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A article from Africa from the country of Cameroon. Cameroon is a member of the Commonwealth Wrestling Association. They are preparing for 2008 Olympic Games. Of important note, it is a developing country and they selected 9 wrestlers - 5 men and 4 women. One of the women wrestlers won the GOLD medal at the 2005 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Cape Town, South Africa
Wrestling : Cameroon Braces Up For 2008 Olympics
Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
January 5, 2006 - By:Elizabeth Mosima
Nine athletes have been selected to train in Senegal and
Tunisia for the Beijing Games.
Two years to the Olympics, in Beijing, Cameroon wrestlers have already started warming up for the Games. After a two-week training programme for referees, coaches and athletes, some nine athletes (five men and four ladies) were selected to begin training in Senegal and Tunisia as from March 2006 in preparation for the Beijing Games. The ladies will train in Tunis, Tunisia, while the men will train in Dakar, Senegal. 10 other athletes were equally selected to train in Cameroon ahead of the 2012 Games.
The course in Yaounde was in line with the policy of the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) to help in the development of wrestling in African countries. It was run by an Expert from FILA, Isaac Mpia. Emphasis during the training was on the techniques of wrestling and refereeing. According to Mpia, Cameroonian athletes have potentials, but need better trained-trained coaches.
The training programme came under the heels of the 2005 edition of the national championship and Cup of Cameroon for wrestling. Some 50 athletes from seven provinces took part in the competition. The athletes competed in three different domains of wrestling: Freestyle, traditional and feminine wrestling.
In the ladies competition Samouraï of Yaounde emerged winners. Commonwealth champion, Ali Anabel of Nambu wrestling club in Yaounde was champion in the 72kg weight division. In the men's traditional wrestling competition, five provinces were represented. The most awaited fight was that between Funke of Samouraï against Beti Beti of B&A in the 96kg weight division. Funke overpowered Beti Beti to become the new champion of Cameroon. In the general classification B&A wrestling club of Yaounde finished first followed by the West Province and Samouraï Yaounde. In the ladies classification, Samouraï were first followed by B&A Yaounde and Nambu Yaounde.
The Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Philippe Mbarga Mboa, congratulated the officials of FECALUTTES for their efforts in developing the sport in the country. The Minister gave the sum CFA one million to the wrestling federation as government's encouragement in the development of sport.
According to the President of FECALUTTES, François Xavier Darwe, the season has been good. He said the gold medal won in the Commonwealth competition is a great achievement for the federation.
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Earning respect, one match at a time
NICK ZIZZO
608-252-6167
nzizzo@madison.com
|
|
Maybe members of a certain target audience have noticed Natalia Stickle has won twice as many high school wrestling matches as she has lost this season.
Or perhaps they're aware the Madison West junior has helped the Regents to their first city title in 13 years.
Those are the hopes of West coach Kirk Mefford.
"I think there are a lot of girls in Madison who would be interested in the sport, but for whatever reason haven't taken the initiative to join a team," Mefford said.
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"I think with wrestlers like Natalia, that could help change the face of wrestling."
For the past four years, Sun Prairie senior Amy Ganser has been the face of girls wrestling in the Big Eight Conference. She has spoken to younger girls interested in trying the male- dominated sport.
"(The girls) will just tell me they really enjoy watching me wrestle and that they're cheering for me and they someday wish to go out and wrestle," Ganser said.
"I tell them to go for it because all it takes is a dream."
While the number for this season is still unknown, the WIAA - the organization that governs prep sports in Wisconsin - said 30 girls wrestled at the varsity and junior varsity levels across the state last season.
Stickle and Ganser are among a handful of area girls that wrestle, and Friday night they will treat fans to a rare doubleheader. Stickle (103 pounds) and Ganser (112) are expected to compete in back- to-back matches believed to be a first in the Big Eight when West hosts Sun Prairie in a dual meet.
"More people should come watch us because we're a sight to see," Stickle said.
Proving themselves In recent years, Tomahawk's Alyssa Lampe has given girl wrestlers a firm hold on the sport.
She made history two years ago as a sophomore by becoming the first girl to compete in the WIAA state tournament. Lampe, who returned to state last year, is currently ranked second in the state at 103 pounds among Division 2 wrestlers behind Jase Langkamp of Lancaster and ahead of Grant Sutter of Dodgeville.
"She's put in a lot of hard work and has proven herself over and over again," Ganser said of Lampe. "She doesn't give out any negative influences, she keeps everything positive and all I hear is positive stuff about her."
Coming off an 18-22 season in which she led Sun Prairie in decisions and qualified for sectionals, Ganser is 16-13 this season.
Stickle, in her first year at West after transferring from Bethesda, Md., is 8-4 and was the Regents' leading point-scorer as of last week.
"I think with the exception of Alyssa Lampe, and maybe Amy Ganser last season, a female wrestler has never stuck out in my mind as being an exceptional wrestler. Natalia is one of those exceptional wrestlers," Mefford said.
"When you have girls that can be light, I think they can do some awesome things in those lighter weights," Sun Prairie coach Jim Nelson said. "It's a great thing to see."
Just one of the guys Stickle and Ganser said they don't want gender labels applied in the sport.
"I don't really think of myself as a 'female wrestler.' I just think of myself as a 'wrestler' and people can take that as they may," Stickle said.
Added Ganser: "If you ask any person on my team, they'll tell you that I'm just one of them. I'm a wrestler."
But what's it like from a guy's point of view?
"I'm sure guys go in there thinking that (Stickle's) going to be a pushover because she's a female," Mefford said. "But it's not long into the match that they find out she's not, when she catches them and puts them on their backs."
West sophomore 103- pounder Mike Piazza has competed against girls, including Stickle in practice.
"The first time I wrestled a girl it was different. But you've got to treat it like she's a guy. I was kind of nervous at first but it goes away after a while," Piazza said.
"(Stickle's) just like any other guy wrestler. She's pretty good and she's not much different."
There are a few differences, however. At tournaments, girls usually have to wait to weigh in until all the boys have finished. And there are the occasional odd looks.
"If people haven't seen me wrestle before they kind of look at me differently, like, 'She wrestles?' " Ganser said. "And just questions if I can actually handle it. But I can usually change their minds about me."
Ganser and Stickle agree some boys will compete harder because they don't want to lose to a girl. Stickle said it can go the other way as well.
"One guy was really sad and he was almost in tears," Stickle said. "Another guy came over and talked to me afterward. He didn't care at all (that he lost to a girl)."
Hooked from the start Ganser and Stickle took very different paths to the same destination.
Ganser became interested in wrestling while watching her two older brothers compete. Her first match came as an 11- year-old seventh-grader, against a boy.
"I lost that match but it was a good experience," Ganser said.
Stickle's career began on a whim. A few male friends, on the wrestling team at her Maryland high school last season, asked her to try out. Without ever seeing a wrestling match before in person or on TV she made the team. After two weeks of practice, and one wrestling move, she made her debut.
"It was over in 21 seconds," Stickle said. "I pinned him."
Nelson said the addition of girl wrestlers has been nothing but good for the sport.
"We want to keep on developing wrestling as a sport and it should not matter whether it's a boy or a girl."
Mefford marveled at what transpired during a tournament in Oostburg last month, when Stickle went against a taller, more muscular wrestler from Milwaukee Madison University High School.
"She threw him right to his back and the entire gymnasium went crazy, which told you, even though there were two matches going on, the entire gym was watching her mat," Mefford said. "It was great to see an entire gym supporting her like that."
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Olympic's Camie Yeik wants to be noticed for her skills, not her gender.
By Eric Williams, ewilliams@kitsapsun.com
January 13, 2006
|
photos by larry Steagall | Kitsap Sun
Yeik twice has finished second in national girls wrestling tournaments. |
In a perfect world, Camie Yeik would be just another hard-working wrestler improving her skills.
However, you can’t help but notice that contagious smile and bobbing ponytail as the Olympic High School Trojan warms up for a pending match.
Yeik is a girl squaring off mainly against boys in a macho sport where aggression, strength and desire usually separate winners from losers.
Yet Yeik, wrestling at 103 pounds, has been winning more times than not this season.
And she has given new meaning to that age-old myth about boys not crying.
A few boys have been seen rubbing their eyes as Yeik’s hand was raised at the end of a match.
Yes, Yeik is a girl. And yes, she’s defeated several boys this season on her way to a 13-2 record.
"She’s very tough, very talented and very tenacious," South Kitsap coach Chad Nass said.
Although just a sophomore, Yeik is no newcomer to grappling. She has wrestled for four years competitively against girls, twice placing second nationally in freestyle tournaments.
Yeik also is part of a proliferation of girls competing in wrestling at the high school and college levels. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association conducts a separate tournament for girls at its annual Mat Classic state wrestling tournament. More than 100 girls competed last year.
However, only a few girls have made the state tournament competing against the boys. Two placed at last year’s Mat Classic XVII: Puyallup’s Whitney Conder placed sixth at 103 pounds in the Class 4A tournament and Megan Martin of Willapa Valley, placed eighth at 103 in the Class A/B draw.
Yeik hopes to add her name to that list.
She comes from a family of wrestlers. Her younger brothers Branden and Cody, now 13 and 12, have wrestled on clubs teams for years. Yeik caught the bug four years ago, and has been competing in wrestling year-round for select club teams.
Yeik said her father, local veterinarian Brent Yeik, has been a major influence. Brent Yeik wrestled in high school in the small town of Yoder, Wyo., and also helps coach his younger sons.
"She’s pretty athletic and has a very good work ethic," Brent Yeik said. "That is probably what makes a successful wrestler. A lot of people have talent, but you have to put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears. You don’t just walk in and become a star. You’ve got to get your butt kicked for awhile."
Yeik uses her speed and technique to outfox her opponents, most of whom at the high school level are stronger than her.
"I think a guy when he wrestles a girl he’s not going to go out as he would against another guy," she said. "Because if he gets beat it’s embarrassing. So they go out much harder against a girl than they do a boy."
She said she’s never had any trouble with being accepted by her teammates or by her competitors on the mat.
"They can’t say anything to me," said Yeik, noting the fact she’s beat several of her opponents this season. "I’ve never had issues with men. I’ve never had a coach tell me he won’t coach me. Plus, we’ve been in it for such a long time. I know half the coaches around here from wrestling when I was a little kid."
Olympic High coach Robert Griffith agreed.
"It’s not as big a deal in high school as it was," Griffith said. "Five years ago if a girl was wrestling, it was a big deal. I had some kids and it crushed them. Now it’s commonplace.
"I think it’s tremendous, I think whenever you can get success out of kids it’s great."
Yeik aspires to train at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo., after high school, or perhaps attend college on a wrestling scholarship.
More options exist for women wrestlers now than in years past.
Women’s wrestling debuted as an Olympic sport in 2004, and several colleges offer women’s wrestling programs.
Some local wrestling advocates see women’s wrestling as a potential opportunity to bring wrestling back to Washington state at the college level.
Collegiate wrestling is widely viewed as a casualty of Title IX, the federal regulation requiring equal opportunity for men’s and women’s sports in college.
"I think having girls wrestling is helping them to relook at wrestling," Griffith said. "And so that whole Title IX thing is kind of being relooked at. Now you’ve got a female sport taking up where a male sport left off, and I think it helps our sport."
Only Highline Community College and Yakima Valley Community College offer wrestling in this state.
But for now, Yeik has her sights set on a more short-term accomplishments — like a spot at Mat Classic XVIII.
"I definitely want to go to boys state with the boys," she said. "That’s my main goal"
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Hi everyone hope your wrestling season is going well, Its that time
of year that Girls Wrestling tournaments are starting to crank up. We
are hosting 2 girls tournaments here in Spencer, Iowa On Sunday January
29th The Iowa Great Lakes Tournament. and the following weekend Sunday
February 5th The Great Plains Open. It get the entry forms for these
tournaments go to our Iowa Girls Wrestling Webpage and click on
tournaments. You can Print off the form from there.
www.geocities.com/iowagirlswrestling/index.html
Our Iowa girls State tournament is coming in March as well as the
USGWA NATIONALS, and other tournaments, you can get all the informantion
for those Tournaments as well on the webpage. Keep checking the website
for Updates.
As your out at these tournaments and see other girls wrestling,
Please take the time to go over and tell them about the up coming Girls
tournaments and our Iowa Girls webpage. If we want this sport to grow for
our girls we all need to do our part and get the word out. If you have
and questions you can always email me at
dstorm@spencer.k12.ia.us Good Luck with the rest of your season
and Hope to see you in a couple weeks. Take Care, Dave Storm
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EARINING RESPECT, ONE MATCH AT A TIME;
FEMALE WRESTLERS SAY THEY'RE CHANGING MINDS ABOUT GIRLS IN THE SPORT
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin)
January 12, 2006 Thursday
Maybe members of a certain target audience have noticed Natalia Stickle
has won twice as many high school wrestling matches as she has lost this
season.
Or perhaps they're aware the Madison West junior has helped the Regents
to their first city title in 13 years.
Those are the hopes of West coach Kirk Mefford.
"I think there are a lot of girls in Madison who would be interested in
the sport, but for whatever reason haven't taken the initiative to join a
team," Mefford said.
"I think with wrestlers like Natalia, that could help change the face
of wrestling."
For the past four years, Sun Prairie senior Amy Ganser has been the
face of girls wrestling in the Big Eight Conference. She has spoken to younger
girls interested in trying the male-dominated sport.
"(The girls) will just tell me they really enjoy watching me wrestle
and that they're cheering for me and they someday wish to go out and
wrestle," Ganser said.
"I tell them to go for it because all it takes is a dream."
While the number for this season is still unknown, the WIAA -- the
organization that governs prep sports in Wisconsin -- said 30 girls
wrestled at the varsity and junior varsity levels across the state last season.
Stickle and Ganser are among a handful of area girls that wrestle, and
Friday night they will treat fans to a rare doubleheader. Stickle (103
pounds) and Ganser (112) are expected to compete in back-to-back
matches -- believed to be a first in the Big Eight -- when West hosts Sun Prairie
in a dual meet.
"More people should come watch us because we're a sight to see,"
Stickle said.
Proving themselves
In recent years, Tomahawk's Alyssa Lampe has given girl wrestlers a
firm hold on the sport.
She made history two years ago as a sophomore by becoming the first
girl to compete in the WIAA state tournament. Lampe, who returned to state last
year, is currently ranked second in the state at 103 pounds among
Division 2 wrestlers -- behind Jase Langkamp of Lancaster and ahead of Grant
Sutter of Dodgeville.
"She's put in a lot of hard work and has proven herself over and over
again," Ganser said of Lampe. "She doesn't give out any negative
influences, she keeps everything positive and all I hear is positive stuff about
her."
Coming off an 18-22 season in which she led Sun Prairie in decisions
and qualified for sectionals, Ganser is 16-13 this season.
Stickle, in her first year at West after transferring from Bethesda,
Md., is 8-4 and was the Regents' leading point-scorer as of last week.
"I think with the exception of Alyssa Lampe, and maybe Amy Ganser last
season, a female wrestler has never stuck out in my mind as being an
exceptional wrestler. Natalia is one of those exceptional wrestlers,"
Mefford said.
"When you have girls that can be light, I think they can do some
awesome things in those lighter weights," Sun Prairie coach Jim Nelson said.
"It's a great thing to see."
Just one of the guys
Stickle and Ganser said they don't want gender labels applied in the
sport."I don't really think of myself as a female wrestler.' I just think of
myself as a wrestler' and people can take that as they may," Stickle
said.Added Ganser: "If you ask any person on my team, they'll tell you that
I'm just one of them. I'm a wrestler."
But what's it like from a guy's point of view?
"I'm sure guys go in there thinking that (Stickle's) going to be a
pushover because she's a female," Mefford said. "But it's not long into the
match that they find out she's not, when she catches them and puts them on
their backs."
West sophomore 103-pounder Mike Piazza has competed against girls,
including Stickle in practice.
"The first time I wrestled a girl it was different. But you've got to
treat it like she's a guy. I was kind of nervous at first but it goes away
after a while," Piazza said.
"(Stickle's) just like any other guy wrestler. She's pretty good and
she's not much different."
There are a few differences, however. At tournaments, girls usually
have to wait to weigh in until all the boys have finished. And there are the
occasional odd looks.
"If people haven't seen me wrestle before they kind of look at me
differently, like, She wrestles?' " Ganser said. "And just questions if
I can actually handle it. But I can usually change their minds about me."
Ganser and Stickle agree some boys will compete harder because they
don't want to lose to a girl. Stickle said it can go the other way as well.
"One guy was really sad and he was almost in tears," Stickle said.
"Another guy came over and talked to me afterward. He didn't care at all (that
he lost to a girl)."
Hooked from the start
Ganser and Stickle took very different paths to the same destination.
Ganser became interested in wrestling while watching her two older
brothers compete. Her first match came as an 11-year-old seventh-grader, against
a boy.
"I lost that match but it was a good experience," Ganser said.
Stickle's career began on a whim. A few male friends, on the wrestling
team at her Maryland high school last season, asked her to try out. Without
ever seeing a wrestling match before -- in person or on TV -- she made the
team. After two weeks of practice, and one wrestling move, she made her
debut.
"It was over in 21 seconds," Stickle said. "I pinned him."
Nelson said the addition of girl wrestlers has been nothing but good
for the sport.
"We want to keep on developing wrestling as a sport and it should not
matter whether it's a boy or a girl."
Mefford marveled at what transpired during a tournament in Oostburg
last month, when Stickle went against a taller, more muscular wrestler from
Milwaukee Madison University High School.
"She threw him right to his back and the entire gymnasium went crazy,
which told you, even though there were two matches going on, the entire gym
was watching her mat," Mefford said. "It was great to see an entire gym
supporting her like that."
--------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
West could be best in City League Cowboys, second year ago, are stocked with veterans
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Jeremy McLaughlin
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
There’s a rare sense of anticipation in the West wrestling room.
The emanating sentiment is that West can win the school’s first City League title this season. It stems from eight seniors who led the Cowboys to a second-place finish last year, their best showing in 31 years.
For West to win means beating Marion-Franklin, which has been first or second nearly every year since 1980. The Cowboys know it won’t be easy but remain confident they will be up to the challenge.
"It’s long overdue," senior Anthony Dotson said. "We’ve been runner-up quite a few times. After last year, we’ve been working hard. It’s about time we earn it."
West will know its fate when the City League tournament is held in early February, but the Cowboys will get a sense tonight of where they stand when they face Whetstone and Eastmoor Academy.
So far, West has been good. It is 4-1 in duals with victories over Westland and St. Charles last week. It has fared well at other tournaments, including second at the Ready Winter Classic.
While the wrestlers are focused on the City title, coach Brian Nicola has stressed individual improvement. He doesn’t want his team becoming overly consumed about the City championship too early.
"It’s hard to do because you want to win the city, but we’ve done our best to put it on the backburner and focus on peaking at the end of the season," Nicola said. "If we do, everything else will take care of itself."
West’s strength is its middleweights. Dotson, a senior, is 20-4 at 125 pounds. Junior Tony Lawler is 17-3 at 130. Both won league titles last year. Senior Kevin Hipps, a transfer from Beechcroft, is 20-2 at 140.
All three were district qualifiers last season and have visions of reaching the state tournament. If they make it, they would follow Thomas Joyce who last season became the first West wrestler to advance to the state tournament since 1980.
"Dotson, Lawler and Hipps have made it very clear what their goals are and they are all capable of accomplishing them," Nicola said.
The depth around that trio gives West a chance to succeed. Senior Lafaye Moore has 15 wins at 171. Seniors Justin Sorrell and Leo Xhemali are having similar success and placed high at the City tournament last season. Heavyweight Darryl Tucker finished third at the Dublin Scioto tournament last weekend.
"We’ve got a real strong lineup," said senior Chris Bookhamer, who wrestles at 215. "We’re as strong as we’ve ever been."
But injuries have taken their toll lately. West lost senior Catey Beatty at 103 for the season because of a shoulder problem. She was the first girl to place at the City tournament, taking third at 112 last season.
Others, such as Lawler, have more aches and pains. All should be back before the tournament action.
If its lineup stays intact, West is confident this is its year to win. It also knows it needs contributions from top to bottom.
"We’ve got to have our best day going in," Hipps said. "Marion-Franklin always brings their ‘A’ game right near the end of the season. We’ve got to have people who are expected to win or place high to do that."
----------------------------------------
By DENNIS MAFFEZZOLI 1/13/06
dennis.maffezzoli@heraldtribune.com
|
Girl vs. boy: Rising Lemon Bay High School sophomores Audrey Shockley and Scott Bouthiller battle it out in a free-style wrestling match Thursday at the school's 2-week-long wrestling camp. |
PUNTA GORDA -- When the Charlotte High wrestling match began at the 140-pound weight class, it played into the Tarpons' strength.
The first four Charlotte wrestlers racked up 20 points, and the Tarpons went on to a 39-31 victory over visiting Lemon Bay on Thursday night at the Wally Keller Gym.
Mike Porter and Darin Griner opened with major decisions at 140 and 145, respectively. Bruce Matthews and Kyle Provencal followed with pins at 152 and 160, respectively.
"I was hoping they would," Tarpons coach Evan Robinson said. "We were counting on points from our middle weights. We came out great, and that's a good thing. Kyle came up big for us."
Charlotte, 8-7 and tied for ninth in Class 2A in the latest rankings by FloridaKids.us, also received falls from Estevan DelCastillo at 215 and Pierre Frazile at 125.
Other Tarpon victories came from Steve Carroll (189) and Max Halufska (112), the latter a major decision.
Carroll's victory was the most exciting of the night. Down 7-6 in the final 40 seconds, the junior received a point when Brandon Bowen was called for locking hands. Carroll then got a reversal with 24 seconds left and capped it off with a three-point near fall.
"Our horses came through for us," Robinson said. "We got pins where we needed them."
The highlight for the Manta Rays (16-6) came from Audrey Shockley. Moving up from 112 to 119, the female wrestler rebounded from a 10-5 deficit to record a pin in 4 minutes, 24 seconds.
"It wasn't so much a catch," Lemon Bay coach Greg Rivera said of Shockley, who ran her record to 17-8 with eight falls. "Audrey was actually looking for that for about two minutes. She did a really nice job."
Carson Clemens, who notched a first period pin at 171, got the first offensive points for the Manta Rays in their fifth bout of the night.
Scott Bouthiller, ranked first in 103 in Class A in the FloridaKids.us. rankings, and Aaron Garlock (135) also recorded falls. Adam Garlock (275) notched a major decision, and Evan Gillstrand (130) picked up a victory for Lemon Bay, ranked ninth in Class 1A by FloridaKids.us.
"Adam has been working on some new techniques," Rivera said.
Lemon Bay garnered nine points in the final two bouts, but couldn't overcome the early deficit.
"We haven't seen too much of their middle weights," Rivera said. "They all wrestled pretty good. But this is one of those matches that could flip-flop every other Continued every other week depending on a couple of matches."
Both teams will compete in the Palmetto Ridge tournament this today and Saturday in Naples. The teams are scheduled to wrestle eight matches during the two-day period. "That's a lot of matches," Robinson said. "But it'll be good for the kids. There'll be some good competition there."
---------------------------------------------------
Desert Ridge girl has earned her spot on wrestling team
Jan. 13, 2006 12:00 AM
My mom, Virginia Walters, had a typical reaction when she heard about sophomore Lyndsey Galetti, who wrestles for Desert Ridge High.
"She's 103 pounds? And she wrestles with the boys?" she asked. "I'd really like to see that."
So there we were at the Gilbert High gym Wednesday afternoon watching a three-way dual meet among Desert Ridge, Gilbert and Chandler.
"I get that a lot," Galetti said. "A lot of people come to my matches because they are curious."
Galetti, who has wrestled for four years (including two at Desert Ridge Junior High) is used to the attention.
"Some people don't like the idea of a girl wrestling against boys, but most are supportive. I've only had one boy refuse to wrestle against me."
It happened last year at Basha when Galetti was on the junior varsity.
"I try not to think about (wrestling against boys)," she said. "I'm not out there trying to beat the boys. I just want to wrestle."
Last season, Galetti did both. She went 17-8, capping her year with a third-place showing in a state tournament for girls.
"We don't treat her any differently," said her coach, Howard Yauney, who had another girl wrestle for him a few years ago when he was at Globe High. "The whole team works hard in practice and she works as hard as anyone.
"We have a young team this season. We graduated 10 seniors. Lyndsey has earned a spot on the team."
She was 4-10 in actual matches coming into Wednesday's action. However, she had five other wins to her credit, all by forfeits.
"I don't count those in my record," Galetti said. "But it's three (actually six in duals) more points for the team and that's what matters."
Galetti, who ties up her long, blonde hair in a topknot for competitions, was going through warm-ups with the rest of her teammates before their match with Chandler. She was running around the mats, doing stretching exercises and practicing takedowns and reversals.
She would have competed in the first match of the day, but unfortunately the Wolves didn't have a 103-pounder to compete against her. Another forfeit win.
It would be another three hours before Galetti would finally hit the mat in the featured dual meet against host Gilbert. My mom and I were gone by then and well through a steak dinner.
"I'd like to have seen her wrestle, but I'm glad I got to see her with the rest of the team," said my mom, a fellow 100-pounder. "She looked so strong. She was bigger than their guy. I think she could beat him."
Galetti didn't, losing on points. Most of her losses have been by points. She has been pinned twice. While Galetti said she hates losing as much as the next person, she was already thinking about her next match by the time she got home.
"I just love wrestling," she said. "I was looking for a sport to compete in when I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker that the wrestling team was meeting after school. I didn't know anything about the sport, but when I went there I liked it."
A lot of her girlfriends are OK with the idea of her competing, but they've learned not to challenge her in arm wrestling.
"I'm pretty strong," Galetti said. "I can take them."
--------------------------------------------------------
Family scores three for a takedown
y Rhiannon Potkey, rpotkey@VenturaCountyStar.com
January 13, 2006
|
Some families spend their weekends at the park. The Durons spend theirs in sweat-filled gymnasiums.
Some siblings greet each other with handshakes and hugs. Ray and Jasmine Duron say hello with wrist grips and takedowns.
Wrestling is a family affair at the Duron household, and this trio has all the mats covered at Pacifica High this season.
Mother, Victoria Salazar, is the do-everything team mom, son, Ray, is a senior captain on the varsity squad, and daughter, Jasmine, is a sophomore on JV and varsity statistician.
The sport has brought the family closer together, and provided quality time to spend with each other.
"Our family revolves around wrestling,"" Ray said. "We are at every match and tournament together, and we all even watch what we eat sometimes to make weight.""
Salazar has always made it a priority to be involved in her children's lives and support them in their activities.
a single mother, she moved the family out of South Central L.A. 12 years ago to escape the gangs, violence and overcrowded schools.
"I didn't want my kids growing up there. I wanted to give them a better life,"" said Salazar, who took a job at Technicolor in Camarillo. "I can't imagine if we had stayed there that they would have accomplished as much as they have.""
Ray, 17, was the one who introduced the family to wrestling when he joined Pacifica's team as a freshman.
When he first started, his mother sat in the stands clueless about what was happening down on the mat. But after a few matches, she became more familiar with the sport.
Because she was around so much, Salazar volunteered to be the team mom.
She provides snacks, helps raise money and accompanies the girls on Pacifica's team to their weigh-ins.
"At first there was not that many parents involved, but now we have a lot more,"" Salazar said. "But the coaches still know that whatever they need all they have to do is call.""
During her brother's first two seasons wrestling, Jasmine, 15, attended all of his matches and tournaments with her mother.
Eventually she grew tired of just watching, and decided try the sport for herself. Victoria entered Jasmine into a freestyle tournament the summer before she started high school, and assumed after the first loss her daughter would lose interest.
But the setbacks only served to motivate Jasmine even more.
"She has always been very determined, especially if you tell her she can't do something,"" Salazar said. "That is like a challenge, and she'll say, ¿Oh, yeah? Just watch me.' ""
Ray was initially opposed to having his little sister join the wrestling team last season, but he came around once he saw how much she enjoyed it.
"I was scared. I didn't want her to get slammed on her face or anything. I would freak out,"" he said. "I was also hesitant because this is my sport, and I thought she should do something else. But it's turned out all right.""
The siblings don't wrestle against each other — aside from some playful roughhousing at home — but they admire each other's work ethic and determination.
"I would tell her to quit a couple times last year, but she kept going with it, and this year she is a lot better,"" Ray said. "She doesn't give up. She is always fighting, no matter what. I think she picked it up from me.""
"I am really proud of my brother and how much he has improved,"" added Jasmine. "I like seeing him wrestle, not just because it's my brother, but because it's always a good match to watch.""
In an interesting contrast of roles, Jasmine is also a cheerleader at Pacifica. She describes herself as the "girliest-girl in the world"" off the mat and the "meanest person"" on it.
"I have the makeup, the jeans, the cute little shirts and a purse with me absolutely everywhere I go,"" she said. "I am also attached to my cell phone. But all that stuff goes away when I wrestle.""
More mellow than his sister, Ray is a bit of a Renaissance man. He taught himself to play the guitar and drums, writes his own music and is the school's Triton mascot.
"He stays very busy, and that has kept him out of trouble,"" Salazar said. "Doing a sport like wrestling requires a lot of discipline and focus, and I think that applies to life as well.""
Although having your mom hanging around school isn't normally considered cool, Ray and Jasmine have grown used to Salazar's constant presence at Pacifica.
"Sometimes it gets a little annoying and overwhelming, but we get over it,"" Jasmine said. "Most people don't have their parents come to any of their matches.""
Realizing how fortunate he is to have his mom by his side, Ray tries to make her proud during each match.
"It makes me feel good knowing she is going to be there supporting me,"" he said. "She puts in a lot of time, so I really try hard not to let her down.""
With Ray heading off to college next year, the family wants to savor every last moment together this season before its wrestling bond comes to an end.
"I am just glad to have my family involved in the same thing I do,"" Ray said. "It makes it more special.""
WRESTLING
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Lancers forfeit 5 matches in loss
Manteca Bulletin Daily Newspaper 1/13/06
With East Union forfeiting five matches Thursday night to just two for Manteca, it was an uphill battle for the host Lancers and they did not make it to the top as the Buffaloes hammered East Union 52-28 in Valley Oak League wrestling action at Dalben Center.
“The quality of wrestling was good but we just didn’t have enough people,” Lancer coach Andrew Franco said. “And the quality of wrestling is what I am interested in.
“We don’t have a full team now and while nobody is to blame I just wish it was a little bit better.”
One of the more interesting matches was at 125 pounds between East Union’s Michael Vinson and Samantha Phillips. Although Vinson won with a major decision at 14-5, Phillips fought off numerous pin attempts by Vinson and fought until the final buzzer.
“She can bridge and bridge well,” Vinson said. “She definitely has about the strongest neck of anyone I have gone up against.”
Phillips trailed just 8-5 entering the third period but could not manage another point.
“I feel that I fought hard but I did not fight hard enough,” Phillips said. “I was a little disappointed in that.
“I have a two-day tournament (the California Girls Invitational Tournament) coming up Friday and Saturday — the biggest girl’s tournament in the country — and that was more in my head than this match was.”
East Union’s other two non-forfeit wins came via pin by Matt Lloyd (140) in the first round and David Rosenow (160) in the third period.
“Samantha works really hard,” Manteca coach Ryan Vargas said. “A lot of the guys think they can overpower her but she holds her own and she blows a lot of people out of the water with her technique.”
Seth Davis (152) and Richard Towhy (171) picked up first-round pins for the Buffaloes and Christian Talavara defeated Lancer Joseph Lazares with a 14-4 major decision.
“I should have pinned Lazares but we ended up out of bounds,” Talavara said. “He was a fighter, but I wrestled good and came out with the win.”
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Brazoswood wrestling dominates Cy-Falls
By Joel Luna
The Facts
Published January 13, 2006
CLUTE — The Buccaneer wrestling team simply overwhelmed Cy-Falls on Thursday evening in the Brazoswood Performance Gymnasium.
The Bucs pinned the Eagles 10 times en route to winning 12 of 14 matches and an 80-4 advantage in boys and girls competition.
Kristi Smith, ranked No. 5 in the state by Texas USA wrestling in the 148-pound class, kept her 16-0 record intact by pinning Abby Smith with 52 seconds remaining in the first period. The Lady Buc was ahead at the time of the pin, 2-0.
Chelsea Brantley, wrestling in the 185-pound division, pinned Cy-Falls opponent Kelsey Sanders at 1:11 mark of the second period. Several times during the match Brantley almost had a pin, finally getting her opponent while ahead 13-1.
The girls teams had only three matches. In the first match of the night, Cy-Falls Brittany Meyer pinned Brazoswood’s Christine Thigpen in the 138-pound class in the first period. Meyer was ahead 4-1 at the time of the pin.
The Bucs came into Thursday’s action with a 6-0 record in dual meets and handled the Eagles with ease, losing only one match of 11.
In one of the top matches of the evening, 152-pound Chris Sarazin nudged Bogey Yordanov from Cy-Falls 6-5 in three periods. With the score tied 3-3 in the third, Sarazin took about a minute to maneuver out of the arms of Yordanov to score a point and move ahead 4-3.
A few moments later, Sarazin scored again on a takedown for a 6-3 edge.
E.J. Miranda had the fastest pin of the night, taking just 17 seconds to dispose of Garrett Ward in a 135-pound match. Miranda made a quick move on Ward and got on top of him within seconds, pinning the Eagle to the ground.
Brazoswood freshman Grant Loveall raced out to a 9-2 advantage with several quick moves on Jason D’Angelo. After several attempts to pin D’Angelo in the second period, Loveall accomplished the feat with 46 remaining in the second.
“I just wanted to go out there and get better,” Loveall said. “Right away when I started wrestling him I figured he was a lot stronger than me, so I had to be quicker. So I just tried to set him up so I could take him down.”
Other Bucs to come up with pins on the night were Addison Boudreaux in the 125-pound class against Chris Alicia, Travis Gray in the 130-pound class against Adrian Perez, Adam Claeys in the 160-pound class against Mike Brown, Chris Weatherly in the 180-pound division against Troy Napatalung, Sam Poindexter in the 189-pound class agaisnt Adam Ray, and Travis Gonzales in the 215-pound division against Nezar Nabelsi.
Brazoswood sophomore Jammal Bufford outlasted Josh Cranford in the 171-pound class, winning 17-2. Bufford was up 12-0 until Cranford scored a point.
The only match the Bucs dropped to the Eagles was in the 103 division, Cy-Falls’ Justin Moore outscored Brazoswood’s Zack Odenweller, 17-6.
“This is exciting for our kids to wrestle in front of the home crowd,” Brazoswood coach Zeke Wintjen said. “Kids went out and performed well, and it was a tremendous effort tonight for them. I think we wrestled solid throughout, and we are proud of them.”
The Bucs took on St. Thomas later in the evening, but results were not available at presstime.
Joel Luna is a sports writer for The Facts and can be reached at (979) 237-0161.
Cy-Creek 3, Angleton 0: In its opening match of The Woodlands Tournament the Angleton Wildcats ran into a buzz saw against Cy-Creek.
Creek scored its first goal at the 28 minute mark of the first half and then with five minutes remaining before intermission went up 2-0.
At the 55 minute mark the final goal of the night was scored.
“It was definitely a high quality opponent and tonight and every night we get on the field together it is only going to help us,” Angleton coach Chris Mayfield said. “I know that we are a better team after tonight.”
The Wildcats will play at 11 a.m. versus Aldine MaCarthur today and then at 1 p.m. on Saturday against Pasadena.
