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Co-ed wrestling serves dual purpose
FLINT JOURNAL LETTER TO THE EDITOR
BURTON
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, February 02, 2007
By Christine M. Collins
JOURNAL READER
As a parent of two female wrestlers, a junior high and a high school wrestler, I don't understand why the Talk Back caller from Flushing thinks girls should not be wrestling boys. Why should a boy's self-esteem be harmed because he loses to a girl instead of a boy? I think they should have positive self-esteem because they went out there and tried their best.
The caller said boys should never grab a female - was he or she referring to any act of violence or sexually inappropriate touching? There are rules against inappropriate grabbing of any wrestler. Grabbing in the wrong way shows that boys feel the only way to win is to cheat. Girls could have boys in the same moves. Boys could grab other boys the same way. My daughters have wrestled for seven years, and this has only happened once.
There aren't enough girls to form just a girls' team. There are a couple all-girls wrestling meets. Would this mean that all co-ed sports should be eliminated? There are currently soccer, football, baseball, T-ball, hockey and gymnastics' teams (to name a few). If rules are followed, there shouldn't be any problems with grabbing or any other inappropriate behaviors.
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By Niki Reese Eschen/Contributor1/31/07
You know you’ve reached middle age when you quit bragging about your children and start bragging about your grandchildren.
I’m happy to have lived long enough to see my granddaughters offered equal opportunities in education as a result of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 and other legislations.
The legal gobbledegook means that my six granddaughters have choices I didn’t.
One of these is equal opportunity in sports. Five of the six play soccer and No. 1Ý is a runner.
Why the 1Ý? Because when I married the New Yorker I “inherited” a wonderful 6-year old who is now 21, beating out the original No. 1 by about four years. Strangely enough, my first biological granddaughter informed me that the No. 1 title was now that of my “adopted” granddaughter.
It was a great feeling to have all the grandkids on equal standing. And we did it without legislation!
Although I swam and played softball as a kid, my inspiration for the first was cooling off in Phoenix summers, and for the second was trying to impress my next-door neighbor, a 9-year-old whom I worshipped from afar — until I got my own glove and played shortstop on a neighborhood team on which the few girls were given the least coveted positions on the field.
I can remember my mom telling me that when she was a young girl, their gym classes involved wearing middy tops over some kind of leg-covering garment and doing calisthenics.
By the time I was in school, the dreaded physical education classes required our donning an absolutely hideous outfit, sort of an extra-large “onesie” with bloomer legs. Gorgeous!
During this past year, my running granddaughter placed fourth in the State of Ohio in the 800-meter event. Her summer was spent training for cross-country and making some money lifeguarding at a country club, where part of their training was in how to handle a drunken club member! (Ah, modern life!)
As captain of her school’s cross-country team, she led the girls to the state finals, the first time in the school’s history that they qualified for state.
This 17-year-old is into Spandex running shorts (because the college girls wear them!) and an equally streamlined top. She keeps in shape by eating very healthily and has even gotten her cheerleading colleagues to do the same.
She is considering nutrition and fitness as a college major.
The kid’s got an award-winning personality, a killer smile and a sensitivity to the feelings of others. She makes good grades, does community service, and gets along with her siblings and parents — surely award-worthy characteristics.
Thanks to the years of building equal opportunity in women’s sports, this young woman is being courted by several good colleges in different states. She was flown down to Florida to check out a track program there, visited several Ohio universities, and was then flown to Michigan for yet another interview where she was treated like royalty.
How lucky I feel to see my granddaughter have a chance for an athletic scholarship — and to do all that she does.
Meanwhile, No. 1, who didn’t concentrate on competitive sports, does rock-climbing, snowboarding and skiing, works out at a gym and enjoys yoga. She also does kickboxing and takes Pilates classes. And she’s not the “athletic” one.
As for their old Bubbie (grandmother), I never connected with the elusive 9-year-old, but went on to enjoy softball for a few years. However, at today’s weight, I think I would make a better base than a baseball player.
I recently went out to breakfast with a friend who is also a proud grandmother. She told of how her 14-year-old grandson competes in the lightest-weight wrestling class. “Sometimes, he actually wrestles with girls!” she said bemusedly.
Oy! Let’s not take equality to ridiculous extremes. How the heck can boys and girls wrestle without grabbing something inappropriate? My friend hopes that a girls’ wrestling team is in the offing. More power to them.
I wish them all fun at their sports and healthy lives, and am so glad that they’ll never have to wear green bloomers!
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Curley wrestles away any doubt in Arundel
Luke Broadwater, The Examiner
Jan 1, 2007 3:00 AM (33 days ago)
BALTIMORE - Here come the Friars.
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After taking three individual championships and the team title at the tough Arundel Holiday Invitational, Archbishop Curley is gearing up for dual meets with the state’s other top squads.
“We have to address some issues with conditioning and technique, but I like where we are,” said Curley coach Gregg Kessler, whose team out-pointed second-place DeMatha 225.5 to 181 Thursday at Arundel. “We had eight in the finals and three champs. I’m pleased, but I know we can do better.”
Tyler Scarinzi (119 pounds), Mike Kulik (160), and Sam Burdych won for Curley, while Bubba Corbett (112), Mitch Fenton (130), Ross Quillett (140), Andrew Sellers (171) and Josh Boler (189) finished second.
In a wild, acrobatic match, Fenton, a private schools state champion, suffered an 8-3 loss to Sherwood’s two-state state champ Andy Lowy in a bout between the state’s two best 130-pounders.
Other area champs at Arundel were: Scott Mantua of River Hill (103), who defeated Arundel’s Nicole Woody, 9-6; Atholton’s Bruce Steinel (125); Broadneck’s Abe Hunter (152), who earned the meet’s outstanding upperweight award; and Broadneck heavyweight Thomas Mulligan.
Ranked No. 3 by the Maryland State Wrestling Association, Curley now wrestles No. 2 Mount St. Joseph on Jan. 18 and No. 1 McDonogh on Jan. 24 in stacked Maryland Independent Athletic Association competition. McDonogh hosts Mount St. Joseph Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
“We’re excited to wrestle both teams,” Kessler said. “They’re both very good quality programs, especially this year. We want to surprise some folks.”
For their part, No. 1-ranked McDonogh also took home a tournament title Friday, as three of the Owings Mills school’s wrestlers captured individual crowns at the A.I. Dupont Tiger Classic in Delaware. Freshman Nick Schenk (103) and sophomores Curtis Holmes (140) and Shane Milam (145) were all undefeated at the competition.
For Mount St. Joseph, which spent the holidays wrestling at the PowerAde Christmas Tournament (Pa.), the nation’s fifth-ranked tournament, two-time state champion Jake Bohn (189) placed second. Gaels standout Frank Goodwin, a 103-pound freshman, also placed at the prestigious event Saturday, taking fourth.
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Picture of Nicole
Nicole Woody AUDIO INTERVIEW which is 20 minutes into the program. Click here to download audio of the show: