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Terrance Hunley 8/6/07
terrence.hunley@amarillo.com
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Texas wasn't big enough to hold defending state wrestling champ Lisa Martinez.
Martinez, 17, spent two weeks of her summer vacation in Brisbane, Australia, in July. Martinez, entering her senior year at Caprock, was selected to represent the United States as a wrestler in the Down Under International Games.
She was nominated to the team by Texas wrestling coaches and was the top 102-pound female wrestler in the tournament.
Martinez competed in the girls 102-pound division and the boys 105-pound division. She placed first in the girls tournament and second against the boys.
"My teammates helped me out a lot," Martinez said. "They told me what I was doing wrong, and how to fix it."
She faced a new challenge against the boys.
"(The boys) don't want to lose to a girl and get made fun of," said Martinez, who also won the 2007 University Interscholastic League 102-pound state champion.
The wrestlers from other countries, Martinez said, competed against use a different style of wrestling, with the tournament also featuring freestyle rules.
Freestyle wrestling differs from high school wrestling in two major ways: 1) It's legal and encouraged to throw an opponent over your head to score five points; 2) Pins take one second instead of three.
"My opponents were quicker, stronger and more aggressive," Martinez said. "And I don't know a lot of freestyle moves so I just wrestled how I wrestle."
Martinez was voted the Women's Outstanding Wrestler after being undefeated in the feature matches and placing first and second in the two singles division tournaments.
"I worked my butt off all day," said Martinez, who has the ability and talent to wrestle in college, but has opted to focus on getting a degree in interior design. "I thought I earned it."
After her amazing performance, Martinez was invited back to the tournament next year, with a greatly appreciated "senior" discount.
She hadn't planned on going to Australia until her family and peers kept reminded her how cool it would be to go.
When asked, the state champ made sure everyone knew by joking around and saying, "Yeah, I'm going to Australia."
Her team and family showed their excitement by throwing the Caprock wrestler a surprise party at a wrestling banquet.
Martinez plans to take what she learned in Australia and show it to Caprock teammates and coach during her senior year.
"I want to show the underclassmen what it takes to win state," Martinez said.
"Lisa leads by example," Caprock girls wrestling coach Ronnie Johnson said. "She has a great work ethic and works really hard for what she wants."
Johnson is confident that her Australia experience with many different types of wrestlers, and her determination, will help Caprock in its attempt to win a fifth consecutive state title.
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Coaches go to mat for wrestling team
By Sports notebook | August 5, 2007
For years, the strength of state high school wrestling has come from teams within the Merrimack Valley Conference. State and New England champions are the rule rather than the exception and more than likely hail from Lowell, Central Catholic, Methuen, Billerica, and Dracut, to name just a few.
Andover High School has been noticeably absent. With more than 1,600 students, Andover is the largest school in the region without a wrestling team.
All that's about to change, though, within the next few years. Andover will introduce the sport, first with a junior varsity program this winter, and possibly the year after that, too. It's more than likely that in three years, Andover will field its first varsity wrestling team.
Andover athletic director Brian McNally and the School Committee have given the team their approval with a caveat -- that the program be funded for the first two years by the Friends of Andover Wrestling.
That shouldn't be a problem for fund-raisers like Mike and Sharon Olivieri and Andrea Zaimes, who have been working to help Andover for the past few years while it competed on a club level. In one night last year, they raised $22,000 with a live and silent auction. Mike Olivieri expects it will cost $10,000 to $12,000 to fund a JV team annually, and $15,000 a year once the varsity is in place. Olivieri, who wrestled in high school on Long Island and then at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, said bringing a wrestling team to Andover has been a passion of his for many years.
"The interesting thing is that many of the fathers of the kids that will wrestle wrestled themselves in places like Lowell and Chelmsford before moving to Andover," Olivieri said. "It's had a big impact on their lives. They see the sport has a lot to do with discipline and good sportsmanship, and can be for smaller wrestlers as well as bigger ones."
One of the biggest boosters has been Bill Fahey, Andover's director of youth services, who helped run interference for the Friends of Andover Wrestling. He first set up a youth program -- which was huge to gauge the degree of interest, and eventually presented arguments to McNally and, along with Zaimes, to the School Committee.
They assured the committee that Title IX was not a factor because the program was open to girls and girls have already wrestled on other varsity teams.
A club team was also established at the high school, under the direction of former Needham wrestler Sobhan Namvar.
Close to 40 participated and the team rang up an 8-2 record against junior varsity teams throughout the area.
Fahey was so impressed with Namvar that he hired him as a full-time assistant in youth services with an emphasis on the wrestling program. Olivieri hopes that Namvar will coach the junior varsity team.
"He's done a fine job with the program and hopefully he'll be considered," said Olivieri. "Of course, now that this sport will be part of the athletic program, that decision will eventually be made by the athletic director."
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U.S. World Teams in Greco-Roman, women's freestyle head to Europe for training camps, competitions
Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
08/03/2007
The United States Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle wrestling teams will continue preparations for the 2007 World Championships by flying overseas to Europe for training camps and competitions.
The U.S, Greco-Roman World Team is scheduled to spend nine days in Romania from Aug. 4-13. The U.S. team will take part in a training camp before competing in the Ion Cornianu Memorial Tournament in Brasov, Romania, on Aug. 10-12.
Coaches for the U.S. Greco-Roman Team include Jay Antonelli, Rich Estrella and Momir Petkovic.
The U.S. Women’s Freestyle World Team is scheduled to leave Monday for a trip to Poland. The entire 2007 World Team is going, along with a handful of additional athletes. The team will compete in the Warsaw Cup on Aug. 16-18 in Warsaw, Poland. Coaches for the women’s team will be Terry Steiner, Levi Weikel-Magden and Joe Corso.
The U.S. Men’s Freestyle World Team is set to open its first World Team Training Camp on Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The camp runs from Aug. 5-18. A second World Team Camp is scheduled for Aug. 23-Sept. 2 in Colorado Springs.
The World Championships in men’s and women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman are scheduled from Sept. 17-23 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The U.S. also will be sending another Greco-Roman team to the Pytlasinski Tournament in Warsaw Poland on Aug. 16-18. The team is comprised of athletes from the U.S. Army, in addition to wrestlers from other clubs. The team will be coached by Keith Idleburg.
USA WRESTLING EUROPEAN TOURS
GRECO-ROMAN, AUG. 4-13, BRASOV, ROMANIA
55 kg/121 lbs. – Lindsey Durlacher, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Joe Betterman, Chicago, Ill. (Gator WC/USOEC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Harry Lester, Akron, Ohio (Gator WC/USOEC)
74 kg/163 lbs. – T.C. Dantzler, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Brad Vering, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Justin Ruiz, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
WOMEN’S FREESTYLE, AUG. 6-18, WARSAW, POLAND
48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Stephanie Murata, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
51 kg/112.25 lbs. – Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Marcie Van Dusen, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Sharon Jacobson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
59 kg/130 lbs. – Leigh Jaynes, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
59 kg/130 lbs. – Sally Roberts, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Sara McMann, Gaffney, S.C. (Sunkist Kids)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Tori Adams, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
67 kg/147.5 lbs. – Katie Downing, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Kristie Marano, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Stephany Lee, Honolulu, Hawaii (Missouri Valley College)
GRECO-ROMAN, AUG. 16-18, WARSAW, POLAND
55 kg/121 lbs. – Josh Habeck, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Jermaine Hodge, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Willie Madison, Metairie, La. (Gator WC/USOEC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Faruk Sahin, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Glenn Garrison, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Mark Rial, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Jacob Hey, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Air Force)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Aaron Sieracki, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Justin Millard, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Air Force)
96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Adam Wheeler, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tim Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)