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Counterpoint: Teach disrespect? Mixed-sex wrestling does nothing of the sort
Nicholas Slade Published Saturday, January 27, 2001
As a longtime wrestler and coach, I must object to columnist Katherine Kersten's Jan. 17 polemic in which she decries Title IX and the attempts of women to gain equal opportunities in life and society, in this case the sport of wrestling.
Her opinion that females should be prevented from wrestling with males because it goes against the fundamental tenet that men should respect women reveals a sexist and Victorian view of what that respect should be based on. Her form of respect implies that women should be, weak, retiring things kept on pedestals, to be touched only for sexual purposes. Why can't women be respected as strong and physically capable individuals the equal of men?
Kersten's reasoning in condemning mixed-sex wrestling as teaching disrespect is faulty in several respects. She believes that wrestling teaches disrespect because one wrestler (male) uses his superior strength to overpower and control another wrestler (female).
If this were true of wrestling, I would condemn the sport as a whole, because it would be teaching that "might makes right" and that you only need to respect those who are bigger and stronger than you, whether they be male or female.
Wrestling, in fact, teaches quite the opposite. It teaches that skill and technique are the key to success, not brute strength. A small, skilled wrestler will defeat an unskilled opponent who is larger and stronger. The reason female wrestlers are often less skilled (and therefore often lose to male wrestlers) is because they are denied equal access to train and develop. Rare indeed is the wrestler who is champion in the first or second year of wrestling. Top-notch wrestlers, like any top-notch athletes, have been wrestling since they were kids. We are just now seeing females enter the sport of wrestling in number. As more and more girls start wrestling at an earlier age, we will see more competing at the highest levels, unless Kersten and company lock them out.
Kersten's use of the shibboleth that women are weaker than men needs to be addressed as well. There is no physiological difference between the muscles of males and females. Pound for pound, a woman's muscles are no weaker or stronger than a similarly conditioned man's muscles.
Therein lies the problem. Because of society's belief that women are weaker and should act as such, which Kersten is attempting to perpetuate, women aren't given the same opportunity to condition their muscles. Males often have greater total muscle mass than women, but the sport of wrestling groups wrestlers by weight. As such, any difference in muscle mass is minimized, further emphasizing the need to rely on skill and technique. Nor are women's reaction times any slower or their cardiovascular capacity any less.
Kersten fails to understand the nature of sexual harassment and intimacy in regard to physical contact. Context is everything! A mere touch on the hand can be harassing or intimate. Furthering the belief that only certain types of touch constitute sexual harassment and that men and women can only have physical contact in a sexual way is what causes the confusion.
Let's hope that society is growing and moving beyond such beliefs as: "might makes right," or "women are weak and need to be protected." We can hope that our schools, coaches, athletes and spectators will recognize this and learn to respect everyone as individuals -- respecting them for all their strengths, weakness, skills and abilities, and allowing all to wrestle to the best of their ability.
-- Nicholas Slade, Minneapolis. Attorney and wrestling coach.
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Girls to get a shot in wrestling event
January 5, 2001
By Mark Burgess, News-Sentinel sportswriter
Marie Vickers and Brandi Gray became arm-twisting experts before they ever set foot on a Halls High School wrestling mat.
They wanted to wrestle. Their high school coach was - to put it mildly - reluctant.
Chris Vandergriff doesn't change his mind easily. The Halls coach is a former state champion, who revels in the intricacies of high school wrestling. The idea of having females do anything more than keep score was out of the question.
"They caught me in a weak moment," Vandergriff joked of his two newest Red Devils.
Vickers and Gray are the latest of several girls to wrestle in Knoxville, but there's a new twist. Vandergriff decided to set up an all-girls tournament as part of his annual junior varsity meet at the school Saturday.
"I've invited everyone I can think of," Vandergriff said. "All the coaches I've talked to really like the idea.
"It's something gaining popularity nationally. In Michigan, they have a girls-only state championship meet. At Soddy-Daisy and Red Bank, they have a one-time-only preseason meet between girls from each school. It draws something like 1,000 people, just wanting to see what it's like."
But Vickers and Gray aren't approaching this like a novelty act. They see it as a trend.
"I've already had other girls come up to me wanting to know if they could start wrestling," Gray said. "I think there could be a girls league some day."
Two girls wrestle at Union County and, Vandergriff said, Tyla Tracy and Angela McCarter would most likely attend, especially since Gray's father, Benny, is the Union County wrestling coach.
Gray's brother, Benji, was a sixth-place finisher in the state tournament a year ago. In a roundabout way, Benji is responsible for Vickers and his little sister getting started in wrestling.
"I used to go out with Benji and go to all of their meets," Vickers said. "It was always interesting and really intense. I just wanted to test myself to see if I could do it."
It met with a few chuckles at first.
"The first time they came in, I thought it was a big joke," said Cody Humphrey, the state's No. 3-ranked 125-pound wrestler. "But they've stuck with it and they're working as hard as the guys."
Vandergriff is still cautious when it comes to the possible future of girls wrestling. If anything, he supports a formation of a girls league.
"I'm still opposed to girls wrestling boys," he said. "I just don't think it's right. The last thing I want is for some boy I had to talk into to coming out for wrestling to be turned off from the sport because he got whipped by a girl."
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2001 Missouri Valley Women's International Open Results
1/27/01
Heather Van Peursem/USA Wrestling
Missouri Valley College won the team title at the 2001 Missouri Valley Women’s International Open, January 27 on the campus of Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. Missouri Valley finished with 104 points, followed by the Sunkist Kids with 39 points and Cumberland College with 22 points.
This was the first year that international teams were represented. Canada and El Salvador each had teams at the tournament.
Clarissa Chun ( Kapolei, Hawaii/Missouri Valley) was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Chun won the 101.25-pound title with a 9-5 decision over Julie Gonzales (Vallejo, Calif./Peninsula Grapplers).
Chun and Gonzales are both members of Team USA, with Chun ranked at No. 2 and Gonzales ranked No. 3 at 101.25 pounds. These two wrestlers have met a lot in competitions this past year. Chun won the 2000 Dave Schultz Memorial International Open, defeating Gonzales. Chun also defeated Gonzales in the 2000 Sunkist International Open for third place.
At 112.25 pounds, Jenny Wong (Minneapolis, Minn./Sunkist Kids) won by a technical fall over Katie Kunimoto (Colorado WC), 11-0. Wong is ranked third at 112.25 pounds. She also placed eighth in the 1998 FILA Junior World Championships.
1999 and 2000 World Team member Tina George-Wilson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) won the 123.25-pound division. She decisioned Tela O’Donnell (Homer, Alaska/Alaska WC), 6-2. George-Wilson placed sixth in the 1999 World Championships.
2000 World Team member Sara McMann (Lock Haven, Pa./Sunkist Kids) won at 136.5 pounds with a technical fall over Tonya Evinger (Bates City, Mo./Missouri Valley), 12-2.
McMann was a 2000 U.S. Nationals champion and a 2000 Dave Schultz Memorial International Open champion.
Melanie Macari (Fremont, Calif./Missouri Valley) decisioned Kaci Lyle (Eureka, Calif./Missouri Valley), 7-2 at 149.75 pounds. Macari is currently ranked fourth in her weight class.
Satrinina Vernon (Rodeo, Calif./Missouri Valley) decisioned 2000 World Team member Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), 3-2 at 165.25 pounds.
MISSOURI VALLEY WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL OPEN
Marshall, Mo., Jan. 27
46 kg/101.25 lbs. - 1st - Clarissa Chun, Kapolei, Hawaii (Missouri Valley) dec. Julie Gonzales, Vallejo, Calif. (Peninsula Grapplers), 9-5; 3rd - Ingrid Cuellar (El Salvador) dec. Lisa Ward (Washington WC), 9-2
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - 1st - Jenny Wong, Minneapolis, Minn. (Sunkist Kids) won by tech. fall over Katie Kunimoto (Colorado WC), 11-0; 3rd - Malina Hutchison, Soldotna, Alaska (Alaska WC) def. Shelley-Ann Tomita, Honolulu, Hawaii (Missouri Valley)
56 kg/123.25 lbs. - 1st - Tina Wilson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) dec. Tela O’Donnell, Homer, Alaska (Alaska WC), 6-2; 3rd - Carrie Birge, Omaha, Neb. (Missouri Valley) dec. Cheryl New, Marshall, Mo. (Missouri Valley), 8-4
62 kg/136.5 lbs. - 1st - Sara McMann, Lock Haven, Pa. (Sunkist Kids) won by tech. fall over Tonya Evinger, Bates City, Mo. (Missouri Valley), 12-2; 3rd - Tina Arnds, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Missouri Valley) dec. Joy Warren, Williamsburg, Ky. (Cumberland College), 11-3
68 kg/149.75 lbs. - 1st - Melanie Macari, Fremont, Calif. (Missouri Valley) dec. Kaci Lyle, Eureka, Calif. (Missouri Valley), 7-2; 3rd - Rachel Glogowski (Messiah WC) won by tech. fall over Susan Plissey (Messiah WC), 10-0
75 kg/165.25 lbs. - 1st - Satrinina Vernon, Rodeo, Calif. (Missouri Valley) dec. Iris Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), 3-2; 3rd - Elena Mena, St. Paul, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) dec. Marcela Carias (El Salvador), 4-0
Outstanding Wrestler - Clarissa Chun, 46 kg
Most Falls - Ingrid Cuellar, 46 kg, 3 falls in 7:00 min.
Team Standings - 1st - Missouri Valley - 104 pts.; 2nd - Sunkist Kids - 39 pts.; 3rd - Cumberland College - 22 pts.