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Trio of girls has ignored conventional wisdom and succeeded in sport of wrestling
By: Rob Burchianti, Herald-Standard
03/31/2007
Jordan Merschat had had enough and she decided to do something about it.
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"My cousins were wrestlers and they and my little brother always liked to beat up on me," Merschat said. "So I decided to join the wrestling team so I could kick their butts."
And so an athletic career took off.
Merschat did take up wrestling, as did her sister, Courtney Merschat, a year later. Those two, along with Brittney Kulenovic, have all gone on to excel at the sport on a national level.
The trio from Markleysburg has participated numerous times in the United States Girls' Wrestling Association (USGWA) National Championships.
Courtney Merschat and Kulenovic made the trip to Livonia Churchill High School in Michigan again this year and are competing against the best young female wrestlers in the country this weekend.
All three have had success there in the past.
Courtney won the 2003 national championship at 83 pounds in the Elementary School Age division, pinning Kate Chapman in the second period. She also placed seventh last year at 108.
Jordan took third place at 125 in the Middle School Age division in 2003. She lost in the round of 32 at 122 last year.
"I went three four or five times," Jordan said. "You wouldn't think it would be that big, but it is, and it gets bigger every year. I think there must have been about 800 girls there last year."
Jordan and Courtney are the daughters of John and Linda Merschat.
Kulenovic, the daughter of Robert and Bethany Kulenovic, sparkled in 2006 when she placed fourth at 108.
Their mentor is A.J. McMullen wrestling coach Jess "Butch" Rice, who has seen the sport grow exponentially in the past few years.
"Ever since female wrestling started, the sport has become very popular," Rice said. "Colleges are starting up women's wrestling programs and offering scholarships."
Jordan Merschat is a 17-year-old junior at Uniontown Area Senior High School, while Courtney Merschat and Kulenovic are both 15-year-old freshmen.
All began wrestling against boys because there is no separate division for girls in the area. They began to travel to girls-only tournaments, and did well enough to take a shot at the sport on a national level.
Although she decided not to compete at the nationals this year and may begin phasing out of the sport as she approaches her senior year, Jordan Merschat has been the trailblazer in the sport for the three girls.
But the road wasn't all that smooth at first.
"I had a hard time at the beginning, because I didn't know a lot of moves," said Jordan, who started when she was in fifth grade. "It was tough and I wasn't sure I would ever be a good wrestler. But then I kind of got the hang of it a little bit, and then I did start to win some matches."
Rice and John Merschat were instrumental in helping Jordan turn the corner.
"It helped that my dad, who went to Turkeyfoot, was a real good wrestler, and Butch has always been there to teach me and push me," said Jordan, who recalls her first victory with satisfaction.
"We were at Rockwood for a first-and-second-year tournament, and I got a boy in a headlock and pinned him in 10 seconds. I was so excited, I started jumping up and down. It was amazing."
Not surprisingly, the headlock became Jordan's trademark move. She began to win more and more, and soon it got to the point where certain boys refused to wrestle her.
"I guess once I started to have some success, some boys heard about me and they'd say, 'We're not wrestling you,'" Jordan said. "I think it was just that they thought it would be embarrassing to lose to a girl."
When Courtney began to have success, she ran into the same situation on occasion.
"At Connellsville, one kid wouldn't even scrimmage me because he was afraid he'd lose in front of his team," Courtney said.
Some boys took the opposite view, and it cost them.
"When they see us, a lot of boys just take it as, 'It's a girl, this will be an easy match,'" Kulenovic said. "We'd surprise them and end up beating them a lot of times.
"This year has been different, though. One boy wouldn't wrestle me because he heard we were good and decided he didn't want to take a chance on losing to me."
"A lot of boys see us and just think they can come out there and just physically handle us," Courtney said. "Then after we win, they have a lot more respect for us."
The girls have earned the respect of their male teammates, too.
"I have a lot of friends there," Kulenovic said, "like Bobby Holt and Tyler Holt. I look up to them. Most of them really get along with us. They don't try to push us away. They actually give us a lot of respect."
"They don't even think about us as being girls, we're just part of the team," said Courtney, who went 8-6 with the junior high team this past season. "They want to beat us even more because we're girls, and that pushes us harder."
"When I first started practicing, it was with boys who I played baseball with," Jordan said. "We were all good friends, so it really was no big deal to any of us.
"The last couple years I worked out by myself and I'd go up and practice with the team, and when I couldn't do that, I'd wrestle my brother around the house."
Like Jordan, Courtney began wrestling when she was in fifth grade, but it was more than just following in her sister's footsteps.
"I also did it because my brother and my dad thought it would be cool and that I'd be able to be around them more," Courtney said. "It was pretty hard to get all the moves down at first because there are so many of them. I didn't do real well at first, but my dad and Butch started helping out a lot and that helped me sort of turn the corner."
Kulenovic also began wrestling in fifth grade.
"My brother signed up for it a year before I did and I went to his practices," Kulenovic said. "I thought it'd be interesting, so my parents signed me up for it.
"At first I didn't think I was that good, but I kept trying and I thought I was getting better so I stuck with it. My dad had me conditioning at home, then I would practice every night with the team to get a feel for wrestling."
Like Jordan, Kulenovic was stunned when she won her first match.
"I remember I got up and I was so excited, I was smiling and I jumped into my coach's arms," Kulenovic said. "I couldn't believe I actually won. After that I knew wrestling was something I wanted to go forward in."
Courtney, on the other hand, has no recollection of her first victory.
"I have no clue," she admitted. "I can't remember, because I didn't think of it as a big deal back then."
It soon became a very big deal when she charged to her national title in 2003, however.
"I won all five matches," Courtney said. "It was crazy. I ran over to my mom and dad, I was so excited. It was overwhelming."
Courtney, whose favorite move is a three-quarter Nelson, is making her fifth appearance at the USGWA event.
"My goal is to go up there, do my best and give all I've got out there to get first place," Courtney said.
Kulenovic has been aiming at this year's national championships for some time.
"I wrestled on the middle school team against other boys, and now I'm wrestling girls," she said. "I go to other girls tournaments to get to know my competition so I'll be prepared."
This is Kulenovic's fourth trip to nationals, and she's won plenty of other medals and trophies along the way, as have Jordan and Courtney.
"My mom got so sick of all the trophies I had, she packed them in a box and took them out of the house," Jordan said with a laugh. "I still keep my medals in the house because they don't take up as much room."
The families of the girls have been behind them throughout their wrestling careers.
"My whole family supports me," Kulenovic said.
"Other girls don't seem to mind either," Courtney said. "Most of our classmates think it's pretty cool that we wrestle."
All three girls commend Rice for helping them immensely in wrestling, and Courtney and Kulenovic are eyeing up the possibility of earning a college scholarship in the sport.
"I love Butch just like my dad. He's the best coach ever," said Courtney, who admittedly was wavering on if she wanted to continue in wrestling after this year. "I think I'm going to go a couple more years to try and get a scholarship."
Kulenovic had her sights set on that and more.
"I would like to go to college for wrestling," she said, "and I'd like to make the Junior Olympics."
No matter what the future holds, the three girls have already made their mark in the area by being brave enough to step up, take part and succeed in a sport that was once dominated exclusively by boys.
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Vipers place at state wrestling tourney
STAFF REPORT
Posted: 3/30/2007
STORY CHAT(read or post comments)
Four members of the Yerington Vipers wrestling club placed at the USA Wrestling Nevada state tournament in Winnemucca two weeks ago while a female wrestler won a class of a girls tournament last Sunday.
Reese Neville led the way by placing first in the Greco Roman and first in freestyle in the midget division. Blaine Tibbals added third places in the freestyle and folkstyle classes of the Schoolboy division. And Kenny Nez added a fourth place in the folkstyle Cadet Division.
Rachael Skroch placed fifth in her class of freestye and folkstyle. Then last weekend, she placed first in her weight division at the United States Girls Wrestling Association West Coast Championships in Dayton.
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By TOM CHARD, Staff Writer
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tierra Williams likes to be where the action is.
She tried cheerleading but didn´t like being on the sideline when those on the field seemed to be having all the fun.
She played basketball in the seventh grade and was the team´s most improved player. But when she moved to Portland, she was cut during basketball tryouts. The only option left that appealed to her? The middle-school wrestling program.
"The boys didn´t think I could make the middle school team," said Williams, a freshman at Deering High. "They didn´t think I would be tough enough. I guess I was tough enough."
This weekend, Williams will compete in the U.S. Girls´ Wrestling Association national tournament in Detroit. She qualified two weekends ago by winning a New England title in the 136-pound division.
Williams, 15, pinned Heather Swett of Winchester, Mass., a college sophomore, in the last second of the final.
Williams, the first Deering girls´ wrestler, had a 2-2 varsity record against boys. She wrestled mostly in junior varsity matches and went 7-3.
Williams had never wrestled against girls before the New England tournament.
"I was a little nervous," she said. "It´s like when boys wrestle against girls in high school matches. They don´t want to lose to a girl. Since I had wrestled against boys, I didn´t want to lose to another girl. ´I can´t lose to another girl´ was what I was thinking during the matches.
"I really had to step it up in my last match. I almost got a pin at one point in the match. I was so happy when I got the pin in the last second."
Williams wasn´t the only Maine competitor to win a title. Kristi Pearse of Warren won the 110-pound class, Courtney Randall of Madison won at 117, Andrea Eisenhower of Sanford at 122 and Hanna Severy of Litchfield at 150.
Matt Rix, the wrestling coach at Marshwood, helped Williams get to the national tourney. He arranged for her to travel on a bus to Detroit with the Connecticut team. She will then stay with Rix and his wrestlers.
"That was the first time I had seen Tierra," Rix said of her New England performance. "I was impressed. She wrestled her rear end off. She was in shape and wrestled the full six minutes. Those girls had a foot on her."
Williams is just under 5 foot.
"Four-11 and three-quarters to be exact," she said.
Often her height works to her advantage when competing against boys. Her opponents have to bend over to wrestler her.
That can put them off balance and before they know it, Williams has their legs with a quick move.
"One of my strengths is my quickness," said Williams, who weighs 130 pounds. "When I´m on defense in the down position, I usually can get right up."
Deering wrestling coach Al Kirk said Williams tries to soak up as much knowledge as she can.
"Tierra is very coachable," said Kirk. "You suggest something and she goes out and tries it. She´s quite impressive. She´s extremely quick. She gets in on an opponent´s leg. She wrestled at 130 to 135 pounds for us. If Tierra gets on a strength program and wrestles year-round, she could be a talent."
Williams has found a sport she loves.
"I love the one-on-one nature of it," she said. "You have only yourself to blame if you don´t do well. I love the fact the coach can get on the mat during matches and really help you."
Williams hopes to do well in the nationals, but whether or not she does, the experience can´t help but be beneficial.
Over the next three seasons for the Rams, Williams has definite goals.
She hopes to qualify for the state tournament. She would love to be a team captain by the time she´s a senior and most of all, she would love to be the first girls´ wrestler in Maine to win a state title.
Deanna Rix nearly pulled it off in 2005, losing in the 130-pound final by one point in overtime.
Riding back home from the New Englands, Williams was excited.
"I couldn´t wait to tell my friends that I had won a New England title," she said.
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Kahuku girls wrestling team competing in Detroit
Advertiser Staff 3/29/07
The Kahuku High girls wrestling team — led by 2007 state champion, Danica Auna (125-pound division) — are in Detroit to compete in the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships Saturday and Sunday at Livonia Churchill High School.
Kahuku, which finished second to Farrington in this year's state championship, is coached by Reggie Torres and associate Jeff Parker.
Competing for national titles this weekend are tri-captains Amanda Keliihoomalu, Amanda Soliai and Auna, along with Kalae Johnson, Cianah Hee, Erin Ah Sue and Alana Ieseke.
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Best of the best
Hogan's Alcantara surprises her way to national title
By DAN NIED/Times-Herald sports writer
Article Launched: 04/02/2007 09:00:14 AM PDT
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LIVONIA, MICH. - The expectations weren't this high for Krystalle Alcantara.
Sure, the Hogan High wrestler expected to do well at the United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships in the Detroit suburb of Livonia, but no one - not coach Ric Manibusen, not Alcantara herself - expected the 100-pounder to win five straight matches and the high school division national title.
But that's just what she did over the weekend. She won three matches Saturday, and then two more Sunday to grab the biggest title in girls high school wrestling.
Maybe it was the carefree attitude she carried into her matches. Maybe it was an unorthodox style that gave opponents fits. Maybe she was just that much better than everyone else. But the Hogan senior swept through the field and prevailed in the end.
"I took the gold," Alcantara said. "I wanted it really badly. When I heard the whistle, I was speechless."
The whistle would be the final signal at the end of the third period in her 6-4 win over Michigan's Kristi Garr. Alcantara took Garr down three times in the first two periods, and took a 6-2 lead into the third. But Garr managed to climb back into it, and had Alcantara on the mat late. Alcantara held on for dear life
as time finally expired.
"I made my coach happy. I made my friends happy. I made my family happy. I made myself happy, and I made my school happy," said Alcantara, the first-ever national champion from Hogan.
Her coach might have been the happiest of all. When Manibusen brought a flock of seven wrestlers to Livonia, he had no clue what the limit was for the group. Alcantara was the only one to place, but she did so in the grandest way.
"I wasn't expecting this," he said. "I believed it, but I wasn't expecting it. She wanted it all and she actually did it. She grabbed it."
In the semifinal, Alcantara got a 4-3 win over Southern California's Anai Novoa. Alcantara jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Novoa. And held on for the win despite two stoppages for Alcantara's nose bleeds.
That set the final stage with Garr, and Alcantara was the star. She playfully slapped Garr on the head repeatedly - an Alcantara staple - and avoided repeated takedown attempts.
"I figured out early that she liked to shoot," Alcantara said. "So I tried to counter it."
Garr seemed to have a tough time figuring out Alcantara's stand-up style. But that was nothing new, all of Alcantara's opponents over the weekend struggled to figure out how to attack.
"Krystalle wrestles like a girl," Manibusen said. "In wrestling, you have to be crotch down, good position, hands up. But she stands up and she catfights. She looks like a girl, she acts like a girl, and it throws everybody off."
It certainly threw off Garr, and helped Alcantara earn the national title.
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Girl wrestler gets chance to shine
Friday, March 30, 2007
By GREGORY SCHUTTA
STAFF WRITER
TYSON TRISH / THE RECORD |
Drew Lebovich is no cheerleader. She's a wrestler.
And after spending three of her four years in high school sitting on the bench for the Old Tappan wrestling team, the senior finally is getting her chance to prove it.
Lebovich won five straight bouts March 17, all five going the full six minutes, to win the New Jersey State 100-pound championship in the United States Girls' Wrestling Association and earn a trip to Michigan for the USGWA National Championships, which begin Saturday.
"I'm very excited about going," she said. "This is my chance to see what I can do against wrestlers from all over on a level playing field."
It's also her reward for not giving up, for coming back week after week in the wrestling room and thinking that this would be the day she wins the wrestle-off and gets to wrestle varsity.
"It's amazing to finally see her get her shot in the limelight," Old Tappan wrestling coach James Santana said. "She sat but still supported the team. She stuck it out for four years. This is her time."
"This is definitely my reward for that," said Lebovich, who last season battled her brother Jake, a sophomore, and this season freshman Anthony Muccio on a regular basis in an attempt to get into the varsity lineup. "It may be an individual sport on the mat, but it's really all about the team. Jake and Muccio both placed in the district and made it to regions, and I feel like I was an important part of that. They knew that if they slacked off, I was there waiting to take their place."
Lebovich didn't slack off two weeks ago when she finally got on the mat with something on the line. She only gave up three points in her five bouts, outscoring her opponents, 30-3, and beating Michelle Notardonato of Somerset, 7-1, in the final to win the championship.
"I wanted to see what I could do on a level playing field," she said. "The guys are always so much stronger than me when I wrestle that if I do a move nothing happens. All my shots worked. I was able to stand up quicker. I even did a fireman's carry. I was able to finish my moves when all four years I struggled."
"You could tell that she was on a different level than all the girls there," said Santana, who pointed out that she typically lost by one or two points to Jake and Muccio, both of whom had 20 wins this season. "She controlled everybody and technically she was much better, which makes a difference because she is so small."
That comes from all the time on the mat that people didn't see in the last four years. Not only was she in daily battles in practice, but she and her brother made good use of the mats in their basement, a place affectionately referred by those in Old Tappan as "Club Leb."
"It was really tough," said Lebovich, also a varsity soccer player and a pole vaulter who is considering the University of Rhode Island, which has a women's wrestling club.
"Jake and Muccio got their time in the spotlight," she said. "The nationals, nobody can take away from me."
E-mail: schutta@northjersey.com
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13 lucky for Old Bridge semifinalists
Home News Tribune Online 02/17/07
By KEN WEINGARTNER
CORRESPONDENT
SOUTH BRUNSWICK —
South Brunswick's Sarah Dorsay, top, wrestles Old Bridge's Andrew Schaeffer in Friday's District 20 quarterfinal 112-pound bout. Dorsay won, 16-9. |
Thirteen was not unlucky for the Old Bridge High wrestling team Friday night.
The Knights advanced 13 wrestlers to today's District 20 Tournament semifinals at South Brunswick High School, led by No. 1 seeds Eddie Ebewo at 171 pounds, Chris Orzechowski at 189 and Travis Gerdon at 215 with pins in Friday night's quarterfinals.
Old Bridge topped the team standings with 124 points, followed by defending champ Sayreville with 97 points.
The Bombers had 10 wrestlers advance to the semifinals. South Brunswick had 68 points while Monroe Township had 66 and East Brunswick 58 to round out the top five.
The top two seeds in all 14 weight classes reached the semifinals and the top three advanced in 12. Semifinal action begins at 10 this morning. The third-place matches will be held at 1 p.m. with the championship bouts to follow at 2:30.
"Some of our kids didn't wrestle to the best of their ability, but they still got the job done," Old Bridge coach Bryan Garnett said. "There are a lot of tough teams here and the key to the tournament is to keep as many guys in as you can possible keep in and get as many place-winners as you can. Tournaments don't get easier as you go through. Our kids have their work cut out for them, but it's looking good and we'll see what we can do."
Sayreville sophomore Pat Ronan pulled one of the few major surprises in the quarterfinals when he pinned No. 3 seed Brandt Shine of East Brunswick at 112. The only other third seed to lose was East Brunswick's Jordan Braun, who fell, 12-6, to Dan Fryer of West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
"We don't want to win just for ourselves, we want to win for our team," said Ronan, who improved to 8-6 this season. "My coach said I was in a good spot and that I just had to work hard and wrestle. It feels good."
The Bombers also got pins from No. 1 seeds Eric Tsang at 125, Scott Poore at 145 and Michael Knight at 160.
The pins for Tsang and Poore gave both 18 for the season, setting a school record.
"We came in thinking that if we got eight (wrestlers) through we'd be all right, so getting 10 is more than we expected," Sayreville coach John Denuto said. "It was sweet because we had a couple kids knocking off kids they already lost to this season. We tell our kids we prepare for the end of the season and you're judged by what you do at the end of the year. Right now, they're wrestling the best they have all year, and it shows."
South Brunswick freshman Sarah Dorsay, the No. 4 seed at 112, became the first female to advance to the district's semifinals.
"I just want to be like everyone else; I work hard and hope to do well," said Dorsay, who is 13-11. "I just hope to do my best."
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Local Report: Childs and Peasley named All-Americans at Girls Wrestling National Championships
4/2/07
Haylee Childs and Jessica Peasley of Scotts Valley helped California win the U.S. Girls Wrestling Associated High School National Championship in Livonia, Mich.
Childs, a Scotts Valley High freshman, went 6-2 in the two-day tournament to take fifth in the 114-pound class. She beat girls from all around the country, including Regina Ward of Kansas in the consolation round.
Peasley took third at 118 pounds with a 3-1 record in the tournament. The home-schooled junior wrestles with Childs for the Scotts Valley Wrestling Club. Both girls earned USGWA All-American status with their finishes.
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Putnam Valley girl sets sights on national wrestling crown
By TONY PINCIARO
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 30, 2007)
Jess Kelvas has been on a roll in the last month.
The Putnam Valley senior has won the Kentucky and New York state girls wrestling championships, and last week added a Long Island tournament title.
Kelvas will look to continue her championship ways at the USGWA National Championships tomorrow at Livonia Churchill High School in Livonia, Mich.
The weigh-ins are scheduled for 4-10 p.m. today. Wrestling begins tomorrow at 9 a.m.
"I really excited because I've been waiting for this event for a while," Kelvas said. "I didn't expect to do this well in wrestling at all. I didn't think I had it in me. But coach (Will Carano) has been saying all along that I have it."
Carano, who has been drilling with Kelvas this week, has not been surprised. In fact, Carano, a former Mahopac sectional champ, has been on the receiving end of Kelvas' lethal double-leg takedown.
"Jess' work ethic is through the roof," Carano said. "Jess has taken some of the phenomenal physical and athletics skill she has and, with drilling and wrestling live, has blossomed."
During her championship streak, Kelvas has been receiving positive feedback from her peers.
"Everyone has been talking about it and bringing it up in conversations when they see me in the hall," Kelvas said. "It's exciting."
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