SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
TOPS IN HER CLASS. McMaster wrestler Ellen Macro in action on the mat.
News Page
Mustangs still rule wrestling mat
JOSH BROWN
(Nov 29, 2006)
New season, familiar result. Monsignor Doyle's boys wrestling team ruled the mat at the Mustangs Invitational on Friday. The tournament featured 10 high schools and more than 300 wrestlers from across Waterloo Region.
The 'Stangs finished with 290 points, well ahead of second- place Forest Heights (170) and third place St. Mary's (155). On the girls' side, it was St. Mary's taking top spot with 160 points, followed by St. Benedict (115) and Forest Heights (95).
Individual winners, as provided by tournament convenor Chris Lowry, were: Patrick Moher, SMHS, 38-kilograms (kg); Wesley Thompson, SMHS, 41 kg; Kyle Lukasic, JHSS, 44 kg; Simran Sangha, SDCSS, 47.5 kg; Steve Gross, MDCSS, 51 kg; Stephen Stone, MDCSS, 54 kg; John Medeiros, MDCSS, 57.5 kg; Kyle Resendes, MDCSS, 57.5 Pool B; Tyler Domenico, FHCI, 61 kg; Andrew Cabral, MDCSS, 61 kg Pool B; Jon Moyer, RMC, 64 kg; Ryan Earle, CHCI, 64 kg Pool B; Cian Howitt, SMHS, 67.5; Jacob Delany, MDCSS, 72 kg; Cian Coughlan, MDCSS, 72 kg Pool B; Brent McInally, FHCI, 77 kg; David Blasman, SMHS, 83 kg; Nathan Corbin, SMHS, 89 kg; Jon Oakes, WODSS; 95 kg; John Fitzgerald, MDCSS, UNL.
Girls winners were: Meagan Kraus, SMHS, 41 kg; Danielle Braun, SMHS, 44 kg; Daruny Khamvong, CHCI, 47.5 kg; Hilda Ulloa, SMHS, 51 kg; Alyssa Delenardo, SMHS, 54 kg; Sara Schiller, FHCI, 57.5 kg; Cassie Latyn, FHCI, 61 kg; Karoline Madsen, SMHS, 64 kg; Melanie Seiling, FHCI, 67.5 kg; Elora Schad, SMHS, 72 kg; Cassandra Ferreira, SMHS, 77 kg; Liz Spurgeon, SBCSS, 83 kg; Jess Knight, JHSS, 83+ kg
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The latest news from the USOC - November 29
Courtesy of United States Olympic Committee(Nov. 28)
Four U.S. wrestlers won individual gold medals at the Henri Deglane Challenge, Nov. 23-25, in Nice, France. Claiming gold medals in men's freestyle were Jared Lawrence (Roseville, Minn.) at 145.5 pounds and Joe Heskett (Columbus, Ohio) at 163 pounds. Winning gold medals in women's freestyle were Chelynne Pringle (Hugo, Minn.) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Randi Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. The United States won team titles in the men's freestyle and the women's freestyle divisions, and placed fourth as a team in men's Greco-Roman. For more information, log on to www.themat.com.
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Quebec open deemed a wrestling success
Annual meet bolstered by strong local content
The Chronicle 11/29/06
In the girls’ 13-18 category, John Rennie’s Laura Bryan and Kelsey Martin captured silver respectively in the 47- and 79-kilogram classes while in peewee girls Riverdale’s Lana Gampel won silver in the 37-kilogram class. Finally in peewee boys, Riverdale’s Matthew Carroll and Angus Cowell won gold respectively in the 25- and 56-kilogram classes while Jing Eng-Michel captured silver in the 30-kilometre class.
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Ontario Seniors
48 Kg. Women
1 Stephanie Szmiett London-Western
2 Jasmine Mian K-Bay
3 Renilda DeDios Guelph WC
4 Sabrina Manbahadur K-Bay
5 Mini Picard MAC/HWC
51 Kg. Women
1 Jessica Bondy Brock
2 Liz Martindale Brock
3 Terri McNutt London-Western
4 Laura Skopelianos London-Western
5 Stephanie O'Hanley Independent
6 Lindsay Rushton Guelph WC
55 Kg. Women
1 Belinda Chou Guelph WC
2 Jennifer Nguyen London-Western
3 Ashley Werner Brock
4 Lesley McCallum London-Western
5 Kelly McNiven Brock
6 Amy Laidlaw NCWC
59 Kg. Women
1 Katie Patroch London-Western
2 Michelle Fazzari Brock
3 Leah Dougherty Lakehead
4 Katrina Huszarik London-Western
63 Kg. Women
1 Megan Schweitzer Brock
2 Malissa Bryan Guelph WC
3 Tasha Eady Lakehead
4 Moi Troung MAC/HWC
5 Kim Noakes London-Western
6 Meagan Bryden MAC/HWC
67 Kg. Women
1 Meaghan Wilton Guelph WC
2 Jessica Fitzgerald London-Western
3 Emily McCaugue Lakehead
4 Allison Leslie Guelph WC
5 Debra Jehu Brock
6 Laura Steffler Team Impact
72 Kg. Women
1 Stef Howorun MAC/HWC
2 Jocelyn Dresser Brock
3 Jill McCallum London-Western
4 Samantha Johnson Guelph WC
5 Kirby Steinhoff London-Western
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By Harold Smith 11/30/06
Mountain View Telegraph
There were a lot of mitigating factors in the Moriarty High wrestling team's 60-9 loss to visiting La Cueva in the first dual meet of the season for both teams on Tuesday.
Juniors Mark Ofsanik and Chris Apodaca had the only individual victories for the Pintos.
The 5-foot-11 Ofsanik, in his first outing in a prep competition since his freshman year and after three surgeries on his left shoulder, pinned Bear Vincent Martinez at the 2:58 mark of the heavyweight match.
"It was a JV match," Ofsanik said of the last time he wrestled in a formal high school setting. "I was wrestling injured then. I had tried to do wrestling and football with (the injury). It feels good to be back. It feels good to be wrestling varsity."
Apodaca, in the 152-pound match, came from behind to take a 6-5 lead over La Cueva's Cody Ramirez at the concluding buzzer of the second of three 2-minute periods. Apodaca then earned a 7-5 decision with an escape with 1:04 left in the third.
"I thought cross country would get me in a little better shape than I usually am when I start wrestling," Apodaca said. "I was expecting to be in better shape, but I was winded out there.
"I do think we'll have a real decent team when we get all the football players. And I hope to place at state. I'm hoping for third, fourth, something like that."
Pintos eighth-year coach Joey Gonzales saw other positives.
"I was real proud of (Marjolein) Lopez," the coach said of his female wrestler who competed at 119. "She did very well. And Matt Travis (in a match listed as a 112 exhibition), it was his fifth day of practice. He did a good job, too. Really, I was proud of all of them."
Lopez, a wiry junior, yelped in pain just as the official penalized Bear Garrett Qualls for locking hands with 25 seconds left in the first period. The one-point levy against Qualls gave Lopez a 5-2 lead even as she was attended by Pinto athletic trainer Wayne Swisher.
After the timeout, Qualls got a near fall at the first-period horn to tie it at 5. Lopez continued to hang in there, but the Bear extended the lead to 8-5 in the second and pinned Lopez with 43 seconds remaining in the third.
Travis lost an 8-5 decision.
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Mac wrestler honoured as top female scholar-athlete
By Stories by Larry Moko
The Hamilton Spectator (Nov 30, 2006)
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SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR |
When Ellen Macro attended McMaster University as an undergraduate, she tossed around her wrestling team opponents and tackled academic courses such as Women's Studies.
Not too many years ago, neither that mat sport nor that course was available to women.
But Macro excelled in both. So much so that today, during ceremonies at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the 24-year-old Mississauga native will be honoured by Ontario University Athletics as McMaster's top female scholar-athlete.
Her achievements, along with those of 17 other select females from OUA schools around the province, are scheduled to be recognized at the fourth-annual HSBC Women of Influence luncheon.
Cassie Campbell, the former captain of Canada's national women's hockey team, will be guest speaker at the event.
Last Oct. 14, the University of Guelph graduate made headlines when she became the first woman to do colour commentary on a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.
There is no similar luncheon, incidentally, for the OUA's top male scholar-athletes.
When Macro was asked by a reporter if she thought that was fair, she responded: "If this is only for women, there really should be one for men. I'm a feminist, but I'm also interested in both genders."
Ward Dilse, executive director of the OUA, said the organization's women's initiative committee came up with the idea in hopes of raising awareness of women's athletics in corporate Canada.
"It's been very well received," Dilse said.
According to Dilse, the OUA would like to start something similar for men in the near future.
Macro completed her five years of athletic eligibility last year. However, she still attends varsity wrestling team practices while pursuing a master's degree in Sociology at Mac.
She's a former Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion in the 61-kilogram division. During her Marauder career she won an OUA medal in each of her five years plus three at CIS finals.
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Persistent Nelson gets UIL to change rule
By Jeremy Heath 11/30/06
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Just try to imagine you have a son who wrestles for one of our area high schools.
He's worked his tail off for three years just to earn a spot on the varsity. He comes home one night after practice and tells you his coach is giving him the nod in his weight division at this weekend's tournament in Rio Rancho, N.M.
You call your boss and take off from work on Friday so you won't miss the first-day action. You make motel reservations, load grandma and grandpa into the Suburban and hit the road Thursday night.
On Friday morning, your son wins his first-round match. You track him down in the foyer of the gym to tell him how proud you are. You ask him if he knows who he'll wrestle in the next round.
He tells you there will be no next round because he is scheduled to wrestle a female opponent, and his coach is required by the University Interscholastic League to forfeit the match.
You track down his coach to get an explanation. All the coach can tell you is that his hands are tied.
A little disturbing, isn't it?
Two years ago this weekend, Palo Duro wrestling coach Steve Nelson found a similar situation so disturbing he rebelled against the rule and allowed one of his male wrestlers to wrestle a female.
He was suspended from coaching for a week.
He then started a two-year crusade to get the rule changed. On his own time, and on his own dollar, he drummed up support from coaches and athletics directors around the state. He twice flew to Austin to address the UIL rules committee.
After he addressed the committee for the second time Oct. 15, he got the rule changed - or at least amended.
Section 1340 of the constitution still reads, "No high school boy shall wrestle against a high school girl and vice versa." But now it is amended to read, "This prohibition is only applicable when the contest is held in Texas or any other state that sponsors wrestling programs for both boys and girls."
Texas and Hawaii are the only two states that separate male and female wrestlers into two divisions. The other 48 states have one division for both. In those states, female wrestlers must beat out their male counterparts to earn a varsity spot.
Texas and Hawaii are the only two states who have the right idea about how to format the divisions.
By giving females their own division, far more females are afforded the opportunity to wrestle.
Nelson knows this and never intended to change this. He simply wanted the UIL to allow Texas schools to follow the rules set by host states when they cross state lines for tournaments.
Because of Nelson's legwork, now they can.
And when Nelson takes his team to Rio Rancho, N.M., this weekend, he will not have to look a wrestler in the eyes and ask him to forfeit a match simply because he drew a female in the bracket.
Neither will any other Texas coach.
Jeremy Heath is a Globe-News sports writer and can be reached at jeremy.heath@amarillo.com. His column appears Thursdays.
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11/30/06
Ten women freestyle wrestlers from the United States Olympic Education Center will be competing in Thunder Bay, Ontario, at Lakehead University’s National Wrestling Duals this Friday.
The competition is a combination of Lakehead’s annual women’s Championship Cup of Wrestling and men’s National Duals meet. It’s one of the largest varsity wrestling events in North America.
For first-year USOEC resident athlete and Marquette High School junior Erin Clodgo (Richmond, Vt.), this will be her second competition wrestling for the USOEC and her first time in Canada.
“It will be a new experience. I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve never wrestled in Canada before and I’m not sure how the competition is.”
Also competing for the USOEC will be Northern Michigan University freshmen Whitney Condor, (Puyallup, Wash.) at 51 kg, Shyla Iokia (Maui, Hawaii) at 59 kg, Stefanie Shaw (Waterford, Conn.) at 63 kg and Dallas Monreal-Berner (Niles, Ill.) at 72 kg; sophomore Dany Hedin (Kailua, Hawaii) at 55 kg; junior Sadie Kaneda (Honolulu, Hawaii) at 48 kg; seniors Liz Short (Lombard, Ill.) at 48 kg and Amy Borgnini (Terre Haute, Ind.) at 55 kg; and graduate student Jenna Pavlik (Lewes, Del.) at 80 kg.
Head coach Shannyn Gillespie anticipates positive results from the competition.
“The USOEC will have several senior national team members, junior world and university world medalists who will be competing, as well as several junior national champions in the lineup,” he said.
Gillespie also plans to strengthen the USOEC team’s relationship with Canadian teams.
“The USOEC is looking forward to competing in the Lakehead National Duals Meet and we would like to invite Canadian teams to compete at the USOEC.”
People interested in watching the competition online can visit the USOEC’s web site at www.nmu.edu/usoec and click on the Lakehead link. Coverage will be provided free of charge by ThunderVision.
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Five local wrestlers among top 10 in Ontario
By SooToday Staff
SooToday.com
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
High schools that compete in the Sault Ste. Marie High School Wrestling League have something to brag about these days.
Five local athletes, representing three different schools, have been ranked in the top 10 in the province by the Addidas Wrestling pre-season rankings.
The Central Algoma Secondary School Huskies lead the way with three individuals ranked in the top 10. Jason Chalifoux, is ranked 2nd in the 86 kg weight class and is the highest ranked local athlete.
Chalifoux’s younger brother Kyle broke in to provincial ranking for the first time this year as well. Kyle is ranked 9th at the 77 kg. Weight class. Fellow CASS Husky, Laurel Knowles leads the way for local women wrestlers. Knowles is ranked 4th at 60 kg.
Julie Hewitt, who competes for the Bawating Braves, is currently ranked 6th in the womens 56 kg. division while Dennon Armstrong of the Korah Colts comes into the rankings at #9 in the mens 100 kg. division.
While no local teams are ranked in the top ten in the team rankings, consensus among local coaches is that the rankings mean little and Sault teams will have a strong showing at OFSAA this year.
"All of our kids who are ranked can finish higher than their rankings and I can think of a few wrestlers who are not ranked that will be in the top ten or even top 5 by the end of the year," says Ray Gowlett, coach of the CASS Huskies.
"[The rankings] don’t mean much," adds Trevor Manchester, coach of the Korah Colts. "But they motivate kids to prove that they should be ranked higher or that they should be ranked at all."
The local wrestling season is now underway with next action taking place Saturday, Dec. 2nd at Korah Collegiate where local teams will take on teams from Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Elliot Lake, Blind River, Timmins and London at the North Eastern Ontario Wrestling Championships.