News
Women’s high school wrestling continues growth with CIF Regional Tournaments
Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
01/17/2006
The state of California has long been a leader in the development of wrestling opportunities for women and girls. The 1st annual CIF Girls Wrestling Regional Tournaments, held in two sites during the weekend of January 20-21, continues this tradition of expansion for women’s wrestling.
This year, the CIF approved two official Regional Tournaments for girls, the Northern California Regional which is set for Whitney High School in Rocklin and the Southern California Regional, to be held at South Hills High School in West Covina. Hundreds of high school girl wrestlers from all over California will come together to test themselves against the best female wrestlers in their region in an official state-sanctioned competition. It marks a big step forward for the sport in the state that features the most wrestlers in the entire nation.
Girls wrestling? Where did that come from? For those not familiar with wrestling, or who have not been involved in recent years, this might sound a bit unbelievable. However, for many people in the state of California, and across the nation, these tournaments have been a long time coming.
Did you know that women’s wrestling is now included in the Olympic Games? Did you know that there are colleges that sponsor women’s wrestling as a varsity sport and offer athletic scholarships? Did you know that the United States is one of the most successful women’s wrestling nations in the entire world? The state of California has played a key role in these milestones for the sport.
You can trace the growth of the women’s wrestling in the United States to the late 1980’s, when FILA, the international wrestling federation, started hosting women’s freestyle wrestling meets. The first World Championships for women was held in 1987. The United States first sent a team to this competition in 1989, and word got out in our nation that women were now part of wrestling.
If you look at high school wrestling statistics, the number of girls wrestling was only a few dozen in the early 1990s. However, each year, more and more girls went out for wrestling, competing on the boys teams in their schools. At the same time. USA Wrestling was running more competitions for girls on many age levels, and the U.S. athletes who competed at the World Championships were winning medals against foreign competitors.
If you check the record books, some of the early stars in women’s wrestling were from California. One of the best women wrestlers to compete in the early years was Shannon Williams, who won four World silver medals. She is the daughter of a wrestling coach, and wrestled for Chaffey High School in Ontario, Calif., then went on to Chico State. Shannon is now coaching female wrestlers in California, and a popular high school girls tournament is held in her honor, the Williams Cup.
A pair of other Californians won two World medals for the USA. Afsoon Roshanzamir, who wrestled for Independence High School in San Jose, then competed at Cal-State Davis, was an early success, as was Marie Ziegler, who wrestled for Ygnacio Valley High School in Walnut Creek, and went on to Diablo Valley College. Another early World Team member was Sheri Belew-Kennedy, who went to Turlock High School. California athletes helped get the ball rolling for the sport in our nation. These athletes competed against other women, and were true pioneers for wrestling.
As girls wrestling grew, the number of girls from California continued to rise. Many of the good California athletes won USA Wrestling age-group titles and competed on the national level in international freestyle wrestling. There also became a series of state and national competitions for girls in the scholastic “folkstyle” from an organization called the USGWA, and California was also very successful in those meets.
There were two states that took a radical step forward in the late 1990s to provide an all-girls wrestling opportunity on the high school level. Hawaii and Texas started girls wrestling programs, and developed an official girls state championships in high school. In those states, high schools started all-girl wrestling teams, and the number of young female wrestlers there grew very quickly.
California did not start an official high school tournament, although many were asking for that opportunity. Coaches within the state found that more and more girls were joining wrestling. Many tournaments just for girl high school wrestlers were started, to provide them with matches against other girls. Some girls were able to make their varsity boys teams, but these all-girl events gave competition to the others. Some high schools in the state had so many girls joining that they created entire girls-only squads.
On the college level, for a few years in the 1990’s, Cal-State Bakersfield had a number of girls on their men’s team who wrestled at the major national women’s events. During that time, a handful of schools around the country started women’s wrestling teams on the varsity level. Two schools in California, Menlo College in Atherton and Lassen College in Susanville, created women’s varsity teams to provide opportunity to the growing number of girls in the sport.
Meanwhile, on the international level, in 2001, the International Olympic Committee announced that women’s freestyle wrestling was going to be added as an official sport at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. There were going to be four weight classes contested in Athens, and women around the world were very excited to compete for Olympic medals.
The first U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling team was formed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. A Californian, Patricia Miranda, made that historic team. Miranda wrestled on the Saratoga High School team, then went to Stanford Univ., where she was on the men’s team there. Miranda wrestled a number of varsity matches for Stanford as a senior. At the Athens Olympics, Miranda, wrestling at 105.5 pounds, won an Olympic bronze medal for the United States, the first medal ever awarded to a woman wrestler.
So, what is going on with women’s wrestling in the nation now?
* In 2004-05, there were 4,334 girls competing in wrestling on the high school level. This total has increased every year since 1990. This actual number is much higher, as some states that have women competitors do not report them.
* According to high school statistics, there were 1,230 girls wrestling in California, the most of any state. That means one in every four high school girls who are reported as wrestlers live in California.
* State sanctioned high school championships for girls are held in Hawaii and Texas. California has state sanctioned regional tournaments starting this year. Washington hosts a girls wrestling tournament alongside its boys state championships each year. Other states are considering adding girls opportunities.
* USA Wrestling sponsors a Women’s Team USA program, which provides financial bonuses and training support. USA Wrestling has a Women’s Sports Committee and an ad-hoc Women’s Development Committee. USA Wrestling employs two full-time women’s wrestling coaches. One of these coaches was a high school wrestling coach for 10 years in California, Vlad “Izzy” Izboinikov of Yucca Valley.
* The U.S. won the World Team title in women’s wrestling in 1999, placed second in the world in 2003 and third in the world in 2005.
* There are six varsity wrestling programs in American colleges, and over 15 varsity teams in Canada. These teams compete against each other, and many of the athletes go on to be contenders for Olympic teams in their nation.
* More and more young girls are joining wrestling clubs around the nation as the sport is getting more acceptance and respect.
Many of the girls who are wrestling in the CIF Regional Tournaments this year may go on to careers in college and on the Olympic level. Good luck to all of the participants. California continues to lead the way in the growth of women’s wrestling.
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Contra Costa Times 1/17/06
The inaugural CIF girls wrestling regional tournaments are Friday and Saturday. The Northern regional is at Whitney High School in Rocklin and the Southern regional is at South Hills High School in Covina.
Friday competition starts at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m.
The top eight finishers in each of 14 weight classes are awarded medals.
Brackets are scheduled to be posted Wednesday at www.cifstate.org.
The non-CIF sanctioned California Girls Invitational Tournament is Feb. 3-4 at West Hanford High School. Wrestlers must compete in one of the regional tournaments
Brackets are scheduled to be posted Wednesday
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Another first for Nicole Woody: 2006 Delmarva Classic At Wi-Hi
Baltimore Sun 1/15/06
Delmarva Classic // Arundel sophomore wrestler Nicole Woody (103) defeated River Hill's Nathan White at Wicomico High to become the first female to win a state varsity wrestling tournament.
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Nobles and Knaves, the contest
TODAY'S EDITORIAL
December 26, 2005
It's the last week of the year. That means it's time for the annual Nobles and Knaves contest, where you, the readers, decide who deserves the Editorial Board's highest and lowest acclaim. To vote, send an e-mail to noble@washingtontimes.com with "Nobles Contest" in the subject line or send a fax to 202-715-0037. Entries must be received by Dec. 31. When voting, please remember that only this year's Nobles and Knaves of the week are eligible and that votes sent en masse with the intention of unfairly weighting nominees will be not be considered.
For Noble of the year, select three:
The American people, for their generous donations to the victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami (and, we'll add, for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and her somewhat less slutty sister, Rita).
Trevon Jenifer, the Huntington High School wrestler who faces his opponents on the mat with one major disadvantage: He has no legs.
William and Janet Norwood, who lost a son in Iraq, and Safia Taleb al Suhail, who lost her father to Saddam Hussein's assassins 11 years ago. President Bush recognized them in his 2005 State of the Union Address.
Firen Gassman, the Herndon High School wrestler who doesn't let the boys push her around.
Hans A. Bethe, the late Nobel laureate for physics and winner of the Presidential Medal of Merit who headed the theoretical physics division of the Manhattan Project.
George Kennan, the late U.S. diplomat who in 1946 outlined how the United States must confront Communist expansion.
Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, whom President Bush posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of 100 soldiers before being killed in action. He was the first soldier in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Washington Wizards, for their first playoff berth since 1997, when they were called the Bullets.
The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, for hunting down the serial arsonist who terrorized the D.C. area.
The Marine Corps, which cleared a corporal accused of murdering a terrorist in Fallujah of any wrongdoing.
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LHS wrestler excited about earning her keep
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Emma Mercer’s decision to crash the macho world of high school wrestling started out on a lark.
“My cousin and I joked about going out for the team in seventh grade,” said Mercer, now a junior at Lawrence High. “He quit after the first season, but I stuck with it.”
The ensuing five years have seen plenty of highlight moments, including a pin during her first varsity match as a 112-pound freshman at the Ottawa Duals and a top-20 ranking in her age group by the United States Girls Wrestling Assn.
However, it’s what Mercer accomplished two weeks ago during a routine LHS practice that has her currently wrestling on cloud nine.
Fed up with her position on the Lions’ junior varsity, Mercer challenged teammate Jordey McTaggert for his spot as the 119-pounder on the LHS varsity. She knew the rules going in — win two consecutive challenge matches, and the spot was hers.
She didn’t just win. She collected back-to-back pins, punching her ticket to the big time for the first time.
Unlike her previous varsity experiences, when Mercer was bumped up because someone failed to make weight or suffered an injury, it was her ability — not a fortunate set of circumstances — that landed her in the varsity lineup.
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“It feels great. It feels good to finally earn a spot here,” said Mercer during a break in the action at the Shawnee Mission East Invitational on Jan. 7, where she finished 1-3 in her first tour of duty with the LHS varsity since claiming her spot.
Call it a just reward for someone who’s earned the admiration of her peers and the LHS coaching staff for proving that her one-time follow-through of a joke is now serious business.
“We’re a pretty good team, and when we have Emma on there, she works so hard — she puts an exclamation point on what we do,” said junior Brandon Goodwin, the Lions’ 103-pounder. “She’s the hardest worker on the team.”
“If you had 40 people that worked like her ... there’s no telling what we’d be able to accomplish as a team,” LHS coach Mark Dulgarian said.
Thus far, Mercer’s diligence hasn’t reaped optimum rewards. With a loss at last week’s double dual against Topeka and Topeka West, her record slipped to 1-4.
However, it’s not her showing come game time, or even her affinity for hard work, that will determine how long Mercer will enjoy her day in the sun.
Now, she’s one of the wrestlers in the LHS wrestling room with “a price on her head” — the target of ever-present challenge matches with her own teammates anxious to nab a varsity spot of their own.
“We’ve got some freshmen coming up that are going to start challenging at 119,” Dulgarian said. “It’s hard to say (how much time she’ll spend on varsity). But she’s got better technique than they do.”
“I’ve never been in this position before,” Mercer said. “I’ve always been the person scheduling a challenge match every week or two.
“It’s nerve-wracking, but if I want to keep the spot, I’ve got to do it.
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Napa Valley Girls Classic photos:
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Alyssa Davison has secured the 103-pound varsity wrestling spot for Brea-Olinda High School.
By LOU PONSI 1/5/06
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Brea Olinda High senior Alyssa Davison isn’t the first girl to be a member of a high school varsity wrestling team.
But when you add the title of homecoming queen to high school wrestler, the list narrows.
Davison, 18, has been a member of the Wildcat wrestling team for four years. This season, she’s earned a spot as the varsity 103-pounder. As of Monday, her record was 4-6.
In the fall, Davison was elected homecoming queen, winning out over four other finalists for the honor.
Davison,
who wears high heels, jewelry and skirts, describes herself as a “girly girl.”
But, in the end, she says she’s more comfortable wearing a singlet than a crown.
“I look at myself as a wrestler more than anything else I’m involved in,” Davison said after practice last week. “Most people don’t believe me at first because I don’t look like a stereotypical wrestler. I think people think of a girl wrestler as big and a brute, but I’m 103 pounds.”
Davison says she’s a warm-hearted person and uses the wrestling mat to take out her aggressions.
This point must also be made: Davison is not wrestling to be unique or attract attention. She’s not trying to make a statement that girls can do anything boys can.
She wrestles because, well, because she wants to wrestle.
She was a gymnast for 12 years and played competitive softball and volleyball. Davison was introduced to wrestling by her older brother, Justin, who wrestled at 152 pounds for the Wildcats and showed his younger sister some moves.
Davison became fascinated when she watched her brother’s
matches. Then, her interest was piqued when she saw another girl wrestle, but lose her match.
“I watched in amazement and I thought, I’m going to do that,” Davison said. “But if I’m going to do it, I’m going to win.”
It wasn’t going to be easy. Davison had to overcome a major obstacle before she even stepped on the mat.
She had to gain support from her mother, Joy Thompson, who was vehemently against the idea of her daughter being a grappler.
Thompson agreed that she and her daughter could at least meet with the coach.
“I thought for sure he would talk her out of it,” Thompson said.
They met with Wildcat wrestling coach Fergus McTaggart, who admits now that he was also opposed to a girl participating in the physical, often-violent sport.
“I explained the dangerous nature of the sport,” McTaggart recalled. “I told her that injury was not only possible, but would likely occur.”
McTaggart made one statement, however, that Thompson says probably had a reverse effect on her daughter.
“He told her that he’d had girls try out but they never lasted very long,” said Thompson. “That’s when I said, ‘Uh, oh.’”
The skepticism motivated Davison all the more.
Four years later, not only has she lasted, Davison is one of three seniors left on the team from a group of 25 freshmen that started together.
Michael Ishida, the Wildcats’ varsity 119-pounder, is Davison’s training partner.
The 15-year-old said he “doesn’t think of her as a girl, but as another wrestler.”
“She’s good at taking shots and she’ll fight hard when she’s on her back,” Ishida said.
Ishida added that when they wrestle for real during practice, Davison is able to score on him.
Some of those injuries McTaggart warned Davison about have occurred.
She broke her ankle during practice as a sophomore and missed most of the season.
As a junior, she tore her meniscus. This season, she lacerated her kidney and was briefly hospitalized. She has also broken her nose at least three times.
“My mom keeps telling me, ‘One more trip to the emergency room, and that’s it,’ but she always says that,” Davison said.
That she’s been able to rebound from the injuries and persevere on impresses assistant coach Brian Schlueter.
“You’re just awestruck ...s you think ‘That’s the homecoming queen? I don’t believe it,’ ” said Schlueter, a former Cal State Fullerton wrestler.
“She is probably one of the toughest girls on this campus. No. She is probably one of the toughest people on this campus. She is definitely gnarly.”
Her coach? Davison’s won him over too.
“She’s as tough or tougher than most of the boys on our team,” McTaggart said.
“My mom used to say the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Well, Alyssa is like that. The girl that wears the crown rules the mat.”
Davison is hoping to continue wrestling in college. There are no NCAA-sanctioned women’s teams but USA Wrestling sanctions several women’s tournaments.
Davison’s mother admits that she’s still not all that crazy about the idea but she’s learned to enjoy her matches.
“Before she goes on the mat, I’m worried to death and then I’m very proud of her when they are over,” Thomson said.
“I didn’t think she’d last. She really proved herself.”
At a December tournament in Las Vegas, Davison the only girl in the tournament, pinned her opponent, inciting the packed gym to erupt into applause and give her a standing ovation.
That was clincher for her mother.
“It was like a scene out of the movies,” Thompson said. “I’ll never forget it. To see that last match has made it all worth it.”
Women wrestling
In high school: USA Wrestling Director of Communications Gary Abbott estimates there are about 5,000 girls wrestling on high school boys teams and 1,000 of those in California schools. “California has been a leader in the development of high school girls wrestling,” Abbott said. In college: Women’s wrestling is not yet an NCAA sanctioned sport but Abbott said some National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools and junior colleges have women’s programs. In California, Menlo College in Atherton and Lassen Community College in Susanville have women’s wrestling teams. In the Olympics: Women’s freestyle wrestling was offered for the first time in the Olympics at the 2004 games in Athens. Competing for the U.S. were Sara McMann (1 58.5 pounds), Patricia Miranda (1 05.5), Toccara Montgomery (1 58.5) and Tela O’Donnell (1 2 1). McMann and Miranda took home silver and bronze medals, respectively. More information: Click on the women’s wrestling link at www.themat.com .
SPRING TOURNAMENT
California USA Wrestling is holding a junior girls freestyle wrestling tournament April 7-9 in Lemoore. The top three winners per weight class can qualify for the Junior Nationals. Information:
ALYSSA DAVISON WRESTLES IN THE 103-POUND DIVISION on the Brea Olinda High Wrestling Team. Left, Davison, above, competes in wind-sprint conditioning with her team.
Welcome to Alyssa Davison's Modeling/Acting Portfolio
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A bit of foreshadowing for 2006
Published January 6, 2006
Here's 2006, seen through a cracked crystal ball:
Feb. 18: One year after becoming the first female to qualify for the individual state wrestling meet, losing in the first round, Glenbard North senior Caitlyn Chase wins the Class AA 103-pound state title. She promptly retires from the sport to join North's baseball team. "I thrive on doing things people say are impossible," she says. "Maybe I can get the Cubs into the World Series."
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