending national champion Ravens tonight. Carleton (2-0) is ranked No. 1 in Canada. Ottawa (1-1) presents a more reasonable challenge.
The women (2-2) are coming off weekend wins against Queen’s and Royal Military College. Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner has his team bubbling with confidence as it prepares for the Ravens (0-4) and Gee-Gees (3-1).
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Thunderwolves volleyball (1-7) embarks on its toughest road trip of the year. Tonight the T’Wolves face Western Ontario (6-1) and then drive three hours south to take on the Windsor Lancers (5-3) on Saturday.