News

Back to the drawing board for seventh title

Bill Doucet, Cambridge(May 19, 2006)

Say hello to the new Ohenewa Akuffo. At first glance, it's hard to tell the difference. She's still the muscular, well-defined freestyle wrestler who won her first senior national wrestling title in 1997 as a junior. And her demeanour hasn't changed; she remains bright, positive and confident. So what's so new about Akuffo - everything.

With her sights set on a seventh national championship - five as a senior and two in junior - a top-five finish in the world championships and a spot on the Olympic team next year, Akuffo went back to the drawing board.

First, she hired Canadian Olympic hurdler Mark McKoy as her strength and conditioning coach. He helped her work on her base strength, flexibility and speed. He was also her biggest motivater.

"It helps when you have someone who has already been there (to the top)," Akuffo said.

"He's helped me see the big picture a lot more. He'll say, 'yes, you can achieve all this, but you have to do this first'. He knows what it takes to be the best. He also keeps me working towards my goals and there really aren't any excuses that work on him."

Akuffo also paired down her usually hectic wrestling schedule. Instead of entering tournaments every month - while they are international events against some of the best in the world, they serve little purpose except for a forum to improve and keep active - she decided to focus on a 10-day training camp in Tokyo, Japan in January, then work on some new moves and techniques in preparation for the national championships two weeks ago.

Akuffo cut into her competition like a hot knife through butter. She started off by beating Carissa Holinaaty 6-0 and 3-0, before pinning Emily McCague in 56 seconds to advance to the finals.

Facing Hayley Mcleary, Akuffo won once again in straight rounds, 2-0 and 1-0, ending the tournament without allowing her opponents to earn a point against her.

"There were some things I wanted to fix and add going in, so I decided to try them at the nationals," she said.

"I really felt rejuvenated, because I added some new moves and it gave me some new toys to play with. It's always nice when you go into a match and pull out something different. It also boosts your confidence when you're good at something and you can add to it and see how it works.

"Plus, it's nice to keep my opponents guessing, especially when there's always up and coming wrestlers trying to take your spot. I want to make them earn that spot if they want to take it from me."

Winning her fifth senior Canadian championship - and fourth in the past six years - Akuffo will try and attain her second goal of the season tomorrow when she begins her hunt for a world championship in Nagoya, Japan.

After finishing seventh last year in Budapest, Akuffo feels she's poised for a top-five performance. That will put her in good standing for next year, when a spot in the top five means an automatic berth for Canada in the Olympics.

Then it's up to Akuffo to finish first in her weight category in the Olympic trials. She finished second at the qualifiers in 2003, as she was hampered by a separated acromioclavicular joint in her shoulder.

She had injured the shoulder prior to the trials and tried to rehab it, by she re-injured the joint in her second match.

"Top five in the world would certainly be better for me next year, but finishing there this year will help me know what it takes to do it next year," she said.

Not wanting to look too far into the future, Akuffo is focusing her talents on this weekend's world stage. In an interesting twist, the worlds breaks down into an individual and team competition. Besides needing to win individual matches for rankings, Canada will face off in a best-of-seven series of matches - with wrestlers from different weight classes - against the Ukraine. A win means the team continues on. Also in the competition are Japan, China, U.S. and Russia.

And Akuffo admits that she's ready.

"Pushing my strength and conditioning with Mark has helped me cut out the injuries and allowed my body to be as healthy as possible. That's good, because any bit of pain tends to make you take your mind off the match and that's always a mistake."

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Female wrestler pins hopes on college scholarship, travel
Fowlerville girl is ranked No. 1 in her weight class

By Tim Robinson 5/22/06
Special to the State Journal

HOWELL - Paige Rife, a junior at Fowlerville High School, is all about testing her limits. But even she had to admit defeat in one area of her life last year.

"I was wrestling on the boys team, and on the cheerleading team," she said. "I would go to wrestling practice, then cheer practice, then wrestle some more, and I wasn't getting home until 9:30 at night. I loved (cheerleading), but my schedule was way too hectic. It wore me out."

So she gave up cheerleading to concentrate on wrestling.

And for good reason. Despite last year's tough schedule, she won her weight division at USA Wrestling's national championships and repeated it again a week ago.

That qualifies her for a trip to Beijing, China, with the U.S. team in June.

"I didn't get to go last year, but they called me this year and said 'We want you to go to China.' And I thought, whoa, this is an honor," she said. "And they said, 'It costs $3,000,' and I'm thinking, I don't have any $3,000."

As it turns out, USA wrestling will kick in $800, but Rife needs to come up with the balance by June 20.

"I'm just trying to come up with ways to raise money, somehow, to get it quick, because $2,200 is still a lot of money. "

Rife has been wrestling since she was a youngster, tagging along to a younger brother's meets and bugging her dad to let her try. A broken arm slowed things the first year, but Rife has been wrestling ever since.

"I want to wrestle for as long as I can," she says. "I look at it as an opportunity to travel places I might not ever travel to otherwise. It can get me a college scholarship. That's my dream, to go to college, and right now I can wrestle and go for free."

At nationals, she wrestled up an age division and nearly pinned the junior champion at 67 kilograms (147.4 pounds) in the opening seconds of their match before losing. She won one of four matches that day, then had to work out and cut weight to get down to the 65 kg limit (143 pounds).

Rife wrestles with the TNT wrestling club, run by her father, Dave, and based in Fowlerville. Dave Rife, a 1982 graduate of Fowlerville, wrestled on the senior circuit for several years and his sons wrestle in freestyle tournaments and have won age-level national titles on their own.

She has dealt with snide comments from parents and male wrestlers who weren't enamored with the idea of wrestling a girl, as well as the looks of amazement for her avocation.

Currently, she is listed as the top-ranked high school girl in the country at 152 pounds, and looks much lighter.

"I get that from a lot of people," she says. "They find out what I weigh and say, 'No way.' "

Rife is considering options for her career after high school, including the possibility of attending Northern Michigan and entering the Olympic training program in Marquette.

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Silver for wrestlers

NAGOYA, Japan -- 5/22/06

Canada won the silver medal at the women's wrestling World Cup yesterday with a loss in the finals to host Japan.

Chiharu Icho defeated world bronze medallist Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., to lead Japan to its third straight women's title.

Canada had advanced to the final with preliminary round wins over China and Russia. Japan beat the U.S. and Ukraine en route to the finals.

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Canada runner-up

5/22/06

Canada won the silver medal at the women's wrestling World Cup with a loss in the finals to host Japan. Chiharu Icho defeated world bronze-medallist Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., to lead Japan to its third straight women's title. Icho downed Huynh in the 48-kilogram category to give Japan a 4-0 lead on its way to a 6-1 win over the Canadians. Canada had advanced to the final with preliminary round wins over China and Russia. Japan beat the U.S. and Ukraine en route to the finals. The Canadians were fourth at the 2005 World Cup.

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Top High School Athlete Honorees

Web-posted Monday, May 22, 2006

Wrestling: Angel Diaz, Tascosa

Diaz, a Tascosa senior, put the finishing touches on a dominating high school career in February when she won her third state wresting title in four years.

After winning a state title at 102 pounds as a freshman and at 110 pounds as a junior, Diaz entered this year's state tournament undefeated at 100 pounds. In short order, she pinned Frisco Centennial's Breanna McNeil in 19 seconds and Houston Langham Creek's Courtney McGuire in 59 seconds. She then beat Austin Crockett's Alicia Sherill, 16-2, in the semifinals and Hereford's Georgette Villegas, 19-4, in the final.

"Watching what she's done has been phenomenal because of her work ethic in the mat room," Tascosa coach Johnny Cobb said. "She's not only talented and meaner than a junk yard dog, but she has that work ethic to go with it. Her senior year was great to watch because she was able to go out and dominate the state tournament and she made straight As for the first time in her life."

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