News Page

GIRLS WRESTLING
Windsor teen wins tournament title

From staff reports 3/20/06

MONTROSE, Pa.- Kara Frederick won all four of her round-robin matches in winning the 128-pound weight class in the Middle School Division at the United States Girls Wrestling Association Pennsylvania State Open tournament, Sunday at Montrose High School.

Frederick, 14, and an eighth-grader at Windsor, defeated Tonya Keegan, from Troy, Pa., 9-8 in double overtime to complete her sweep. Frederick rode out Keegan to claim the final point in the victory, breaking an 8-8 tie.

Frederick pinned Jami LeVan, of Jersey Shore, Pa., in 5:18, and a pair of Walton wrestlers Natasha Breen (30 seconds) and Samantha Ryan (1:15) in earlier matches.

-----------------------------------------------------

Girl power: Price, Cunningham capture state wrestling titles

By JOHN A. LEWIS 3/20/06
Burlington County Times

MANSFIELD — Two journeys started with titles at the USGWA Girls State Wrestling Championships yesterday.

For Northern Burlington High School's Brandy Price, it's a familiar one. Price earned the gold medal in the high school 115-pound weight class.

She'll do what she's done for the last few summers — a regimen that'll include a trip to the Pennsylvania states, where she hopes to repeat as a champion, and to the national championships in Michigan early next month.

Moorestown's Anneke Cunningham is walking an entirely new road. The 14-year-old had only wrestled boys in Moorestown's middle school program. Yesterday she learned that had prepared her well for girls wrestling — a pair of easy wins earned her a title in the middle school 95-pound class.

For Price, the actual wrestling part was barely a workout. She pinned Jessica Janck of Basking Ridge, and then Stephanie Schuster — a teammate at Northern Burlington, to complete a sweep of a three-person round robin, which was held at the Mansfield Elementary School.

“I used a headlock and a bar arm,” Price said. “The bar I always look to use, but the headlock is kind of a surprise move. I don't usually wrestle with Steph. Usually I work with our JV 130-pounder, Byron Armstrong. I wasn't sure what to expect.”

Price was 9-19 at 112 pounds for the Greyhounds' varsity wrestling team. This is where she feels she can get some payoff.

“I wrestled with some strong guys, and they've trained me well,” Price said. “They push me, and it pays off. This'll be the third time I go (to the nationals), so I'm hoping this time I can go top three.”

A pair of pins bookended Cunningham's 13-3 major decision over Bergenfield's Emily Rankin.

She locked up the championship medal with a cement mixer that brought her a first-period pin of Hackensack's Megan Gowe.

“It's very different,” Cunningham said. “I went to a boys tournament a couple of weekends ago. Boys are very strong. This was fun, and exciting, and a lot different.”

Cunningham, who's also a lacrosse player, said she hopes to continue with both sports when she gets to Moorestown High School next year. She's gotten a lot of support for her wrestling career, both at practice and at home.

“They all respect me,” she said. “They respect me a lot, and I like that. It makes it more fun for me.”

“I think it's great,” Tony Cunningham said, about his daughter's pursuit of the sport. “Anything she can do to build confidence, and let some of that energy out, I'm happy to see.”

If that means following in Price's footsteps as a high school wrestler, so be it.

“Absolutely. We'll support whatever choice she makes,” Cunningham said.

Schuster pinned Janck in her first bout of the day.

“I was surprised I beat her,” she said. “I hoped I'd go out and do it, but I haven't been to practice in a few weeks. I don't do a spring sport. I work out, but I haven't been (training hard).

Schuster was on the Greyhounds' JV squad this season, which completed one of the strangest doubles imaginable. She's a wrestler and a gymnast.

“They're two different worlds,” she said. “One is all about grace and elegance. The other one's about going out and kicking a kid's butt.”

Rancocas Valley's Darcy Stellman kicked a couple, after starting slow in the high-school 124-pound bracket. She lost her first two matches, then came back with an 8-4 decision and a pin of her own, against Lisa Treat of Egg Harbor Township.

“I haven't done this since my freshman year,” Stellman said. “Last year, I pole vaulted. At first, I didn't know what I was doing, but it came back. The half worked a lot, but I didn't shoot much.”

Stellman's last bout was officially an exhibition. Treat — a self-described “wrestling mom” — wrestled the other competitors in the bracket without officially participating. Her match with Stellman ended with a bizarre sequence.

Treat trailed, 2-0, and opted for a neutral start in the third period. She got in with a high single, then Stellman broke her grip as she backed away. Both wrestlers fell backward, with Stellman landing out of bounds.

Stellman got to her feet first, then pounced on the still-prone Treat and threw a half to end the bout in 4:40.

“She forgot we were wrestling,” a smiling Stellman said. “I got up and kept going.”

Stellman shrugged at the suggestion that wrestling and pole vaulting are both traditionally male pursuits.

“Well, pole vaulting — the coach asked me to and it looked like fun,” she said. “I'll do it again next year. Wrestling? I don't know. I just wanted to try something different and exciting, and it turned out to be a whole lot of fun. The guys were real supportive. They're not — girly, like the girls.”

--------------------------------------------------