News Page
Friday, March 17, 2006
Rachel Woodruff
SENIOR, LBJ, WRESTLING
What is your best memory in wrestling?
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Jay Janner (enlarge photo)
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I'd have to go back to my first win late in the season when I was a freshman. I had lost every match and dislocated my elbow during my last loss. This was my first match after the dislocation, and my doctor said it was OK to wrestle. I kept thinking I was not ready and I wouldn't do well. Right before the match, the coach pulled me aside and told me to relax and just give it my all. Once the referee blew the whistle for the match to start, all of my worries went away. I put 100 percent in that match and won. After the match, my older sister told me that I had worked through pain and doubt, and I was a wrestler.
Why did you choose to compete in this sport?
My older sister, Ashley, wrestled in high school. She talked me into doing it. I loved the sport so much that I decided to continue after she graduated.
Has wrestling taught you anything you use in your day-to-day life?
Wrestling has taught me about healthy eating. For example, food that will give me enough building materials from protein and energy from carbohydrates. Learning how to have a balanced diet helps me to maintain my weight so I don't have to cut a whole lot of weight every week.
Will you be wrestling after high school? If so, what are your options?
Yes, I'm looking at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo., and the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.
How do most people react when they learn you wrestle?
They act shocked and say they would never think that a little girl like me would wrestle, and then tell me they have never heard of girls wrestling.
What advice would you give a girl who might be interested in wrestling?
Don't stray from the basics. While it's good to learn advanced moves, it's the basics that will get you most of your wins.
If you had to wrestle against Matt, what would happen?
Matt is a good wrestler. He is stronger and has at least 40 pounds on me. If we were to wrestle, I would have to use my speed and technique to beat him. If we were to wrestle I could get some points, and if I were to win, it would be by points.
Matt Flatau
SENIOR, LBJ, WRESTLING
What is your best memory in wrestling?
This year at district — to get gold I had to beat a wrestler I had already lost to twice in the season.
Why did you choose to compete in wrestling?
I've played sports since I was 4, and they had all been team sports. Wrestling is a very individual sport that allows me to see what I'm made of.
Has wrestling taught you anything you use in your day-to-day life?
Discipline, dedication and especially sacrifice.
Will you be wrestling after high school?
Probably not, I hope to bike and play rugby.
Toughest course in high school?
Multivariable calculus
What will you be doing when you're 30.
If I knew that, I wouldn't still be in high school.
If you had to wrestle against Rachel, what would happen?
Well, I weigh about 40 pounds more than she does so I think I would probably win, but if we were in the same weight class I'm not sure what the outcome would be.
— Rick Cantu
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Female Wrestler Brings Gold Medal Back To Sallisaw
Friday, March 17, 2006 10:03 AM CST
Boys aren't the only wrestlers bringing state championships back to Sallisaw.
Victoria Kinsey, a sixth-grader at Tommie Spear Middle School and Sallisaw's first female school wrestler, placed first at the Oklahoma Girls Wrestling State Championships on March 12.
Kinsey was the champion of the 85-pound weight class, finishing ahead of runner-up Karissa Avallone of Newkirk and third-placer Lacey Wallis of Woodward.
Kinsey has practiced off and on for several years after school with the Sallisaw Wrestling Club, but this was her first year to wrestle competitively.
She also had wrestling as a class sport under the direction of coach Darrel Hume. Sixth-graders area allowed to enter wrestling as a class sport and they learn skills but cannot compete for the school until the seventh grade. Kinsey plans to wrestle for Sallisaw's junior high team next season.
She also wrestled on the weekends for the Webbers Falls Wrestling Club and coach Dudley Hume.
A dedicated wrestler who practiced three days a week after school at Sallisaw and twice weekly after school at Webbers Falls, Kinsey also competed in the OKWA Novice State Championships where boys make up the majority of the wrestlers. She placed sixth at that tournament in the 84-pound weight class
