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An interesting story of heart and determination from
one of Ontario's most accomplished high school female wrestler and 3
time national champion Randi Miller.

Randi has made it back on the mats.

After two shoulder surgeries and almost 3 years of rehab Randi
has made it all the way back. Wrestling for the University of Regina
Randi competed last week at the Golden Bear Invitational in Alberta, where
she won a bronze medal in the 51kg weight class. Randi's refuse to
lose attitude and her desire to win has been the overwhelming force in her
rehab and come back. Fighting in only 12 matches in the last 3 years
Randi has done what many said was impossible. After having
reconstructive surgery on her shoulder and rehabbing for 1 year Randi was told
that the operation was not successful and she would need to have the
surgery done again.

The news was devastating for Randi. Her Doctor said
that she may want to give up the sport she loved and start a new
direction in her life.After Randi's second surgery she made the decision to
make her come back, with the odds not in her favor Randi started to
train and train she did, not a day went by where she did not have to
fight with the reality that she still may never wrestle again, only
time would tell.Before Randi's injury many Canadian Universities
wanted her to be part of their wrestling program, Simon Fraser lead the
pack, they showed interest right up to the time Randi had to make the
decision to attend school in Sept. They in my mind left her hanging,
with the understanding that they wanted her to be part of their
program, las tminute decided not to make her an offer. Leo McGee
head coach for the University of Regina wanted Randi at his school, he
had been following her for several years, and knew what Randi had to
offer his wrestling program, he asked Randi to come to Regina. So plans
were made,

Randi moved to Regina in July and started to get ready for
the wrestling season. Still having to battle the fears of injury
Randi pushed on. All she ever wanted was a chance to wrestle again, last
week she realized her goal competing in Alberta, She had tears in her
eyes when she made her phone call to me, seconds after her first match to
let me know she had won and that she was all right and for me not to
worry. I hung up the phone and cried, for in this moment I knew that
Randi had accomplished her dream the dream so many said she
would not achieve.

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Muscat Festival - "Commonwealth Challenge Cup" - February 3-4, 2005 - Muscat, OMAN

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association

Muscat Festival: Olympic Freestyle Wrestling -

Commonwealth Challenge Cup - being held

on February 3-4, 2005

London, Ontario,CANADA - The Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association confirmed today that the city of Muscat , Sultanate of OMAN will host the - Olympic Freestyle wrestling event called -"Commonwealth Challenge Cup" on February 3-4, 2005 as part of the Grand Muscat Festival sporting extravaganza. The wrestling event was originally scheduled to be held on January 27-28.

The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association, Mr. Josip MRKOCI stated that the organizers of the Muscat Festival 2005 have given an opportunity to the wrestling nations of the Commonwealth to promote the Olympic Freestyle Wrestling at an International Festival venue.

" We are grateful to the organizers of the Muscat Festival and the Sultanate of OMAN for the opportunity to promote the Olympic style of Wrestling to the part of the world where the sport of Wrestling is virtually unknown. This wrestling event in Muscat has also been endorsed and sanctioned by FILA - the International sport governing body of Wrestling" said Mr. Mrkoci.

" This is the first time that a Commonwealth wrestling event is being held outside of the Commonwealth family of nations" added Mr. Mrkoci.

Representative teams from Great Britain, Canada , India and South Africa will compete in five weight classes, 66kg, 74kg, 84kg, 96kg and 120kg in a dual meet format. Each team will wrestle the other teams over two day period for the " Commonwealth Challenge Cup". A possible last minute team addition from the United Arab Emirates might also eventuate.

Within the 30 member nations of the Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association the top two wrestling teams, India and Canada have always been the best of rivals. Indian team contingent is comprised of their National champions while Canadian contingent has the best University based wrestlers on their team.The Canadian team is led by coach Richard DesChatalets a former Olympian himself and the 2000 Canadian Olympic Wrestling coach. The spoiler of the tournament could be theteam from Great Britain as some of their wrestlers are of Russian and Ukrainian descent.

The South African team coach Mr. Willem Putter is optimistic of his teams chances by saying recently " this tournament at the Muscat Festival will be an excellent opportunity for the South African wrestlersto prepare themselves for the Commonwealth Championships that will take place in Cape Town at the end of June 2005".

For further information contact -

Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association

Telephone: ( 519) 668-9901

E-mail: - Commonwealth-Wrestling@sympatico.ca

Web site: - http://groups.msn.com/CommonwealthWrestling

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Girls just want to grapple

By Sal Interdonato 1/28/05
Times Herald-Record
sinterdonato@th-record.com

Kingston – Yara Gruberg walked into the hospital, holding her left arm.
When a doctor saw her, he gave Gruberg a puzzled look.
No, Gruberg's elbow wasn't popping out of her skin. She was wearing her wrestling singlet.
"Wait, am I missing something here?" the doctor asked Gruberg.
How did Gruberg get injured?
Wrestling.
Yes, wrestling.
A guy fell on her arm, cracking it in two places during a varsity match.
Gruberg still can't flex her left arm fully. Kingston teammate Diana Ploger has a boot on her right foot because of a broken ankle.
Another wrestling injury.
The girls have opened the door of the exclusive boys' club, and they want to become permanent members.
In Kingston, girls are falling in love with wrestling.
They don't think a Section 9 girls' wrestling team is a joke. Neither does Kingston coach Phil Brown.
There are no girls' teams in the state, but Kingston's out to change that.
"There's something going on," Brown said. "It's going to happen."
Eight girls, all freshmen, started with the team. And Barbara Davis joined the Kingston coaching staff this season. She is believed to be the first female coach in the section.
Only three girls – Gruberg, Ploger and Kim Briglia, none of whom wrestled before this season – remain. Two girls were recently taken off the team by their parents. One left because of grades, but expects to return next week; the other left because her parents were uncomfortable with their daughter wrestling boys.
These girls aren't just wrestling to prove guys wrong. Ask senior Vernon Tyrell what it's like wrestling one of the girls: "They ain't no joke," he said. "They are tough."
Briglia attends voluntary morning practices, which start at 6 a.m., on a regular basis.
Gruberg and Ploger could have called it quits after their injuries. Three girls quit after a week when they couldn't handle practices. But Gruberg and Ploger continue to stick around and soak up the sport.
"The only thing that can stop me from wrestling is an injury," Ploger said.
Gruberg, who is expected to miss the rest of the season, thinks practices are the ultimate workout. And at times, that means running for 45 minutes straight.
"After practice, I feel so good," said Gruberg, a soccer and tennis player. "I feel like it was the hardest workout of my life, even if my body feels sore."
Reality set in when Gruberg was wrestling her first match against a guy. So did nerves.
"At first, I thought that I've been doing this for three months and I'm going against a guy that has been doing it up to seven years," said Gruberg, who is 1-11 in varsity matches, the one win by forfeit. "But that is reality.
"I try my hardest to get to the third period. At times, I'm saying, 'Just do it and get it over with.' But I end up continuing to fight."
Davis sees the girls battling first-hand.
"Their technique is improving," Davis said. "They used to get pinned in the first 30 seconds. Now Kim can go the whole six minutes."
Not everyone thinks having girls on the mat is a great idea. Senior 171-pounder Tom Finch is uncomfortable with girls on his team.
"We can't weigh in (in practice) with our clothes off," Finch said. "We can't walk around in our underwear. It takes the tradition out of the sport.
"I just feel that they don't work as hard as people make it seem.
"There are (women's) national teams. There are plenty of girls out there that can kick my (butt). Just none of them are in Kingston."
But the three Kingston girls continue to fight and hold down the fort. They have reinforcements on the way. Freshmen stat girls Vicki Vaselewski and Jenna Zarillo are attending Mid-Hudson Wrestling Club practices with all intentions of being on the varsity team next year.
"It's interesting to find out different moves," Zarillo said. "To think you can make someone fall to the ground by just moving your ankle."
Junior Chris Backofen doesn't see the girls' movement failing.
"(Six or seven) girls have told me that they are coming out for the team next year," Backofen said. "It's motivated us more and makes us more responsible. It cleans up the team a little."
Despite Finch's discomfort, the girls aren't going anywhere.
"I want to see it all the way through," Gruberg said.

Is there a place for girls on a varsity wrestling team?

Neal Sutera, Minisink Valley senior: "Yeah, as long as they can handle it. I see no reason why they shouldn't."
Sean Bauer, Valley Central senior: "I don't agree with girls wrestling guys. Guys can't go out for the girls' volleyball team. Why should girls be allowed to go out for the wrestling team? It's kinda weird wrestling a girl all season."
Billy Edwards, Washingtonville senior: "If they can tough it out and do what any guy is doing, then they deserve a spot. There's not enough interest to separate it, so they have every right to wrestle on the varsity team."
Alex Kaufmann, Port Jervis junior: "They can do it now. But I haven't seen a girl that does it that well. It seems like they just do it to do it. It would be awkward wrestling them."

Girl wrestlers try novel tactics on opponents

So, what are the words no tough-guy wrestler wants to hear?
"That they are wrestling a girl," Kingston freshman Yara Gruberg says.
Gruberg has her way of making guys more comfortable with wrestling her. She woos them.
Gruberg talks to the guy before the match. There might even be a little pre-match flirting.
"I smile at them and wave to them," Gruberg says.
"The thing with guys is that they aren't going to hurt you because you are a girl. They just don't want to be beaten by you."
Sometimes, female wrestlers earn the guys' respect – and more.
Kingston freshman Kim Briglia likes to come away with phone numbers.

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Marshwood High senior earns her 100th career win

RACHEL LENZI Portland Press Herald Writer

1/28/ 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

NORTH BERWICK — Deanna Rix slipped off her headphones, tucked her blond hair under a tight skullcap and for the 23rd time this season, met her opponent at the center of the wrestling mat. But Thursday night at Noble High School, the Marshwood senior was going after a personal and historic benchmark.
Rix defeated Noble´s Heath DeVoll 5-2 in the 130-pound weight class to win her 100th high school wrestling match. She became the first female interscholastic wrestler in Maine to reach the milestone.

"That was my first goal, to win 100," said Rix, whose career record is 100-35. "My next goal is winning state."
Rix´s 100th win was part of the spectacle that was the Marshwood-Noble wrestling duel. More than 1,500 spectators filled the Barry S. Moore Memorial Gymnasium to watch the battle of the undefeated schools from the Berwicks, with Noble winning 36-29.

When the countdown to 100 wins reached 85, Rix´s family reminded her of it after each match.

"After a match, I´d look over and my mom would hold up her fingers, telling me how many I had left," Rix said.

Her 100th career win was also her 22nd of the season. She´s 16-0 at 130 and 6-1 at 135. In the win over DeVoll, Rix took a 2-1 lead after the first period on a two-point takedown, then recorded a one-point escape and a two-point takedown in the second.

DeVoll recorded his only points on an escape.

"Deanna, she´s a defensive wrestler," DeVoll said. "She waits for you to do something and she´ll counter with something else."

Being a part of history, he said, was daunting.

"It´s scary," DeVoll said. "It put a lot of pressure on me."

After her win, the meet was stopped and Rix was given an ovation from the crowd and was presented with a plaque commemorating the milestone.

"I´m proud of this as a dad," said Rix´s father, Matt, the wrestling coach at Marshwood High School. "Probably because it´s never been done before. It was nice to see the hard work, dedication and determination pay off for her."

Because girls´ participation in wrestling is so new, official records for the sport have not been established in Maine or nationwide.

"For a female wrestler, to go against males, this (100 wins) has happened, but it´s not common," said Kent Bailo, founder of the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association in Ortonville, Mich.

In 1998, Casey Barnoski of Kalamazoo, Mich., finished her career with 125 wins at Comstock Park High School. Barnoski competed in the 119 and 125 weight classes.

According to Wrestling USA Magazine, Corey Wallman, who wrestled at Marion-Freeman High School in South Dakota from 1990 to 1995, holds the record for career victories with 264.

In Maine, former Noble wrestler DeCota Cotten became the winningest high school wrestler in state history with a record of 180 wins and 16 losses.

It´s a rarity for girls to participate in traditionally male-dominated sports such as hockey, wrestling and football, partly because there´s a preconceived notion that competing against a boy is unsavory for a girl - not to mention awkward.

"At 13, 14 or 15, does a girl want to be in physical contact with a boy?" Bailo asked. "You´ve got to be pioneerish in your mindset. And boys, they don´t want to wrestle a girl."

Rix started wrestling at age 4.. Nearly 14 years and 100 wins later, Rix stripped off her skullcap, shook hands with DeVoll and the Noble coaches, and walked off the mat to her teammates, having reached her goal.

"People have said to me, ´You´ve inspired me to wrestle,´ " said Rix, who will attend Northern Michigan University on a full scholarship for wrestling in the fall. "People have sent me e-mails and cards telling me this, and kids send me pictures of them wrestling.

"And it inspires me."

With the historic win, Rix pioneered high school wrestling for girls in Maine.

"I like that," Matt Rix said, when asked if his daughter was a pioneer. "There´s been other girls who´ve broken ground as far as getting girls to compete. As far as taking it to another level, Dee Dee has. She´s . . . a pioneer."

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Six Lady Tigers make wrestling their sport

By LARRY BOWEN
Eagle Staff Writer 1/28/05

A&M Consolidated’s Channing Murphy, Megan Wann, Katy Brown, Kenya Jones (front), Brandi Rogers and Courtney Roberts aren’t always able to wrestle at meets because many schools don’t have female wrestlers in every class Consol's Katy Brown pinned Oak ridge's Megan Roth on Thursday.

Megan Wann and Channing Murphy seemed destined for the A&M Consolidated dance team, but they wound up as Tiger wrestlers instead of Bengal Belles.

The two points normally awarded for a reversal in wrestling don’t seem like enough for that change, do they?

Consolidated has six girls on its wrestling team. Some of them took up the sport because of family ties, others by chance, but wrestling has a grip on Katy Brown, Kenya Jones, Courtney Roberts, Brandi Rogers, Murphy and Wann.

“I really love the sport,” Murphy said. “I love the feeling you get whenever you triumph. People think it’s a guy’s sport, and I like the fact that girls can do it.”

Wann, a junior who qualified for the regional meet last year, is the veteran of the group. She followed her older brother into the sport and onto the Consol team.

“I had never done anything like it, because I was into dance for a long time,” Wann said. “I played other sports like basketball [in junior high], but watching my brother made me want to try wrestling.

“I was going to be on the dance team in the ninth grade, but I changed my mind at the last second and decided to be a wrestler.”

Murphy, another former dance student, joined the wrestling team last year after she didn’t make the volleyball team as a freshman.

“ I danced for 13 years,” she said. “[Wrestling] was a big change. Dance helped in the long run because it helps your balance.”

Roberts, who had an older brother and sister who wrestled, said, “to me it’s like any other sport.

“When you tell people that you’re in wrestling, they joke about not messing with you. I guess people think when you’re in wrestling, you’re tough. I guess there’s some truth to that, but you’re not a mean person because you wrestle.”

Roberts wore a protective face mask Thursday as she pinned her opponent from Oak Ridge during a dual meet at Bryan’s Lamar Campus. She had nasal surgery in December because of an allergy problem, not a wrestling injury, but the Consol girls have had their share of injuries.

Wann wasn’t hurt in her first two seasons, but she broke her collarbone at the first workout in November while she was practicing against a boy. Her doctor projected a two-month layoff, but Wann was back at practice in six weeks and competed in a match seven weeks after the injury.

Murphy had two concussions last season and strained her rotator cuff, an injury that required six months of rehab and caused her to miss the district meet.

High school wrestling matches are nothing like the professional wrestling seen on television, which is the source of many people’s picture of the sport — particularly of female wrestlers.

“I’ve always been the girlie type, but I didn’t care about the perception of wrestlers once I started,” Wann said. “I just tell people to come to the meets and then they’ll realize it’s a real sport.

“They expect it to be like what they see on TV, and it’s nothing like that.”

Girls wrestling is not as popular as boys wrestling in Texas high schools. Consol’s opponents usually have a boy to wrestle in each of 15 weight classes, but there might only be two or three girls matches out of a possible 10 in a dual meet because the teams don’t have full girls squads or wrestlers in the same weight class as Consol.

Bryan, which has a very strong boys team, does not have any female wrestlers this year.

Oak Ridge brought only one girl, Megan Roth, to Thursday’s meet against Bryan and Consol. Roth competed in the 128-pound class, losing to Roberts in the first match and to Brown in the last match.

Consol representatives sometimes are reluctant to include the girls’ weight classes when reporting results, but the Lady Tigers don’t mind having their weights known. Wann had her weight classes from the last two seasons, 119 pounds and 128, sewn onto the arm of her letter jacket. Now she wrestles at 138.

“It bothered me when I first started, but you get used to everybody knowing how much everybody weighs,” Wann said. “At wrestling meets, you’re not allowed to care. They’ll even write your weight on your arm.”

“It’s really important that they get your weight, because you don’t want to wrestle somebody that’s too big for you,” Roberts said. “They do it for your safety.”

Several Lady Tigers hope to continue their wrestling careers in college. Wann and Murphy want to earn scholarships at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo., following former Consol wrestler Jamie Bottomley to one of the top women’s programs in the country.

For now, they will keep working to get better, and go to work when the opposition has a girl in their weight class, the way Brown and Roberts did against Oak Ridge.

“I could have done some things better,” Roberts said. “Each time you come off the mat, you think about things you could have done better, to win faster.

“It’s fun. It’s hard work at practice, but when you win it’s a good feeling.”

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State's best to face final test

STAFF REPORTS 1/28/05

VALLEJO — High school girls wrestling is still in its infancy, but two local teams are among those bringing the sport to the forefront.
The San Leandro and Castro Valley High girls wrestling teams both have a shot at winning the California Girls Invitational Tournament, and each school will have individuals in contention for championships.

The event isn't recognized by the California Interscholastic Federation as the state meet, but it is by the girls.

The fourth annual tournament will be hosted by Vallejo High and begins Friday at 11 a.m. The tournament resumes Saturday at 10 a.m., and the championship matches are expected to begin at 5 p.m.

Medals are given to the top eight in each weight class. Admission is $5 for adults, and $3 for children, seniors and students.

San Leandro qualified girls in 13 of the 14 weight classes, with Lisa Gascot (138 pounds), Stella Brown (144), Stevie Ratto (160) and Deana Lax (171) all winning titles at the North Western California Invitational Classic last weekend. The Pirates won the team title, and Castro Valley was the runner-up.

Sharlee and Gabrielle Solis won titles last week for the Trojans, who finished ahead of the Pirates at the Napa Invitational a week earlier. Sharlee (20-0) is the defending CGIT champion at 126 pounds.

Vanessa Mata (103), Chelsea Grassechi (114), Kristen Lee (132), Jessie Fazzio (160), Jessica Klever (171) and Danielle Freitas (235) also advanced for the Trojans.

Other San Leandro qualifiers are Shireen Adenwala (103), Jenny Ho (108), Michelle Umezu (114), Melissa Herrera (120), Catherine Nguyen (126), Rachel Whyte (152), Ashley Membreno (152), Lulu Morarar (195) and Shawntia Beck (235).

Arroyo's Sara Zwicker (126), Stephanie Montez (138) and Arielle Suraci (144) also will compete. Angelic Brown (152) of Tennyson made it with a fourth-place finish last week.
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Fishbough not a novelty

Kermit Rowe 1/27/05

Girls wrestling on high school boys teams is no longer a novelty around
this area, thanks to recently-graduated forerunners like Megan Rousclip of
Northeastern and Vanessa Powell of North and current girl grapplers
Beth Huffman of Triad and Emma Randall of Greeneview — four of the seven
local girls who have at least given the sport a try and stuck with it for a
season or more.

But a girl winning the majority of her matches against boys is new.

That puts Northeastern freshman 103-pounder Kaity Fishbough in a
special light, and in a position to advance the girls version of the sport in
this area to a higher level before her career is finished.

Fishbough’s record is 27-8 (heading into Wednesday’s tri-meet at
Madison Plains). Of those 27 wins, only 12 are from forfeits. That makes her
17-8 against boys, with 11 pins. That’s impressive.

What’s even more impressive is that four of her losses came when she
wrestled at the 112-pound weight class against boys heavier than her to
help out her team in dual meets. And two more of her losses came to elite
wrestlers Steve Sexton of Shawnee and Garrett Lay of Greenon, both of
whom have a legitimate shot at making it to the state tournament next month.

The era of local competitive girls wrestling has arrived. Northeastern
head coach Ben Obee couldn’t be happier.

“Katie is one of the guys, and I don’t think she minds me saying that.
She wants to fit in and she does fit in,” said Obee. “She’s definitely
hard-nosed, and she knows she is in the room for one reason and one
reason only, and that is to wrestle.

“I don’t look at Kate as a girl wrestler competing in a boy’s sport,”
Obee continued. “I look at Katie as someone who can win matches for us. And
going all of last year without a 103-pounder, we greeted her with open arms
because I know that not only do we have a 103-pounder, but one who can
win matches.

“This is my fifth year coaching and I haven’t had a 103-pounder with
this kind of winning record.”

That kind of success has even surprised Fishbough.

“I wasn’t expecting to do this well,” she said. “I was hoping to at
least have an even record.”

Fishbough has made adjustments that have kept her record way above
.500.

“I had to become a little bit smarter on the mat,” she said. “That’s
the biggest difference (in wrestling on the high school level).”

Many of her opponents haven’t — made adjustments, that is.

“The guys I go against they think it is going to be a piece of cake, I
kind of turn things around on them,” she said with a sly smile.

Fishbough’s prowess on the mat is no mistake, nor is it a fluke. It has
come as a result of nearly a decade of hard work. She started wrestling in
kindergarten, and never stopped. She only got better.

As a seventh-grader, Fishbough took third in the nation at 95 pounds at
the United States Girls Wrestling Association Nationals, held annually in
Lake Orion, Mich., and first in Ohio. Then last season, she took fourth in
the nation at 100 and second in the state.

“She went through our junior high program, then with her off-season
program and the summer stuff against other girls; she is pretty polished,” Obee
said. “Her mom and dad are both involved. Her sister is doing well. And
there are two younger brothers, too, so it’s like the sisters are going
to set the standard.

“You look at both of those girls, and you know they are really going to
do some great things for us.”

Her sister Emily, an eighth-grader at South Vienna Middle School, has
wrestled nearly as long as Kaity and is currently 18-3 wrestling
against boys.

It’s the hard work that keeps her and Emily coming back.

“I just like the effort you have to put into it,” said Kaity. “Kids
definitely don’t want to work for what they can achieve. It’s fun to go
out there and wrestle and work hard.”

And the resistance is dwindling. Kaity’s teammates have had no problem
with having a girl on the team, thanks partially to having Rousclip around
the last couple of years.

“They are kind of used to it,” said Obee. “Then having them coming
through the junior high, even the community and people at the school are
supportive.

“They just understand they are doing everything the guys are doing,” he
continued. “There are no shortcuts because they are females. Wrestling
is not a biased sport, you either have talent or you don’t, whether you
are a girl or a boy.”

“The guys on the team, they are pretty cool about it,” Kaity confirmed.
“They joke around, they don’t pick on me or ignore me.”

There are only minimal changes to the Jets’ routine to accommodate
Kaity.

“I like to get to tournaments early to let Katie weigh in first to get
that out of the way, but that is the only difference,” said Obee. “There are
two weigh-ins, two skin checks. Other than that, you can’t tell a
difference.”

Unless you look at Kaity’s record. Obee thinks she has what it takes to
take to make a big difference.

“One of the assets that makes Katie so good is she wants to learn, she
wants to get better,” said Obee. “And she is 110 percent a team player. She
understands if she’s giving 110 percent for the team, her own goals and
will take care of themselves.”

Those goals can be set higher as the years progress, and the interest
in girls wrestling increases. In fact, women’s wrestling was an Olympic
sport for the first time last year.

“It’s growing, and growing well,” said Regina Fishbough, mother of
Kaity and Emily. “Anytime we see girls that definitely have potential at the
meets, we try to encourage them. It’s a good sport for the girls to get into. But
at the same time, it gets harder on them as they get older.”

That’s because boys naturally grow more muscular than girls. But that
hasn’t stopped Kaity, and it looks like it won’t. You see, Kaity could earn a
college scholarship if she continues to excel.

“We have talked to the coach at Cumberland University (in Kentucky),
and he has told both of the girls if they stick to it and keep improving that
they’ve definitely got scholarships when they get to college,” said
Regina proudly, yet still hopefully.

What does Kaity think about all of this? The quiet-turned, low-key
freshman admits she doesn’t think too much about the future.

“I pretty much take it one match at a time,” she said. “I just kind of
go with the flow, kind of do my own thing.”

Many area girls may be thankful for that in a future that Kaity could
help make brighter.