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Grapevine wrestler pins down intricacies of sport in no time

06:06 PM CST on Saturday, December 4, 2004

By RICK KRETZSCHMAR / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

JOHN F. RHODES/DMN Grapevine's Desiree French (left), practicing a takedown on teammate Katie Lindley, began wrestling only two years ago.

Grapevine wrestler Desiree French has a decision that's been weighing on her lately: her weight.

This week, she has to decide whether she wants to wrestle at 128 pounds, her current weight class, or drop down to 119. Right now, she weighs about 125, and she wouldn't mind staying there.

"I'm lazy. I don't want to cut weight," French said.

She's hardly a slacker, though. She has showed determination to become a better wrestler over the last two years, with few people to help her.

That work is paying off this year. The junior was 8-0 going into Saturday's Tri-State Classic at Lake Highlands High School. At the Southern Assault Invitational at Arlington Martin on Nov. 23, French was 5-0 with five pins.

"The way she's wrestling right now, I would be surprised if she didn't qualify for state," teammate Katie Lindley said. "I think she can win state."

Being a wrestler was not what French had in mind for athletics when she entered high school.

Instead, she was focused on cheerleading and volleyball. But in the summer before her freshman year, an off-balance landing from a jump tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.

French was unable to participate in cheerleading. While she participated in some drills during volleyball season, she couldn't compete in matches. French said she was looking for another athletic outlet.

"I decided on wrestling because you wouldn't have to twist your knee like you would have in tennis or basketball," she said. "I just really enjoyed wrestling."

French was not successful right away. She was 3-10 in her freshman season.

Even worse, she had few people to work with. The number of teammates she has had on Grapevine's girls wrestling team has fluctuated from two to zero, and the girls are not allowed to spar with guys.

Grapevine girls wrestling coach Albert Lujan said the best he could do is teach her as much technique and conditioning as possible, and make her work.

"I had a sister who wrestled when I was in high school. I would have to get on her to work," Lujan said. "My philosophy is girls wrestling is wrestling. Desi would have to work as hard as the boys."

French improved to 12-6 last year. She finished second in Region II in the 119-pound weight class, but lost a challenge match at the region meet, missing qualifying for the state meet by one victory.

Last summer, French was part of Team Texas, a touring girls wrestling team. The team included some of the best wrestlers in the state, including Fossil Ridge's Emmy Thompson, a state qualifier.

French and Thompson continue to spar against each other in spare time. French said this summer's work has improved her technique considerably.

Lindley said working with French can be painful.

"I'm sore after practicing with Desi," said Lindley, who also competes at 119 and 128 pounds. "My back really hurts. She likes to put an elbow in my back."

French defeated Semaj Langston, a 2003-04 state qualifier at 128 pounds, twice at the Southern Assault Invitational. French also defeated wrestlers from Amarillo Palo Duro and Amarillo Tascosa. Palo Duro has won two team state titles in the last five years.

Defeating state-level wrestlers, however, is bittersweet for French. She said she feels like she should have qualified for state last year.

She was an alternate and was allowed to go to Austin to watch the state meet. She said the experience makes her more determined.

It may help her with her potential weight loss.

"If I can win a state title by dropping down a weight class, I'll do it," French said.

E-mail rkretzschmar@dallasnews.com

FRENCH IS COOKING

Grapevine junior wrestler Desiree French has improved since she started wrestling two years ago. Here is a season-

by-season breakdown:

Year Record
2002-03 3-10
2003-04 12-6*
2004-05 8-0

* – state alternate

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Wrestling grabs hold of female athletes

By Zi Xiu Chen/ Teen correspondent
Monday, December 6, 2004

Wrestling is not just for boys anymore.

Considered one of the world's oldest sports, wrestling also is among the most recent to be popular with both genders.

Women's wrestling made its Olympic debut in the 2004 Athens games, and female students at Boston Latin High School are participating on the boys' wrestling team.

Jennifer Chan, a second-year female wrestler at Boston Latin High School, said she wrestles because, ``It is cool and wrestling is a very interesting sport.''
The high school junior said she is usually met with astonishment when she tells people she wrestles.

``Perhaps many people believe that wrestling is a masculine sport as it is aggressive and girls are traditionally taught not to be aggressive,'' Chan said.

Chan is allowed to compete on the team because of Title IX.

As part of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. It requires schools receiving federal funds to give women an equal chance to play sports.

However, the presence of girls in wrestling is still disproportionately low.

According to the USA Wrestling Association, there are about 3,800 female wrestlers in the United States at the high school level, compared to about 250,000 male wrestlers.

Texas and Hawaii are the only states with state championships for girls wrestling at the high school level. They are also the only states that do not allow girls to wrestle boys at this level, thereby limiting the possibilities for girl wrestlers to compete.

Stefan Kaluziak, a first-year wrestler at Boston Latin, said he is expecting a challenge from the female wrestlers on the team.

He said girls are weaker physically, but are stronger mentally, which he believes is a major factor in deciding the winners in any competition.

Chan said she hopes more girls will join wrestling and realize that it can be fun and that they will be treated equally with their male team members.

``Whatever guys can do, girls can do better,'' Chan said laughing.
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Click here to see the Girl's Wrestling Internet Highlight Film produced by Coach David Henson.

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Expectations high for Bernard; Ian Hamilton

Regina LeaderPost 11-20-2004

Ali Bernard's study of Canada is in its early stages, but it already
has provided her with some startling results.

"There are a lot of things I don't understand," the 18-year-old product
of New Ulm, Minn., said with a laugh Thursday. "People talk to me and it's
like, 'What are you saying?' 'Tuque,' for instance. What's that? Gravy
on french fries? That's just not right.
"It's not too bad, though. I'll be OK."

Bernard is one of the prized new recruits on the Cougars women's
wrestling team which, like its male equivalent, is to make its 2004- 05 home
debut today in the Cougar Open. The all-day meet is to begin at 10 a.m., at
the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport.

Bernard has a spectacular wrestling resume, which includes a junior
world championship at 67 kilograms in 2003, a U.S. junior title in '03, a
silver medal at the U.S. national senior championships, and the award as the
2003-04 U.S. female high school wrestler-of-the-year.

It's no wonder, then, that Cougars head coach Leo McGee recruited
Bernard as diligently as he did.

"I saw her at a meet two years ago in Fargo," McGee recalled. "I
thought, 'This kid moves really, really well.' Then I discovered she was on a
high school boys team. I thought, 'If this kid's on a boys wrestling team,
that's the kind of kid we want.' "

"In the States, there isn't really girls wrestling like there is up
here," noted Bernard, who started wrestling with boys in Grade 6. "All through
my career, I never saw a girl in my weight class. I didn't even know girls
wrestled until I was in the seventh or eighth grade. I wouldn't have
had anyone to train with if I didn't train with the boys."

McGee said he phoned Bernard "I don't know how many times" and called
her mom so often "she probably knows me better than her next- door
neighbour" in the hopes of landing Ali.

The younger Bernard visited Regina in June but it was August before she
picked the U of R over Northern Michigan University.

"It seemed like a great program," she said of the Cougars. "I also
wanted to experience something different. You only live once, right? I wanted to
come to Canada. I can go to the States any time."

Bernard will wrestle at 67kg for the Cougars. She said she just hopes
to "fill a weight class," but McGee has higher goals for her than that;
he's looking at a potential team leader for years to come.

"She's out of a high school boys program in Minnesota, so she knows how
to work," McGee said. "God bless us, we have a lot of talented wrestlers
here, but if there's a weakness in our women's wrestling program, it's work
ethic.

"She knows how to work and she's an unbelievable physical talent. She
could probably be a quarterback in Canada West (football), there's no doubt
in my mind. She has incredible athletic ability -- and she's a gamer. She
enjoys competition."

She'll get it today, when wrestlers from four Canada West schools --
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Calgary and Alberta -- and several clubs from
across Western Canada and the U.S. invade the CKHS.

McGee's female recruiting class also includes former Regina high school
stars Jenna Astrope (Johnson), Tamara McNab (Thom), Michelle Mollie
(Johnson) and Drea Zuck (Miller), and out-of-towners like Lyndsay
Arsenault of Halifax, Hajar Ashtiani of Finland, Theresa Bakker of Selkirk, Man.,
and Randi Miller of Brampton, Ont.