Having a hard time taking the sport of cheerleading seriously? Well, then take it up with Kahuku High wrestlers Shanel Vivas, left, and Kawai Chee, who also happen to be members of the school's pep squad.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
News Page
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Shanel Vivas is one of the best high school girl wrestlers in Hawai‘i. She took third place in last year’s state championships in the 103-pound division.
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Having a hard time taking the sport of cheerleading seriously? Well, then take it up with Kahuku High wrestlers Shanel Vivas, left, and Kawai Chee, who also happen to be members of the school's pep squad. |
Kawai Chee, her Kahuku High junior classmate, also is an outstanding wrestler — the O‘ahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division champion in the 108-pound division last year — and a club judo competitor.
Vivas and Chee are two-sport athletes at Kahuku High because they are also Red Raider cheerleaders, looking forward to the first OIA East Pep Squad championships on Saturday.
Cheerleading, officially pep squads, was officially sanctioned as a sport by O‘ahu’s two high school leagues effective this year. Varsity and junior varsity championships are being held.
Most cheerleaders think it is about time.
"It is as hard as any other sport," Vivas says. "We work hard, but other people in our school don’t really think so. We run (for conditioning) and it takes a lot of strength and teamwork to do the stunts where we lift girls.
"It’s a great feeling when you see the crowd cheering with you, like at the state football championship game."
Chee has not suffered a serious injury in wrestling or judo, considered two of the most dangerous interscholastic sports, but she was out of cheerleading for two weeks when she sprained her wrist.
"I base; I’m the one on the bottom holding girls my weight (105 pounds) or heavier," Chee said. "I couldn’t lift them when I hurt my wrist."
Vivas often is a "flyer," one of the girls being lifted high in the air. "I’ve been dropped a few times," but not hurt, she said.
Cheerleading is a year-round sport. During wrestling season, Vivas and Chee go to study hall for 30 minutes when school ends at 2:30 p.m., then to wrestling practice from 3 to 6, and to cheerleading 6 to 8 most days. "You have to give both sports equal time," Chee said.
Kahuku’s 16-girl, 1-boy pep squad cheered at football games, but has missed some basketball games so it can practice for the league championship. "We’re working on a hard-core, 21/2-minute performance," Vivas says.
Next year there might be an official state championship, too.
"Both (sports) have highs," Chee says. "Cheerleading is all happy and peppy. Wrestling is all aggressive and ‘get into it’ — it’s a physical sport.
"In cheering you get highs from the crowd. In wrestling your high comes when you’re on the mat and kicking girls down and trying to be the best you can."
NOTES: The OIA Eastern Division Pep Squad Championships will be Saturday at Castle High gym, junior varsity at 4 p.m. and varsity at 5. General admission is $5; qualifying students pay $3. . . . Pearl City won the varsity and JV divisions of the first OIA West championships Saturday at ‘Aiea. The overall OIA championships will be Feb. 10; site and time to be determined.
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Vero girl wrestlers find niche
February 1, 2001
Commentary Steve MegargeeSpecial to the News
When Kimberly Davidson decided to enter a wrestling tournament two years ago, she couldn’t have realized the long-term effects of this seemingly innocuous choice.
Davidson, a Vero Beach High School student at the time, competed against a Melbourne boy in the same weight division. She appeared to pin her opponent and waited for the official to end the match.
The official never made the call, giving Davidson’s opponent enough time to make an escape and eventually win the match on points. The pain of the loss didn’t even compare to the irritation Davidson felt when the official spoke to her afterward.
"He apologized and said I’d won, but he wouldn’t call the pin because I was a girl wrestling a boy," Davidson recalled.
Before that afternoon, Davidson wasn’t sure how long she planned to wrestle. The official basically made the decision for her.
"After I heard that, there was no way I was going to quit," Davidson said. "I was going to go back out there and kick butt."
Davidson continued to wrestle for Vero Beach before graduating last year, and now she helps coach the school’s female wrestlers.
The only difference is that most of them won’t have to encounter the problems Davidson endured. Vero Beach now has its own girls wrestling team, which means girls aren’t wrestling against boys as often as before.
That’s just fine with Vero Beach wrestling coach Wayne Ivey.
"I don’t really like girls wrestling against boys," said Ivey, whose daughter also wrestles. "There are a lot of boys in this wrestling room that Kimberly could beat. It’s just a sport this physical, I don’t want it to be a boys vs. girls type of thing."
Ivey still had girls on his boys wrestling team over the past few years. Now enough girls have come out to form a team of their own.
Vero Beach is one of about 10 high schools across the state with a girls wrestling team, Ivey said. The Fighting Indians competed in a few dual meets and tournaments during the regular season and enter the state meet this weekend in Oviedo.
They’ve suffered growing pains like any first-year program with a freshman-dominated roster, but team members don’t regret their decision to compete in a sport not usually associated with girls. They like the one-on-one nature of the sport, and that they can’t rely on teammates when they’re on the mat. Most of the other popular girls sports -- volleyball, basketball, softball and soccer -- focus more on teamwork than individual accomplishment.
"I like to push myself and see how far I can go," said Kathy Haynes, the lone senior on a team that otherwise comprises only ninth-graders. "It’s not a team sport like volleyball or basketball. If you lose, it’s all on you."
Although some might see them as invading the boys’ natural turf, the girls say they’ve gotten along well with the male wrestlers they often compete with in practice. Davidson said the boys only showed any anger or hurt feelings when she beat them, and that it typically ended once they won a rematch.
The female wrestlers actually say most of the teasing comes from other girls who aren’t interested in wrestling. Stephanie Harper remembers what she heard from friends after giving up cheerleading to join the wrestling team.
"I got teased a lot," the Vero Beach freshman said. "They didn’t understand why I wanted to wrestle. They were like. ‘ Little Miss Priss is going to be a wrestler.’ But then some of them watched me and it changed their attitudes."
Most of the female wrestlers still square off against boys during practices or in the occasional tournament, but they prefer to battle other girls.
It’s not because they feel uncomfortable competing boys in a sport that has so much phsyical contact. The reason they’d rather wrestle other girls is much simpler than that.
"I like wrestling girls better because it’s easier to win," Harper said.
And if they pin their female opponent, they at least know the official will probably make the right call.
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Not just a guy thing Females put their moves to work on the mat
02/02/2001
By Shawn Yorks / The Dallas Morning News
When Keller wrestling coach Bill Middendorf wanted to pull one of his team's two female wrestlers out of the lineup at a recent tournament, she didn't want to come out.
For more sports stories from Northeast Tarrant, check out the bureau archive.
She was hurting and knew she would probably be pinned quickly, but she just wanted to compete anyway.
With the growing number of girls entering what was once a male-dominated high school sport in North Texas, coaches are finding that, other than the obvious, there aren't many differences between male and female wrestlers.
Keller has only two female wrestlers in its first-year program, while Colleyville Heritage has 13 girls.
"It's getting bigger and bigger every year," Middendorf said.
Colleyville Heritage coach David Traver said he expects about 20 girls next year.
"We've had quite a bit of interest," Traver said. "[They wrestle] because it's fun. They just like it."
Middendorf said the mindset is the same between boys and girls – they want to wrestle, have fun and win.
"A lot of the boys have a football background, and I think that helps as far as the mindset they have toward it," Middendorf said. "[Girls] want to do it, and in that regard, I don't have any complaints."
The only problem Middendorf has shows up at practice because he's got two girls and one outweighs the other by 30 pounds.
"It's hard for them to practice," Middendorf said. "The guys that are their size won't [wrestle] hard and the guys that are smaller than them, still beat them."
Keller wrestler Jaclyn Hughes thought wrestling looked fun. She wanted a change and wasn't interested in competing with the drill team despite being a dancer and a model outside of school.
"It's my junior year, so why not?" Hughes said. "I love it. It's so much fun. Other girls didn't think it would be, but it's fun."
Hughes has not suffered any major injuries other than the aches and pains associated with the sport.
"I don't care about getting hurt or anything," she said.
Because girls wrestling is so new, not every school has a girls team. Those that do can't fill a full roster yet. Colleyville Heritage has 13 girls, but four are in the 128-pound weight class.
Both Keller and Colleyville Heritage will participate in this weekend's district meet. But how the girls place at district doesn't determine who advances to regionals. The regional tournament is open to all individual female wrestlers. They don't wrestle against boys.
Colleyville Heritage has gone 60-24 in individual girls competition, and finished fourth in the state at last weekend's Texas State Duals in Grapevine.
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THEIR BEST IS YET TO COME CHURCHILL GIRLS HAVE GONE FROM REGULAR
BEATINGS TO BEING AMONG THE CITY'S BEST
The Calgary Sun
January 24, 2001
here is nothing tougher on kids than getting cut from a team.
So when a no-cut team -- a squad that guarantees a spot -- offers kids a
chance to take part in high school sports, it is not surprising some
students grab the opportunity and run with it.
In Grade 10, Sir Winston Churchill students Sarah Cutten and Jodie Van de
Sype saw an opportunity to try wrestling, a new sport for both.
After a season of being cannon-fodder for the rest of the city's wrestlers,
the pair of 17-year-old seniors are now two of the top grapplers in their
class.
"I had a lot of physical strength, so I thought I would do well in
wrestling," said Van de Sype.
"But really, that first year gave me a chance to work on my defensive
skills."
Although neither wrestler is very big, the pair are looking to return to the
glory they enjoyed at last year's city championships.
There, Van de Sype took her weight-class title while teammate Cutten placed
third.
Both went on to the provincials, where Van de Sype was second and Cutten
fourth.
Most importantly, they helped the Churchill girls team win the city team
title.
Considering where they started, the girls are looked upon with the utmost
respect by coach Barry Kimick.
"These girls were really beat up when they were Grade 10s," said Kimick.
"They might have had one win, but they persevered."
Since then, both wrestlers have not only had to fight opponents, but the
stereotypes that revolve around women's wrestling.
While they have the respect of their teammates, they say other students
can't comprehend the dedication to their sport.
"Guys don't expect girls to wrestle, so we're always having to defend
ourselves," said Cutten. "They see us as butch."
With the city championships coming up in three weeks, Van de Sype and Cutten
are preparing to lead the Bulldogs to another title.
So far, they have already won team titles at the U of C and Bishop Grandin
tournaments.
And if they fulfil predictions they'll both claim individual titles at both
the city and provincial level, the two can expect return trips to the
national championships.
From there, both plan to head to the U of C, where they'll wrestle with
inspirational Christine Nordhagen-Vierling, a five-time world champ who
helps coach high schoolers.
And from there?
"I want to go to the Olympics," said Cutten.
"Women's wrestling is trying to get in, so I'm hopeful it will so I can go.
It should be in."
And if that day comes, these teens can be thankful that when they were 'mat
mops,' they refused to throw in the towel.
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Pantagraph.com 1/25/2001
* Mary's goal: Mahomet-Seymour junior Mary Kelly (23-10 at 103) wants to become the first girl to qualify for the state tournament.
"She has to show some improvement to meet that goal," her coach said. "She will have to beat some guys she has lost to. It's not impossible."