CREDIT: JOHN KENNEY, THE GAZETTE
Nikita Chicoine got hooked on wrestling after watching her brother, Isaac, compete and now she's a three-time Eastern Canadian champ
News Page
Chicoine cool about her mat feats
'It's not that hard to win,' 16-year-old says
ARPON BASU
Freelance , January 05, 2005
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CREDIT: JOHN KENNEY, THE GAZETTE
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Nikita Chicoine has won so often since becoming a wrestler six years ago, she's even become an expert at downplaying her own dominance.
As a 10-year-old sixth-grader, Chicoine would watch her older brother, Isaac, compete in wrestling tournaments, to the point she became hooked on the sport.
Since then, Chicoine is a perfect 6-for-6 at the provincial championships, but the Granby native doesn't think much of the impressive feat.
"It's not that hard to win," the 16-year-old said, "because there's so few of us (female wrestlers)."
Obviously, modesty is a trait Chicoine has in spades, but it would be nearly impossible for her to downplay her accomplishments on the national and international stages.
In her four years of bantam-age competition, Chicoine won the Eastern Canada championship three times, with the one third-place finish coming in her first year of wrestling.
Since entering the cadet age group last year, Chicoine has won the national title in the 56-kg weight class twice in a row.
This past summer, she was also named the national tournament's outstanding cadet wrestler among 113 entries across all weight classes after steamrolling her way to the championship. But again, Chicoine didn't overinflate the value of the award.
"I don't need that recognition for me to know I had a good competition," she said. "I feel you learn something in every bout."
Last summer, after her national title, Chicoine went to the Pan-Am championships in Venezuela and won there as well, though she is quick to point out the United States and Cuba weren't present.
"The big ones weren't there," she said, "but it was still a great experience."
Most recently, Chicoine went to Europe to compete in the German Grand Prix and came away with a fifth-place showing.
Chicoine's commitment to her sport is clearly evident in her hectic schedule. She trains three times a week at her local club, Les Patriotes, in St. Cesaire.
She commutes to Montreal with her mother at least twice a week to train at the Montreal Wrestling Club, where she feeds off former world champion and Olympic silver medalist Gia Sissaouri and national senior champion Martine Dugrenier.
On top of that, she does weight training on her own and still manages to maintain an honour- roll average in school.
Otherwise, she sleeps and eats.
"I don't do a whole lot else," she said with a laugh. "Once in a while I go to the movies, but my priority is my sport. I don't feel I'm missing a lot, I'm happy doing what I do. If you want to perform, that's what you have to do."
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Santaluces' female wrestlers undaunted by sport's challenges
By Jessica Burke
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Having girls participate in the male-dominated sport of wrestling is nothing new to Santaluces High School wrestling coach Sam Agresti.
"I've had girls on and off for the past five years," said Agresti, who had one girl on the team for three years.
Vada Mossavat/The Post Santaluces High School senior Kat Ramos, 17, of Lake Worth lifts freshman Elena Soto, 14, of Lantana. The two are members of the wrestling team. |
What is unusual to Agresti is not only having two girls on his team at the same time, but having both wrestling varsity. Senior Kat Ramos, competing in the 140-pound division, and freshman Elana Soto, competing in the 103-pound division, complete Santaluces' 22-member team.
"I don't treat them as girls; I treat them like wrestlers," Agresti said.
Ramos is 0-8 since matches began Nov. 29, and Soto is 1-7 because of a forfeit in a match against John I. Leonard High School. When there is not a match, practices are held, and both girls have done everything the boys have done at practice, said Agresti.
"They work as hard, and sometimes harder, than anyone else in the room," Agresti said. Both Ramos and Soto also are involved in the girls' powerlifting team.
Last year Ramos had her first experience with wrestling when she kept statistics for the Palm Beach Christmas Classic tournament at Santaluces. Following the event, she asked the coach if she could attend practices and eventually joined the team.
Ramos, 18, wrestled in the 135-pound division for the junior varsity team. She moved up 5 pounds to compete on varsity.
"The guys aren't really small at 140," said Ramos, who is still looking for her first win.
This year she was one of two girls competing in the Christmas Classic.
In addition to wrestling, taking Advanced Placement classes and being involved in debate, drama, the National Arts Society and the newspaper club, Ramos makes time for other sports, including golf and powerlifting.
"I do sports for me," Ramos said.
Soto, the 14-year-old freshman who also is in the drama club, became interested in wrestling after having to sit through her little brother's wrestling matches.
When she asked to join, "At first I was told no, and then I asked again," she said. "I just had to practice like the rest of them."
She began club wrestling four years ago in the sixth grade, first attending a club at Wellington High School and then one at Cardinal Newman High.
"She's really doing good for trying... it's going to be tough for her," said Agresti.
Soto, who missed the Christmas Classic because of a neck injury, still is searching for her first non-forfeit win.
"(The boys) don't want to lose in front of their team to a girl," said Soto.
The next match for Santaluces will be Jan. 12 at Jupiter High School.
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Caprock wrestlers thwart Palo Duro effort
Dons' forfeits give 'Horns boys, girls wins
By Jeremy Heath 1/5/05
jeremy.heath@amarillo.com
Amarillo Globe-News
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The Palo Duro boys and girls wrestling teams matched up well
head-to-head against Caprock on Tuesday night at Palo Duro but could not overcome
the points they forfeited.
The Caprock boys held off the Dons, 50-33, benefitting from four
forfeits (24 points). The Longhorns girls captured a 33-18 win, benefitting from
three forfeits (18 points).
On the boys' side, Caprock's Eloy Morales put on a clinic in the
160-pound weight class, defeating Anthony Bichard by a technical fall 16-1 with
1:47 left in the seond period. Morales took control with an early takedown
and methodically racked up points, allowing just one escape early in the
second period.
Caprock's Nathan Black turned in one of three Caprock pins, pasting
Terrel Calhoun's shoulders to the mat at the 1:29 mark. Calhoun had taken
control early with a takedown, but Black didn't panic. Black quickly escaped
Calhoun's control and reversed it to take a 3-2 lead. He added a
takedown to take a 5-2 lead before registering the pin.
"I got inside control, and snapped and got him in the double leg,"
Black said.
Black said the team win is big for the team's confidence.
"It really boosts the team's morale and gets everybody hyped up for the
next match," Black said.
Carlos Ornelas and Devon Woods also recorded pins for Caprock in the
140- and 180-pound weight classes respectively.
Thomas Harris registered Caprock's most exciting win, a 6-4 overtime
decision over Paz Acosta in the 112-pound weight class. Acosta
controlled the match until midway through the second period, holding a 4-0 lead.
Acosta then took a chance and tried to put Harris in the cradle. Harris broke
free and reversed for two points. He established control for two more points
to tie it at 4-4 with 20 seconds left in the second. After a scoreless
third period, Harris got position on Acosta, flipped him over and gained
control for two points 30 seconds into the period.
Palo Duro's Htoo Aung and Demarco Smith highlighted the Dons' effort.
In the 189-pound weight class, Aung staved off a comeback attempt from
Jeremiah Johnson. After taking a 6-2 lead in the first period, Aung let
Johnson rally with a reversal in the second period and another with 50
seconds left in the third. Johnson appeared to have Aung beat, but Aung
exploded for an escape with 25 seconds left for a 7-6 win.
Smith gave the Dons six points, pinning Antonio Chavez in the 215-pound
weight class. Chavez controlled the match, taking a 9-0 lead early in
the second period. With 1:47 left in the second, Smith got his ankle caught
underneath the weight of both wrestlers trying to escape.
The official stopped the match, but Smith opted to continue. Chavez
took an 11-1 lead into the third, but Smith came out with renewed intensity in
the final period, overpowering Chavez and pinning him with 1:11 left.
"He's tough," said Palo Duro assistant Caleb Holt who stood in for head
coach Steve Nelson who was serving a suspension for violating a UIL
rule. "I thought he was down and out, but he fought through it. That was big win
for him."
On the girls side, Caprock made its 18-0 forfeit-point lead hold up,
getting key wins from Maci Alvarado, Kristie Guzman and Christina Rodriguez.
Alvarado defeated Shani Kenyon by a technical fall 16-1 in the
138-pound weight class. Guzman needed just 47 second to pin Ballie Lomeli in the
148-pound weight class. Rodriguez defeated Sasha Rivers by a technical
fall 21-4 in the 165-pound weight class.
Palo Duro got pins from Brittany Owens (110 pounds) and Mercedes
Ontivero (119 pounds) and a disqualification win by Leticia Rodriguez (128
pounds).
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By Robert Slager/ In this Corner
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
She wrestles boys who weigh more than 200 pounds, but 16-year-old Katerina Fotopoulos somehow floats above the fray. The sophomore from Holbrook-Avon knows that hundreds of eyes fall upon her every time she enters a gym, but she doesn't return their stares. She knows where she belongs.
It isn't about attention or equal rights. She isn't trying to make a statement. Katerina only wants to wrestle because it gives her confidence and its helping her to get into shape. And if anyone is foolish enough to verbally challenge her decision, there will be consequences.
"Everybody's been very supportive of me being on the team, but if somebody in the crowd started giving me a hard time because I'm a girl, I'd get up from my match, walk over and beat the crap out of him," she said.
Katerina is part of a growing sorority of girl wrestlers throughout the country. According to the USA Wrestling Association, 3,800 of the 250,000 high school athletes participation in sanctioned wrestling programs are female. Title IX has been in effect for more than 30 years now, and it has given young women such as Katerina equal access to scholastic sports. If a school does not offer gender-specific teams in a given sport, than both boys and girls have the legal right to try out for the lone existing team. Hockey, wrestling, football, golf and field hockey have seen the greatest number of coed teams because of the legislation.
No reasonable person could contest the positive effect that Title IX has had. In 1997 (the 25th anniversary of the legislation), the U.S. Department of Education announced that participation of girls in high school athletics had increased from 300,000 to 2.4 million since the law was introduced. That number reached 2.8 million last year.
Athletic scholarships for women were almost unheard of before 1972. Only 50 women nationwide were receiving a free education because of sports, compared to 50,000 men. While progress has been made, women still receive $133 million dollars per year less in athletic scholarship dollars than male athletes and women's recruiting budgets are only 32% of the total recruiting budget, according to the Women's Sports Foundation. But without Title IX, it wouldn't be nearly that close as long as football and men's basketball continue to raise the most revenue for the school.
But Title IX still has its critics. Many programs at the college level have been disbanded because of budget problems incurred by Title IX. The football team at my alma mater - San Francisco State University - is gone. According to Mike Moyer, head of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, 170 college wrestling programs have vanished since 1972.
The NWCA has filed a lawsuit last January in federal district court claiming Title IX violates the rights of male athletes by relying on enrollment figures rather than actual student interest in participating in various sports. The case is pending, and the future of Title IX may hang in the balance.
Even with Title IX, the issue of girls wrestling boys remains extremely controversial. According to "Girl Wrestler," a film by Diane Zander, Texas and Hawaii do not allow it. Those states have adopted a "separate but equal" policy, offering separate, single-sex teams for girls at public schools. Many believe it's inappropriate for opposite genders to compete in such close physical proximity. Others cite the devastating psychological impact it could have on a young boy losing to a girl. A few years ago, a young man from the Midwest reportedly took his own life after enduring vicious verbal abuse from teammates after getting pinned.
"I fully support the concept of Title IX," Pembroke High wrestling coach Dave Vining said. "But when I was an assistant at Carver, we would never allow a young man to compete with a girl unless we were confident he would win. It may not be politically correct to say this, but to a teenage boy, losing to a girl could absolutely destroy his confidence. When a boys wrestles a girl, it puts the boy in a no-win situation. If he wins he's a bully for beating a girl. If he loses, well, that could crush him, and his buddy would never let him hear the end of it."
Vining says he has no issue with girls wanting to be serious wrestlers.
"If a young woman is serious about the sport and trains to be the best she can be at it, I'd have her on my team in a minute," he said. "But it does bother me when a girl wants to be on a team because it brings her attention. When I was at Carver, we had some terrific wrestlers there, guys who were competing for the state championship. But reporters would always just want to talk to the girl. That wasn't fair to those boys who had been working there butts off."
Marlene Lopes, the field hockey coach at Silver Lake Regional High School, echoed many of Vining's sentiments and even took it a step further.
"Legally, I have to respect the right of any young man who wants to play for me," she said. "I would give him a fair tryout. But personally I don't support the idea of girls playing boys sports and boys playing girls sports. It fundamentally changes the nature of competition. Boys are just stronger than girls. A few years ago, Sandwich had a couple of boys on their team and we lost three players to injury in the first half after getting hit in the midsection by their shots. It just changes the game too much."
Lopes said many field hockey teams with boys on the roster have a hard time finding non-league opponents.
"If you have a boy, a lot of coaches won't want to play against you because they don't want to put their team in that kind of competitive disadvantage," she said. "I don't think boys should play field hockey and girls should wrestle against boys. When a boy wrestles a girl, what's he supposed to do? He's supposed to win. It doesn't seem fair to the boy."
Silver Lake wrestling coach Rob Cahill fully supports senior Casey Burton's decision to compete on his squad.
"There's this old boys' club way of thinking that says boys can't handle a challenge to their manhood," Cahill said. "I'm all for Casey being on this team. She works hard and deserves the chance to compete. If a boys loses to a girl, he lost because she was a better wrestler that day. If he can't handle that, he should be the one to stop wrestling, not her."
Burton says she's heard some snickering at times from the crowd. She could just as easily be a model as a wrestler, but Burton has no intention of being just a pretty face in the crowd.
"I like the competition, and my teammates have been great about it," she said. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to wrestle. If somebody doesn't like it, it's there problem."
Holbrook-Avon coach Kevin Coffey welcomed Katerina's decision to join his team, but he worries about her sometimes. He knows that she may become a target for verbal abuse, given her size and gender. But he, along with every member of the team, has been taken by her charm and courage.
"She's a great kid and she's earned the right to wrestle," he said. "She's trying really hard to get herself into good shape, and I admire her for what's she's doing."
Katerina's brother Alex, an eighth-grader, wrestles on the Holbrook-Avon squad as well. He isn't the least bit bothered having his sister on the team.
"I think it's awesome," he said. "She roots me on and I root her on. I don't worry about people making fun of her. She's awesome. Katerina can beat up just about anyone I know."
All things being equal, you probably don't want to stand in her way.
