DAVID RASBACH THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Mount Baker Angelica Brown, top, tries to turn teammate Rosemary Kelly for a pin during practice Tuesday morning. Brown and Kelly are two of eight female wrestlers on the Mountaineers' roster this season.
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Mountaineers wrestle skepticism
Eight girls making most of season on Mount Baker wrestling team
DOUG PACEY 12/28/05
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Who says wrestling's strictly for boys? Eight Mount Baker girls have been practicing and competing at meets this season.
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DAVID RASBACH THE BELLINGHAM HERALD |
DEMING - When Angelica Brown heard that Mount Baker was forming a girls' wrestling team, the freshman knew she wanted to be a part of it.
"Something like 75 percent of girls are tomboys," said Brown, who is also a cheerleader, "but some of them are just too scared to show it."
Not at Mount Baker.
The Mountaineers list eight girls on the wrestling roster after starting the season with 10.
That's four more than coach Ron Lepper said he wanted when his daughter Alex Lepper, a sophomore, expressed an interest last spring to wrestle.
"I told her that she needed to get at least six girls," he said. "That way they'd have different partners to practice and wrestle with.
"I've had just one or two girls on the team before and they get isolated. If one doesn't show up to practice or quits, then you have some issues."
Alex said she didn't actively recruit girls to join the team. She included an announcement in the school's morning messages and talked about it at lunch.
"I was just hoping to get six," she said. "Then 10 showed up to start and now we have eight that are going to be here the whole season."
Mount Baker is the only Whatcom County school to have female wrestlers and all eight have qualified for the state tournament. Last year, 109 girls wrestled at Mat Classic, led by Hoquiam's 10. Foss had the next most with six.
Lepper said he's never had a female wrestler make it through the entire season, but with eight still there six weeks into the season, he's sure that most or even all will be at the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 18.
But at the start of the season, some of the boys on the team were a bit skeptical of their new teammates.
"I'm sure some of the guys weren't happy, but they didn't say much," Lepper said. "But there was nothing overt."
The boys seem to have accepted the girls.
"Our guys support us when we wrestle," Alex Lepper said. "When we walk into a gym and other teams make fun of us, our guys help us out."
To give the Mounties some outside competition - the Baker girls wrestle each other at meets when there are no girls from other schools - Lepper took the girls to the Hoquiam Invite.
"Usually, we go to meets and wrestle each other because there are no other girls," Alex Lepper said. "Going to Hoquiam was good for us; it gave us some variety."
Alex has some wrestling experience. She worked the clock at Baker's practices last season and did some club wrestling when she was in elementary school.
Most of the girls hadn't wrestled before, but they have quickly come to understand the sport's appeal.
"A lot of girls say, 'Eww, why are you out there wrestling?'" Brown said. "But it's just the two of you. There's a winner and a loser."
Seems to be plenty of winners here already.
THE ROSTER
Wrestler Grade
Angelica Brown 9
Katie Newgard 10
Alex Lepper 10
Ashlee Phy 10
Rosemary Kelly 10
Alba Dobarganes 11
Sophie Zocastello 11
Areca Phy 12
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Lady Vikings close year with duals
Friday, December 23, 2005
By Chris Allen/Sports Editor
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THUNDER BAY, Ont. -- The Missouri Valley College women's wrestling team didn't lack for activity to close out the calendar year, getting in seven matches Dec. 3-4 during the Canadian International Duals at Thunder Bay, Ont.
The Lady Vikings were mostly split into two squads, although put together one team to face long-time nemesis Cumberland (Ky.). The battle between the two oldest college programs in the U.S. was won by the Lady Patriots, 28-10.
The only wins for Valley came pins by freshman Christina Varland (38 kilogram) and Courtney Martell (55), both newcomers to the program.
Both the MVC Orange and Purple groups lost three of four matches. The Orange's lone win came against Brock (Ont.), 26-11. Junior Tabithia Ramsey (48) and freshman Samantha Schuman (51) won in three rounds and sophomores Rachel Billerbeck (63) and Emily Rinehart (67) and freshman Collette Curtis (82) pinned their opponents.
The unit lost to Lakehead (Ont.), 19-16, Calgary (Alb.), 19-12, and 24-10 to Northern Michigan -- which boasted five former Valley wrestlers: Sadie Kaneda, Debbie Sakai, Sandy Do, Kiersten Hyatt and Donell Bradley. Ramsey, Schuman and Billerbeck each won once in those three pool matches, while freshman Lacy Novinska (72) notched a pair of pins.
The Purple squad's victory came against Memorial (Newf.). Freshmen Tanya Miyasaki (51), Karen Howe (63) and Sara Hilliard (67) pinned their opponents, with the rest of the Lady Vikings' points coming on defaults.
In the other matches, the Purple lost to Brock (Ont.), 20-14, 35-1 to Simon Fraser (B.C.) -- the top-ranked North American college women's team, according to TheMat.com -- and Saskatchewan, 35-5. Varland, Martell and Hilliard won decisions against Brock, while junior Clarissa Calibuso had the Lady Vikings' lone win against the U of S.
Even following this meet, Valley stood at the No. 5 position in the Dec. 21 poll. The Lady Vikings will return to the mat Jan. 14-15 for the National Wrestling Coaches Association Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
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American Canyon girls represent Vintage in state championships
By SCOTT HANKINS
Eagle Staff Writer 2/1/2005
American Canyon girls were in the majority at last weekend's state
championship Tournament in Vallejo. Three of the five Vintage wrestlers
who qualified to compete were from AmCan and the team coach is an American
Canyon girl and former state champion.
Unfortunately, of the three American Canyon girls showed up at the
tournament only two were able to compete. Chawndra Cox was there for
the weigh-ins but fell ill and was rushed to the emergency room.
The remaining two American Canyon girls were eliminated in the first
day of the two-day event.
At 152 pounds, Elodia Cortez won her first bout with a first round pin
in 1:28. Cortez then lost in the second round of competition. In the 103
weight class, Christina Marenco, of American Canyon lost in the first round
and again in the first bracket of the consolation round.
Two other Vintage wrestlers and one Napa girl made it to the girls'
state championships. Team Captain Michel Querin, 144, lost in the first round
to the number one seed in her weight class. She continued to win in the
consolation rounds until she was defeated by a Vallejo wrestler.
Another 152 pound Vintage wrestler, Hattie Borg, made it to the third
round without working up a sweat. She had a bye in the first round and won by
forfeit in the second. Her luck continued one more round with a
victory, before losing the next round.
Napa High's Lauren Philipps, 138, works out with the Vintage team as if
she were a member. She's the only girl on the Napa wrestling team. She had
a bye in the first round of competition and won her next match. She lost in
the next round. She went on to win all of her consolation rounds and walked
away with a third place medal.
This isn't the end of the season for the Vintage girls.
"They will be traveling to Michigan for the Nationals, representing
California," said Yvonne Lanterman assistant coach. "It's huge. The
national tournament is where the girls get to see schools throughout the U.S.
There will be girls competing from elementary school age through college."
There are other advantages for the girls to go to the national
tournament, according to Lanterman.
"The college coaches are there, scouting for girls from high school,"
she said.
Vintage girls' coach is American Canyon grown. Nicole Mazzaferro won
the state championship while she was wrestling for Vintage and went on to
finish 7th at the nationals.
Lanterman said Mazzaferro's experience is only part of what she brings
to the team.
"The girls really listen to her," Lanterman said. "Because she's been
there and it wasn't (way back) 15 years ago."
Lanterman said Mazzaferro has what it takes to coach.
"She has the perfect disposition for coaching," she said. "She's very,
very good at moral support."
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Articles from last year of interest:
http://www.cumberlandcollege.edu/athletics/wrestling/womens/history/evolution.html
http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.org/artman/publish/article_1574.shtml
http://www.kare11.com/extras/extras_article.aspx?storyid=76716
http://www.shcp.edu/sacredheart.aspx?pgID=911&newsID=287&exCompID=196
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11148-2005Feb9.html