Valley won five of eight medal matches, including a seventh place for freshman Samantha Schuman (top), at the U.S. Senior Nationals.
News Page
Africa's top wrestlers in South Africa next month
4/24/06
Africa's top Olympic wrestlers will be in action in Pretoria next month when South Africa's capital city hosts the 25th African championships.
Thirteen African countries have confirmed participation and more than 140 competitors are expected making this the biggest continental championships ever.
The four-day tournament will take place from May 11 to 14, with the first two days seeing competition in the Greco Roman style leading up to Olympic freestyle competition.
Egyptians are the favorites to retain the team titles they won in dominant fashion at the 2005 championships in Morocco, the South African media pointed out recently.
The Egyptian team has not been announced yet but may include the sensational Olympic champion, Karam Gaber Ibragim, voted the best wrestler of the 2004 Athens Olympics, said Johannesburg-based newspaper The Citizen.
Wrestlers such as Saleh Moustafa (96 kg) and Ashraf El-Garably have also made their mark on the international wrestling circuit.
Nigeria, one of the power-houses of freestyle wrestling in Africa for the past two decades, has entered a full component of 21 wrestlers, the newspaper said.
Northern African countries are traditionally strong in the Greco Roman style and it is expected that Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia will rake in a number of medals in the competition.
Mohamed Ataya of Tunisia, Morocco's Ahmed Mohamadi and, in the female division, Isabelle Sambou of Cameroon are all expected to defend their African titles.
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Girl wrestlers take down stereotypes
By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER 4/24/06
SAN LEANDRO — Two years ago, when Susan So told her parents she wanted to give wrestling a try, they were hesitant at first. Cross-country was one thing, but wrestling?
I was like, Please, I really want to try it,'" Susan recalled. Then they said, OK, but if you get hurt ...'"
Susan, a quick and deceptively powerful eighth-grader at San Leandros Bancroft Middle School, won the state championship in her weight class last season.
When she defended her title this weekend at the Second Annual California Girls Middle School State Championship Wrestling Tournament in Vallejo, her father planned to be there, she said.
It was the first time he has seen her wrestle.
In the past decade, girls have increasingly embraced the highly physical sport, which was — and still is, in some circles — considered a male realm.
Robert Redman, president of the California Womens Wrestling Association, says almost every middle school program has at least one girl, and that about 1,800 high school girls statewide competed in at least one tournament during the season.
No longer old school
Just 10 years ago, before a national girls tournament shattered Redmans assumptions about girls in wrestling and converted him into an advocate, he said he embraced an old school philosophy still held by some coaches: Girls are not supposed to be in the mat room.
This year, a girl from Alaska upended that philosophy by winning the state title, making U.S. history.
But Michaela Hutchisons victory didnt come as a surprise to those who have watched the sport evolve over the past decade, including Dave DAntonio, who has coached Bancroft Middle School teams for 15 years.
DAntonio has witnessed a gradual demographic shift in his program since 1993, when Yumi Onda became the first girl to join. But he also has seen notions of gender change, along with the teams makeup.
Tough to beat
Losing to a girl could have been enough to
make a boy cry even five years ago, DAntonio said, but that is no longer the case. In practice, he said, They wrestle hard and they push each other.
Mason Kendall, a sixth-grade wrestler at Bancroft, said he doesnt buy into the idea that girls arent as strong as boys or that they cant participate in the sport. I mean, Ive been taken down by a girl a couple of times, and Ive taken her down a couple of times, he said during a recent match.
To DAntonio, such progressive attitudes dont simply reflect a changing society; they make it easier for girls and boys to navigate the difficult years of adolescence with confidence.
At an all-girls practice last week, DAntonio looked on as about 15 athletes dragged themselves across the mat in a series of Army crawls and bear crawls.
Move, Evelyn, move, he called to eighth-grader Evelyn Perez, before privately praising her progress.
I think, overall, we still live in a society where girls are taught not to be as physical as boys, DAntonio said, between whistle blows. Now these girls are in one of the ultimate physical contact situations, and its inevitable, I think, that there will be an outgrowth of confidence and self-esteem.
Claudia Villalobos, an 11-year-old who stands at 4-foot-2, said her brother and father encouraged her to join the team, a decision she is happy she made.
Its been making me look forward to school, she said.
Katy Murphy covers education
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Crossing gender divide in school sports not new
By Charles Walsh 4/24/06
Oh yeah, spring vacation.
That had to be the reason officials of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference were not answering their phones or returning messages Friday afternoon.
Too bad.
It would have been fascinating to hear what the folks who control high school sports in this state had to say about the latest development in what is known as the "gender issue" in sports.
Wednesday of last week, Annie Houghton of Quaker Valley High School won the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League tennis championship. What made her accomplishment notable was that she whipped the best boy tennis player in Western Pennsylvania to take the trophy.
A girl is the best boy tennis player in Pennsylvania high schools. Houghton may also be the best girl tennis player in western Pennsylvania, too, but since she didn't play any girls, it's hard to say.
Girls playing on boys' teams are not exactly unheard of.
In Connecticut, we ran across a few cases of female athletes playing on boys' teams, but because the CIAC was on spring break, they couldn't be confirmed.
In lieu of the CIAC's institutional memory, we called on the Connecticut Post sports staff to see if they recalled girls playing on boys' teams in Fairfield County. Subject to the vicissitudes of memory, here's what we came up with.
? Aleena Cacchillo was a highly regarded goalie on the Emmett O'Brien tech boys' soccer team. Cacchillo showed her potential early. At age 8 she was the only girl playing in the 150-player Seymour Pop Warner youth football league. What? Oh, left guard. ? Pam Pillo of Shelton starred on the Notre Dame High School boys' tennis team and even made the Connecticut Post all-star team as a senior. She now plays for Sacred Heart University.
? Girl wrestlers on boys' teams would once have caused gasps at church coffee hours. Now they're all but commonplace. Both Central High School and Bullard-Havens Technical High School have co-ed wrestling teams. ? Ginny Capicchioni was a star goalie on the Sacred Heart University women's field hockey and lacrosse teams. Later she was the first woman to compete in a regular-season game for a major men's professional league when she was in the goal for the New Jersey Storm of the indoor National Lacrosse League.
So far as we could find out, no girls have played in contact positions on any varsity football teams for any state high schools. There have been a few place kickers, however.
The day after Houghton won her tennis championship in Pennsylvania, league officials urged high schools to come up with rules that would stop gender crossing in sports.
The problem, the officials told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was not so much the girls getting into the boys' sports, but the other way around. If girls can play on boys' teams, what is to stop boys from trying out for girls' teams? So Brad, you say mean old coach Schmorgle says you are too slow to do the 220-yard dash for the boys' track team, well just saunter over to the girls' gym where the track squad is holding tryouts. Bound to be somebody you can beat.
Actually, it has already happened in Massachusetts. (What hasn't?) At schools without a boys' field hockey team, boys have started going out for that sport, causing much consternation in athletic circles.
With the tendency in this society to sue for almost anything, how long will it be before the parents of some mediocre boy athlete takes the girls' volleyball coach to court for discriminating against their son?
Get ready CIAC, it's coming. Charles Walsh's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can reach him by phone at 330-6217 or by e-mail at cwalsh@ctpost.com.
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Lady Vikings score eight medals at Seniors
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
By Chris Allen/Sports Editor
|
Valley won five of eight medal matches, including a seventh place for freshman Samantha Schuman (top), at the U.S. Senior Nationals. |
LAS VEGAS -- Stephany Lee is back.
The junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, who missed the U.S. Senior Nationals last year due to a knee injury, finished second in the premier event Saturday at Las Vegas -- one of eight members of the Missouri Valley College women's wrestling team to medal.
Lee, No. 2 in the TheMat.com's Seniors rankings, ripped through the first two rounds of the 72 kilogram class decisively -- the second by fall -- and knocked off the Gator Wrestling Club's third-rated Ali Bernard in a tough semifinal, 1-0, 1-2, 4-3.
After a competitive 3-1 first-period loss in the finals against veteran Kristie Marano of Gator, Lee was pinned 20 seconds into the second frame. Still, she was a lot closer to the form she had shown two years ago when she crashed onto the scene by winning the College Nationals at Marshall over Olympian Toccara Montgomery before losing to the Cumberlands (Ky.) star in the title match at the World Team Trials.
Sophomore Rachel Billerbeck (63 kilograms) of Pflugerville, Texas, won her first two contests, both two-round shutouts, before dropping her final two -- the first to top-ranked champion Sara McMann of the Sunkist Wrestling Club, another 2004 U.S. Olympic team member -- to come in fourth.
Some of the Lady Vikings had to fight their way up the back side to medal, including freshman Michelle Hooker (67) -- who only lost two matches, both to Heather Martin of the NYA, and pinned Cumberlands' tough Shelly Ruberg for fifth place.
Junior Erika Chew (59) won three straight bouts before the medal round, finishing sixth. Senior Brooke Bogren also won three matches, last losing in the penultimate round, to place seventh in the same class.
Valley's grapplers performed especially well in the medal matches, taking five of eight. Freshman Samantha Schuman (51), junior Clarissa Calibuso (55) and freshman Lacey Novinska (72) each won at least twice to claim seventh place.
Sophomore Courtney Martell and freshman Sharlee Solis each picked up a pair of victories in the rugged 55 kilogram class. Also posting wins were juniors Tabithia Ramsey (48) and Maika Watanabe (51), sophomore Emily Rinehart (67) and freshman Karen Howe (59).
The list of former Lady Vikings who wound up near the top was also impressive, including Clarissa Chun -- a member of Valley's inaugural squad in 2000 -- who won the 48 kilogram championship for the Sunkist club.
Each of the MVC medallists qualified for the World Team Trials at Colorado Springs in June. In the meantime, the Lady Vikings will make a trip to Front Range of the Rockies May 6-7 for the Body Bar FILA University Nationals.
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4/23/06
Girls
Most Outstanding Wrestler
AWBREY LOWE
School, grade: Hanks, junior.
Weight class: 102 pounds.
Record: 37-1.
Noteable: A two-time state champion and one of only two El Paso girls to bring home a state gold medal. Lowe, who won the regional title as well, is only the second girl at Hanks to win consecutive state wrestling titles.
Coach of the Year
Anthony Carter
School: Hanks.
Noteable: Led the Knights to a third-place finish at the regional meet, qualifying three of their five wrestlers to the state championships. The trio finished first, third and fifth at state; was All-City Coach of the Year in 2005.
First Team
BLUE MONTOYA
School, grade: Chapin, sophomore.
Weight class: 95 pounds.
Record: 29-1.
Noteable: Placed second at state after going 3-1; finished first at regionals.
CARMEN PINA
School, grade: El Paso High, sophomore.
Weight class: 110 pounds.
Record: 31-7.
Noteable: Finished fourth at regionals and went 2-2 at the state tournament.
ASHLEY RIZO
School, grade: Hanks, junior.
Weight class: 119 pounds.
Record: 38-3.
Noteable: Placed fifth at state after going 4-2; finished first at regionals.
NORMA RUEDA
School, grade: Socorro, senior.
Weight class: 128 pounds.
Record: 41-3.
Noteable: State champion after winning silver as a junior; finished first at regionals, where she was named Outstanding Girl Wrestler of the Meet.
LORRAINE HERRERA
School, grade: Andress, freshman.
Weight class: 138 pounds.
Record: 34-7.
Noteable: Finished second at regionals and went 2-2 at the state tournament.
JASMINE QUEZADA
School, grade: Bowie, senior.
Weight class: 148 pounds.
Record: 19-6.
Noteable: Finished third at regionals and went 1-2 at the state tournament.
JANIE GONZALEZ
School, grade: Hanks, junior.
Weight class: 165 pounds.
Record: 31-4.
Noteable: Placed third at state after going 4-1; finished second at regionals.
SAM AGUIRRE
School, grade: Eastwood, sophomore.
Weight class: 185 pounds.
Record: 32-4.
Noteable: Finished second at regionals and went 0-2 at the state tournament.
TAYLER YOCUM
School, grade: Eastwood, sophomore.
Weight class: 215 pounds.
Record: 35-3.
Noteable: Placed sixth at state after going 3-3; finished first at regionals.
Second Team
95 pounds: Nicole Silva, So., Montwood.
102 pounds: Cessy Carroll, Sr., Eastwood.
110 pounds: Brianna Cervantes, Sr., Eastwood.
119 pounds: Gloria Rios, Sr., Irvin.
128 pounds: Brenda Mendoza, So., Franklin.
138 pounds: Christie Attaguille, Sr., Americas.
148 pounds: Monica Gomez, Sr., Burges.
165 pounds: Lillian Vasquez, Jr., Burges.
185 pounds: Gabby De La Parra, Sr., Americas.
215 pounds: Deja Borders, Sr., Americas.
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