News
Girls hitting mats in Coyotes wrestling
Covert wins state title with little experience logged on the mats
By Courtney Hagen (Contact)
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Payton Covert only started wrestling just recently, but with just a few meets under her belt Covert has body slammed the competition in Kansas youth wrestling leagues throughout the state. With little experience and weighing in at less than 69 pounds, Covert took home the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association Kansas State Champion title on Feb. 26 in the 12-and-under division.
But what is even more remarkable than early success, is that Covert is a girl. She is just one of a handful of young athletes who are breaking through in what has typically been reserved as a man’s world.
Enter the library-turned-makeshift-gym at Centennial Elementary School on Tuesday and Thursday nights and you’ll catch a glimpse of this world. Young boys run around the halls, sweat dripping, anxiously awaiting the chance to tackle teammates. Yet inside the library their female opponents wait patiently, gathering every bit of energy to carry with them to the mats. Then the whistle blows and all at once there is a blur of bodies on the floor as both girls and boys wrestle together, sweat and all.
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Covert was one of the first girls to enter this world, by way of the Lawrence Coyotes wrestling league. Ron Covert, Payton’s father and one of the Coyotes’ wrestling coaches, said the female wrestling trend is a fairly new phenomenon for the league that has been around since 1999.
“The league has always been open to anyone who wants to wrestle, including girls, but just within the past year girls have started to join in,” Covert said.
Payton herself started wrestling on a whim, but led the trend for young female athletes in the Coyotes. After she started, other girls followed suit and joined the league.
“I started wrestling because my dad kept telling me I should,” Payton said. “I said I would give it a try, but I ended up liking it and decided to keep going.”
Wrestling seemed to come naturally for Payton, but it still came as somewhat of a surprise when she secured the U. S. Girls Wrestling Association State Champion title in February after wrestling in only a few meets.
Payton won the title after wrestling another girl at the meet in McPherson. The meet was held in the folkstyle wrestling technique, which is the style most widely used by American high school and college wrestlers. The Coyotes league also wrestles in freestyle and Greco-Roman, which utilizes upper body strength through moves.
With girls wrestling, these styles must be adapted to accommodate them. To better serve the needs and expertise of young female athletes, the Coyotes wrestlers rely on the experience and mentoring advice of Lawrence High School wrestler Emma Mercer. Mercer has made waves herself as a female wrestler and even holds a ranking with the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association.
Mercer stands on the sidelines at the Coyotes practices and meets offering up quiet and wise words of advice for both girl and boy wrestlers alike. Yet she acknowledges that the sport must be tailored to accommodate female participation.
“Girls have a slight disadvantage when they wrestle with boys, because boys have a lot more upper body strength at a young age than girls do,” Mercer said. “We have to work to do different things that will help the girls out.”
Payton said one of the biggest things she was working on with Mercer was developing more lower body strength to better dominate boys in her matches.
The physical hurdles aren’t the only problem that girl wrestlers have to face. Many of the Coyotes female wrestlers said they sometimes encounter slight opposition from those who don’t understand their participation in the typically male dominated sport.
“Sometimes people think it is weird that I am a girl and I wrestle with boys,” Payton said. “But I like wrestling, so I just keep going and try to do my best.”
Female Coyotes wrestlers said the invaluable support they receive from their teammates, families, coaches and role models like Mercer, helps to keep them focused and winning against the boys. Payton’s coaches even keep a wallet sized photo of her near at meets to remind her male opponents that they just got beat by a girl.
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Mustangs celebrate accomplishments
Wed, March 29, 2006
By JIM CRESSMAN, FREE PRESS SPORTS REPORTER
It wasn't a banner-raising year for Western Mustang sports, which celebrates its 2005-06 accomplishments tonight at the London Convention Centre.
The women's rugby team gave the university its only national championship while, individually, four athletes won gold medals.
Alanna Boudreau was national track and field champion in triple jump, while Jen Cotten won gold in pentathlon, with Heather Patterson winning shot put and women's wrestler Terri McNutt taking the 51- kilogram class at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships.
Three Mustangs were honoured nationally, wide receiver Andy Fantuz winning the Hec Crighton Trophy as the top football player in the country, Barbara Mervin being named female rugby player of the year, and Amanda Anderson, winning CIS rookie of the year in women's basketball.
McNutt and Fantuz are two strong candidates for Western's student-athletes of the year awards, which will be announced tonight.
Western's athletic director Mike Lysko said he doesn't always measure success by national championships.
"When people judge success, they tend to judge on one or two high-profile men's or women's sports and that's fair. But very few have the range and are as competitive as we are," he said yesterday.
"Some schools concentrate on one or two sports, but at end of the day we have 37 teams that represent us (in 40 possible OUA sports).
"Over time, these things tend to average out, but year in and year out our goal is to be as competitive as possible for provincial championships and to that end, the end being the hunt for national championships."
Provincially, the Mustangs won 20 team medals, eight gold (badminton, baseball, women's golf, men's and women's rowing, women's rugby, and men's and women's squash), eight silver (men's fencing, football, men's rugby, men's swimming, men's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and women's wrestling) and four bronze (women's cross-country, figure skating, men's soccer and women's swimming).
In 2004-05, Western won eight Ontario gold medals, 11 silvers and two bronze.
Nationally that season, Western won gold in women's rugby and bronze in men's soccer and men's track and field.
"The dynamics of national championships are different," Lysko said. "There are so many things that are out of your hands at national championships.
"We pride ourselves on the fact we place an unusually high importance on academic performance and our standards (of admittance) are higher than at other schools.
"We win our fair share. But everybody loves to play Western and everybody loves to beat Western. That doesn't make it easy for us. We liken ourselves to the Dallas Cowboys.
"But winning and losing is not a live-or-die situation here. Look at the strides we've made in a sport like swimming. We're in there slugging with the big boys in all the sports."
Lysko also said no decision has been reached on the men's hockey team playing at the John Labatt Centre again next season, but it's likely the Mustangs will return.
The team moved downtown from Thompson arena in an effort to boast attendance and raise the profile of Mustang athletics in the community.
The Mustangs averaged 1,400 fans for the 12 games, which more than quadrupled what they would usually draw.
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Local wrestler Emily Betts wins 115 pound title at state championships
Tariq Engineer 3/29/06
Wausau Daily Herald
tenginee@wdhprint.com
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Emily Betts thought she had finished second at the girls state wrestling championship recently. But then the public address announcer called her name and assured her a trip to the national wrestling tournament.
"When they called my name is when I found out I won," she said.
Betts, 11, won the 115-pound division tiebreaker at the Wisconsin Girls State Wrestling Championship on Feb. 26 in Kenosha and will wrestle at the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships in Lake Orion, Mich., on Saturday and Sunday.
Although the first three finishers qualified for the national championships, Betts' father told his daugther that she'd need to win the state title to justify the trip's expenses.
"I said, 'Baby, you gotta get first or we ain't going,'" Eric Betts said.
Wrestling in a four-member round-robin format, the Hewitt-Texas Elementary School fifth-grader finished with a 3-1 record, which tied her with Stevens Point's Emily Raczek and Chippewa Falls' Melissa Yarrington. Betts broke the tie with the highest point total.
Monday was Betts' first practice with the state team in Madison. She has been training with Wausau East junior Lumberjacks coach Justin Osswald twice a week.
"The team has been practicing since the week after the girls' tournament, but how do you get down there on a Monday night and drive back and have Emily be on the school bus at 6:30 in the morning?" Eric Betts said.
Betts began wrestling as a 6-year old when a family friend coaching at Wausau West got her started. Betts friends wrestled too, but they've since quit while Betts keeps getting better and better.
"I wanted to try something new," Betts said. "I had to wait a little while till I liked it.
"My friends all quit. I guess it was too fun [for me] to quit and I was too good at it too."
And now she has a chance to win a national title.
"Hopefully we get it done," Eric Betts said. "If we don't, we try harder."
Elementary Division Results
115 pounds results
1. Emily Betts (Wausau) pinned Emily Raczek (Stevens Point) in 1:29.
2. Emily Raczek (Stevens Point) def. Melissa Yarrington (Chippewa Falls) 2-0.
3. Melissa Yarrington (Chippewa Falls) def. Amelia Lux (Menasha) 6-1.
4. Amelia Lux (Menasha) pinned Roxie Valdez (Kenosha) in 1:44.
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Bloom wins state championships
Lebanon Express 3/22/06
Amy Bloom pinned three competitors on her way to first place at the United States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) Oregon Girls Wrestling State Championships. The competition took place on March 4 at David Douglas High School in Portland.
Bloom (106) had three pins in the preliminary matches before meeting Sarah Rowen for the championship. Bloom won in a 9-3 decision.
On March 12, Bloom met Rowen again, this time in the final match of the Washington state championships in the 105 division. History repeated itself, and Bloom won in a 6-4 decision. Previously Bloom had defeated Kiana Witt with a 3-0 decision.
Many of the competitors did not show up for the Washington tournament due to bad weather.
Laura Gourley of Sweet Home also competed in both tournaments. She took third place in the Oregon tournament at 152 pounds.
Bloom and Gourley are now preparing for the USGWA national championships, which will be held in April in Michigan. Last year, Bloom took home a first place from that event.
Bloom and Gourley train with the USA Cobra team under coach Bobo Umemoto in Portland. They practice 11 months out of the year and travel around the country to compete.
They didn't have to qualify to wrestle in the USGWA national championships, but Umemoto requires them to attend a three-day camp before they leave.
“I really look forward to seeing Amy place really high or win the tournament,” Umemoto said.
He described Bloom and Gourley as “real tough, real dedicated. They never miss a practice.”
Umemoto said that the biggest tournaments will take place after the USGWA nationals. May 5-7 is the FILA cadet tournament and July 24-25 is the High School Junior National Championship.
Umemoto has high expectations for both Bloom and Gourley.
“I definitely see a scholarship or something really big in the future,” he said.
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Champlain Valley Girl Wrestles Against Stereotypes
POSTED: 12:35 pm EST March 28, 2006
UPDATED: 12:36 pm EST March 28, 2006
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A Champlain Valley Union High School student is showing others that girls can participate in traditionally male-oriented sports.
Sierra Centerbar, 17, started wrestling at CVU two years ago.
Last weekend, she took first place in her weight class at the New York State competition for girls.
"I think sometimes we are looked over because we're not like the guys, exactly," Centerbar said. "They still accept us, and I suppose you maybe prove yourself you can do the things they can do."
Centerbar has plans to become a Burlington police officer.
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All-Empire 2006 Wrestlers of the Year
By RICH RUPPRECHT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT 3/28/06
Girls wrestling continues to grow at the high school level.
Next year the girls' state meet, which included about 300 competitors, is expected to be sanctioned by the CIF.
JACQUE DAVIS, Santa Rosa, Junior
It was a superb season for Davis, who won the NorCal regional tournament and finished third at state at 108 pounds, and then won the season-ending North Coast Section 114-pound weight class.
Davis was also one of the captains of the Santa Rosa High team and wrestled boys at her weight in league meets.
Davis started wrestling in middle school and has returned to help recruit more girl wrestlers for high school.
"She had an outstanding season," said Santa Rosa coach Blair Moreno. "She works hard and has determination."
Davis wrestles any chance she gets and plans on competing in the girls' nationals in Michigan next weekend.
"If I had more boys and girls like Jacque we'd have a championship team," Moreno said.
BRIONA HENDREN, Rancho Cotate, Sophomore
Hendren made great strides this year to emerge, at 15, as one of the top female wrestlers in the Empire high school ranks.
"There was a huge improvement," said Rancho wrestling coach Ron Lunsford. "She picks up moves very quickly, has a keen awareness on the mat and is very limber.
Hendren started competing in the sport in middle school and plans on continuing through high school.
Hendren, too, competed on the boys' team in league matches and posted a 5-2 record against boys in the NBL.
She lost just two matches this season to girls.
Hendren didn't compete in the regionals, was ill during the state meet and went 2-2 and won the NCS 108-pound division, winning her last two matches, including the championship, by pin.
She also won tournaments at Piner and Castro Valley.
Hendren said she doesn't mind losing to boys, because she said just wrestling them makes her better.
"I think I had more confidence this year," she said.
Her favorite move was an "arm bar," similar to the defensive move made by a policeman when he holds a suspect's hand behind his back.
GIRLS
JOSIE KRAUS
Montgomery, Sr., 132 pounds
Was ill during the regional and state meets, but came back strong to win the North Coast Section 132-pound championship. Wrestled throughout her high school career and ranks as one of the best female wrestlers ever in the Empire.
JASIMINE DIAZ
Sonoma, Sr., 103 pounds
One of the best female wrestlers in Sonoma history, Diaz won an NCS championship. Quick with good technique. Her coach was longtime Dragon boys' coach Roger Winslow.
LAUREN RUSSERT
Windsor, Sr., 146 pounds
Finished third at NCS, fifth at NorCal regional tournament and sixth at state. Wrestled against boys in league duals and even pinned a boy in a league meet. Determined and rebounded strong from her first year wrestling as a junior. A very good athlete with a background in soccer and track.
MONICA TORREY
Lower Lake, Jr., 108 pounds
Among the top wrestlers in Lake County, Torrey finished second to Jacque Davis at 108 pounds at the NorCal regionals and was sixth at the state meet. "She improved a lot," said coach Justin Gaddy. "She has a competitive fire and she's dedicated."
ANGELICA
DE LOS SANTOS
Upper Lake, So., 98 pounds
Finished second at the NCS championships and was fourth at the NorCal regionals. Quick and strong and considered a wrestler on the rise.
ANTONIA TREMBLAY
Rancho Cotate, Jr., 108 pounds
Finished third at NCS championships, losing to her teammate Briona Hendren. She has placed at sections all three years wrestling. "She works hard," said Rancho coach Ron Lunsford.
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Valley 'Showcase' provides quality competition
Monday, March 27, 2006
By Chris Allen/Sports editor
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The field wasn't deep, but there was plenty of quality Saturday during the Showcase of Women's Wrestling in Missouri Valley College's Burns Athletic Center.
Not only were the nation's top two collegiate programs represented, No. 1 Cumberlands (Ky.) and the Lady Vikings, but grapplers from the U.S. Olympic Training Center and a 2004 Olympic silver medalist competed.
As it was, the young Valley squad was sometimes overmatched -- coming away without any gold medals -- but occasionally held up.
For example, junior Tabithia Ramsey (48 kilograms) notched a 3-0, 1-1 decision over Cumberlands' Aquilla Hills and only lost to the USOTC's Sadie Kaneda -- ranked 10th among U.S. Senior Women by TheMat.com -- by a 1-0, 2-0 margin in the championship round.
If not for an injury in the finals, sophomore Rachel Billerbeck (59) may have tested No. 4 Othella Lucas of Cumberlands -- voted the tourney's "outstanding" senior wrestler -- instead of settling for a silver medal. Although sophomore Chaneal Meletia (63) couldn't touch U.S. Olympian Sara McMann of the Sunkist Kids during a 5-0, 6-0 loss, her two wins were good for third place.
Sophomore Emily Rinehart (67) also won two of her three matches to come in second, which is where freshman Sara Hilliard (72) wound up with a split. A forfeit gave freshman Elizabeth Hernandez (80) second place.
The two deepest divisions were 51 and 55 kilograms. The only Lady Vikings' medal in the lighter class was a third place claimed by freshman Samantha Schuman by beating three of four opponents -- even after losing the first round to freshman teammate Christina Varland by fall. Schuman had to defeat the Oklahoma Bad Girlz' Joey Miller, ranked ninth at 48 kg, in the first wrestleback, 3-1, 0-1, 1-0, and sixth-rated MVC junior Maika Watanabe in the medal round, 1-0, 1-0, to take a prize.
Junior Clarissa Calibuso and sophomore Courtney Martell each won once at 55, but neither finished in the money. Also picking up a win was sophomore Maria Dunn (63). Two former Valley wrestlers now with the USOTC team medalled: second place for Kiersten Hyatt (63) and first for Donell Bradley (80), one of the members of the Lady Vikings' inaugural group in '99.
The Showcase also involved wrestlers from the bantam and midget youth divisions and cadets/juniors among those in high school.
Valley will take part in the Can-An Open this coming weekend at Lake Orion, Mich.
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Middle school wrestled gender issue in athletics
By BILL CLARK
Published Sunday, March 26, 2006
10 years ago
March 27, 1996
The headline story dealt with wrestling at Gentry Middle School. The sport was offered to boys as an extracurricular activity. Girls were offered jump-rope.
When a surprising number of girls signed up for wrestling, Principal Kim Harding canceled the program.
In response, 100 students of both genders signed a petition to return the program. The reasons for the cancellation: There were no coaches with experience in girls’ wrestling, and it is psychologically devastating to young boys to lose to a girl.
March 28, 1996
Hank Waters chimed in editorially:
"Perhaps it could have been best to allow girls to have access to an intramural program side by side with the boys. In cases like this, it is often better to ask, ‘Why not?’ rather than ‘Why?’ "
Compiler’s note: Girls were not allowed to wrestle at Gentry, and the program was not reinstated. The sport is not a part of the middle school program in Columbia.
Girls are involved in wrestling at the varsity high school level in Missouri, though none wrestles in Columbia. Two girls qualified for the state championships last month, and one won a medal, the first ever by a girl.
25 years ago
March 26, 1981
Holme Hickman quit the Columbia City Council and dropped out of the Second Ward council race just two weeks before the election. In his final public act, the 63-year-old certified public accountant endorsed Paul Albert, a man he personally did not like, for the Second Ward seat.
Displeasure over a Missourian editorial that implied his recent move to support energy conservation was to appease his critics, he called the editorial "the last straw" in his decision about a role for which he had lost his enthusiasm.
March 30, 1981
The saga of Carol Watson continued. She had been selected by the Republican Central Committee to succeed Ken Geel as county assessor in a disputed vote.
Two Columbia legislators, Harold Reisch and Larry Mead, submitted a letter signed by many members of the committee, asking that Deborah Robison, a local certified public accountant, be appointed to fill Geel’s unexpired term.
Compiler’s note: Robison was, in fact, appointed by Gov. Kit Bond to fill Geel’s position. She did not run for election when her term expired.
50 years ago
March 26, 1956
The cornerstone for First Baptist Church was laid the day before, and completion was scheduled for the week before Christmas for the $450,000 structure.
The Rev. Lee Sheppard was the pastor, and C.M. Sneed was the building chairman. B.D. Simon was the contractor.
Val Patacchi, the music director, and Mrs. Fred Heinkel, the organist, provided the music for the ceremony. Mayor Howard Lang Sr. introduced the local dignitaries, including his son, Howard Lang Jr.
March 28, 1956
More than 500 fans turned out at New Franklin High School to watch two donkey basketball games. More than $140 was collected to help the city’s new park fund. Phillips 66 Horse Power beat the Turley Standard De-Icers, and, in a battle of high school girls, the Donkeyteers won over the Rough Riders.
Compiler’s note: Those were the days, my friend. The donkeys wore rubber shoes and went about the basketball business about as you’d think a donkey would. Donkey basketball in the winter and donkey softball in the summer were great draws in the days on each side of World War II.
75 years ago
March 27, 1931
Dick Nevins, a Hickman High School student, KO’d Kansas City’s Bill Franks in the fourth round of an amateur bout in Moberly. He was the only Columbian on the card.
March 30, 1931
Columbia High School won the state wrestling championship with 43 points, 19 more than runner-up University City. Columbia’s University High School was third with 15 points.
Championships were won by Dudley Glenn (115 pounds), D. "Toad" Daugherty (133 pounds), Moses Allen (145 pounds), John Woods (165 pounds) and Hal Clarke (heavyweight). Joe Estes took second place at 95 pounds and Worth DeBord at 156 pounds. Woods also was football captain and Hickman’s "Most Popular Boy."
100 years ago
March 30, 1906
"All 16 steel bridges recently purchased by the county court have been received and ready to be put in place when weather permits.
"Two will go on Rocheport-Harrisburg state road, one a mile south of Woodlandville, and one on Bonne Femme Creek, one at Providence, and three at Rocheport. The bridges are small, of modern steel construction, costing $250 each."
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"The Apollo Club, composed of male voices and organized in 1905 by Henry G. Cox, announced travel plans for the most extended tour ever taken by a local musical organization. The club will make at least a dozen stops in north Missouri and Iowa. Financial guarantees should make the trip a success. Sixteen of 22 club members will start June 7. Singers come from both the University of Missouri and town."
148 years ago
From the Missouri Statesman
March 26, 1858
The Statesman attached a speech made in Washington, D.C., by Congressman Thomas Anderson of Missouri’s Second Congressional District, then editorialized that:
"We announce it more in sorrow than in anger that the American Party representative in Congress from this district, Col. Anderson, proves himself a disorganizer and willingly faithless to the party which elected him.
"At all events, we unhesitatingly declare our position, and that is, we will support no disorganizer for Congress or any other office."
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Prices for Christian College for 1858-59:
Registration fee for the college year: $165.00. Included yearly expenses for board, washing, fuel and lights, tuition in all branches of the regular college courses. In addition: instrumental music - piano and guitar - $40; daily use of musical instrument - $10; drawing, painting and embroidery - $10 each; day students - $36 a year for college level and $24 for preparatory students.
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Prices for the Columbia Female School, which was entering its second year:
Two sessions of 20 weeks each cost $8 a session for prep students, $12 for freshmen, $14 for sophomores, $16 for juniors and $18 for seniors. Music instruction per session was $20 each for piano or guitar, and use of a musical instrument was $5 a session. French, Latin and Greek classes were $10 each. Painting and drawing were $10 each per session, but embroidery was only $3.
