News Page
Brother-sister wrestle at state
Tomahawk Leader 3/1/2005 issue
Tomahawk's Lampe siblings, Alyssa and Anthony, both juniors at Tomahawk High School, had outstanding performances at the WIAA state individual wrestling tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison as they won their opening round matches. Alyssa, who last year was the first-ever female wrestler to compete in the state individual wrestling tournament, posted a 1-2 record at the meet again in 2005 and fell short of being among the top six wrestlers at 103 pounds in Division 2. Anthony, in his first appearance at the state meet, placed fourth in the D2 119-pound weight class. Meanwhile, Merrill's Dustin Perry won the state title at 135 pounds in Division 1 - his second state title. Look for pictures in our Photo Album.
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BY TIM HAYES
Bristol Herald Courier
Mar 3, 4:00 AM EST
George Wythe's Hadley Perona |
WYTHEVILLE - Like hundreds of wrestlers across the state of Virginia, George Wythe High School senior Hadley Perona is busy preparing for this weekend’s VHSL Group A state tournament at the Salem Civic Center.
However, Perona is in a unique position.
When Perona takes to the mat for a first-round matchup with Jay Soles of Mathews on Friday morning in the 103-pound weight class, she will be just the third female wrestler to participate in the state tournament.
Most of the eyes will be on Perona, but she’s just taking it in stride.
"There’s no pressure," Perona said. "I just wanted to go to the state tournament and now that I am going, I would like to win a match or two."
Perona qualified for the state tournament after finishing third at last Saturday’s Region D tournament. She will now participate on the biggest stage for a high school wrestler - the state tournament.
" She’s wrestled for me the last three years," George Wythe coach Trey Jones said. "She’s really put forth the same amount of effort as everybody else on the team. She’s put forth the hard work and finally got the wins she deserved."
Perona is not the first female wrestler in Southwest Virginia. Teams throughout the area have had female wrestlers on its teams with mixed results.
Holston has had a handful of female wrestlers over the last five years, most notably Debbie Lineberry, Jessica Widener and Ashley Turnmire.
But no female wrestler from Southwest Virginia has been as successful as Perona.
However, her mat exploits almost never came to fruition. After moving to Wytheville from Northern Virginia during her freshman year, she discovered the sport.
"I used do a lot of ballet," Perona said. "Then I moved here and there wasn’t much ballet. I spent the winter of my freshman year just sitting on my butt before track season. The first week of track was miserable, so I decided that I needed a winter sport. I didn’t want to do volleyball, so I chose wrestling."
Perona hasn’t experienced too many difficulties off the mat. She weighs in prior to tournaments and matches by herself, but other than that, there are no big changes.
She did admit, however, that when wrestling a male counterpart, they seem to wrestle harder.
"When I start getting the upper hand, you can tell," Perona said.
She has also given up her ballet-dancing career to focus on wrestling.
"I love everything about the sport," Perona said. "It’s the hardest workouts I’ve ever had. You have to have a lot of stamina and you have to be strong. You just need everything to wrestle."
Perona’s first two seasons in the sport didn’t exactly yield successful results on the mat.
"Coming into this season, I had only won one match before and that was a preliminary match," Perona said. "So coming into this year I wanted to see how I would do. I won a match and then I won some more and I was like ‘OK, I want to go to state this year.’"
Perona will attempt to become the first female wrestler to win a state-tournament match.
Shawsville’s Andee Sears qualified in 2000 at 125-pounds, but lost her first match by pin and then was eliminated by John Battle’s Daniel Booher by technical fall in the consolation round.
Firen Gassman of Herndon qualified at 103-pounds for last week’s Group AAA tournament, but lost both her matches.
Perrona hopes to put her name in the record book.
"Everyone’s been very supportive and I just hope to do the best I can," Perona said.
Perona had the high point of her career at last week’s Region D tournament. She pinned John Battle’s Will Haderer in 1:56 in the third-place match and helped GW finish second in the team standings.
Teammate Seth Lanter, the Region D champion at 171-pounds, was one of many in attendance that noticed Perona.
"She really impressed me at the regional tournament," Lanter said. "She’s really picked it up this year and is wrestling well."
Jones wasn’t surprised.
"She’s a real technical wrestler," Jones said. "She doesn’t like to focus on the fact that she qualified for state. She’s just another part of the team and doesn’t want to take away from that. She’s really came full circle."
thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570
Girl Power
A look at female wrestlers who have qualified for the Virginia High School League state wrestling tournament:
2000 - Andee Sears (Shawsville), 125-pounds, Group A
2005 - Firen Gassman (Herndon), 103-pounds, Group AAA
2005 - Hadley Perona (George Wythe), 103-pounds, Group A
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Champion Raiders petite, but powerful
By Wes Nakama 3.3.05
Advertiser Staff Writer
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All four of Iolani School's individual league champion girls wrestlers stand barely 5 feet tall and appear more likely to sell you Girl Scout cookies than lock you up with a half-nelson.
But looks can be deceiving, and so can stereotypes about girl wrestlers.
For example, three of the Raiders' Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions — Joleen Oshiro, Kira Tamashiro and Carla Watase — cross-train in that famous combat sport of ... cross country?
"It helped because of all the running and conditioning," said Watase, a sophomore who won the state title at 98 pounds last year and is the No. 1 seed at 103 pounds for this weekend's state tournament. "In both sports, you have to give that last push, and push yourself even when you're tired."
Oshiro pushed herself to a fifth-place finish at last fall's state cross country meet. But she said she enjoys wrestling even more after being talked into trying out two years ago by cross country teammate Tamashiro.
"I didn't know it would be such a challenge, but I just fell in love with the sport and pursued it," said Oshiro, a 4-foot-11 senior who is the No. 1 seed at 108 pounds. "I actually like wrestling better, because in cross country I have to go up against girls of all sizes — tall girls with long legs. In wrestling I can train hard and get better results, because (competition is determined) all according to weight, so you're always competing against people the same size."
It's supposed to be that way, but Tamashiro — the No. 1 seed at 98 pounds — has never been able to reach the maximum weight for her division and usually wrestles at 97 pounds.
But like Oshiro and Watase, Tamashiro has earned dividends by cross-training with cross country.
"Both sports require a lot of discipline, and you must be focused," said Tamashiro, a senior. "During races, you don't have teammates to jump in and run for you when you're tired, and it's the same thing with wrestling."
Oshiro acknowledged the final half-mile of a cross country race is similar to the late stages of a wrestling match, especially when it comes to mental toughness.
"You've got to finish a move when you get stuck, and find your way out," Oshiro said. "It's just like cross country — you've got to finish it the correct way."
Matthew Ha, who coaches Iolani's girl wrestlers, said he's a believer in the benefits of cross country.
"It really helps out their conditioning, leg power and stamina," Ha said. "Their recovery time is phenomenal."
The Raiders' fourth ILH individual champ, senior Catherine Chan, is more traditional as far as her other sport. She is a two-time state judo champion at 103 pounds and was the runner-up at 108 pounds in last year's state wrestling meet.
Chan is the No. 2 seed at 114 pounds this weekend.
"Cat probably is the most tenacious of the four; she also has the best hips and balance, and that comes from judo," Ha said. "She has a lot of natural ability when it comes to wrestling."
Ha said the other three are unique wrestlers in their own way.
"Kira is the fastest and has good technique, and Joleen has the best strength and conditioning — she'll stay after practice and ask the coaches to keep wrestling," Ha said. "And Carla probably is the best overall wrestler, because she's the one who does it in the offseason, all year 'round."
She's also the only one who already has a state gold medal in wrestling, but even if the other three fall short this weekend, they won't leave Iolani empty-handed.
Oshiro has a 4.0 GPA, scored 1,340 on the SAT and her college hopes are set on Stanford, Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Tamashiro has been class president for the past four years, achieved a 4.0 GPA last quarter and has Claremont-McKenna and Occidental among her college choices.
And Chan carries a 3.5 GPA, with Washington, Southern California, Pacific (Calif.) and UC San Diego among her options.
But first, there is the matter of this weekend's tournament, where the Raider girls will try to set the bar as high as the Iolani boys, who have won 12 team state wrestling championships. The Raiders' girls program is searching for its first team state title, and came up two points short (128-126) to Kamehameha in last weekend's ILH championships.
"Looking at all those (boys team state title) banners every day helps me push and work harder," Watase said.
Chan added, "It's cool to think that it's possible."
GIRLS SEEDS
98 pounds — 1, Kira Tamashiro (Iolani); 2, Candace Sakamoto (Castle); 3, Joyce Transfiguracion (Kealakehe); 4, Krystanlyn Daquep (Baldwin)
103 pounds — 1, Carla Watase (Iolani); 2, Danica Auna (Kahuku). 3, Alyssa Morimoto (Baldwin);. 4, Chastity Kayona (Waiakea)
108 pounds — 1, Joleen Oshiro (Iolani); 2, Vanessa Chavez (Baldwin); 3, Tani Ader (Farrington); 4, Joyce Fong (Kamehameha-Hawai'i)
114 pounds — 1, Sheryl Manglaylay (Lahainaluna); 2, Catherine Chan (Iolani); 3, Lianne Tomishima (McKinley); 4, Amber Williams (Hawai'i Prep)
120 pounds — 1, Shyla Iokia (Baldwin); 2, Lauren Primiano (Punahou); 3, Ashley Poling (Kaiser); 4, Keoniana Flavin-Sylva (Kohala)
125 pounds — 1. Nicole Chorney (Punahou); 2, Danica Kamakana (Moanalua); 3, Natasha Chang (Baldwin); 4, Erenia Michell (Kealakehe)
130 pounds — 1, Kara Takasaki (Punahou); 2, Jackie Baniaga (Waipahu); 3, Merisa Wong (Kealakehe); 4, Punahele Luafalemana (Molo)
140 pounds — 1, Nicole Young (Pearl City); 2, Candice Coratibo (Baldwin); 3, Kiana Parilla (Kamehameha); 4, Ku'ulei Barton (Kealakehe)
155 pounds — 1, Delilah Joung (Waipahu); 2, Lani Visesio (Maui); 3, Maile Nitta (Kamehameha); 4, Penny Rodrigues (Kealakehe)
175 pounds — 1, Leilani Corpuz (Baldwin); 2, Desiree Memea (University High). 3, Stacey Ikawa (Pearl City); 4, Taisha Emmius (Kealakehe)
220 pounds — 1, Hoku Nohara (Kamehameha); 2, Chasity Molina (Wai'ane); 3, Mallorie Chesebro (Kamehameha-Maui); 4, Ashlee Lilo (Farrington)
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It's not a novelty ... and they're not going away
By Dave Fromer -- Record-Bee sports columnist 3/2/05
Some of us might remember back 20 or so years ago when Virginia Slims cigarettes exploded onto the market with their eye-catching ads that contained the catchy phrase "You've come a long way baby."
Not that I want to associate a sport with the nasty habit of smoking, but that phrase accurately reflects what's happened in high school prep wrestling the last few years it has come a long way.
This year we saw the introduction of a team dual competition in the North Coast Section. Although the concept was met with some trepidation by coaches and wrestlers alike, it appears here to stay. Though it does have some drawbacks, it does provide small schools such as the St. Helena's, Clear Lake's and Fort Bragg's an opportunity to win a section title. That is a good thing.
Last season another good thing happened around the NCS -- the introduction of a sectional championship for girls.
When I began covering the sport for the Record-Bee there were quite a few girls interested in wrestling, but very few on the mat. Most were sitting at the scoring table or running the books and clock. Those few who did venture onto the mat had to deal with another problem they were treated not so much as athletes but as novelties, or, worse yet, as something to be tolerated and an annoyance that would soon go away.
That was then. Today many more girls have ventured into the ranks of prep and freestyle wrestling programs across America. Even better, they're starting to be taken seriously.
It's about time, too.
I have had the opportunity of watching the three young ladies from Lake County who qualified for the NCS championship last weekend in Newark and they are indeed very serious about their sport. Interviewing Middletown's Jennyfer Hallmark the other day, I was very impressed.
Hallmark, a junior, took third place in the 114-pound division by beating San Leandro's Melissa Herrera by fall 3:42 into their match. In fact, Hallmark went 4-1 on the second day of the two-day competition, beating three of her opponents by fall. She went 25-18 on the season.
Now some in the sport might say that's not exactly the best record in town, but I should point out that a high number of those victories and losses came against the guys. To me, that places Hallmark's record in a whole different light.
She told me Monday during our interview that she would much rather lose to a boy than another girl. Maybe that's a macho thing, but I see her point. Hallmark is a no-nonsense, toe-to-toe wrestler who is not afraid to take on all comers. Coach Troy Brierly simply calls her "a scrapper."
The Oscar-winning movie Million Dollar Baby comes to mind when I think of Hallmark's tenacity and willingness to work hard. She does have a winner's mentality and that's the first step toward becoming a champion.
Hallmark wasn't the only wrestler at the NCS Championships who represented Lake County well. Lower Lake's Monica Torrey, competing in the same 114-pound weight class at Hallmark, came in sixth. And Upper Lake's Angelica De Los Santos brought home a second-place medal.
All three did a great job.
Supporting the team
I am always willing to run up the flag and honk the horn in an effort to bring attention to those who help promote our kids and sportsmanship. This time my attention has been drawn to Kelseyville and Big 5 Sporting Goods.
Kelseyville High School assistant wrestling coach Ronnie Campos Jr., who was not only a pretty good prep wrestler in his day but is a wakeboarder of some reputation, has enlisted the support of Big 5 through its Ukiah store to establish the Kelseyville wrestler of the week program, which will reward a selected grappler with a $20 gift certificate. Campos Jr. said other plans are in the works.
Few stores stock wrestling equipment in the Redwood Empire and Ukiah's Big 5 at Campos' urging, has agreed to beef up the racks with singlets, shoes and other matside gear. As with all those individuals and businesses who support our kids, sports and schools, it is important that we support them. Thanks to Big 5 and Campos for their efforts.
Speaking of Ronnie Jr.
Ronnie Jr. is in the initial stages of forming bilingual wrestling classes in Kelseyville for the very young at heart. His goal is to start the younger boys and girls off in the sport and build from there, perhaps wit a freestyle program. In truth he's padding his lineup with future prospects for the Kelseyville squad.
To state I go
Last-minute arrangements will make it possible for me to follow Middletown's Steve Franklin during the CIF State Championships this weekend in Bakersfield. Following the home team -- or in this case the home wrestler -- is what we do at the Record-Bee and I like to think we do it better than most. Whatever the outcome, I'll wrap it up for you here next week. Until then, see you on the mat.
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L. Highlands senior triumphs with late pin
11:00 PM CST on Wednesday, March 2, 2005
By SCOTT McDONALD / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Lake Highlands senior Katie Klammer finished her high school wrestling
career with the ultimate achievement: a dramatic pin for the state
championship.
Trailing by five points in the second round, Klammer pinned Vista
Ridge's Carrie Clark for the 185-pound championship at the UIL state meet at
the Delco Center in Austin.
"All the emotions going through my head were happiness and excitement,"
Klammer said. "It was a great shock and a great ending."
Klammer became the first state champion for Lake Highlands coach Pete
Grieder in his 19 years of coaching.
It didn't come easy. Clark took down Klammer and maintained control to
end the first period with a 3-0 lead. Klammer fell behind two more points
during the second.
"I made the mistake of starting out on top, and she got around behind
me," Klammer said. "When she got behind me again I figured I could roll her.
She went straight to the mat, and I pinned her."
Next up for Klammer will be freestyle wrestling at various tournaments
before she wrestles for Dream Team in April. Dream Team is an event in
which one state's best wrestlers face a national all-star squad. For the
first time, Texas will be the host team.
After Saturday's triumph, Klammer called her father in Dallas to inform
him of the victory. Not long after that, Klammer's brother, Karl, called
home from his Marine station in Iraq.
On Sunday, Katie got to personally talk to her brother on the phone.
"He told me congratulations and asked if I was OK," Klammer said. "He
also said, 'I can't believe you made a girl cry.' "
Klammer clarified that Clark sobbed after the defeat because she was
leading and appeared to be on her way to winning.
"That girl is just a sophomore, so it's great what she did this year
and how good she's going to be," Klammer said.
For Klammer, it was as good as it can get in wrestling.
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By RON SNYDER Staff Writer 2/26/05
Arundel wrestling coach Billy Royer is convinced a member of his team will compete on the world stage during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The wrestler he thinks will be there is not one of his county champions or state title contenders, but 103-pound freshman Nicole Woody.
The 16-year-old Woody has already established herself as one of the top female junior wreslers in the country when last summer she won the 95-pound national title in the U.S. junior women's nationals in Fargo, N.D. In that tournament, she won each of her five matches with technical falls.
Then last week, Woody gained a measure of respect among area boys wrestlers when she took the spot of teammate John Kotsis and ended up finishing third in the 46th annual county wrestling tournament at Annapolis. Woody opened the tourney with a major decision over Broadneck's Josh Tabor, dropped a close 6-3 decision to Chesapeake's eventual runner-up Sonny Scardina before wrestling back to earn a decision over South River's Matt Tomitz and an 8-0 major decision over Annapolis' John Graham in the consolation final.
In the process, Woody became the first female wrestler to automatically qualify for the region tournament. She will be the seventh seed in the Class 4A-3A East region when the tournament begins today at South River. She is one of five female wrestlers, including South River 112-pound senior Emily Duckworth, to advance to the various region tournaments this year in Maryland.
"Nicole has brought a lot of excitement to our team," Royer said. "I have no doubt she will be in the Olympics. With her work ethic, nothing but a major injury could stop her."
Woody started wrestling seven years ago while living in Calvert County. She came up in the Southern Maryland Wrestling Club and credits coaches Rick Jones and Bruce Gabrielson with teaching her the fundementals of the typically male-dominated sport. She also has a family pedigree in the sport as older brother William, 24, wrestled competively, along with a number of her uncles.
"I just love wrestling," said Woody, who also tried her hand at judo before taking to the mat. "You go out and work really hard, which makes the feeling even better when you win."
Prior to coming to Arundel, Woody had been home-schooled. But, when her family moved to Odenton prior to this academic year, Woody enrolled at the west county school. Making the tranisiton to public school has been an easy one for Woody, who already knew Royer and a number of the wrestlers from junior league and summer camps.
"Everyone already knew me and I just couldn't wait to be a part of the team," said Woody, who has a combined 23-2 record (6-1 on varsity) while wrestling mostly on junior varsity this year.
Teammate Devon Gillett, the regining 112-pound county champion, said Woody acts like and is treated like any member of the Wildcats' squad.
"She works as hard as all of us and does everything we do," Gillett said. "She understands the 'Arundel way' and is very
aggressive on the mat."
Woody's wrestling exploits have not been limited to Anne Arundel County this season. She recently returned from a seven-day trip to Moscow and Siberia where she wrestled with former Olympic and world team members in a number of international competitions. Although she lost both matches, Woody said she took a lot away from the experience.
"I tried to soak everything in, but after a while it all became a blur because there was so much I could learn," said Woody, who will travel to Sweeden next month and California in April for the world team trials.
South River coach John Klessinger said he was impressed with how well Woody performed in the county tournament, and knows she is more than just a female trying out for a male team.
"She has pretty good technique and knows how to wrestle," Klessinger said. "Some girls come out for the team, stay on JV for a year, and that's it. Girls like Nicole and Emily have been coming up the ranks for a while and are just part of their teams now."
Duckworth, unlike Woody, just began wrestling in high school. Duckworth went 1-3 her freshman year, and wrestled on JV for two years before breaking into the varsity starting lineup this year. She is currently 12-15 and will be the seventh seed at 112 in the Class 4A-3A East region tournament.
Duckworth, who is also a member of the track team and has garnered some college attention in that sport, said she doesn't remember why she went out for the team three years ago, but knows why she has stuck with it.
"There's no better feeling than walking off the mat after a hard-fought match when you've won," said Duckworth, who along with Woody has competed for the Maryland natioal team. "It shows all the hard work in practice paid off."
Duckworth, like Woody, has been embraced as a part of her team, something not always easy for females to do in high school wrestling. Duckworth said she became a lot more accepted as part of the team her sophomore year.
"There was a girl on the team who quit before I came, and I think they wondered if I would stay," she said. "When I came back my sophomore year, they respected me for it."
Klessinger said most of the questions he gets about Duckworth being on the team come from those not associated with the program.
"Some people outside still question it, but Emily is part of the team. She's contributed to the program, won some matches for us, and understands her roile on the team."
Royer said he is convinced that that accomplishments of girls like Woody and Duckworth, along with the increased female interest in the sport because of the Olympics, will eventually lead to a high school girls wrestling program in Maryland.
"Nicole gets girls interested in wrestling," Royer said. "She's a great role model and leads by silent example on this team."
While Woody hopes to one day bring home a gold medal, she first has some more immediate goals to accomplish first.
"I don't just want to make states, I want to place," she said. "I won't be satisfied if I don't."
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Film fest puts women center stage
By Margaret A. McGurk
Enquirer staff writer3/1/05
The Cincinnati Women's Film Festival has been a fixture of the region's cultural scene "in one form or another for about 20 years," said festival founder and director Andrea Tuttle Kornbluh.
The festival is free to the public, with the support of the University of Cincinnati department of women's studies (where Kornbluh teaches) and Raymond Walters College in Blue Ash, where the fest takes place again this year on Saturday from 1:30 to 10 p.m.
As always, the movie lineup features prize-winning documentaries and short films made by and about women, with a distinctly global perspective.
For instance, Kornbluh said, she is particularly excited about showing "Life and Debt" by Stephanie Black, an inventive look at how trade policies affect the lives of several Jamaican women, including narration from Jamaica Kincaid's non-fiction book "A Small Place." The screening is set for 8 p.m. and will be followed by a discussion with Michelle Rowley of UC's women's studies department.
"The music is supposed to be wonderful," Kornbluh said, "and I think it's taking what can be a complicated and fairly dry story about international financial policy and really putting a human face on it."
Also on the bill are "Senorita Extraviada," about the disappearance of some 200 women believed to be crime victims in Juarez, Mexico; "The Ladies Room," an Iranian feature filmed entirely inside a public restroom in Tehran; and "Breasts: A Documentary," about women's attitudes toward their bodies.
Also on the bill are "Afghanistan Unveiled," a project made by the first team of female video journalists in Afghanistan; "Girl Wrestler," about a 13-year-old Texan who demanded the right to wrestle on her high school's all-boy team.
"Culture Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture," is a look at new-age rebels who express their beliefs with pranks, tricks and theatrical protests.
"One of the things that I thought was really important was that the university do things which they invite the public to come to for free," said Kornbluh, who said she surveys fest-goers each year.
"I get a lot of very positive statements" from festival patrons who are neither students nor teachers at the university. "Typically what they like is that they get to see things that they didn't even know existed.
"There really aren't venues for non-theatrical-length film," she said. "There are a lot of distributors who tend to distribute to colleges and universities, but there is no way for people to find out what's out there. I think of this as a way of sharing with the public a lot of the kinds of things that are available" to academic audiences, she said.
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2005 NCS/Les Schwab Tires Girls' Individual Wrestling Championships
