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Heath: PD wrestling coach trying to finish what he started
By Jeremy Heath
jeremy.heath@amarillo.com
Publication Date: 06/22/05
If there’s one thing above all others that gives high school coaches
credibility in the eyes of their athletes, it’s practicing what they
preach.
Right now, Palo Duro wrestlers are getting a lesson in finishing what
they
start.
PD wrestling coach Steve Nelson, who was suspended for a week in
January for
allowing a male wrestler to compete against a female in a Dec. 10 Santa
Fe,
N.M., tournament, made a preliminary proposal June 12 to the University
Interscholastic League Policy Council. Nelson proposed that the
interpretation of the rule that prohibits wrestlers of different
genders
from squaring off against each other be evaluated and re-interpreted as
it
applies to out-of-state meets.
Texas and Hawaii separate boys and girls wrestling into two distinctly
different divisions. In the other 48 states, girls must wrestle in the
boys
divisions.
The UIL’s interpretation of its own rule requires coaches to treat
out-of-state meets as if they were in-state meets. If a coach from
Texas
takes a team to a meet in New Mexico, Oklahoma or Kansas —three states
in
which many Texas teams participate in dual meets — the coach is forced
to
forfeit any match that pits a male against a female and vice versa.
Nelson thinks Texas schools should be allowed to abide by the rules of
the
state sanctioning the meet. His biggest argument being that football
teams
that play out-of-state games follow the rules of the state in which the
game
is played.
Nelson’s proposal passed and will be voted on in October by the UIL
Legislative Council.
For those who are not familiar with Nelson, I’d better give you a quick
rundown.
Nelson has a polarizing personality. Most people either love him or
they
hate him. He makes some people uncomfortable. He’s a little hard to
read. He
has a reputation as a bit of a maverick. He has a reputation as a bit
of a
publicity hound.
Nelson, who has been at Palo Duro since 1988, also has a reputation as
a
good coach (see girls state championships in 2001 and 2003). He has a
reputation as a tough-love coach who has strong views of what is right
and
wrong and who will fight for what he thinks is right and against what
he
thinks is wrong — sometimes to the dismay of people around him who
don’t
like to rock the boat.
That being said, some will look at what Nelson is doing as simply
stirring
up trouble, trying to garner some attention and publicity. Others will
look
at it as Nelson standing up for something in which he believes.
When this issue first surfaced in January, I wasn’t sure how I felt
about
it. Nelson told me he was proud to take the suspension — which was
smartly
levied by the AISD to avoid a possible UIL-levied suspension — because
he
felt he was standing up for his kids. He also told me he was preparing
a
proposal to take before the UIL.
At the time, I didn’t know Nelson well enough to know whether or not I
could
trust him.
I talked to others involved with the situation and was told to be
careful. I
was informed that Nelson typically means well but that he has a
tendency to
grandstand when he gets a chance.
I also had some doubts about the potential proposal. In my mind, Texas
and
Hawaii are the only two states which have the right idea. If they were
to
switch to a one-division, males-and-females-together format, it could
stymie
what is a growing sport for females. If females are forced to compete
with
males for the chance to represent their schools in a particular weight
division, it could certainly discourage females from wrestling in the
first
place and ultimately hurt the sport.
In the last six months, I’ve had a chance to get to know Nelson a
little
better. I used him as a source for stories during wrestling season, and
he
has sent me repeated e-mails since, updating me on the proposal
process.
Do I trust him?
I trust him enough to believe him when he says he’s pursuing this
course of
action because he cares about the kids. It’s not because of anything
he’s
told me or not told me, or because of anything I’ve heard or not heard
from
other parties. I trust him because he has made a clear distinction in
his
proposal — which I have seen in full — to make sure the
re-interpretation
would apply only to out-of-state tournaments.
In other words, he knows the importance of Texas’ and Hawaii’s views of
how
the sport should be legislated when it comes to gender. He knows how
much
damage he could do to girls wrestling if his proposal were
misinterpreted
and Texas was to join the 48 states that have approached girls
wrestling the
wrong way.
He just wants to make sure he doesn’t have to continue to ask one of
his
wrestlers, who has worked hard to earn a spot and make weight, to
forfeit a
match at an out-of-state tournament because the scheduled opponent is
not of
the same gender.
His proposal probably will pass. It’s logical, reasonable and fair.
But no matter how the October vote goes, Nelson will have succeeded. He
will
have succeeded in the eyes of all the student-athletes he has advised
to
never give up when it comes to fighting for something in which they
believe.
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Downing named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week
6/22/2005
John Fuller/TheMat.com
Note: To nominate a wrestler for TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week, send the athlete's name, accomplishments for the week and career accomplishments to John Fuller at jfuller@usawrestling.org
Katie Downing (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) has been named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week for the week of June 14-20.
Each week, TheMat.com will select an Athlete of the Week, based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling, from youth programs through the Senior level. The announcement will be made each week on Wednesday.
Downing won the 67 kg/147.5 lbs. weight class at the 2005 U.S. World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa last weekend. While it is not the first time Downing has won the World Team Trials, it is the first time that she has officially made the U.S. World Team in women’s freestyle wrestling.
Downing defeated Ashley Sword 4-0, 4-0 in the Challenge Tournament finals to advance to the best-of-three championship series against seven-time World medalist Kristie Marano of the New York Athletic Club.
In the first match, Downing pinned Marano in just 30 seconds. In the second match, Downing dominated, winning 4-0, 1-0.
“For the last 3-4 years I had to wrestle her at some point and I knew it would be here that I’d have to beat her to accomplish my goal of wrestling at Worlds,” Downing said of Marano after the second bout. “(The pin) broke the seal I’ve been trying to break for a couple years.”
Downing won the 2002 and 2003 U.S. World Team Trials, but under the old system, the top three placewinners at the non-Olympic weights were able to challenge Trials champions to a wrestle-off. Marano defeated Downing in both 2002 and 2003, eventually winning a World silver medal in 2002 and a World gold medal in 2003.
Downing also won a U.S. Nationals title in 2003 and a gold medal at the 2001 World Cup.
Downing received degrees from the Univ. of Minnesota-Morris in History and Social Science. She is currently a resident-athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
--------------------------------------------
Downing finally gets past her nemesis in wrestling trials
June 23, 2005
Women's sports notes: Pat McKee
Katie Downing has been poised for international success for several years, but a win last weekend may give the female wrestler her best shot yet.
Downing, a graduate of Pendleton Heights High School, beat nemesis Kristie Marano to win the 67-kilogram (147.5-pound) weight class in the U.S. World Team Trials at Ames, Iowa.
That earned Downing a spot in the 2005 World Championships that will be staged Sept. 26-Oct. 2 at Budapest, Hungary.
"For the last three to four years, I had to wrestle (Marano) at some point," Downing said in a statement released through USA Wrestling after she won a best-of-three series with a pin and a decision.
"I knew it would be here that I'd have to beat her to accomplish my goal of wrestling at worlds."
The key, Downing said, was a pin that came with 30 seconds left in the first match.
"It broke the seal I've been trying to break for a couple of years," said Downing, who had lost to Marano in each of the past four years with a major international tournament berth on the line.
The most disappointing of those came last year when Downing lost to Marano 5-1 in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Downing reflected on that match following her victory.
"It felt so good to come home and see friendly faces in the crowd, so it made it all the more disappointing when I didn't make the team," she said.
-------------------------------------------------
Two Soldiers earn berths in World Wrestling Championships
By Tim Hipps June 23, 2005
AMES, Iowa – Two Soldiers earned berths in the 2005 World Wrestling Championships during the U.S. World Team Trials June 18-19 at Hilton Coliseum.
Reigning national champions Staff Sgt. Dremiel Byers and Sgt. Iris Smith earned spots on the U.S. team scheduled to compete Sept. 24-Oct. 3 in the World Championships at Budapest, Hungary. They are members of the Army World Class Athlete Program stationed at Fort Carson, Colo.
Sgt. Tina George, another reigning national champion WCAP wrestler, received a medical exemption from the World Team Trials because of a partially torn medial collateral ligament in her right knee. She will get an opportunity to make Team USA during the 2005 U.S. Junior National Wrestling Championships in late July at Fargo, N.D.
George will square off against Sunkist Kids’ Marcie Van Dusen for the U.S. women’s 121-pound freestyle spot in the World Championships.
Winners of the World Team Trials challenge tournament Saturday at Iowa State University took on the reigning national champions in their respective divisions Sunday in a best-of-three championship series.
Byers, the 2002 Greco-Roman heavyweight world champion, atoned for a recent loss to New York Athletic Club’s Russ Davie of Colorado Springs by winning the 264.5-pound division two matches to none.
“Byers showed tonight how dominant he is,” Army coach Staff Sgt. Shon Lewis said. “He has the total package. He can finesse you; he can beat you up. Right now, he’s tracking right along.”
Byers said he’s been “very hungry” to get back on the World Team since longtime rival and training partner Rulon Gardner retired.
“In order to keep getting our flag raised and our song played, somebody’s got to carry it,” Byers said.
Smith made her third World Team by defeating 2004 national champion Ali Bernard of New Ulm, Minn., in the women’s 158.5-pound freestyle finals. A four-time national champion who last qualified for the World Championships in 2001 but missed the event to attend Army basic training, Smith defeated Ulm two matches to none.
“This is something I’ve been doing since I was 15 and I’ve channeled my life around, so it means a great deal,” Smith said.
Two WCAP wrestlers – Staff Sgt. James Johnson and Sgt. Glenn Garrison – won their challenge tournaments but lost in the championship rounds.
Johnson stepped down a weight class and rumbled through Sunkist Kids’ Jeremiah Davis, U.S. Olympic Education Center’s Kerry Regner and Gator Wrestling Club’s Willie Madison in the 132-pound Greco-Roman challenge tournament. He lost two consecutive matches of the championship finals to New York Athletic Club’s Joe Warren.
Garrison won the first match of his 145.5-pound Greco-Roman championship series against Gator Wrestling Club’s Harry Lester of Akron, Ohio. Garrison injured his right shoulder while losing the second rugged round late in the third period. In the deciding match, Lester prevailed in two periods to make his first World Team.
Top-seeded Staff Sgt. Keith Sieracki lost a controversial match to New York Athletic Club’s T.C. Dantzler, a two-time World Team member, in the 163-pound Greco-Roman finals of the challenge tournament. Sieracki rebounded the next day to finish third with a throw-filled, two-period victory over Jake Fisher of Platte City, Mo.
Staff Sgt. Marcel Cooper lost to Garrison in the finals of the challenge tournament and settled for fourth place after losing on criteria to Gator Wrestling Club’s Mark Rial in a two-period battle for third.
Staff Sgt. Oscar Wood, a 2004 Olympian, got pinned by New York Athletic Club’s Mike Ellsworth in a 145.5-pound Greco-Roman quarterfinal match in the challenge tournament.
Lewis said the Army team’s performance was like “a little honey, a little vinegar.”
“I’m not satisfied, but by no means am I disappointed,” he said. “We had five guys in the finals and came away with two victories. We showed some resilience and we showed that the Army team is still rolling.”