Wood creek junior Amy Red-Horse has cracked the mostly male world of high schol wrestling. Pico van Houtryve/The Press-Tribune
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Judging Amy
T'wolves' female wrestler passes all tests in sport made for boys
By: Tim Menicutch
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 9:49 AM PST
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Wood creek junior Amy Red-Horse has cracked the mostly male world of high schol wrestling. Pico van Houtryve/The Press-Tribune |
Woodcreek junior Amy Red-Horse never expected any free passes when she thrust herself into the male-dominated world of high school wrestling.
The 112-pound ball of fire willingly paid her dues when she joined the Woodcreek boys wrestling team in the fall of her sophomore year.
And Red-Horse not only kept her account in balance through determination, hard work and a willingness to tangle with her testosterone-driven male counterparts, she also brought something to the mats the boys never expected.
She brought attitude.
In a match earlier this season against Monterey Trail, Red-Horse was going through her regular pre-bout warm-ups when she accidentally overheard a conversation initiated by her upcoming opponent.
"He said, 'I'm going to get my feel in and pin her, too,'" Red-Horse said without a trace of pause in her voice.
So did he?
"He didn't have enough time," Red-Horse said. "I pinned him too quickly."
Red-Horse never flinches when it comes time to beat up on the boys. In fact - even after finishing fourth at last weekend's CIF Nor-Cal Regional Girls Wrestling Tournament - she insists she has an easier time defeating boys than girls.
"I like wrestling guys a lot better," she said. "Guys try to rely on strength more than girls and they make more mistakes. Girls use more technique than strength and try to cut down on the mistakes. It's totally opposite. I think girls are harder to wrestle."
Red-Horse said she had no ulterior motive for joining the wrestling team. She didn't carry a chip on her shoulder or have anything to prove. She started wrestling for one reason only: Because she liked it.
"It looked like fun," she said. "And it is fun."
Red-Horse admitted, however, the reception by the boys on the Woodcreek team when she showed up at practice for the first time was chilly, to say the least.
"None of the guys would talk to me," she said. "I had to show them I could actually wrestle."
That didn't take long, according to Woodcreek wrestling coach Doug Mason.
"When a girl's on the mat, the boys are not ready to accept her right away," Mason said. "But in a short time, they started treating her like a member of the team. They treat her like any other athlete."
Displaying a knack for speedy moves and maintaining a sharp concentration on technique, Red-Horse convinced her male teammates that she belonged the first time they watched her wrestle.
"The first time I wrestled it was in an exhibition match against Center High," she said. "There were no officials and we were just wrestling without stopping. I pinned him three times and finally the guy bit me. So I pinned him again."
Red-Horse has already taken a bite out of the stigma associated with girls wrestling against boys. She is an accepted member of the team and is regularly penciled into the lineup for junior varsity matches and sometimes even wrestles at the varsity level.
"The guys understand now - they don't judge her as a girl - she's just a good wrestler," Mason said.
In her sophomore season, she went undefeated against junior varsity opponents during the regular season and placed third at the Sierra Foothill League JV finals.
These days, Red-Horse said she has numerous male friends from teams the Timberwolves wrestle against.
"I hear a lot of comments when we first wrestle a new school," Red-Horse said. "But after I win a match, they say 'She's good. She's really good.' Then they come up and talk to me."
Red-Horse, who currently lives with her dad in Roseville, is so enamored with the sport of wrestling she's decided to concentrate on it year-round. She is considering moving back in with her mom for her senior year so she can go to Sacramento High - she went to Sacramento High as a freshman - where there are apparently plans to form an all-girls wrestling team.
Even if that means she will have to forfeit her opportunities to wrestle the "easy" matches - against the boys.
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Chalk Talk: CIF girls wrestling regional and state finals should be a yearly event
By Brian Williams, The Porterville Recorder 1/24/06
If I had a vote, and I don't, the girls wrestling regionals and state finals would become a constant on the CIF calendar.
I was not able to travel to South High in Covina or Whitney High in Rocklin to watch the Southern and Northern Regionals on Friday and Saturday, everything I am getting is from reading about it on the Internet and from Granite Hills High wrestler Erica Torres and her coach Marty Kouyoumtjian, who attended the Southern contest.
There has been a buzz in the sports and photography departments here at The Recorder since we learned of the tournaments at the start of the season.
Buzz is probably stretching it a bit - there being just the four of us (two in sports and two photogs).
The point is, we were excited that Torres would get the chance to showcase her talents on a more level playing field and also worried that she might not get that chance because she was nursing an injury.
It sounds as if all involved had a great time. Close to 500 girls competed at the two venues over two days. Aside from a few computer glitches at Whitney High, the regionals went off smoothly.
Listening to Torres talk about the girls she met and bonded with - it reminds you that there is more to sports than winning or losing.
The Grizzlies junior had a terrific showing, placing third via four first-round pins and qualifying for the state event Feb. 3 and 4 in Hanford.
You could hear the pride and confidence in her voice as she talked about the days - something that was not as strong prior to the tournament.
I would bet that they get close to 1,000 for next year's regionals, which may pose some problems for the CIF's two-year pilot program.
If that comes to fruition, tournament directors may have to turn people away from one of the 14 weight classes.
Or maybe they will have to institute a tourney to qualify for regionals.
But wouldn't those be great problems to have?
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Trinity Plessinger: Queen of the 122-pound girls
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 12:11 AM PST
YUCCA VALLEY - Yucca Valley High School wrestler Trinity Plessinger has become the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Girls Southern Region (Region 2) champion at 122 pounds, Trojan wrestling coach Mel Smith reports.
Friday and Saturday the CIF hosted the inaugural all-girl CIF sectional tournament.
Competition was split among Northern and Southern California athletes.
Plessinger competed against other girl wrestlers from all around the southern half of California.
“Because of an error, Plessinger entered the tournament unranked in the 122-pound weight class, Smith said.
“This was a huge disadvantage to Trinity because it placed her into a bracket where she would meet the eighth-ranked wrestler in the first round and the first-place wrestler in the second round instead of later in the tournament.
“I am happy to report that she pinned both wrestlers and then went on to place first at the tournament!”
Plessinger will compete in the girls' state championship Feb. 3 and 4 in Hanford.
Then she will be off to the USGWA girls Southern California Wrestling Championships in February, followed by the nationals in Michigan in March
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Jackets win quad meet on home mats
Let's hear it for the girls of Northampton
delmarvanow.com 1/25/06
Greg Merritt photo |
EASTVILLE - The Northampton Yellow Jackets won their own quad-meet Saturday, downing Group AAA Princess Anne, Group AA Bruton and Group A Northumberland.
The Jackets, a Group A team, used a balanced attack and the services of two female wrestlers to achieve victory.
Nicole Beasley (103) and Mandy Barnes (119), Northampton's two female wrestlers, both recorded victories by fall during the competition, the first time that feat has been performed by a Shore team.
"We wrote a little wrestling history today," said Northampton head coach Brian Harman.
The championship of the meet came down to the final match of the day when Northampton took on Princess Anne. The score was tied going into the final weight class, where Northampton's Jeremy Ayersman took on Nuien Tgos in the 152-pound weight class.
Ayersman took the early lead with a takedown, then kept going to record a 12-3 major decision victory. The four team points gave the Yellow Jackets a 40-36 win over Princess Anne in the final dual of the day.
"We're about where we should be," said Coach Harman.
The Yellow Jackets slipped to third place in the district last season and dropped a one-point decision to Arcadia earlier this season. Northampton has been steadily improving this season with hopes of regaining the district title.
Northampton will host the 2006 Eastern Shore District Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 8. Action will begin at 5 p.m. Both team and individual weight class champions will be determined at the district tournament. A close tournament is expected with Northampton, Arcadia and Nandua all in the running for the district crown this year.
Jackets 40, Princess Anne 36
103 - Jelinek (PA) dec. Beasley (J), 12-10; 112 - Chapman (PA) won by forfeit; 119 - Markum (PA) dec. Heath (J), 6-4); 125 - Atkinson (J) pinned Stage (PA), 2:24; 130 - Fields (PA) pinned Hickman (J), 2:46; 135 - Boyer (J) pinned Weller (PA), 1:20; 140 - Davis (J) pinned Jurek (PA), 1:00; 145 - Rock (J) won by forfeit; 152 - Ayersman (J) maj. dec. Tgos (PA), 12-3; 160 - Evans (J) pinned Burnes (PA), 54 sec.; 171 - Harman (J) pinned Shultz (PA) 23 sec.; 189 - Brown (PA) inj. default Rogers (J); 215 - Curry (PA) pinned Kennedy (J), 1:25; 275 - Rodriquez (PA) pinned West (J), 2:50.
Jackets 66, Bruton 11
103 - Beasley (J) pinned Duffy (B), 4:44; 112 - Heath (J) won by forfeit; 119 - Chissler (B) tech. fall Barnes (J), 15-0; 125 - Atkinson (J) won by forfeit; 130 - Hickman (J) won by forfeit; 135 - Boyer (J) won by forfeit; 140 - Staulas (B) dec. Davis (J), 15-11; 145 - Covington (B) dec. Rock (J), 17-16; 152 - Ayersman (J) pinned Penny (B), 19 sec.; 160 - Evans (J) won by forfeit; 171 - Harman (J) pinned Sullivan (B), 1:25; 189 - Kennedy (J) pinned Anderson (B), 50 sec.; 215 - West (J) won by forfeit; 275 - Powell (J) won by forfeit.
Jackets 49, Northumberland 24
103 - Beasley (J) won by forfeit; 112 - Heath (J) won by forfeit; 119 - Barnes (J) pinned Stor (N), 1:59; 125 - Atkinson (J) pinned Curse (N), 1:34; 130 - Collins (N) pinned Hickman (J), 1:50; 135 - Walker (J) pinned Annison (N), 26 sec.; 140 - Davis (J) dec. Jordan (N), 9-3; 145 - Rock (J) won by forfeit; 152 - Ayersman (J) maj. dec. Smith (N), 15-2; 160 - Evans (J) dec. Gatis (N), 10-8; 171 - Hall (N) dec. Harman (J), 12-10 OT; 189 - Kennedy (J) won by forfeit; 215 - Smith (N) pinned Rogers (J), 46 sec.; 275 - Rich (N) pinned Powell (J), 1:09.
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Top wrestler pins opponent, gender gapKeveaira Hall's win makes her Gaston's first female champion
MICHAEL L. NIXONStaff WriterGASTONIA - 1/25/06
When the referee's hand slammed down on the mat indicating a win by pin, Southwest eighth-grader Keveaira Hall was understandably happy. Hall just won a county middle school championship, and she'd made history.
That's right -- she.
By virtue of pinning Cramerton's previously undefeated Charles Burgman, Hall won a county wrestling championship, something no Gaston girl had done before.
"I always knew I could do it," Hall said. "It was just a matter of going out there and proving it to everyone else."
Hall has always been an athlete. Growing up, she was constantly doing whatever her brothers and male nephews were doing -- whether it was playing PlayStation video games or rough-housing around the house. She was always around them, so it seemed natural. Her gender never entered her mind.
"She has a 29-year-old brother, and she's always wrestling around with him," said Hall's mom, Patricia. "When she said she wanted to wrestle, I didn't worry about her at all. I knew she could handle it."
That's what made Hall's decision to try out for the school's wrestling team easy.
"I'd been telling people I was going to try out for the team," Hall said. "That first day of tryouts, some of the guys were all happy about getting a chance to wrestle me because I was a girl."
Those boys soon found out that what they thought was going to be an easy win was anything but.
"I could tell pretty early on that she was going to be a good one for us," said first-year Southwest wrestling coach C.J. Life. "After she proved that she could handle what we were doing, the other boys treated her like everybody else."
Hall's season got off to a rocky start, as she lost her first match of the year.
"I was winning for most of the match, but I ran out of gas at the end," Hall said. "I knew I just had to go back and get into better shape."
Hall would lose just one more match during the regular season, to Burgman, and entered the Dec. 17 county tournament as an underdog. She was a first-year wrestler in a sport where many athletes get started when they're in elementary school. Plus, she'd already lost to a pair of wrestlers in her 152-pound weight bracket.
That didn't faze Hall.
"She had to beat the guy that beat her in the first match of the year just to get to the finals," Life said. "And she did."
With a showdown against Burgman looming, Hall had a little more than an hour to rest and get pumped up for her championship finale. Instead of listening to inspirational music or searching out friends for motivational words, Hall chose another approach.
"I just laid around. Oh, and I ate some nachos," she said.
Hall said she had an inkling things were going to go well in the finals when she looked into Burgman's eyes.
"I'd wrestled him pretty good the first time. I almost beat him," Hall said. "I could see in his eyes that he knew that."
With a packed crowd, many of whom waited around to see whether "the girl" could win it, Hall and Burgman took turns controlling momentum in the match.
Then, late in the third and final period, Hall put Burgman's shoulders on the mat. A county championship -- and history -- was hers.
"She's a phenomenal athlete," said Southwest Athletic Director Karen Sheppard. "If anybody could have done it, Keveaira could."
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By MILENKO MARTINOVICHSpecial to the Star-Telegram 1/22/06
Arlington's girls team had come close to winning the state duals last year only to be undone by Amarillo in the final.
Amarillo Caprock was the culprit this time, defeating the Colts 27-24 in the championship.
Arlington seemed as if it would roll to the title. Rachel Penick (165 pounds), Elizabeth Yarber (185) and Amanda Athon (215) pinned their opponents as Arlington jumped to an 18-0 lead.
But Caprock dominated the lower weights and won six of the last seven matches to claim the championship. Miranda Medina (110) was the only other Colt to win.
Arlington coach Chris Scroggins said he tinkered with his lineup at the lower weights to gain an advantage. But he admitted they didn't turn out as he planned.
"I knew they were strong at the lower weights, so I tried a couple of matchup things," Scroggins said. "I guess they backfired a little bit."
Although the Colts came up short in the final, it was another impressive showing. Arlington finished second at the Lone Star Duals two weeks ago.
"They're disappointed," Scroggins said. "They know what it's like to be second. They got as close as they could get without winning