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JAMES CHRISTIE 7/6/06

The bruises and wrenched knees and head slaps never brought tears to the eyes of Christine Nordhagen-Vierling.

What made Canada's greatest female wrestler cry was a phone call on her 35th birthday last week, with the news that she is to be the first woman inducted into wrestling's international hall of fame.

"It's a huge honour to be the first female chosen and I'm so proud to be a Canadian doing it," said Nordhagen-Vierling, who wore the Maple Leaf at nine world championships and brought back hardware from eight of them, including six world championship gold medals.

Officially, Nordhagen-Vierling, from the hamlet of Valhalla Centre, near Grande Prairie, Alta., is being recognized by the Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA), the international Olympic governing body for the sport of wrestling.

The ceremony will take place during the world wrestling championships Sept. 23 to Oct. 2 at Guangzhou, China. The permanent display of honorees is housed at the Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Okla.

"In my career, I had a really good win streak and lot of that has to do with my husband, Leigh, who's been a phenomenal coach in getting me ready for all those championships, and, sure, a little luck was involved," Nordhagen-Vierling said.

"For Chris, it's an acknowledgment of her career as legitimate, respected around the world," Leigh Vierling said.

Nordhagen-Vierling was not a wrestler who went to the mat with a mean streak and a scowl. She says she never ran well using hate as a fuel, as some athletes do. Her modus operandi involved a smile of confidence and the work ethic of a girl raised on a farm where the labours didn't have genders.

"For me, it was all about opportunity," said Nordhagen-Vierling, who started winning titles at Canada's first national championship in 1992.

When she began competing at world championships in 1993, there were fewer than 150 Canadian women registered in wrestling. Now, there are more than 4,000, not counting those at the high-school level, says Greg Mathieu, executive director of the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association.

"Winning was about keeping perspective, that it's an opportunity to succeed," Nordhagen-Vierling said. "I'd have fun and feel lucky to be there. Leigh had me thinking of the training sessions as putting money in the bank, and tournaments were the chance to spend it all, put it all out there on the line and not worry about losing. It took pressure off the final result."

Being the first woman in the hall of fame breaks a barrier, but citified gender hurdles weren't something that Nordhagen-Vierling had to deal with as she grew up.

"In a farm family, there's a different perspective," she said. "I had a mother who did everything my father did, because on a grain and cattle farm, things have to get done. . . . There were some gender stereotypes -- she cooked more than my father did -- but she also fixed machines, carried loads. It wasn't an option for me to say I can't do things because I'm female."

Nordhagen-Vierling helped get the women's side of the sport into the Olympics for the first time at Athens in 2004, where she finished fifth. She'd beaten most of the women in the field, but in the last days of her career, though she'd maintained the reflexes of a cat, she'd acquired the knees of Bobby Orr.

Nordhagen-Vierling's next foray will be coaching Canadian junior women. In the meantime, she has a busy public speaking schedule on behalf of gas and oil companies, serving as a motivator and role model for schools.

Nordhagen-Vierling is one of nine wrestlers being inducted this year, a class representing 30 individual world titles and eight Olympic gold medals.

Joining Nordhagen-Vierling in the freestyle category is: Soslan Andiev, two-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion for the former Soviet Union; Leri Chabelov of Russia, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion; Il Kim of North Korea, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion; and Shozo Sasahara of Japan, a 1956 Olympic gold medalist and 1954 world champion.

The Greco-Roman style honorees are: Frank Andersson of Sweden, a four-time world champion and 1984 Olympic bronze medalist; Nikolai Balboshin, a five-time world champion and 1976 Olympic gold medalist for the former Soviet Union; Maik Bullman of Germany, a three-time world champion and 1992 Olympic gold medalist; and Islam Dugushiev of Azerbaijan, a four-time world champion and 1992 Olympic silver medalist.

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WEEKEND UPDATE: Plenty of firepower featured on Women's World Team

Craig Sesker and Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
07/06/2006

Experience wont be a problem for the United States women's freestyle team when it heads to the World Championships this fall.

The Americans figure to put a strong team on the mat in China with five past World medalists on the team in Kristie Marano, Sara McMann, Patricia Miranda, Tina George and Katie Downing making the 2006 World Team.

Past World Team member Erin Tomeo also earned a spot on the American squad during the U.S. World Team Trials on June 30 at Colorado Springs Christian School.

Marano made her eighth World Team, but first since 2003. She is a two-time World champion and seven-time World medalist.

Marano qualified at 72 kg/158.5 pounds and will be joined on the American team by Miranda (51 kg/112 lbs.), George (55 kg/121 lbs.), Tomeo (59 kg/130 lbs.), McMann (63 kg/138.5 lbs.) and Downing (67 kg/147.5 lbs.). Miranda, Tomeo, McMann and Downing compete for the Sunkist Kids. Marano wrestles for the New York Athletic Club and George competes for the U.S. Army.

Those six wrestlers qualify for the World Championships on Sept. 26-Oct. 2 in Guangzhou, China.

The seventh and final spot on the U.S. team has still not been decided. Mary Kelly of the New York Athletic Club won the World Team Trials at 48 kg/105.5 pounds and will face U.S. Nationals champion Clarissa Chun of the Sunkist Kids at a later date for a spot on the team. Chun is recovering from a knee injury and is permitted to wrestle-off at a later date by virtue of winning the U.S. Nationals.

Marano came out aggressively in the finals against Stephany Lee, a past World University champion. Marano rolled to a 6-0 first-period win before pinning Lee in the second period. Marano won the second match 2-0, 1-0.

McMann coasted to a pair of lopsided wins over Alaina Berube of the New York Athletic Club. McMann is shooting for her fourth straight World-level medal this year. She won silver at the 2003 World Championships and 2004 Olympics before earning a bronze medal at the 2005 World meet. The 25-year-old McMann has made the last six U.S. World Teams, in addition to being a 2004 Olympian.

Miranda, who took last year off to focus on her first year of Law School after winning a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics, swept Jenny Wong in a pair of tight matches in the finals. Miranda is a two-time World silver medalist.

George, a two-time World silver medalist, made her seventh World Team by outlasting U.S. Nationals champion Sharon Jacobson in a physical, bruising series in the finals. George won the first match 1-1, 4-6, 5-3 before prevailing 6-4, 7-1 in the second match.

Downing, a 2005 World bronze medalist, pinned Stefenie Shaw in the first period of their first bout. She then came back with a dominant 7-0, 5-0 win in the second bout.

Tomeo made her second World Team, but first since 2001, by knocking off two-time World bronze medalist Sally Roberts of the Gator Wrestling Club in the finals. Roberts won the first period of the first match 11-5 before Tomeo rebounded to pin her in the third period. Tomeo won the first period of the second match 7-4 before rallying from a 4-0 deficit in the second period by catching Roberts on her back to win 5-4.

Kelly pinned seven-time World Team member and past World silver medalist Stephanie Murata of the Sunkist Kids in both matches of their championship series. Kelly now will try to knock off Chun at a later date to make her first World Team. Kelly beat Murata for the first time in her career.

The U.S. World Team Trials for women typically are held in conjunction with the Trials for men's freestyle and Greco-Roman. But the women's event had to be held at a later date this year because of a conflict with the Women's World Cup.

Junior Duals: Illinois, Missouri win titles

Illinois captured the Junior Dual National Championships by winning 10 of 15 matches against New Jersey in posting a 39-21 freestyle victory in the final round on July 2.

Ohio defeated Iowa 37-23 in the match for third place. The Ohio team won 11 of 15 bouts in the dual. In the fifth-place match, Oklahoma 1 defeated California Silver 36-27. In the seventh-place match, Pennsylvania defeated Florida 48-20.

Missouri downed Illinois 33-28 on June 29 in the finals of the Junior Duals in Greco-Roman.

Coming Up: All roads lead to the FargoDome

The countdown to Fargo continues.

Every year, the nation’s best young wrestlers come together for the world’s largest wrestling competition, the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals at the FargoDome in Fargo, N.D.

This competition produces great stories of champions, many who go on to glory in college wrestling, and ultimately at the World and Olympic levels. In 2005, the big story from Fargo was the record-setting performance by Brent Metcalf of Michigan, who tied the national record of six career Junior National titles after winning his third straight double championship on the center mats.

The tournament is scheduled for July 22-29 and is expected to feature outstanding wrestlers in every weight class.

The Junior Nationals features high school wrestlers in grades 9-12. Returning Junior National double champions, winners of both freestyle and Greco-Roman, are Boris Novachkov of California (98) and David Craig of Florida (171).

Junior National freestyle champions who are eligible to return are Mark Kist of Iowa (105) and Mike Grey of New Jersey (125). A returning Junior National Greco-Roman champions is Marty Eng of Oregon (105).

The Cadet Nationals are for wrestlers who are 15 and 16 years old. One of the exciting stars expected back this year is 2005 Cadet National double champion Tyrell Fortune of Oregon (215).

The women’s division will be held earlier in the week than past years, and will feature numerous athletes who are already respected on the Senior level. Returning champions include Nicole Woody of Maryland (95), Joey Miller of Oklahoma (102), Caitlyn Chase of Illinois (110), Tatiana Padilla of California (119), Desiree Memea of Hawaii (175) and Lakia Henderson of Florida (220).

The Women’s Junior Duals will also be held in Fargo for the second straight year. Texas is the returning team champion, beating California in the championship match last year. Hawaii placed third and Ohio fourth in the last year’s team standings. The field is expected to be larger this year, and numerous top talents will be showcased.