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She’s on the top of the heap
Local named ‘most outstanding female wrestler’ of B.C.
By Reporter Sylvie Paillard
spaillard@squamishchief.com 4/8/06
It’s hard to believe, but beneath Andrea Cordero-Sapién’s diminutive exterior lurks one tough athlete.
Despite breaking her nose more than 30 times, broken ribs, torn muscles, a hyper-extended and dislocated elbow, causing tendonitis, wrestler Cordero-Sapién has reached the top of her class in B.C. The 17 year-old recently won the B.C. Secondary Schools female wrestling provincial title in the heaviest weight class. The province’s secondary school coaches also decided that the athlete should receive the Art E. Miller award for the year’s Outstanding Female Wrestler in B.C.
“I feel great,” said Cordero-Sapién. “I worked very hard and although it took a while it most definitely paid off.”
Cordero-Sapién went into the B.C. Secondary Schools competition expecting to win gold in a group of 22 “worthy opponents,” she said. B.C. wrestling coaches, officials and directors decided all the seedings according to previous competition results and since Cordero-Sapién had an undefeated season, she was given first seeding.
“Some people see seeding as an advantage,” she said. “I personally would have rather not been seeded and been the underdog for the competition, just because there is less pressure that way.”
But the pressure wasn’t enough to faze the young athlete. There was a total of only four points scored against her during the entire tournament and none scored against in the final.
Cordero-Sapién lives in Squamish and trains four days a week at her North Vancouver high school, St. Thomas Aquinas, with coach Joe Galat. She also turns heads training three days a week with the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club at Simon Fraser University (SFU), and has been offered a full wrestling scholarship once she graduates.
Despite the potential for injury and pain, Cordero-Sapién’s parents fully support her in her pursuits.
“Both of my parents are very supportive, but my mom in particular is always there to support me with my wrestling,” she said. “She is there through the good and the bad. She is awesome to me; she has only missed three out of the hundreds of matches I have had in five years.”
Cordero-Sapién admits to being “a little accident-prone” and credits Dr. Kim Buschmann with helping her recuperate in record time.
“He is a saint,” she said.
But none of the pain has made her consider quitting.
“Although my injuries have been severe at times, I love wrestling way too much to quit because of a silly injury. I love what I do, whether I am in pain or not. I refuse to quit.”
Cordero-Sapién heads to the Nationals competition in Edmonton in two weeks where she’s expected to place as well or better than her fourth place national standing in 2005.
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Near-blind teen trains for judo competition
insidebayarea.com 4/7/06
WATCHING Jordan Mouton, a 16-year-old junior at Cypress Falls High School in Houston, perform judo recently at Cahill's Judo Academy in San Bruno, you would never know that she is severely visually-impaired. She was training to compete from June 28 to July 4 in the World Championship for Judo in Grommet, France.
At age 8, Mouton was found to have Rod/Cone Dystrophy, a name given to a wide range of eye conditions, but was able to continue playing soccer until she was 12. "When I was forced to give up soccer, a sport I truly loved and was very good at, I was really devastated," she said. "One day, I'll be totally blind."
In July, Mouton attended a United States Association of Blind Athletes sports camp in Colorado Springs, where she met Willy Cahill, owner of Cahill's Judo Academy. Cahill, a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame as Judo Instructor of the Year 1975, has served as coach to Stanford University, the U.S. team for Pan American Games, the World Championships and the Olympics.
Cahill recognized Mouton's athletic ability and encouraged her to start judo in Houston. She then came to San Bruno on March 6-10 to learn from the master himself. She was accompanied by her mother, Suzanna, while her father, David, and brother, Hunter, rooted for her back home.
"I like the energy of judo," said Mouton. "I've always liked being active. It gets your adrenaline going. I'm a yellow belt in the 52-kilo weight class, but I'm working towards a green belt."
"She's always had a competitive spirit," added her mom. "She also participates in wrestling at her high school, as did her brother before he began college."
An amazing teenager, Jordan was recognized as such last year on Oprah's "Make Your Wildest Dream Come True" show and had her wildest dream fulfilled by meeting actor Ashton Kutcher.
To learn more about Jordan, visit: http://www.judoolympics.com.
To reach her judo goals, Jordan needs help funding her travel to training and competitions. To sponsor her or to give a donation, make check payable to Blind Judo Foundation and mail to same at: Wells Fargo, Acct. No. 100-3854484, Crossroads Branch, 19704 No. Freeway, Houston, TX 77065.
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Sisters earn national wrestling titles
Star-Bulletin staff 4/7/06
Sisters Teshya and Teniya Alo of Ewa Beach won their respective age-group titles at last weekend's U.S. Girls Wrestling Association National Championship in Detroit.
The two Punahou School students competed in the elementary school division. Teshya, 8, is also a Hawaii state champion in judo, wrestling and jujitsu, and Teniya, 7, has a state title in judo.
In high school action, Iolani's Keiko Akamine (100 pounds) and Punahou's Kara Takasaki (138) finished fifth. Iolani's Olivia Fatongia was sixth (165), Kailua's Kiele Lehel was seventh (165) and Kalaheo's Stephanie Geltmacher (134) was ninth. Iolani's Carla Watase (105) and Kailua's Monique Dilliner (144) finished 10th. And Iolani's Megan Morisada (105) placed 11th.
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Roses to co-winners of Bergstein Award
Midland Daily News 04/08/2006
* Andrea Parkinson, who won the middle school 123.5-pound weight class at the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships.
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Bakely and Curry going for state titles
By Geoff Cowles, News Sports Write 3/10/06
MOUNT VERNON — Saturday’s USGWA Ohio Girl’s State Wrestling Tournament, to be held at Pleasant Street Elementary on Saturday at 10 a.m., will feature many top female wrestlers from around the state. Among them will be a pair of Mount Vernon girls, Renay Bakely and Lindsay Curry, both of whom are also part of the Mount Vernon High School wrestling team.
Curry, who has had an injury-plagued season, is coming off a very good showing in the Arnold Classic in Columbus. Now healthy, she is ready for Saturday.
“I think I should do pretty good. I don’t know how many girls are going to be there, so I’m not sure. I don’t know what to expect,” said Curry.
Her teammate, Bakely, also fresh from the Arnold classic, said, “I’m just trying to keep my weight down and stuff, and just finishing training. It’s what I have been working for all year. Just trying to keep my focus — that’s it.”
“Renay is a very dedicated wrestler,” said her coach, Mike Oswalt. “She spends a lot of time working out. She has grown in the sport. She has grown in all of her sports. As far as wrestling goes, Renay is ready to go to the next level.”
Both girls were led into the sport by wrestling brothers. Following in thier footsteps is something both girls are used to. Now, though, it is their time to shine.
“My brother wrestles, and it just seemed interesting, so I just started from there,” Bakley said. “I always looked up to him.”
“When Renay started coming in and working with us, we had all the older and bigger girls,” Oswalt recalled, “and there was this little, tiny, skinny girl (Renay) in there, giving it everything she had. We were scrapping every boy around that we could find that was close to her size to be her workout partner. She was determined when she was young to wrestle and she has hung with it.”
Curry had another influence, in addition to her brother.
“When I was deciding to join the high school team, it was Vanessa Oswalt who encouraged me,” said Curry. “It is Vanessa’s dad, Mike Oswalt, who drives me down to Columbus West (High School for practice).”
Mike Oswalt said, “Lindsay has really turned it on the last two years. Her problem has been injuries and that has slowed Lindsay down to the point that she has had difficulties trying to fight back, trying to get back on the mat and trying to get back into the swing of things. In the last few weeks she has stepped up tremendously.
“Down in Columbus (at the Arnold Classic) that was a difficult weight class (110) that she was in and she did really well and she hit a lot of stuff that she had hit in the past,” said Oswalt.
The decision to wrestle was more of a foregone conclusion for the 100-pound Bakely, who said, “I have been going to wrestling since I was little, so I have been around it pretty much all my life.”
Neither girl seems to be bothered by the fact that there is no girls-only wrestling in state high schools.
“I’m not really bothered because wrestling with the (boys) teams really helps me a lot more. Guys are a lot stronger. Wrestling against stronger people helps,” said Bakely.
Curry encounters very few problems, in spite of being the only girl at some tournaments.
“The guys are pretty good about it,” explained Curry, who mentioned that, once in a while, a parent of an opposing team member might be uncomfortable with the fact that she is a girl.
“Someone was talking to my mom at a tournament where I was the only girl,” said Curry, He was saying stuff to my mom about a girl wrestling. My mom told him, ‘Oh that’s my daughter out there,’ he didn’t know and he said, ‘Are you serious? You don’t mind her out there with them?’ Then he wouldn’t talk and went off somewhere else.”
It takes plenty of quickness and finesse to compete with the boys, but there is also seasoning. Conditioning is also important in a sport like wrestling.
“It just comes from experience and years of wrestling,” Bakely said. “I go running. I play softball and I go from one sport to another. I play soccer, softball and I wrestle, so I remain in shape all year. I run and play in other sports and that just keeps me in shape.”
“We have girls practice on Mondays and Wednesdays (at Pleasant Street Elementary),” said Curry.
They also regularly attend a girls clinic with a number of other area wrestlers down at Columbus West.
Although neither girl has decided on her future, both are considering Cumberland College, the top school for women’s wrestling in their future.
“I am not sure if I want to wrestle because I want to be a nurse and wrestling takes up so much time. I’m really not sure.” said Curry.
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Mar 29 2006 Sports Briefs
n Two wrestlers from Kamloops continue to find success in the world of women's freestyle wrestling. Hayley McLeary, a 2005 high school graduate, recently triumphed at the Canadian Junior Female Wrestling Championships in Fredricton, N.B.
She defeated Jocelyn Dresser in the 72-kg final. McLeary will go on to represent Canada in September at the World Junior Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Guatemala.
Another Kamloops secondary school graduate (2003), Miranda Dick, was recently presented with the Premiers Award as the top female wrestler in B.C.
Dick, a third-year university wrestler at Simon Fraser University, had an outstanding year in 2005.
She won the CIS university championship, won her third national junior championship, was third at the national senior female championship and placed seventh at the world junior championships.
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Newman University is now accepting women wrestlers and scholarships are available. The young ladies will not compete against the men. They will compete against other women. If you have any questions, please call me at 316-942-4291 ext. 2447 or email me at stovallm@newmanu.edu
Thank You,
Mark Stovall
Head Wrestling Coach
Newman Universi