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Pringle Goes To The Mat For Olympic Dream

By Glen Strandberg 7/20/05

Five months ago, Chelynne Pringle looked at her future and could imagine herself competing in the Olympic Games. Beginning this August, that image becomes clearer as her future starts to merge with the present.

Wrestling and college remain in Pringle's plans, but the location and approach to realizing her dream have changed since last winter. The recent graduate of Forest Lake Area High School will not compete for Regina University in Saskatchewan, Canada, on an athletic scholarship. Instead, she will take advantage of a tremendous opportunity and attend college in Colorado Springs at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs while she practices at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Pringle will receive a full ride, courtesy of the Olympic Training Center.

During recent matches that stretched from Las Vegas to Ames, Pringle attracted the attention of Terry Steiner, USA Wrestling's first National Women's Coach. Last month in Iowa, after Pringle won the mini tournament as part of the U. S. World Team Trials, Steiner asked her to pursue her goals in Colorado. As of Tuesday, June 28, Pringle decided to accept Steiner's offer.

Adding some emphasis to her remarkable achievements, Pringle is accomplishing these feats well ahead of schedule. Typically, other wrestlers asked to train in Colorado Springs are out of college, as the senior level in which Pringle competes is designed for athletes twenty-one and older. When thinking about the training center, Pringle observes, “I'll be the youngest one there.”

With two women currently ranked ahead of her in her weight class – Pringle wrestles in the 55 kg/121 lb. class – she understands the journey to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will be a difficult one. “I'll just have to work hard for these next 3 years. I know it's tough.”

But in less than a month, Pringle, the daughter of Lori and Dick Pringle of Hugo, will embark on her next step as she has circled August 12 for her departure for Colorado. Present, meet your future.

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Pringle set to train for the Olympics

Joe Drennan 7/20/05
Sports Editor

When most high school athletes finish high school they go on to compete at the collegiate level, but for female wrestler Chelynne Pringle there really are no female wrestling teams that compete in the NCAA. Pringle is taking a different route, going to college to train for the Olympics instead.

After compiling a record of 33-1 in high school it was obvious Pringle was going to continue wrestling after high school. Unlike her male teammates at Forest Lake High School who have the opportunity to wrestle for most colleges, U.S. colleges simply do not have female wrestling.

Luckily for Pringle the people over at USA Wrestling have taken notice of her. USA Wrestling believes Pringle is not only good, but good enough to represent the U.S. in the Olympics so they want her to train. USA Wrestling has a few sites where the wrestlers can train, but the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is the ideal location. With that in mind Pringle chose to attend Colorado Springs college where she plans to major in medicine as she hopes to one day become a surgeon.

“She knows what she wants to do and she’s going to go for it,” Pringle’s dad Dick said. “She’s a hard worker and it’s a dream come true for her.”

Colorado Springs College does not have female wrestling, but it is the school USA Wrestling recommends for its wrestlers who are going to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

“There were other schools, one in California, one in Missouri, one in Canada, but the coach in Colorado Springs talked to me throughout the whole process,” Pringle said. “The coach said he wants to start my Olympic training right away and Colorado is the best place to start that.”

While attending Colorado Springs Pringle will be living at the Olympic Training Center where she’ll train with the top female wrestlers in the country.

“I’m just glad that her hard work has paid off for her,” Pringle’s mom Lori said. “She’s level headed so she should be fine out there. Most of the girls she’ll be training with are older and done with college so they should have a good influence on her.”

The past four years Pringle wrestled at FLHS under the direction of Bob Dettmer, but she’s been wrestling with coach Larry Allen since she was about 10 and during the offseason.

“Chelynne has always had the gift to wrestle and she’s continually maturing in the sport,” Allen said. “She’s very dedicated not only in wrestling, but she keeps herself fit to help her in wrestling by doing other things like track. Probably her best quality though is that she is one of the best role models we have in our sport.”

When not working out with Allen, Pringle was in the FLHS wrestling room practicing with her Rangers teammates and Dettmer.

“I think it’s an honor for anybody to be in a position to represent not only their country but their community and school,” Dettmer said. “I’ve noticed over the years that Chelynne is a student of the sport and is very competitive and downright tough. You put those things together and the heart she has for the sport and only good things are going to happen.”

Year in review

Pringle has had a bit of success over the past year, but then again when she is ranked number three in the country in the senior women’s category it’s only natural that she’s doing well.

Pringle took first place in the USGWA for the second year in a row. She was named to the first team for high school wrestlers, an honor reserved for only 14 girls in the country.

Pringle’s goal for this year still is to take first at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, ND, during the last weekend in July.

“The biggest accomplishment for Chelynne is that little girls admire her and want her autograph,” Pringle’s mom said. “Her little sister had to write about her role model so she wrote about Chelynne because she is a role model.”

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Preps: Olson taking wrestling to higher level

By CRAIG REMSBURG, THE MINING JOURNAL - 7/14/05

ISHPEMING - Senior Shasta Olson of Ishpeming High School will be able to hone her wrestling skills on a higher level later this month.

Olson has been selected to compete with Team Michigan at the USA Junior National Wrestling Tournament in Fargo, N.D. beginning July 27.

She will leave for downstate Lake Orion Saturday for three days of practice before heading to Fargo with the Michigan delegation.

"This is a chance for me to earn a college (wrestling) scholarship by placing at this tournament," Olson, 17, said. "I've been training with the women's wrestling team at the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette."

The 119-pounder said she has been wrestling on the prep level for three years, but has been primarily competing against junior varsity boys as she has been unable to crack the Ishpeming-Westwood starting lineup.

"It will be a good experience - a good test for her - at the nationals," USOEC women's freestyle wrestling coach Shannon Gillespie said Wednesday. "It will open her eyes.

"There haven't been a lot of opportunities for her to challenge other female wrestlers. Even if they're good, it's hard for girls to get adequate training or competition against boys. Boys are stronger."

Gillespie said Olson, who has been to 20-30 practices with the USOEC squad, has potential.

"She's pretty green, but in time, can develop into a good wrestler," he said. "She has a good work ethic, but it's hard to compare high school wrestlers with Olympic-caliber athletes."

Said Olson: "Shannon is an awesome coach. Without his help, I wouldn't be able to do this. He believes in me and has given me a chance (to practice at the USOEC)."

Olson, who said she landed a spot with Team Michigan with the help of a USOEC wrestler, also runs track at IHS and is a Hematite cheerleader.

She said she began wrestling in the seventh grade because "the boys were too big for me to play football. So I decided to try a different sport."

Anyone wishing to help with Olson's traveling expenses to the nationals can contact her at 145 New York St., Ishpeming, MI, 49849 (486-4117).

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USOEC: Wrestler grabs Junior Worlds medal

MARQUETTE - Danyelle Hedin of Kailua, Hawaii, took the Junior World Championships in Lithuania by storm last weekend.

THE MINING JOURNAL - miningjournal.net

Tuesday, July 12, 2005 — 1:28:33 PM EST

She won silver in the 55-kilogram weight class, falling to Johanna Mattsson of Sweden in the finals 0-2, 2-2. Hedin is a resident athlete in the women's freestyle wrestling program at the United States Olympic Education Center and attends Northern Michigan University. She was the only female wrestler from the USOEC who competed.

The USOEC's Greco-Roman wrestling program also sent three of its resident athletes to the competition. Team members included Spenser Mango (Flourissant, Mo.) at 55 kg, Andy Bisek (Chaska, Minn.) at 74 kg and Chas Betts (St. Michael, Minn.) at 84 kg.

"They had some good matches. The competition was thick and heavy," said Steve Goss, assistant USOEC Greco-Roman wrestling coach.

Mango lost in the second round to Revaz Lashkhi of Georgia 4-4, 0-7. Bisek was also defeated in the second round. He fell to Plamen Palev of Bugaria after he was disqualified for his third caution. Finally, Betts made it to the quarterfinals, but lost to Oleg Romankov of the Ukraine 0-5, 2-3.

In reviewing the Greco-Roman wrestlers' performances, Goss said, "We're disappointed that we didn't medal, but we gained some experience."

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USOEC wrestler eyeing worlds

THE MINING JOURNAL - miningjournal.net

Saturday, July 02, 2005 — 12:38:20 AM EST

MARQUETTE - U.S. Olympic Education Center wrestler Danyelle Hedin (Kailua, Hawaii) will get a taste of world competition at the Junior World Championships in Lithuania July 5-10.

She qualified for the competition by taking first at the Body Bar FILA Junior Women's National Championships in San Diego, Calif., this spring.

Wrestlers like Hedin must adjust to a higher level of competition, as they will be matched against the world's best wrestlers under age 20.

She participated in a training camp at the USOEC June 23-29 to prepare for the championships. The camp was run by USOEC head women's freestyle wrestling coach Shannyn Gillespie (Chicago, Ill.), who will coach Team USA at the competition.

Gillespie looks forward to the experience of taking the team to the championships.

"This is a year for a lot of firsts.It's the first year of the program, it's my first year as head coach and it's my first time coaching at the Junior World Championships," he said.

Gillespie said he hopes the women's wrestling program continues to grow at the USOEC.

"The USOEC is the perfect environment. We have everything we need here," he said. "There's no reason why we couldn't be the best in the world."

Editor's note: This information came from a USOEC press release

Camp Pix 2005 <---Click for pictures

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