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CWA wrestling tourney at Chetheba
Photo Story: For love of the sport
BY TYLER SIPE 1/28/08
ELK RAPIDS -- Maggie Petersen stoically gazed ahead, and paced the orange-painted sidelines of the Elk Rapids High School gymnasium.
The high school senior bit her bottom lip, tried to suppress the anxiety filling her 5-foot, 1-inch, 103-pound frame.
Maggie's nerves weren't stirred by her male competitor across the wrestling mat, but instead by a subconscious reaction to grappling on her home court and under her family's watchful eyes.
"I'm very comfortable with going out on the mat against the guys," said Maggie, 17, who's been wrestling in the male-dominated sport since fourth grade. "I like wrestling because it's a tough, challenging and individual sport."
She became interested in wrestling after her younger brother, Derek Petersen, 15, joined an area club team.
Rob Petersen, Maggie and Derek's dad, also wrestled in high school and is head coach at Elk Rapids High.
"Initially, I was a bit surprised when she brought it up," Rob said. "When she got started in it, we realized she had potential and she enjoyed it."
Maggie's near decade of experience on the wrestling mat has earned her a fourth place ranking in her weight division in the United States Girls' Wrestling Association.
"I think it is better for (wrestling) and as a competitor if you make it objective and just about the sport," said Maggie, who endures occasional gender-based digs and taunts from opposing wrestlers, coaches and spectators.
"Focusing on the female aspect makes you lose sight of why you're actually (wrestling) and you end up proving something to somebody else instead of actually enjoying the sport," she said.
Wrestling and Adrianna Morrison are a perfect match.
"I don't know where I'd be in high school if I didn't join wrestling,'' said Morrison, who is in Grade 11 at Miller Comprehensive High School. "It's like my life. It's the main thing I think about all the time. It's always on my mind.
"I always think that if I hadn't joined wrestling, I'd be lost. It's my only thing.''
Well, not exactly.
Morrison is also a soccer player of note. While playing mid-defence, she helped the Miller Marauders win the Regina High Schools Athletic Association's 2A girls soccer title last fall. Although Morrison enjoys soccer, it is primarily a vehicle to stay in shape for the long and physically demanding wrestling season.
"Sometimes it's kind of stressful, but you've got to push through everything and get through it,'' the 16-year-old Morrison said. "It works out in the end.''
Morrison is in her third year of wrestling. She was introduced to the sport shortly after enrolling at Miller.
"Me and my friend wanted to try it out,'' Morrison recalled. "She bailed out and I stuck with it. My coach (Mark Fitzpatrick) was really helpful. In the beginning, I wasn't very good, but he stuck with me and I got better.''
Did she ever.
In Grade 10, Morrison finished second in the city and third at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association championships while wrestling in the 77-kilogram division. She was also fourth at 77kg at the 2007 national cadet championships.
Last summer, she helped Saskatchewan's girls wrestling team win a gold medal at the Western Canada Summer Games in Strathcona Country, Alta. Her victory in an 80kg match clinched top spot for Saskatchewan.
"It was the most adrenaline I've hever had,'' Morrison said. "It was surreal. It's an amazing feeling to win something for your team.''
Qualifying for the Western Canada Summer Games team intensified Morrison's interest in wrestling.
"Last year when I made Team Saskatchewan was when I realized that it was my sport,'' she said. "I was kind of getting sick of it because it's a long season. Then I made Team Saskatchewan. Going there and seeing all those wrestlers made me realize that I have a place in wrestling.
"It's kind of like my family. Everyone's so close. Everyone knows everyone in the wrestling community. Everyone's so supportive and everyone's your friend. I love it.''
Morrison is the captain of Miller's formidable girls wrestling team, which has won the past two provincial 4A girls titles. Although Morrison enjoys the camaraderie, she also appreciates the individuality of wrestling.
"In wrestling, it's your own sport,'' she said. "It's also a team sport, but you do it for yourself. When you're on the mat, no one can help you. You have to rely on your own strengths. When you win, it's always a payoff.''
Morrison hopes her efforts will pay off with continued success at the high school level. After that, she aspires to wrestle for the University of Regina Cougars under head coach Leo McGee.
It shouldn't be a problem for Morrison to meet the university's athletic and academic requirements. Her marks are in the 80s and 90s, despite the fact that considerable time is consumed by sports and work. She is a supervisor at the Tim Hortons outlet on Victoria Avenue East.
"It's a lot,'' she said, "but I'm always thankful in the end for everything.''
 Brittany Belanger, left, practices with a sparing partner at Riverside secondary school.Tyler Brownbridge, The Windsor Star |
Supremacy in high school wrestling was hanging in the balance at the 2007 OFSAA championships.
The Sandwich Sabres took the girls' team title but they were in a tight race for the overall championship.
At just five-feet tall and 120 pounds, Dan Marsden loomed large in the outcome.
By reaching the Ontario final for boys at 47.5 kgs, Marsden pushed Sandwich over the top.
OFSAA rules state a school must earn points from both the boys' and girls' divisions in order to be considered for the overall crown.
Smith Falls had 136 points in a dominating performance on the boys' side but they failed to pick up any points from the girls' division.
When Marsden earned the only points for Sandwich out of the boys' draw, he qualified the Sabres for the overall title, which they claimed with 130 points total.
"I guess we won on a technicality but hey, a win's a win," Marsden said.
Now Marsden and the Sabres are gearing up for the 2008 season which begins with the WECSSAA meet Feb. 8 at L'Essor.
This time, the 18-year-old has bumped up a weight class, to 51 kgs, where he's feeling stronger and quicker.
"I feel smarter more than anything," said the fifth-year senior, who's hoping to close out his final campaign with indvidual OFSAA gold.
"I've won silver and bronze before," he said. "I've got to fill out the collection."
Riverside's Mike Katsilas is also looking to improve on a fine 2007 season where he was named the Most Valuable Wrestler at WECSSAA. He finished fifth at OFSAA at 67.5 kgs but he's pushed himself in the pre-season by competing at 77 kgs.
"Wrestling up has be a bigger challenge but I've been doing OK," the 18-year-old said. "It's good preparation for OFSAA."
Katsilas plans to cut weight and compete again at 67.5 kgs for WECSSAA and beyond.
His teammate, Brittany Belanger, will once again wrestle at 47.5 kgs where she won WECSSAA, finished second at SWOSSAA and just missed the OFSAA podium with a fourth.
"Technically I'm must better this year," the 17-year-old said. "I'm shooting for (OFSAA) gold this time."
As devastating as it was, Saori Yoshida's first loss in six years just might have been for the best going into the Olympic year.
"I learned a lot and many people have said that when you lose, you become stronger," Yoshida said Monday at a Tokyo hotel, where she received the Grand Prix of the 2007 Japan Sports Awards.
"I will reflect on the loss, work on what I need to in practice and become stronger for [the] Beijing [Olympics]."
Yoshida, honored for winning her fifth straight world wrestling title in the 55-kilogram class last September, saw her 119-match winning streak end with a loss to American Marcie Van Dusen at the team World Cup in China on Jan. 20.
Yoshida had never lost in international competition, and her 114-0 record prior to facing Van Dusen included a victory by technical fall over the American at the world cadet championships when they were teenagers.
"It was an opponent I had beaten before and I took the match too lightly," Yoshida said, adding, "I want to face her again."
Upon returning to Japan, Yoshida, who had cried at matside for an hour after her loss, said she was overwhelmed by the show of support from wrestling officials, friends and fans from all over Japan, even several from other sports.
Among those sending messages urging her to "fight on" were golfer Momoko Ueda, Chunichi Dragons outfielder Hirokazu Ibata and Japan national soccer team member Yuji Nakazawa.
That lifted her spirits as she returned to practice Friday, with the ultimate aim of defending the Olympic title she won in Athens four years ago.
"With all of the support, I could begin working toward the Olympics with a fresh feeling," Yoshida said.
Yoshida was the third wrestler and first since 1956 to win the Grand Prix in the 57-year history of the Japan Sports Awards, sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
This year, 22 individuals and 21 teams were nominated for the awards by their respective sports federations.
Also honored were Reiko Tosa, the bronze medalist in the women's marathon at last summer's world athletics championships, and teenager Ryo Ishikawa, who became the youngest golfer to win a pro tour event.
Tosa, who has already been assured a spot on Japan's team to Beijing, said she watched Sunday's Osaka International Ladies Marathon, a domestic qualifier in which Kayoko Fukushi led early but sputtered to 19th place in her marathon debut.
"I heard that she didn't train enough," Tosa said. "If she trains properly, she should do alright."
In preparation for Beijing, Tosa said she will enter a race of "something over 10 kilometers" in March or April but has not committed to one yet. Having turned pro, Ishikawa left later Monday for Australia, where he will play next week in a qualifying event for the British Open.
Helen Maroulis High School wrestling web page