ADAM CAIRNS | DISPATCH
Michaela Hutchison, top, of Soldona, Alaska, controls Amnorina Porter of Sterling, Mich., in the Girls Wrestling Challenge.
News Page
ARNOLD SPORTS FESTIVAL
Sisters learn from brothers about wrestling
Competitors in Challenge help sport grow among girls
Monday, March 06, 2006
Dave O’Neil
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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ADAM CAIRNS | DISPATCH |
Participants talked more of siblings than of gender yesterday during the inauguaral Girls Wrestling Challenge at the Arnold Sports Festival:
• Greenville, Ohio, native Ronnie Hill said his 6-year-old daughter, Alli, became interested in the sport watching her older brother wrestle.
• Alaskan Michaela Hutchison, who in February became the first girl in the United States to win a state championship against boys, had two older brothers who won state titles.
• Alaina Berube, an alternate for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, watched her brother wrestle in tournaments. "I decided to give it a try for real in fourth grade," she said.
The phenomenon is no wonder.
Top-flight girls wrestling is less than a decade old. Brothers and sisters? They’ve been around slightly longer.
Another wrestler who competed yesterday in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Oklahoma high-school sophomore Joey Miller — the nation’s top-ranked girl at 105 — lists Toccara Montgomery as a favorite wrestler on her Web site, www.wrestlegirl.com.
A Cleveland East Tech graduate, Montgomery is a teammate of Berube’s at Cumberland (Ky.) College, the top-ranked women’s wrestling team in the United States. Montgomery also wrestled in the first women’s match in Olympic history in 2004 and finished seventh at 158.5 pounds.
The hope of event organizers and representatives from the United States Girls Wrestling Association is that events like yesterday’s will increase the amount of mentions like Miller’s.
"It’s just great seeing the younger girls growing up and looking up to me as maybe a role model or somebody that they can come to for advice," said Montgomery, who took up the sport in 1999. "Knowing that kids look up to me makes me want to help the younger children succeed in the sport of wrestling and the sport of life."
About 80 girls competed yesterday. The USGWA National Championships — the largest girls wrestling tournament in the world — will attract about 700 wrestlers to Lake Orion, Mich., on April 1.
Challenge officials hope to increase the turnout in the coming years.
"We hope to make this event the top girls wrestling event in the nation. We’re looking to triple our numbers next year," festival spokesman Paul Bukky said. "Still, this year is pretty exciting for us even though the numbers aren’t great, the quality is there."
Bukky, who spent 36 years coaching in Ohio with stops at DeSales, Thomas Worthington and Worthington Kilbourne, said wrestling is not just intended for men only.
USGWA founder Kent Bailo agreed.
"I’m a firm believer that anything men can do in this society, women can do, too," said Bailo, who founded the governing body in 1998. "For all the good things guys learn in wrestling, whether it’s working hard, whether it’s that life isn’t always fair, whether it’s playing by the rules . . . they’re good things for girls to learn, too."
The success of girls such as Hutchison, a state champ at 103, will help girls learn from other girls, Bailo said, even if Hutchison would prefer to drop ‘female’ from her label of female wrestler.
"Even if a lot of the press is only because I’m a girl, it’s still good to be talking about wrestling," she said.
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Grappling for gold
By Claude Scilley
Local News - Monday, March 06, 2006 @ 07:00
ST. CATHARINES
Terri McNutt had a very short to-do list Saturday:
1. Win a Canadian university championship.
2. Call mom.
McNutt, the Regiopolis-Notre Dame grad who concluded her five-year wrestling career at University of
Western Ontario Saturday with a gold-medal performance, did so without her folks present in the Davis
gym at Brock University.
It's not that they aren't supportive.
"They would like to be here," McNutt said, moments after she pinned longtime nemesis Sarah White of Simon
Fraser, "but it makes me very nervous to have them watch.
"They've been following the results on the Internet but it's better for me if they're not here. They understand that.
It's very hard for them and my mom's very nervous right now.
"She's at home, waiting for a phone call. She's probably pacing the floor.
"She'll probably cry like I did."
It was McNutt's third medal but her first Canadian intercollegiate championship. To gain it, she defeated all
three opponents she faced in the preliminary round to finish atop her pool. White, second at the 2003 world
junior championships, was doing the same on the other side of the draw.
It was the third time the two have clashed at Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships. In 2004, White
prevailed in the gold-medal match. Last year, McNutt won the bronze-medal bout.
This year's women's 51-kilograms final didn't make it to the second round. McNutt gained three points with
an early throw, another point for tossing White off the mat, and ended the match by reversing an attack by
White into a pin with less than a minute remaining in the three-minute round.
"She knew she could do it. I think everyone knew she could do it," said Western coach Ray Takahashi.
"She's tough. She's got a really good head for competing.
"Sarah's a very good opponent and Terri knew it was going to be a tough match but she has confidence in
her ability. Even if she's down in points, she still has the fight to go all the way. You can never count her out."
White, the Canada West champion, actually played into McNutt's hands, Takahashi said.
"Sarah had to force the situation because she was losing the round," he said, "so she went upper body and
I'm really confident with Terri. Terri's good at the upper body. She countered Sarah's move and held her on
her back. She got into her favourite pinning hold, the head-and-arm pinning hold, and that was it."
McNutt was coy about ending the match early. "It's easier that way," she said, grimacing as she gingerly
rubbed a sore spot on her face.
"I landed on my face when she did the throw that led to the pin, but it was worth it."
McNutt said she approached the match knowing it would be necessary to defend White's leg attacks.
"I knew that's what she was going to do so I focused on that and I managed to catch that lucky throw,
" McNutt said. "I knew I was ahead. She got desperate and got locked up with me, which is what I'm good at.
"She tried to do an over-and-under throw and I countered it."
McNutt is a busy young woman. In addition to studying toward a master's degree in nursing, she's working
as a nurse at Victoria Hospital in London and is a teaching assistant at Western.
She lives in Brantford equidistant from London and Oakville, where her boyfriend of five years works which
means an hour-long commute to practice each day.
"I like to keep busy," she said.
"Terri's gone through a lot," Takahashi said. "It's been really hard for her. This is icing on the cake."
McNutt still has a year to complete her studies and she plans to continue competing with the club at Western.
"Hoping to try for the Olympics," she said, "and we'll figure it out after that. I'll be wrestling until 2008, at least."
Takahashi said it's not an unrealistic goal.
"We need to get her some more international competition," he said. "She needs more experience at that level.
She's knocking at the door to get to the national team level. She was invited to a national camp over the
winter and she did well.
"Anything's possible. She's beaten some good wrestlers already."
There is one thing that McNutt's coach likes when he discusses her potential.
"She has a way of pinning people," he said. "The ultimate objective in wrestling is to pin someone. It doesn't
matter if you're losing, you can still win by pin. A very high percentage of Terri's victories, moreso than other '
people, come by pin. She has a knack of getting people on their back and then holding them and pinning
them."
McNutt has the most pins, lifetime, by any Western wrestler, male or female, Takahashi said.
"She likes to throw. She can attack legs, she's pretty versatile, but I would say her strong point is upper body.
"She does a five-point throw, a five-point grand amplitude throw. She's done them at national championships
and major tournaments, but it's very rare for women. Women don't usually do that type of throw."
Paul Ragusa, the longtime national team wrestler and Olympian from Kingston, coached McNutt in high
school. Now a coach at the University of Calgary, he saw her again Saturday.
"She keeps getting better and better," he said. "She stays below people's radar, but she gets the job done.
"She definitely knows how to pull off the big wins."
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CIS: Brock, SFU, win wrestling crowns again
Canadian Press
3/4/2006 9:01:23 PM
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. (CP) - It was more of the same at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport wrestling championships Saturday as the Brock University men's team captured its eighth straight title and the women from Simon Fraser University won for the fourth year in a row.
Concordia University placed second in the men's competition, three points behind the Badgers, and Simon Fraser University finished in third place.
Brock men were led by Jamie Macari (54kg) and Evan MacDonald (72 kg), who both captured their fourth straight CIS individual titles. Adam Fera (82kg), Steve Snijders (90 kg) and Mike Neufeld (130 kg) won silver medals for Brock and Dylan Fryia (57 kg) took home a bronze.
Concordia was a close second due in large part to four golds from Tim Wadsworth (61 kg), Tyler Margethis (76 kg), Jon Rioux (90 kg) and David Zilberman (130 kg).
Other individual champions included Regina's Jon Rice (61 kg), Calgary's Joe Bentley (68 kg) and McMaster's Sheldon Francis (82 kg), who knocked off two-time defending champion Adam Fera to earn CIS male outstanding wrestler honours.
Simon Fraser's Raj Virdi (57 kg) also won a gold medal and was named the CIS male rookie of the year.
On the women's side, Simon Fraser walked away with the women's title with a total of 64 points. The University of Calgary came second followed by the host Brock team.
SFU's Emily Richardson (59 kg) won a gold medal and was named the CIS female outstanding wrestler. Shayla Turcotte (82kg) also picked up gold for the Clan, while silvers went to Miranda Dick (48 kg), Sarah White (51kg), Stacie Anaka (63 kg) and Hahley McLeary (72kg).
Brit Laverdure (55 kg) and Justine Bouchard (63 kg) won gold for Calgary.
Other individual champions include Brock's Alana King (48 kg) Western's Terri McNutt (51 kg), Saskatchewan's Megan Buydens (67 kg) and Regina's Ali Bernard (72kg).
Michelle Fazzari (59 kg) of Brock was named the CIS female rookie of the year.
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HS wrestling: Two local girls prove they belong
By VERN MILLER, JR.
Herald Sports Writer 3/6/06
The rules of New Jersey high school wrestling assign body weight as the determining factor in matchups.
And despite protests from some old-guard purists, it's what the scale says that counts.
Not the "boys" or "girls" sign on the locker room door.
Samantha Fee and Shannon Carter are two of the top-ranked female high-school wrestlers in the nation, and they stopped caring about the finger-pointing and occasional taunts from the crowd long ago.
While others are noticing the two are not "one of the guys," Fee and Carter are focused on winning.
"I started wrestling against boys before I was nine years old," said Fee, a 17 year-old senior at North Warren Regional High School. "I'm not out here to get attention, prove anything or make a political statement.
"I just love to wrestle."
And she's good at it.
She's 8-6 against boys this season, including a two-minute, fifty-second pin fall against Butler on Jan. 20.
Well-known throughout the area, Fee has been a leader for the Patriots — who won their first-ever sectional championship this season.
When Fee first tried out, coach Chris Jones admitted to being "a little apprehensive, because I had never coached a girl before." But his decision to keep an open mind was rewarded by Fee's attitude and work ethic.
"Sam has always been the hardest working kid in the room," Jones said. "No one else comes close. She's had some impressive wins for us and she's so excited about the sport, it rubs off on the other guys on the team. She has great mental toughness, outstanding technique and she's great on her feet.
"If we had 14 Sams we'd be the state champions."
Fee, a Blairstown product who describes herself as "one of those nut job kids you see playing all the time," was first interested in the sport while watching her cousin, Justin, wrestle with a Blairstown Recreation midget program.
She began wrestling against boys in fourth grade, and did not wrestle a girl until 2004 in the United States Girls Wrestling Association.
She carried on a family tradition, following her parents and brothers, Jason, a wrestler and Mike, a football player, to North Warren.
She was challenged as a freshman and sophomore while getting overpowered by the boys.
"It was tough," she said. "I found myself being out-strengthened constantly. I spent so much time losing that it was hard on my confidence level.
"But I kept working through it and developed the habit of staying after practice. And Coach Jones was awesome, he sacrificed so much for me. He would run a drill for me 100 times so I could really develop a move," she added.
"When I was losing he never gave up on me. It shows how much he really cares."
Fee expanded her wrestling commitment, taking part in summer tournaments.
She signed up for the first New Jersey U.S. Girls Wrestling Association Open Championship in 2004, becoming the 132-pound champion with two pins and a 6-3 decision in the title match.
Although it felt strange to wrestle girls and share a locker room after having one to herself at North Warren, Fee was thrilled with the strength advantage and the chance to showcase her skills.
Building on the momentum of her title win, she started winning high school matches in her junior year.
Along with victories came the respect of teammates and opponents.
"I've never had a problem with getting an attitude from any of the guys I've wrestled," Fee said. "I've always gotten encouragement from the guys. I've been around a long time and have wrestled most of them.
"If you work hard you can earn a solid reputation and the respect of the guys on your own team and on the other bench."
She competed in the 2005 USGWA NJ Championships, posting three wins but losing a 4-2 decision in the final.
She'll be looking for payback on March 18 at the 3rd Annual USGWA NJ Championships at Mansfield Township Elementary School in Columbus.
Fee's going into the tournament with "a chip on my shoulder," hoping that by eliminating some mistakes she made in finishing fourth in last year's national tournament, she can improve on her No. 3 ranking.
Jones has no doubt that Fee can go as far as she wants to.
"We haven't heard the last from Sam," Jones said. "She said she wants to make the Olympic team and with her work ethic, she'll do it."
Calling the end of her high school career "bittersweet" after recently injuring her shoulder in a victorious match against Morris Knolls, the senior said that it will be tough to leave teammates and coaches. She casts a hopeful eye toward earning a scholarship at Missouri Valley College.
The school's women's wrestling program is No. 4 in North America.
"It's going to be very tough leaving coach Jones and coach Davis and all those guys I've shared such funny, great times with," Fee said. "I've wrestled with some of these kids since elementary school. We've all spent so much time together and I've never laughed so hard. I'm so lucky to have been surrounded by such great people.
"I can't think of any place I'd rather be than right here."
While training at the Eclipse Wrestling Club in Dover, Fee met and began "scrapping around" with Shannon Carter, a Sussex native who Fee called "tough," adding the two had "a good workout."
Carter, an all-around athlete who plays basketball, softball and holds a second-degree black belt in karate, began competing against boys in football, as a first-grader.
Her parents would move the furniture around as Shannon and younger brothers Braden and Devin, fully padded, would practice plays in the family's living room.
She played the sport throughout elementary and middle school, competing in the High Point Football League until her freshman year in high school, where her 120-pound frame left her undersized as an offensive and defensive lineman.
She eventually followed the lead of her brothers and father into wrestling, a sport in which Braden and Devin have exhibited great success throughout their elementary and middle school years.
Her father, Jeff Carter, is the wrestling coach at Pope John High School, where Braden just qualified for the regional quarterfinals as a 15 year-old.
Shannon's mastery of the sport was quick and proved lethal for her competition over the last two years in the USGWA NJ Championships.
In 2004, Carter won the 125-pound title, posting a 13-0 major decision win following three pins.
Becoming the two-time defending champion in 2005, she won a 5-2 decision in the finals at 118-pounds, after posting three pins and a major decision victory in the preliminary rounds.
She began wrestling under her father's tutelage at Pope John, notching a 10-15 record against the boys in her freshman and sophomore seasons.
She remains confident in her abilities in high school matches, even when pointing to the strength differential inherent to the boys she competes against.
"Guys have an advantage and you just have to deal with it," she said. "You have to know the difference in balance points and how to execute your leverage moves. You can put guys into a tilt easier, because girls have their weight balanced better and have a higher balance point."
After competing in numerous tournaments, Carter said "guys just offer better competition."
"It's been great and I've loved having Shannon on the squad," said Jeff Carter, who calls himself a "major proponent" of girls wrestling. "She didn't get treated like a girl, but like one of the guys. Shannon is a very strong wrestler, who uses leverage well and is very good in the top position.
"But her aggressiveness is her main strength."
She carried that aggressiveness into workouts at Blair Academy, one of the top wrestling programs nationwide.
Joined by Samantha Fee, the friends have benefited from the teachings of Blair coach Jeff Buxton, who Fee said has been a tremendous help, showing them very technical, "moves within the moves, the things behind the techniques that makes them even better."
"It's a great workout, being able to wrestle against the guys from Blair," the 16 year-old Carter said. "You're getting an opportunity to train with the best kids in the country."
Carter is just beginning to resume training after missing significant time with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, sustained when training for the nationals.
She hopes to be ready to defend her New Jersey title at the USGWA Championship on March 18, but may have to do so without logging any significant mat time before the event.
She hopes to land a spot on the High Point wrestling team next season, after her recent transfer from Pope John.
"I hope to make the High Point team next season," she said. "We'll see who's at my weight."
Carter will continue wrestling in New Jersey and other tournaments in the hope of earning a college scholarship as women's collegiate teams continue to increase on campuses throughout the country.
For now, whether to wrestle girls or boys, is not an issue for Shannon or her father.
While some boys may refuse to wrestle a girl because of a perceived "no win" situation — if they beat a girl, well, they should have and if they lose, they'll never live it down, somebody in the crowd will always have something to say.
"You have to take your opportunities to wrestle where you can, to stay ready for college and the nationals," Jeff Carter said. "I've heard some guys whispering in the crowd or boys from the other team talking before the match about the girl wrestler.
"Well, that talk quieted down after their guy got pinned."
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Magruder's Maroulis Makes Maryland History
By Ryan Young
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, March 5, 2006; Page E07
Magruder freshman Helen Maroulis became the first girl to place at the Maryland wrestling championships yesterday, taking sixth in the 4A/3A 112-pound division at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.
Maroulis (33-9) finished 3-3 for tournament, where no female had won a match before this weekend. Arundel sophomore 103-pounder Nicole Woody also won a match and finished 1-2 for the weekend.
"I was hoping to win a match, and I was hoping to place," Maroulis said. "That was my goal and that's what I did. . . . I'm happy with myself for the most part, but no one likes losing. There are guys that are freshmen that are in the finals. If I'm going to want to be treated like one of the guys, I kind of want to look at it in that view."
Said Magruder Coach Max Sartoph, "You think about the real good wrestlers, and man, she's already doing better than a lot of people have done."
Sartoph noted neither of Magruder's state champions from last season, seniors John Holloway and Zach Tolbert, placed as freshmen.
"It's an awesome accomplishment," Sartoph added.
Maroulis won her first match by default over Chesapeake's Jarrid Bosque and later defeated Whitman's Joe Hancher, 16-4, and Northwestern's Larry Moomau, 6-2, in the consolation bracket.
"She's good, man, especially as a freshman," Bosque said. "Usually freshmen, they don't go far. It's very [rare] that you get a freshman that can do that, and she's a girl. She could be first next year, or her junior or senior year. She's going to be good."
Maroulis lost in a rematch to Bosque, 11-7, in her last match.
The "being a girl and freshman thing, I don't really focus on that. I just kind of focus on how I wrestled," Maroulis said. "In the majority of the tournament, I wrestled pretty well, except for that last match. I wanted to beat [Bosque] this time to show people that the first time wasn't a fluke, and I just didn't wrestle well."
Woody, making her second state tournament appearance, pinned Linganore's Cody Marwine in 1 minute 57 seconds in a consolation match.
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Wrestling: Broadneck trio reaches semis
3/5/06
Broadneck advanced three wrestlers to the semifinals and holds down fifth place in the Class 4A-3A team standings after the first day at the 37th annual Maryland State Wrestling Tournament.
Mike Vakas (135), Abe Hunter (145) and Xavier Rathlev (152) all won two matches yesterday at Cole Field House on the campus of University of Maryland. Vakas, a No. 1 seed, earned two convincing decisions to improve his record to 30-1. He'll face another top seed, Matt Jacobs of Dulaney, in this morning's semifinals.
Rathlev, a fourth seed, upset No. 1 Antwuan Johnson of Surrattsville in the first round then avenged a regular-season loss to Ryan Schroeder of North Carroll in the quarterfinals. He'll have his hands full today against unbeaten Taylor Green (32-0) of River Hill, the East Region champion.
"I'm really proud of Abe because he's been fighting through injuries while Xavier knocked off a one and a two seed," Broadneck coach Marc Procaccini said.
Jeremy Nork (171) and Thomas Mulligan (215) both dropped quarterfinal matches for the Bruins, who scored 28 points, 16 less than 4A-3A leader LaPlata.
"I think we have a shot (at the state title)," Procaccini said. "We need to have guys place in the wrestle-backs because LaPlata has a lot of quality guys."
Old Mill stands ninth, but only got two wrestlers into the semis. Top-seeded Greg Saumenig, a state runner-up last year, had a first-round pin and quarterfinal major decision. Saumenig moves into a semifinal matchup with undefeated West Region champ Sean McCarty (33-0) of Northwest.
"Every match here is tough. You've just got to know that you've worked harder than the other guy," said Saumenig, who improved to 32-1.
Arundel 125-pounder Justin Bowser advanced in dominating fashion. Bowser posted a pair of second-period pins, flattening Keith Obendorfer of Damascus at 2:27 in the quarterfinals to improve to 36-1.
Teammate George Ester (37-1) faces a tough matchup in the semis against undefeated West Region champ Andy Lowy of Sherwood.
South River senior Mark Nelson pulled an upset at 135 pounds, scoring a late takedown to knock off top-seeded Steve Miller of Paint Branch. Miller, the West region champ, boasts a 35-3 record.
"Mark is a strong kid who has worked hard. He's been competitive in every match this season," South River coach John Klessinger said of Miller, who improved to 28-9. "We thought he could make some noise up here."
Annapolis standout Bubby Graham continued his stellar season, pinning both of his opponents yesterday and improving to 30-1.
Arundel 103-pounder Nicole Woody became the first female to record a pin at the Class 4A-3A meet. Woody lost her opening bout, but came back to down Cody Marwine at 1:57 of her consolation round match.
County champion Marcus Monroe of Severna Park also is still alive in the 103-pound class, having won his first-round match before being pinned by North Carroll's Jeremy Seipp in the quarterfinals.
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OIA champ Farrington inspired by late coach
By Wes Nakama 3.3.06
Advertiser Staff Writer
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WHAT: Chevron/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Wrestling Championships (boys and girls) |
There are 11 weight classes in high school girls wrestling, but Farrington coach Charles Williamson told his team there may have been an invisible 12th wrestler pushing the Governors over the top last Saturday.
"I think somebody up there must have been watching us," Williamson said.
The Govs pretty much came out of nowhere to win their first O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship, scoring 146 points to edge Moanalua (143.5) and Kahuku (142). As for that "12th wrestler," everyone at Farrington knew whom Williamson was referring to.
Sandy Obra, who took over the Governors' girls program in 1997 and was its head coach through last season, died on Sept. 13 at age 56 after collapsing while working the concession stand at a Farrington-McKinley volleyball match. Williamson said Obra's sudden and unexpected passing was a tough blow for his team then, and the loss still is felt today.
"He wasn't just our coach, he was like a father and a good friend to us," said Malia Segundo, a senior co-captain. "He always sacrificed a lot to always be there for us, and we could talk to him about anything."
Darren Reyes, who has been primarily an on-mat coach for the girls, has since added many of Obra's duties as adviser and fundraiser.
"He was the center point for all of us," Reyes said. "He did a lot of things that nobody else wanted to do, and when we would ask him, he would say, 'Done.' We had been trying to get a brand new mat for years, because at Farrington we've always had hand-me-downs.
"The day after he passed away, I went to school and the new mat came in, that same day. I'm usually not an emotional person, but when I saw it, I just bawled. I knew that if he was there, he would have been smiling and saying, 'We got the mat! We got the mat!' "
The mat cost about $8,000.
Obra collapsed while cleaning up the concession stand after the volleyball match. Selling food at the concession was one of many fundraisers the team participated in to pay for a preseason trip to Castro Valley, Calif.
Several of the girls were still there when Obra collapsed, but Segundo was not.
"I left early, and he looked normal," Segundo said. "I got the call at home, then I went to the hospital."
Obra died that night of cardiac arrest.
"It took a heavy toll on the kids," Williamson said. "He was so close to them, it was hard for them to recover and they were in a lull for a while. They were missing his presence. Even now, the memory is so vivid because they walk into the gym and see the (state championship) trophy from (2004)."
As Obra no doubt would have insisted, however, the training and practices went on as scheduled. All the hard work eventually paid off in Saturday's victory.
Tani Ader (114 pounds), BN Alafonso (140) and Ashley Lilo (220) won individual titles for the Governors, but Williamson said it was a total team effort.
"Jane Matto pinned her opponent at 175 pounds (to take fifth place), Malia did a good job (taking fourth at 103) and Taylor Ibera (98-pound runner-up) is someone to watch at the state tournament," Williamson said. "We were losing at the beginning and it looked like Kahuku or Moanalua would win and we might finish third or fourth, but then everybody pulled through."
Alafonso's sister NB also scored points, finishing fourth at 130.
When the team went to Castro Valley for the preseason tournament, the host school had T-shirts made for the Governors and for Kahuku (which also participated) with Obra's picture on the back. And just before Saturday's championship matches, the entire OIA observed a moment of silence in Obra's honor.
"I thought that was really cool — it helped the kids take deep reflections before they wrestled," Williamson said. "The kids have gone through a lot of adversity. The girls still miss Sandy; when we ride the bus, they're always singing the song they sang at his funeral and the song that was written for him after he died."
But when the whistle blew and it was time to wrestle, the Govs were able to focus on the task at hand.
"Everybody took care of business," Williamson said. "That shows the impact (Obra) still has on the girls."
Segundo said Obra's memory remains the team's driving force.
"We dedicated the season to Coach Obra," she said. "This is for him."
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Lunas talking about state title
By ROBERT COLLIAS, Staff Writer 3/3/06
It is a year later, but the memories are still fresh.
The Lahainaluna High School boys and Baldwin girls wrestling teams will take another shot at making history today and Saturday in the Chevron Wrestling State Championships at Blaisdell Arena.
In the 40-year history of the sport in the 50th state, no team outside of Oahu has ever won a state title.
The Lunas came within 2 1/2 points of breaking that streak last year and appear to be firmly in the boys mix again. Second place in 2005 – to Kamehameha Oahu – could have been first with one more win anywhere over the two days.
“The coaches are telling us what we need to do, that we still have a chance to win state even though we are missing a few guys (from last year),’’ said the Lunas’ Bailey Ball, 25-0 this year and the top seed at 140 pounds. “The team is still the same, and we still have that chance to win. Last year we fell short. So this year, as long as everyone does their part, everyone gets what they have to do done, wrestle their hardest, hopefully we will come away from this as state champs.’’
The Baldwin girls lost the state title by one point last season, to Iolani.
“We have as good a shot as anybody,’’ said Bears coach Mike Donahoo.
Ball’s teammate, Travis Okano, is seeded first at 119 and Molokai’s Clinton Manley is No. 1 at 160.
Three MIL girls are seeded first– St. Anthony’s Kelcie Suda at 98, Lahainaluna’s Sheryl Manglaylay at 120 and Baldwin’s Piikea Kalalau at 130.
The six total top seeds is the best ever for the MIL.
Okano is 21-3 this season, but two of his losses were to Baldwin’s Jaysen Patao, when Okano moved up to 125 pounds. Okano’s only loss in his weight class came in the final of the Maui Invitational, to a California wrestler. Okano defeated Oahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 2 state seed Royce Madarang of Waipahu in a tournament in December.
Manley, the state runner-up last year at 152 while wrestling for now-defunct Molokai Christian, is 22-0 this season.
Manglaylay is 8-1, and her only loss was an injury default. Suda is 18-0 and Kalalau is 17-0.
The Bears have two No. 2 girls seeds – Natasha Chang at 125 and Kailee Andrade at 175.
“The girls race looks wide open to me,’’ Donahoo said. “If we do what we are capable of, we can be right there.’’
Lahainaluna has 13 boys qualifiers in 14 weight classes, including six MIL champions.
“What we are trying to do is keep them focused on one match at a time,’’ said Lunas coach Todd Hayase. “Not focusing on anything ahead of them, just focusing on one match at a time. It doesn’t matter what their seedings are. They just have to focus one at a time and keep the intensity.’’
Hayase said his goal since the MIL championships two weeks ago has been to keep all of his individuals in unison.
“Wrestling is an individual sport, a lot of it is individual,’’ Hayase said. “So if these kids just focus on their matches, everything will all come together. If a title is in the picture, or a top-three is in the picture, it is all going to fall into place. I definitely have some strong individual goals for these kids that I’m hoping they can accomplish, for my seniors especially.’’
Even before this state tournament, the success of this senior class is unmatched in school history. The team captains include Ball; Michael Viloria, the No. 2 state seed at 125 and a three-time MIL champion; Aaron Panlasigui, the fourth seed at 135; and Manglaylay, also a three-time MIL champ.
Hayase had a message for his seniors following their final practice on Wednesday.
“What I am telling them is that no matter what happens at the state tournament, I am so proud of them on what they have done over the last four years at Lahainaluna,’’ Hayase said. “This season has been such a great season. The team chemistry, the positiveness, and it all stems from these captains. They just stepped up, and we have a very tight-knit group.’’
Manglaylay missed the state tournament last season because of a disciplinary action after winning the MIL title. She can’t wait for this weekend.
“We have always been focused,’’ Manglaylay said. “We have just been trying to keep up real good practices, from the beginning, not just because it is states coming up. We have been working hard from the beginning. We are going into states like it is another tournament, but it is something that counts way more. It is something that we all want.’’
Ball, a three-time MIL champion who was fourth in the state at 125 last year, knows the importance of each match.
“We know we have to wrestle hard every match, because in the end it could all come down to one match,’’ he said. “Last year, I was only seeded third, so there was no pressure – you are an underdog. Now, as the number one seed, everyone is out to get you, everyone wants to see you lose and they are all rooting against you, so there is a lot more pressure, definitely.’’
Robert Collias can be reached at rcollias@mauinews.com
MIL TOP STATE SEEDS
GIRLS
98 pounds–Kelcie Suda, St. Anthony
120 pounds–Sheryl Manglaylay, Lahainaluna
130 pounds–Piikea Kalalau, Baldwin
GIRLS
98
Qualifying round–Maria Sedano, Lanai, vs. Stephanie Diaz, Kohala. First round–(1) Kelcie Suda, St. Anthony vs. Mai Thanh Bui, Kaimuki; (3) Candace Sakamoto, Castle, vs. Shyanne Lecker-Agnew, Hana; Lianne Gumboc, Baldwin, vs. Pauline Wu, McKinley.
103
Qualifying round–Tehani Ibarra, St. Anthony, vs. Jayci Ventura, Campbell; Cherelle Chang, Baldwin, vs. Sunny Gandauli, St. Francis. First round–Caronne Rozet, Kamehameha Maui, vs. Kalae Johnson, Kahuku; (3) Ashley Hayase, Lahainaluna, vs. Chasity Kayona, Waikea-Alyssa Santos, Castle, winner.
108
First round–Kayla Gianotto, Baldwin, vs. Paige Inouye, Pearl City; (2) Vicki Milanio, Lahainaluna, vs. Ria Mandac, Kaimuki.
114
Qualifying round–Tamra Takeshita, St. Anthony, vs. Judith Heger, Hilo. First round–Alyssa Morimoto, Baldwin, vs. Laurel Ramino, Moanalua; (2) Jasmine Dollopac, Maui High, vs. Nalani Ravelo, Kalaheo.
120
First round–(1) Sheryl Manglaylay, Lahainaluna, vs. Mahea Cabbab, Farrington; Elisa Karma, King Kekaulike, vs. Tanya Kageno, Pearl City.
125
First round–Etta Vakauta, Maui High, vs. Kaleiolani Souza, Aiea; Claire Castro, King Kekaulike, vs. (4) Erina Mitchell, Kealakehe; (2) Natasha Chang, Baldwin, vs. Amanda Keliihoomalu, Kahuku.
130
Qualifying round–Molly Wirth, King Kekaulike, vs. Jill Flemming, Lutheran; Megan Oshiro, Iolani, vs. Wailena Kawaiaea, Hana. First round–(1) Piikeaa Kalalau, Baldwin, vs. Holly Lee, Roosevelt; Punahele Luafalemana, Molokai, vs. N.B. Alafanso, Farrington.
140
First round–(1) Kara Takasaki, Punahou, vs. Poha Kanakaole, Hana; Hoku Kubota, Kamehameha Maui vs. Stephanie Geltmacher, Kaleheo; (3) Kadia Shaw, Lahainaluna, vs. Jasmin Sims, Radford.
155
First round–Linda Watkins, King Kekaulike, vs. (1) Alica Fu, Moanalua; Kulia McGurn, Kamehameha Maui, vs. Crystal Kalakau, Farrington; (2) Janna Amby, Lanai, bye.
175
Qualifying round–Kiana Johnson, Kamehameha Maui, vs. Brooke Akina, Honokaa; Lorraine Baldonado, Maui High, vs. Ariel Moniz, Hilo. First round–Justina Luafalemana, Molokai, vs. Kiele Lahai, Kailua; (2) Kailee Andrade, Baldwin, vs. winner Tiana Ogata, Sacred Hearts, vs. Sheldeen Silva, Castle.
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By Wes Nakama 3/5/06
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Kahuku won its third Chevron/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Girls Wrestling Championship in five years yesterday, holding off O'ahu Interscholastic Association rivals Farrington and Moanalua.
The Red Raiders finished with 143 points, followed by OIA champion Farrington (134.5), OIA runner-up Moanalua (129) and defending state champion Iolani (105).
Mysia Kamaka'ala was Kahuku's only individual champion, at 130 pounds, but the Red Raiders also got strong performances from finalists Danica Auna (108), Amanda Soliai (155) and Marlene Suckel (175). Also, Kahuku got a boost from Kalae Johnson (fourth place, 103) and Erin Ah Sue (fifth, 140).
"My 140-pounder (Ah Sue) beat two girls she had lost to earlier this season, so she had a great tournament to finish fifth," Red Raiders coach Reggie Torres said. "Mysia did a great job, and the other two girls who made the finals were outstanding — Marlene really took it down to the wire (losing to University High's Desiree Memea, 7-5, in overtime). She could have wrestled at 155, but she moved up for the team."
Farrington won the OIA title last week by two points over Moanalua and by three over Kahuku.
"Our last three tournaments — the OIA East, the OIAs and this one — were all nail-biters," said Torres, who coached the Red Raiders to state championships in 2002 and 2003. "Give or take one match, that's how close it was."
Iolani's Carla Watase and Kamehameha's Hoku Nohara — both juniors — became three-time individual champions and put themselves in a position next year to join Moanalua's Caylene Valdez (2000-2003) as Hawai'i's only four-time girls state champions.
Nohara defeated Iolani's Olivia Fatongia, 11-8, at 220 pounds in one of the night's most exciting matches. Nohara had pinned Fatongia in their two other meetings this season, in the first round the first time and in the second round the second time.
"She was stronger this time and in better condition," said Nohara, who overcame reconstructive knee surgery last summer. "This was the hardest (state final) I've had so far, but I know next year will be even harder because everybody will be trying to stop me from winning the fourth. I gotta work harder and push through it."
Watase won her third state crown by defeating Mililani's Brandie Dela Rama, 11-5, at 103 pounds. Watase won the 98-pound title as a freshman and the 103-pound title last season.
Like Nohara, Watase said she knows joining the short list of four-time state champs won't come easily.
"I hope I can do it," Watase said. "Next year I'll just have to work harder than this year."
Punahou's Kara Takasaki also repeated as a state champion at 140 pounds, pinning Lahainaluna's Kadian Shaw at 5:32.
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Rosales beats health issues to reign as wrestling champ
By Michael Bower, STAFF WRITER 3/3/06
HAYWARD — Nothing was going to keep Karla Rosales from reaching her ultimate goal.
Not the bone chips in her left wrist. Not the sprained ankle. And certainly not her constant battle with asthma.
Nope. Nothing was going to stop the Arroyo High senior from getting a North Coast Section girls wrestling title.
"She is the kind of wrestler that gets on your nerves because you know something is going to happen," Dons coach Bob Perreira said. "The asthma attack is coming, and the pain is there, but she is really tough. Stubborn and tough. That is the best way to put it."
Rosales' stubbornness paid off last Saturday at the NCS girls wrestling championships at Freedom High. Rosales, with a heavily taped wrist and ankle, earned a 6-2 win over Pittsburg's Fachon Jones in the 118-pound championship.
For her efforts, she is the Daily Review Prep of the Week.
"It was very emotional," Rosales said. "Everything was worth it. Just fighting through the pain and my asthma. It was all worth it."
Between the second and third periods of the final, Rosales had to take an injury timeout. Her asthma was acting up, and her ankle was giving her problems.
"When I asked for an injury timeout I was exhausted," Rosales said. "I didn't want my ankle to fail on me. I definitely needed at least 30 seconds to get my air back in and get my ankle moving a little better."
Just preparing for a match is work enough for Rosales. She uses nearly half a roll of tape on her wrist and ankle.
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She had bone chips in her wrist from an injury a couple years ago and severely sprained the same wrist two months ago. And to make matters worse, a week before NCS she sprained her ankle at practice.
"I have gone through plenty of rolls of tape," said Rosales, who transferred from San Leandro this season. "It takes a long time to get ready because there is a certain way my wrist has to be taped. It has to be taped so it doesn't move. It is kind of like a cast. Basically I am just wrestling with my right hand."
Rosales is hoping to get recruited by Cumberland University in Kentucky, which is known for its tremendous women's wrestling program. She plans to make a recruiting trip to the school soon.
"It is kind of like a dream," She said. "For a couple years now I wanted to go to Cumberland because wrestling has been such a big part of my life. I still can't believe it."
Rosales will be wrestling at the girls national championships beginning April 1 at Lake Orion High in Michigan. It will be her first trip to the nationals.
"I wasn't able to go last year because of my financial status," Rosales said. "A lot of girls don't know about me. I am ready to go and show them what I got."
