Courtesy photo
BreAnna Williams sits atop sisters Lilly (middle) and Annliese DeAragon. All three girls have a passion for wrestling.
News Page
Sandpoint wrestlers making name for themselves
Posted: Wednesday, Mar 22, 2006 - 09:28:16 am PST
By ERIC PLUMMER Sports editor
|
Courtesy photo |
SANDPOINT -- A trio of Sandpoint wrestlers are beginning to make quite a name for themselves. They're winning tournaments all over the West Coast, and one is the current national champion. Not only are they great ambassadors of the sport, they are helping to keep Sandpoint's rich wrestling history alive and kicking.
Oh yeah, one other thing, they also happen to be girls.
Anneliese DeAragon, 14, Lilly DeAragon, 10, and BreAnna Williams, 7, all share a genuine love of wrestling. Before you jump to any conclusions, you might want to hear what their coach, Pat Larson of Top Dog elite, has to say about them:
• BreAnna, a second-grader at Kootenai: "She wrestles boys all year, getting pounded on by her brother (Troy Willliams), she's tough all-around, like a pit bull," says Larson. "She's a sweetheart, but if you make her mad, watch out."
• Lilly, a fourth-grader at Kootenai: "A little fireball. She's got the mental edge; she goes in and knows she's going to win. She's pinning boys in 20-30 seconds."
• Anneliese, Lilly's older sister and an eighth-grader at Sandpoint Middle School: "Strong, she puts herself out there and takes chances. She's creaming girls that are heavier and older."
Girls wrestling is steadily picking up steam across the country. It is now an Olympic sport, and more and more high school teams around the country are sporting female members. In fact, the Alaskan state champion at 103 pounds is a girl.
Despite the increase in girls who wrestle, the sport is still slightly misogynistic in nature, and there are people out there who only grudgingly accept girls' participation, especially when the sexes are pitted against each other. In this respect, the three girls are part wrestlers, part pioneers.
"For most of the boys it's all right," says Pilar DeAragon, who travels to tournaments with her two daughters. "Sometimes we get fathers that are weird and won't shake hands, they feel it should be a men's sport."
The trio of girls bring a load of passion, as well as skill, to the sport. Around here, their only competition is boys. At some of the national tournaments they've been attending, they get to wrestle other girls, and the results have been nothing short of amazing.
Annaliese won a tournament in Northern California last year, took second at state meets in Washington and Oregon, and finished third at the 8th grade District meet this year (against boys). She plans to wrestle for Sandpoint High School next year.
Lilly is the current girls national champion at 85 pounds (she weighs 71), and also won at Northern California and Washington last year. Her goal is to wrestle in the Olympics.
"The drive the two sisters have is amazing," says Larson. "They're in very good condition, we spend a lot of time on the mat."
The three girls will compete this Saturday in a freestyle meet in California, and then on Sunday in the USGWA West Coast Championships in Payton, Nev. They will also compete May 5-7 in the Girls Freestyle Nationals in Colorado Springs, Colo. And as they get better at wrestling, the losses become easier to take, for them and mom.
"It's not as stressful anymore. They don't cry after losses, before they did," says Pilar, who knew nothing of wrestling before her daughter brought home a pamphlet in kindergarten and said she wanted to try it. "I'm really proud of them and their ability to get out on the mat and excel."
BreAnna is following her older brother Troy, also of Top Dog wrestling, onto the mat. Their father, Chris Williams, is an assistant coach with Top Dog; wrestling simply runs in the family.
"She's a tomboy, likes to race motorcycles," says her mother Angel Williams. "She's an aggressive little girl."
No need to worry about these girls not living up to the toughness that is the hallmark of Sandpoint wrestlers. When the DeAragon girls aren't pinning their opponents, they feed their competitive fire playing soccer and snowboarding.
"They like being able to be aggressive and it's OK," says Pilar. "They just like competitiveness, being athletic."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Taylor Rose Wins USGWA Ohio Girls State Championship
8th AnnualUSGWA Ohio Girls Wrestling State Championships OPEN
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Taylor Rose of the Middletown Youth Wrestling Club Traveled to Mt. Vernon, Ohio for the 8th annual USGWA(United States Girls Wrestling Association) Ohio Girls State Championships. Before the end of the day, and four grueling matches against the best girl wrestlers in the state Taylor came away with the 2006 state championship.
Taylor has been wrestling with the Middletown Youth Wrestling club for two years and has compiled a record of 31 wins and 15 losses this year(Most of these wins against boys). Taylor qualified for the Ohio Grade State Championships(Boys) on March 18-19, 2006. Taylor also placed second in the USGWA Kentucky State Championships earlier this year and will be competing in the USGWA National Championships on April 1st, 2006.
Congratulations Taylor and good luck at Nationals.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Taylor Rose 2nd in Kentucky State Championships
January 17, 2006
Taylor Rose from the Middletown Youth Wrestling Club traveled to Williamsburg, Kentucky and Cumberland College on Feb. 18, 2006 to participate in the USGWA (United States Girls Wrestling Association) Kentucky Girls State Wrestling Championships. Taylor came away with second place and showed that wrestling with the boys all the time has made her a tough competitor.
Taylor will be participating in the USGWA Ohio Girls State Tournament on March 11th and will be traveling Michigan on April 1st to participate in the USGWA National wrestling tournamnet.
Congratulations Taylor and best of luck in the future girls tournaments. We are very proud of you.
--------------------------------------------------------
Kansas Krusaders Women's Wrestling Photo Gallery
----------------------------------------------------