News Page
February 4, 2005
BY ROSEMARY SOBOL
Glenbard North junior Caitlyn Chase is always up for a challenge.
She's the only female wrestler on the fifth-ranked Panthers, and was invited to the Olympic tryouts last May, where she went 3-2 as the youngest female wrestler.
"It was nerve-racking -- all the girls were 10 years older than me,'' Chase said of the Olympic trials. "But it was a great experience, very exciting.''
Chase, who placed first at the Freestyle Junior Nationals last summer in Fargo, N.D., said she will try out again before the 2008 Olympics. Women's wrestling was held for the first time in the Olympics last summer in Athens.
The Panthers (21-5, 8-0), racked up their seventh consecutive DuPage Valley title last Saturday, when Chase (15-12) won three of four bouts at 103. She also stood out at the Leyden invitational.
Chase began wrestling at age 10, after a flyer caught her eye while walking through the halls of her grade school.
"It didn't say 'no girls,' so I went out for the team,'' Chase said. "I was always up for a challenge.''
Chase is in her third year on varsity, and she has consistently improved. She also learned to ignore negative attitudes of those who don't accept her as a wrestler.
"She's very tough on her feet with takedowns, that's her strength,'' Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. "And she's really improved on bottom wrestling; she can get out.
"She's not there to make a statement, she's there to be a great wrestler. She's blended in great.''
Chase wrestles at 110 on a summer women's team, and runs cross-country to keep her weight down.
Sometimes, her male opponents don't realize what they're up against.
"Every guy that goes out there, if they win or if they lose, you see it in their face,'' Hahn said. "If at first they think it's a joke, then after she got real physical and took him down, all of a sudden he realizes he was in a tough match.''
A shoulder injury slowed her down last season, but it healed and she led the Panthers to third place at the team state meet last year.
"I was the last match and we needed to win my match,'' Chase said. "The guys told me if I lost they were going to shave my head, and I had long blonde hair. They were trying to hype me up.
"I was losing by five points. So I went out and threw him, and then the match went into overtime and I took him down.''
After graduation, she plans to train for the Olympics.
"My team is like my family,'' Chase said. "We're like brothers and a sister.''
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By Gary Larsen Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted 2/6/2005
The postseason does something to Glenbard North's Caitlyn Chase.
The junior 103-pounder won a Class AA Glenbard North regional title and qualified for her first individual sectional, and she did it by beating three wrestlers with better records.
If there were any doubts that the Panthers also would take the team regional title in Carol Stream, Chase - who won the match that gave her squad last year's third-place hardware downstate - laid them to rest at the onset of Saturday's final round.
"Cait got the ball rolling, and that got people excited," said Panthers coach Mark Hahn. "We kind of kept it going from there."
Chase grabbed her title by knocking off a pair of wrestlers she had already lost to this year, Wheaton North's Nathan Fitzenreider and Wheaton Warrenville South's Ricky Krauze.
Chase beat Krauze 3-1 in the title match to improve her season record to 18-13.
"I just got it in my head that I needed to wrestle smart," Chase said. "I didn't give up many takedowns, I kept wrestling off the mat, I didn't let the other whistles get to me, and I listened to my coaches."
The Panthers had 12 wrestlers reach title matches, six of whom won regional titles, and they got 12 wrestlers through to next Saturday's Downers Grove North sectional. In the process they also advanced to the team sectionals by outpointing Wheaton North 259.5-230.
Panthers' titles came from Chase, Jon Ranck at 125 pounds, Bryan O'Connor at 135, Jon Isacson at 140, Tony Dieppa at 160 and Matt Smith at 171.
"They all did a great job," Hahn said of his winners, "but I'm proud of the whole group."
Smith improved to 20-2 with his title win, and after going downstate each of the last two years, the senior feels some extra motivation right now.
"It's all mental, knowing that your season could end at any time," Smith said. "What has really kicked in for me is that senior urgency. This is my last time to get a medal."
Wheaton North got 13 wrestlers through to the sectionals, led by regional titlists in John Chawula at 112, James Simpson at 119, Jason Fitzenreider at 130, Matt Redmond at 145 and heavyweight Nick Theobald. The Falcons also won all seven of their third-place matches on the day.
Theobald exacted some vengeance in his title match with an 8-2 decision over the Panthers' Gino Heredia, who previously had beaten him in double overtime.
"I figured he beat me once, so I should just go all out," Theobald said. "If I lost again, I lost, but I wanted to make sure I went all out."
Chawula's title came via a takedown in overtime against the Panthers' Dan Monaco, who had beaten Chawula in their previous two meetings.
"My elbow has been hurting, so I didn't know if I'd be able to go six minutes," Chawula said. "I just tried to keep it close, and finally I just pulled it out."
"That was the highlight of my year right there," Redmond said of Chawula's win. "He's battled (Monaco) and been so close, and I'm just glad to see him come out on top."
The night's other regional titles came from Bartlett's Mark Lukaszewski at 152, Batavia's Chris O'Connell at 189 and Kevin McFarland at 215.
Wheaton Warrenville South advanced three wrestlers through the regional, in Krauze, Joe McHale at 140 and Keith Mahler at 152.
McHale had previously beaten Isacson in a 1-0 decision this year, but he dropped a wild 5-4 decision in the title match.
"I was up a point, he let me go real quick, and before I reacted, he got a takedown," McHale said. "I picked up my intensity a lot and wrestled tough, but unfortunately it didn't go my way.
"But I'd love to see him again at sectional finals."
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Created: 1/19/2005 12:04:23 PM
By Bill Alden / Town Topics
Re-run with permission of Town Topics
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Audrey Pang will be spending a lot of time over the next few months completing her senior thesis on female CEOs and their struggle to overcome the gender gap.
The Princeton University senior, though, has already gotten a special seminar on cracking through an athletic glass ceiling as she has become the first woman to compete in dual meets for the Princeton wrestling team.
While Pang has taken her lumps so far this season, the Toronto, Canada native believes she is better for the experience. "I try to look at it like any other match, another chance to get better," said Pang, who has been wrestling at 125 pounds for the Tigers.
"It's definitely different, there is no getting around the fact that there is a guy there and not a girl. I'm not as strong as the guys my weight. I've taken a beating but that's happened wrestling girls or guys. But the strongest guy doesn't always win or there would be no point to wrestling."
It took a while for Pang to get the point in wrestling. Pang started wrestling in 1996 as a freshman in high school when her school resumed the sport. The school had a girls' team so Pang only wrestled against girls during her high school career.
At first, the sport was a sidelight for Pang, who was also a competitive swimmer and a field hockey player. By her junior year of high school, though, Pang realized that she had developed a special passion for the mat.
"It was very, very different from anything I had tried before," explained Pang, who competed for a spot on the Canadian women's wrestling squad for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
"I loved the challenge it presented. It wasn't just competing against yourself, it's competing one-on-one against somebody else. There's no relying on a teammate to score the goal for you."
Utilizing her athleticism and competitive nature, Pang has developed a distinctive wrestling style. "I'm a very defensive wrestler," added Pang, whose body ripples with muscles from her daily 2-hour mat workouts at practice and her supplemental strength and cardio training.
"I don't react like a lot of wrestlers, I'm a little unorthodox. I've always been flexible so my style has developed around that. I hate losing, I will fight to the end."
Pang needed her flexibility and tenacity upon arriving at Princeton and breaking the gender barrier in the Tiger wrestling room. "It was a little intimidating," recalled Pang, who noted that the initial transition was eased by pre-season workouts and the fact that she was one of two female wrestlers at practice.
"There wasn't so much resistance, as a little bit of what do we do with them. They never had girls before and it was little things that came up like the locker room and where to put us."
While the other woman wrestler eventually dropped out of the program, Pang stuck with it even though she was not wrestling in dual meets for the Tigers over the first three years of her career. Pang was able to satisfy her competitive fire by wrestling on the collegiate women's circuit and at the national level.
Overcoming any simmering resistance to her presence, Pang is serving as one of the team's tri-captains this winter. "I was definitely honored by that," said Pang with her ready grin in reflecting on her captain status. "I was tentative at first, concerning myself with the captain's role. The guys have been incredible, it's all very comfortable. They're used to me, I'm just one of the guys."
From his vantage point, Princeton wrestling head coach Michael New considers Pang as a whole lot more than just one of the guys.
"She's a great kid, full of youthful enthusiasm," asserted New. "She's a fierce competitor, she wants to be a success. She's tough, focused, and positive. I have two young daughters and they really look up to Audrey. I would be proud if they turned out like her."
Pang's fortitude in staying with the program has also gained the admiration of her male teammates. "There were a lot of issues," said New, recalling Pang's initiation to the program.
"We tried to be fair but we didn't bend over backwards. She has led by example by showing such determination. I think the wrestlers who have been associated with her have gotten a more liberal view of what a woman can accomplish."
Having gotten off to a 0-6 start in her individual matches with Princeton, Pang is looking to accomplish more this season when the Tigers resume action after the exam break when they wrestle at Cornell on January 28 and at Columbia on January 29.
"It's definitely made me tougher," maintained Pang. "I didn't expect to be that overmatched physically. I'm in better physical condition. It's always about getting better but I'd like to put a win up. I want to contribute something to the team and make a difference."
Pang is also looking to make a difference on the international level as the sport of women's wrestling looks to gain a foothold in the Olympics.
"I'd like to keep training and competing at the national level," said Pang, who has been wrestling at 112 pounds in women's competitions. "We'll see what happens three years from now. With the Olympics being in China in 2008, that definitely helps the sport. Wrestling is big in China."
The economics major also plans to apply the lessons she has learned through wrestling in the business world.
"It's definitely been one of the best things I've done at Princeton," said Pang, who plans to work in New York City in the financial field and to continue training at the New York Athletic Club.
"It's kept me more focused, more disciplined, and has made me a better student. It carries over into other things. I went to job interviews and they were interested in my wrestling experience. They said they can see an extra layer of determination."
That extra layer of determination has helped Pang carve out a special place in the history of Princeton wrestling.
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Girl Is Samohi’s First State Wrestling Champ
Santa Monica Mirror 3/3-9/05
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Jazzy Green, a sophomore at Santa Monica High School, became Samohi's first state wrestling champion, male or female, last weekend.
The girls’ state wrestling championships were held in Vallejo Friday and Saturday, January 28 and 29.
Green, who weighs 105 pounds, took first place in her weight class, and the championship.
More that 300 of the state’s top female high school wrestlers competed in the invitational event. They included the top six wrestlers in each weight class in each of the four California regions.
The only girl on the Samohi wrestling team, Green often wrestled boys at high school competitions.
Coached by Mark Black and Brent Wright, Green went undefeated against girls this season, and won the Southern California regional competition last week.
In the state finals, she won all four of her matches, and met and defeated California's top seeded wrestler, Maria Angara from Vallejo, in the final match.
Green began wrestling last year. Her athletic background includes gymnastics, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga.
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YWCA Marks Girls & Women In Sports Day
More than half a century ago, several talented woman tennis players were the pride of Santa Monica.
Last weekend, Jazzy Green, a Santa Monica High School sophomore, became the first Samohi student – girl or boy – to win a state wrestling championship (see story on page 24).
Girls’ teams at local schools – public and private – compete in a range of sports, and girls and boys are members of the Santa Monica High School surf club. In addition, many young girls play soccer after school in the AYSO program.
On Wednesday, February 9, the 19th Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the YWCA Santa Monica / Westside will hold a special event for 200 sixth grade girls from John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica “to honor female athletic achievements and recognize the importance of sports and fitness participation for all girls and women” in its words
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Solis goes to the mat for her sport
Castro Valley wrestling standout repeats as state champ
By Ken SilmanSTAFF WRITER 2/4/05
CASTRO VALLEY — When your family tree includes 40-plus high school wrestlers, it's hard to be the first to do anything.
Castro Valley High senior Sharlee Solis was the second member of her family to win a state high school wrestling title in 2003-04. By repeating her title at last Saturday's California Girls Invitational Wrestling Tournament at Vallejo High, Solis added a page to the family history book.
While the girls state title is not official in the eyes of the California Interscholastic Federation, the athletes who compete recognize it as such.
There's no doubting Solis is the best 128-pounder in the state. She went 25-0 this season, winning 24 matches by pins. The only non-pin victory was a 15-1 decision.
Solis pinned all four of her opponents at state, including Ivey Bier early in the second period of the championship match to earn the Daily Review Prep of the Week award.
Solis' cousin Jimmy Medeiros won the state title with American High in 1999 and is currently wrestling with Sharlee's older brother, Devereaux, at Fresno State.
Dev, as she calls him, is the main reason she got into wrestling. Sharlee enjoyed watching her brother at freestyle and Greco tournaments and took up the sport at age 10.
"I always liked to hang with brother and do what he has done," Sharlee said. "He always says I am copying him. Some people don't like being compared to (their siblings), but I liked hearing about how good Dev was."
With that in mind, Sharlee has set a good example for her younger sister, Gabrielle, who placed second in the state in the 100-pound weight class.
"I like watching her, because she is so good," Gabrielle said of her sister. "I admire (what she has done)."
Solis started her wrestling career going against the boys and still practices daily with the Castro Valley team. On Thursday night, she competed with the boys in a double-dual meet against Hayward and San Leandro. She entered the event with a 2-2 record against varsity boys over the past three years.
"She got out there and threw a few guys on their back with a headlock I had taught here, and she got a medal," Castro Valley girls coach and Sharlee's father, Steve, said of his daughter's first year in the sport. "That was huge, and that is all it takes sometimes (to get someone started)."
Sharlee has been a part of the progression of girls wrestling, watching it go from one girl per boys team to having full teams, schedules and a sanctioned North Coast Section championship.
She now is deciding whether to continue wrestling in college, where she has been approached by several schools. She said she will wait until after the season to decide.
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These girls go to the mat for their sport
5 female wrestlers join the boys' team at Heights High
Friday, February 04, 2005
Regina Brett
Plain Dealer Columnist
The room stinks of sweat and feet.
Kids grunt and groan as they slam each other down on gold-and-black mats in the gym at Cleveland Heights High School. In headgear, baggy sweat shirts and sweat pants, the girls don't look much different from the boys.
Amanda White's blonde hair explodes out of her headgear. She breaks free from a hold, her face redder than any blush. She jogs over to the trashcan, spits a big one in, drags her sleeve across her face, then hustles back to the mat.
Qadriyah Simmons looks as if she's slow dancing with a guy until she squeezes him in a bear hug and shoves him to the floor. She gets up, chomps her gum and grins.
Qadriyah, 15, and Amanda, 16, have been wrestling for three years. Erica Bowling, India Walker and Samantha Price joined them this year.
Why would five girls join a wrestling team of 23 boys?
Rebellion. They wanted to try something new. Because no one thought they could do it.
Amanda grew up wrestling. Her brother is on the team. He just broke his nose.
"I wanted to see if it would make me strong," Amanda says.
India rolls up her sleeve and flexes. Boing. Yep. It did.
They all giggle.
Girls told Samantha, "Are you serious? I don't believe you. You should be a cheerleader."
Samantha is the team's varsity starting 103-pounder. She has beaten two guys so far.
Two of the girls tried out for the football team but didn't feel welcome. Here, they feel part of the team.
The male wrestlers praise them, teach them maneuvers and help them make weight.
"We all know we're weaker than a guy," Amanda says. "Physically girls aren't stronger, but mentally we are."
"We have to work two times harder than everybody else," Qadriyah says.
At tournaments they might wrestle a boy or a girl. Which do they prefer?
"A guy!" all five yell in unison.
Guys aren't always excited to wrestle them. "They either get really cocky or really intimidated," Amanda says.
Sometimes the girls get cocky. One brags about making a guy cry. She pinned him in 30 seconds.
That's why some boys would rather forfeit a match.
But there's nothing sexual about wrestling a guy.
"When you're on the mat, you don't think about nothin' else," Qadriyah says, "except pinning the guy."
Nonwrestlers might. Boys ask, "Why don't we wrestle sometime?" Girls ask, "Do you let the boys feel on you?"
"No, it's wrestling," all five answer.
Any other downside?
"If you even look at a Pop Tart, you ask, 'Will I make weight?' " Amanda says.
They all giggle.
Then there are the black eyes, bruises and nasty nose plugs - wads of cotton shoved up a nose to stop bleeding during a match.
Before they can go on, a wrestler barks, "Coach wants you guys to carry a mat."
They groan, grab their headgear and go to work.
Coach Larry Hoon, a bald guy with a shaggy gray moustache and glasses that cover half his face, is learning how to coach girls. He cringes a little more when a girl is slammed.
It isn't that girls are weaker, Hoon says. They have different strengths. Wrestling isn't merely brawn and biceps, toughness and triceps. It's about being quick and having good reactions and smooth techniques.
He calls wrestling a humbling sport where there's no place to hide and no one else to blame.
He doesn't make a big deal about the girls, so the boys on his team don't either.
"It's still not normal, but it's becoming more normal," he says.
Sometimes people in the audience leer, which bothers him. The girls wear higher-cut singlets, the clingy one-piece outfits that wrestlers wear.
"What lurks in the mind of an adolescent, we'll never know," Hoon says, "but I've never seen anything improper."
He's not aware of any team with as many female wrestlers, and he has coached wrestling for 35 years.
On the wall of the gym, one girl's photo graces the Heights Wrestling Hall of Fame. Tina George was the first female wrestler here. She graduated in '97. He put her photo up because she broke new ground. She went on to be No. 1 ranked in the country, Hoon says.
Since Tina, he has had a few female wrestlers, but never five at once. Unfortunately, his young team hasn't performed well. He doesn't even bother to share their win-loss record.
"We're pretty unspectacular this year," he says.
He's wrong.
To Amanda, Erica, Samantha, Qadriyah, India and every other girl who dreams of wrestling, this is Hoon's most spectacular year ever.
