By Cheryl Walker
UNION-TRIBUNE COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER
September 3, 2005

VALLEY CENTER – Football, trombone or wrestling.

Bethany Harris decided she had to pin herself down to one activity and give it her all. Wrestling won.

"Why wrestling?" is what most people ask the 134-pound 18-year-old.

Bethany Harris (right) was named the winner of the semifinals in freestyle wrestling, defeating Christine Cunningham (left).

"My dad wrestled in high school and he used to tell me so many stories," Harris said. "It sounded like fun. My parents were shocked when I told them I wanted to wrestle."

The soft-spoken woman has lived in Valley Center for eight years with her parents, Danny and LeeAnn Harris, and her two sisters and brother. She has a passion for the more aggressive sports, including football.

When Harris began wrestling she was plagued by injuries. One of the hardest challenges was to sit out while recovering.

"I've hurt my hip, elbow and torn the cartilage in my ribs," she said. "It's been difficult sometimes because the mind is willing but the body isn't. But I'm determined. When God gives you the ability and the opportunity, you should use it."

Harris' injuries didn't stop her from from being undefeated on the junior varsity team in high school and placing second in the 128-pound division at the Asics/Vaughn Junior Women's National Freestyle Championships in July in North Dakota. Her only loss was in the final match against Deanna Rix of Maine, who has been wrestling since she was 3.

Bethany Harris put a leg-lace move on Raquel Alton of Pennsylvania at the junior nationals in Fargo, N.D.

"At first I really stunk at wrestling," said Harris, who has gained 6 pounds since the championship and hopes to add more muscle. "I'm not a natural athlete, but I'm very dedicated to my sport."

Harris wrestles freestyle at the No Mercy School in Vista. Her hard work helped her to win the Breitbard Athletic Award from the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum.

Placing second at the national championships earned Harris the BJ Stupak Olympic Scholarship to the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.

Now her eye is on competing in the Olympics.

"It's a full scholarship to Michigan and I hope to compete either in the 2008 or 2012 Olympics," she said. "I'm focused on 2008, but we'll have to see how it goes."

Harris isn't sure when she'll head to Michigan to start school. She signed up for the National Guard and leaves in a few days to train at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

"I've always wanted to be in the military," she said. "I love my family and friends and I'm willing to fight for our freedom. If someone doesn't fight for our freedom, who will?"

Harris is scheduled for advanced training in the National Guard, which means she may not be able to start college until next year. She plans to major in history to eventually become a teacher.

She is looking forward to National Guard training as well as attending college and continuing wrestling.

"Wrestling is an important part of my life," she said. "It has taught me who I am and that hard work pays off. It's helped me find myself."

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Brock's Verbeek takes home silver medal

By Rob Terpstra
Published: Friday, September 2, 2005

Tonya Verbeek shows off her new bling

Lights, camera, and ... action.
Canada's recent appearance at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey, was for most competitors, on the biggest stage they had ever performed. This was not however the case for the Great White North's flag bearer at the Games' Opening Ceremonies, Brock's own, Tonya Verbeek.
"Being able to carry that Canadian flag was just a really cool feeling," Verbeek said. "It was nice to see the sport of women's wrestling represented as well."
Verbeek led the country into the Games, and with it, took home a silver medal to contribute to Canada's highest ever medal count of 12. In just under the span of an hour at the wrestling venue at Yamanlar High School, Verbeek and her teammates took home six medals. This included two gold, two silver and two bronze in the freestyle division.
The venue stood at a standstill when the 28-year-old, who celebrated her birthday just a day before the gold medal match, paired off against Saori Yoshida from Japan. This was the same grappler who had defeated Verbeek in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, handing Verbeek the silver medal and casting her as somewhat of a local and national hero.
Brock's ambassador started off the match defensively, knowing that Yoshida was a clinical tactician and was not going to give away points easily. The score at the end of the first was 1-0 in favour of the Japanese wrestler. Verbeek came out after the break confident that in order to be victorious, she would have to take some calculated risks. Points needed to be scored even if in the process, she would give some away. Unfortunately, Yoshida was too smart on the day, smothering Verbeek and eventually capping a victory via a 2-0 score in the second round.
"With a girl like her, I have to be very defensive," Verbeek said. "I was able to stay in there with her, but I still need to create my offense. I need to be a little bit more confident and know that I can score on her ... I feel a lot better than I did at the Olympics."
Brock's two other competitors, three-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) gold medallist, Jamie Macari, and five-time CIS champion, Ryan Weicker, did not fare as well, losing out early in the first day of the wrestling competition.
"I know I didn't wrestle very well," Weicker said. "I got to come and watch the finals, and cheer on the rest of the team and be a spectator for once."

Weicker wrestled in the 66kg freestyle division, losing to the eventual bronze medallist from the country of Georgia.
"The guy who won my weight," Weicker said. "I know I'm competitive with him. I've seen him wrestle, and I know I can compete. I really wish I could have gone back and done better."
Weicker will now take a year off from studies at Brock, but still intends to be actively involved in Brock's wrestling club. He will await next year's Senior Nationals, and the chance to wrestle at the World Championships in the future.
His protégé, Macari, wrestled in the 55kg freestyle division, advancing to the classification round, before losing to the bronze medallist from Azerbaijan. Macari has just recently wrestled at the national team training camp. He will try to defend his Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and CIS individual titles this year, and try to secure his team's historic and unprecedented eighth consecutive national championship. A second Senior Nationals win and World Championship will nicely fill the schedule of the rising star.
For all three, the experience and trip to Turkey was both a valuable learning experience and rewarding showing on one of amateur sports' biggest stages.
Don't blink, the fourth act is about to begin, and these athletes are ready for their featured solo.

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2005 World Championships preview at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. in women’s freestyle wrestling

9/3/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

The first women’s wrestling Olympic champion of all time was the exciting Irini Merlini of Ukraine, a three-time World champion who had a marvelous performance at the Athens Games. Merlini stopped Japan’s Chiharu Icho, a 2003 World champion at 51 kg, in the gold-medal match. It is possible that neither Olympic finalist will be at this division in Budapest, as both Merlini and Icho have been competing up in weight . This opens the weight class up to new possibilities.

The Olympic bronze medalist was Patricia Miranda of the United States, who has not competed since her Olympic matches. Her replacement in the U.S. lineup is Jenny Wong, a 2003 World bronze medalist at 51 kg who dropped in weight for the U.S. Trials. Wong has size and experience and becomes a top contender right away.

Just missing out on medals in Athens were Angelique Berthenet-Hidalgo of France in fourth place, Loorisa Oorzhak of Russia in fifth place and Brigitte Wagner of Germany in sixth place. Oorzhak was the 2005 European champion and two-time Junior World champion at this division. Wagner, a 2002 World champion and a former Junior World champion, is also capable of winning it all.

Canada should be strong here, with either Olympian Lyndsey Belisle or past World medalist Carol Huyhn in the mix. Huyhn won a gold medal at the World University Games in Turkey this summer. Belisle has had success up at 51 kg in the past as well.

China’s Ren Xuecheng won the 2005 Asian Championships, followed by Makiko Sakimoto of Japan in second, with bronze medals won by Dahdavaa Baasanjargal of Mongolia and Bekzat Mustafina of Kazakhstan. Sakamoto will be a major medal contender in Budapest, having won a gold medal at the Women’s World Cup this season.

Other medalists at the European Championships were silver medalist Iwona Matkowska-Sadowska of Poland, and bronze medalists Anne Delunsche of France and Fani Psatha of Greece. Mayelis Caripa of Venezuela was the Pan American champion this year, beating Guadelupe Perez of Mexico in the finals.

Other athletes to watch are 2005 Junior World bronze medalists Lyudmila Balushka of Ukraine and Maryna Markevich of Belarus. The World University Games featured silver medalist Yuuri Funatsu of Japan and bronze medalist Oleksandra Kohut of Ukraine. Kohut was also a Junior World champion this year, competing up at 51 kg.

Always among the athletes to watch are the Karamtchkova sisters. Inga was a 2002 World silver medalist in 2002 at this division, competing for Russia. Lidiya wrestled in the 2004 Olympic Games for Tajikistan and placed seventh. A veteran athlete to watch is Ida Hellstrom of Sweden, who was a World bronze medalist in 2002.

This weight class is always competitive, with many young talents coming along at a regular basis. With all three Olympic medalists expected not to compete at 121 pounds, there will be a rugged battle for position in this division.

RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS

2004 Olympic Games results
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Gold – Irini Merlini (Ukraine); Silver – Chiharu Icho (Japan); Bronze – Patricia Miranda (USA); 4th- Angelique Berthenet (France); 5th – Lorisa Oorzhak (Russia); 6th- Brigitte Wagner (Germany); 7th – Lidiya Karamchakova (Tajikistan); 8th – Enkhjargal Tsogbazar (Mongolia); 9th – Li Hui (China); 10th – Fani Psatha (Greece)

2003 World Championships results
105.5 – Gold – Irini Merleni (Ukraine) dec. Patricia Miranda (United States), 5-4; Bronze – Li Hui (China) pin Fani Psatha (Greece), 5:56; 5th – Makiko Sakamoto (Japan); 6th - Angelique Berthenet (France); 7th – Alfia Zaynulina (Kyrgyzstan); 8th – Inga Karamchakova (Russia); 9th – Kamelia Tzekova (Bulgaria); 10th – Mayerli Karipa (Venezuela)
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2002 World Championships results
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - 1st - Brigitte Wagner (Germany) dec. Inga Karamtshakova (Russia), 4-3; 3rd - Ida Hellstrom (Sweden) pin Nicoleta Badea (Romania), 2:50; 5th - Carol Huyhn (Canada); 6th - Laurianne Mary (France); 7th - Angeles Barazza Sanchez (Mexico); 8th - Mayelis Caripa (Venezuela); 9th - Flor Quispe (Peru); 10th - Myrsini Koloni (Greece)

2001 World Championships results
46 kg/101.25 lbs. - Gold - Irina Melnik (Ukraine) dec. Carol Huyhn (Canada), 3-0; Bronze - Brigitte Wagner (Germany) dec. Farah Touchi (France), 4-2; 5th - Misato Shimizu (Japan); 6th - Agoro Papavassiliou (Greece); 7th - Volha Prydanikava (Belarus); 8th - Kamelia Tzekova (Bulgaria); 9th - Ayse Guneri (Turkey); 10th - Inga Karamthakova (Russia)