News

This Girl Can Beat Boys In Wrestling

Mitch Chortkoff 6/8-14/06

Mirror Sports Writer

A lot of stories have been written on these pages about outstanding high school athletes – baseball players, softball players, boys who excel in football, volleyball and basketball, girls who excel in basketball and volleyball and so forth.

But this is the first one I've written – and I believe the first one I've seen – about a girl who can beat boys in wrestling.

There is such an athlete at Santa Monica High, a junior named Jasmine Green, who prefers to be called Jazy.

She has won three state individual championships and has finished second in the nation in competition with girls. In addition, she finished second in the Ocean League boys’ competition. In the state meet she defeated a boy in three straight matches before being defeated.

How does she do it at 115 pounds or less?

“She's in the top one percent of strength among girls,” said Samohi wrestling coach Mark Black. “She has the strength of 70 percent of boys her age.”

Green is one of three girls who wrestle in boys’ meets at Samohi. She is regarded to have the potential to ultimately qualify for the Olympics.

That's in the future. Green has one year of high school competition left.

“If she could reach the state in boys’ competition, that would satisfy a goal,” said Black. “She's an outstanding student, someone who asks the right questions, works extremely hard, asks for no considerations because she's a girl. She has superior technique.”

She's also a fierce competitor and has a trait the great ones have in any sport.

“I wouldn't want to oppose her if she lost her last match,” said Black. “You might get her once but it's unlikely you'll get her twice.”

Green competed in gymnastics and other sports when she was growing up in Santa Monica.

“She was an elite athlete before she got to us,” said Black. “She was third in the league as a freshman. She defeated seniors. She's a real, true athlete.”

Black was the Samohi wrestling coach in the '70s. He left in the '80s and Norm Lacy became the coach. Lacy, best known as the last coach to win a CIF football championship at Samohi, coached a wrestler named Laurence Jackson, who is considered to be the best in Viking history.

Jackson was undefeated in three weight classes for three years. He joined the army, became an all-army wrestler and is believed to now be serving in Iraq.

Green has the potential to obtain a college wrestling scholarship. Should she become Olympic caliber, there could be wrestling for women by then. In the last Olympics, women’s wrestling was a demonstration sport in four weight classes.

Black, who returned to coach Samohi wrestling in 1987, is working with another premier Westside competitor in his duties with the Santa Monica Bay Wrestling Club.

She's Hannah Askren, from Hamilton High, who became a three-time All-American and is trying to qualify for advanced international competition.

Samohi has another excellent wrestler in Yousef Syed, who didn't place but won several matches at the state meet.

“In wrestling there isn't Division 1, 2, 3 and so forth,” said Black. “There's one class, and if you're in you beat the best from 890 schools. There are 400 in Southern California alone.”

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AMERICAS CUP for WOMEN
DRAWING QUANTITY AND QUALITY

Less than two weeks out, the oldest Women's Wrestling invitational in the country looks like another good one. The AMERICAS CUP will feature many of the nation's top young female competitors.
The CUP, held in conjunction with USA Wrestling's Southern Plains Kids/Cadets Championship and Festival, is scheduled for the weekend of June 15-18, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Founders David Stormo and Rusty Davidson organized the first AMERICAS CUP in 1992.
"Back in the day, before Women's Wrestling was accepted in the mainstream, we saw a need," said Davidson. "We believed the sport was legitimate and that female competitors deserved quality events. Now that we are an Olympic sport, we want to continue to serve developing women."
The 2006 AMERICAS CUP already has a 16 member delegation from Puerto Rico committed. Women from Wyoming, Arizona, and the Southern Plains Region are registered. "As always, we want to make sure everyone knows they're invited," Davidson said. "We want to make sure all our athletes get plenty of action."
Information, flyer, and details for the event are available on themat.com under the 'Schedules' banner. Registration is open to women of all ages, and will be accepted on-site.
Female athletes will be able to compete in as many as four events, during the Southern Plains Festival. The New Mexico Games has extended an special invitation to athletes for all states, and hosts a separate Women's Division. The NMG event takes place all day Thursday, June 15th.
Weigh Ins for the AMERICAS CUP are that Thursday. Competition begins Friday morning, June 16th. Women, Cadets and younger, who are residents of Southern Plains states are also eligible to compete in the boys' freestyle event on Saturday, June 17th.
The Festival will also feature an AMERICAS CUP of BEACH WRESTLING, including Women's Divisions. Preliminary rounds will be held on the evenings of June 15 and 16. Finals are scheduled for the evening of Saturday, June 17.
"It may seem like an old-fashioned concept," Davidson commented. "We still think wrestling people enjoy being invited, rather than expected. We believe wrestling is fun, first, and that kids of all ages and both genders should enjoy all our sport has to offer."