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Kennedy's Rodriguez proves on tough lady(N.J.)

2/4/20001

WEST MILFORD -- In a room full of Passaic County wrestlers, one competitor stood out before ever taking the mat. Kennedy senior Jasmine Rodriguez wasn't supposed to wrestle at the Passaic County tournament, but not only did she compete, she also turned in the night's most crowd-pleasing performance.

As a 112-pounder, Rodriguez was stuck behind Hyron Gonzales and No. 2 seed Sameer Abedrabbo at 119 and didn't figure to compete until an injury to 125-pounder David Orozco left her an opening. Kennedy coach Gary Moore asked her if she'd wrestle and Rodriguez, never one to turn down a challenge, said yes.

Rodriguez didn't get on the mat and roll over for Manchester's Zack Almahaison. Instead, she hit him with a headlock that landed him on the mat in the match's opening seconds. As she fought to secure the pin against a wrestler 13 pounds heavier, Rodriguez was showered with a growing chorus of cheers broken only by the referee's mat slap.

Rodriguez's win wasn't her first. She had a 5-7 record before the pin, but it was the first recorded by a girl in the County tournament since 1995, when Manchester's Amy Perlmutter registered the first County tournament win by a girl.

"I didn't think I'd win at 125," said Rodriguez. "I figured he'd try to muscle me because he's 125 and I'm 10 pounds lighter. But once he fell to the ground, I knew I had him."

Rodriguez's win wasn't a surprise to all in attendance. Several coaches talked about her potent headlock and Moore saw the win coming.

"She's tough and if you don't know what's coming she can get you," said Moore. "The thing is that at that weight, guys and girls can be pretty close in strength if you have a strong girl, and she is. The funny thing is that if she had a better seed, she could have medaled."

Manchester head coach Frank Pellegrino couldn't help but feel the irony of having a wrestler beaten by a girl. As an assistant with the Falcons in '95, Pellegrino was on the victorious side of a girl beating a boy.

"It was a little weird being on the other side of a loss but I've got to tip my hat to her," Pellegrino said. "I can't say I feel too bad because I've been on the other side of a guy losing to a girl. She deserves it."

Rodriguez's surprising run figured to end in the quarterfinals, where she was pitted against the No. 1 seed, Pompton Lakes' Pat Lomas. Rodriguez's size disadvantage was apparent from the start, as Lomas put her to her back midway through the first. Rodriguez didn't quit, however, and fought to finish out the first period. Lomas stayed aggressive in the second and put Rodriguez to her back, with the Kennedy senior nearly pulling a successful headlock from the bottom position. After Lomas rolled through the headlock, he finally pinned Rodriguez in 3:11.

Despite the loss, Rodriguez had made her impression on the crowd. As she congratulated Lomas afterward, Lomas' parents applauded Rodriguez for her efforts and several women in the crowd came up to her to congratulate her.

"She was definitely tough," said Lomas. "She wouldn't stay down and she was pretty strong."

As strong as the impression she made on the crowd at West Milford High School. Asked if she'd recommend the sport to other girls, Rodriguez didn't hesitate.

"Definitely. It's tough but it's fun," she said. "Especially when you win."

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SWORD WRESTLING WITH GENDERS EQUALLY

Dave Bach, Palm Beach Post 2/10/2001

There's no argument that Ashley Sword the state's best female wrestler in her weight class. But if there was, she'd be more than capable to dispute the challenge.

Sword,captain of Lake Worth's debate team for the past three years and its president for the past two, also competes at 140 pounds on the Trojans' wrestling team.

"It's not that different being on the mat and debating," she said. "If you win it's because of you, if you lose it's you.

"You don't get cross-faced in debate though."

As for using her wits to battle an opponent in a debate, "my event is student congress," she said. "I like the challenge of getting people to see things my way."

Sword, who will wrestle in the District 9-3A tournament at Wellington today, feels confident she can finish in the top four and advance to next weekend's Region 3-3A tournament at Spanish River.

"My goal is to take third," she said. "I've wrestled most of the others already, and have either beaten them or lost by just one point because of mistakes. I've been working extra hard at overcoming those mistakes."

Sword, 17, has been drawn to the sport for many years, and often wrestled with her older brother, Bert, who also wrestled at Lake Worth.

"She told me when she was small, that when she got to high school, that she wanted to wrestle" said Bert Sword, who still holds the Trojans' record for the fastest pin with an eight-second fall. "I told her, don't let anyone tell you you can't do something just because you're a girl.

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Wrestling is in this girl's blood(Betts)

Journal Sentinel Inc. Feb 7, 2001

Katrina Bettsis lucky to be a wrestler, let alone one of the best woman wrestlers in
state history. But she has a higher goal: to compete in the state high
school meet at Joe Louis Arena in March. Betts, a senior at Milan, has
wrestled for 12 years. She first competed at age 6, defeating boys to win
an AAU freestyle tournament at Clarkston High School. Betts is a seven-time
women's national champion. She won the U.S. Cadet Women's National
Freestyle championship in 1997 and 1998 and the AAU women's national
championship in 1998 and 2000. "I love wrestling. I love the one-on-one
competition," Betts said. "I get a lot of parents who don't agree with me
wrestling. They think it's wrong for a boy and girl to be on the mat
together. Some think it's a sexual thing, and others think it's a
disadvantage for their boy because they won't be in the right frame of mind
since they don't want to hurt me. "For the most part the boys are fine with
it. I haven't had anyone refuse to wrestle me in high school." Betts has a
72-36 record in high school competing against boys and 18-6 at 112 pounds
this season. She advanced to the regionals as a sophomore. As a junior, she
suffered a shoulder injury the day before post-season competition began.
Betts finished second at districts as a sophomore at 112 pounds. She was
runner-up in the Monroe Sheriff's Tournament this season as the seventh
seed. But Betts' accomplishments almost didn't happen. Two years ago, she
was a passenger in the back seat of a friend's car that rolled over four
times after her friend lost control while turning a corner. Betts was
thrown through the window of the vehicle and landed 60 feet away. Mike
Betts, Katrina's father and Milan's wrestling coach, said he is proud of
his daughter's success. She picked up much of her interest from her dad,
who wrestled AAU freestyle until four years ago. "I wish people would look
at her as just a wrestler instead of a girl who wrestles," Mike Betts said.
"We've had problems with people booing her. She pinned (Temperance)
Bedford's wrestler, who was seeded second at the Monroe Sheriff's
tournament, and some people weren't pleased. She has overlooked all the
negative comments." Katrina Betts has a tough road ahead, but she thinks
she can qualify for the state meet. After that, she plans to wrestle at
Minnesota-Morris. "I'd like to make it to state and win a match," she said.
"I have to finish in the top four at districts and regionals. I have a very
tough district in a tough weight class, but I think I can be top- four if I
wrestle to the best of my ability."

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Area wrestling notebook (CIF girls wrestling)

February 10, 2001 By Jeff Smith

The first-ever CIF sanctioned girls state wrestling finals took place last
Friday and Saturday in Vallejo. Head coaches Pablo Olague of Sierra Vista
and Augie Sanchez of La Puente made the trip north with a total of five
female wrestlers. Sophomores Ivy Lopez (104) and Julie Duarte (123)
represented the Dons. Lopez advanced to the semifinals before sustaining
an injury. She finished with a record of 3-2 and in fourth place. Lopez
wrestled for the Dons' varsity squad this year and finished with a record
of 4-3 in Valle Vista League competition. Duarte, who wrestled junior
varsity this season, was the only sophomore to reach the championship at
the state tournament. She lost a heartbreaking finals match, 9-7, but
posted a solid record of 4-1 for the weekend. Sierra Vista finished fifth
as a team. "I think the girls did great," said Olague. "They wrestled
their hearts out and I was more than satisfied." Both Lopez and Duarte
have been national judo placers and will wrestle freestyle this summer.
Although they were both glad to have made the trip, the two girls had some
doubts at first. Olague explained why. "They are used to wrestling boys
and feel more comfortable with that, but they were a little upset they
didn't win and want to go back next year." Two Warrior wrestlers, junior
Diane Barrera and sophomore Jennifer Acuna, placed fourth in their
respective weight classes and the squad finished ninth in the 38-team
tournament. La Puente junior Michelle Mora also wrestled well. Each weight
class featured a field of 24 athletes.

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Taylor, other Katy schools offer no-frills, high-thrills wrestling

Houston Chronicle/ Jan 31, 2001

THERE are no cage matches, no championship belts, no lovely lady assistants or
threat-spewing, ear drum-piercing, microphone-hogging masked men engaging
in scripted entertainment. There isn't any of that at the high school
level, but there is wrestling, offering good solid athletic competition.
The Taylor Mustangs are preparing to hit the mat against other area high
school teams in the upcoming district wrestling meet. The Mustangs are
enjoying a successful season and head coach Todd Hart is just hopeful that
his team can continue to roll through the next few weeks. "We're having a
great season so far," Hart said. The Mustangs have placed in all the
tournaments they've participated in so far this year except for the St.
Thomas Tournament, where Hart said his team competed a bit short-handed.
"Some of our better wrestlers were out with the flu and some of them went
on a trip to Washington D.C.," he said. The Taylor boys recently placed
second behind Katy at the Katy Tournament, scoring points with a balanced
attack. "We have a well-rounded team," Hart noted. "We're doing well.
Hopefully we'll do a little bit better as the season ends and we move up to
district, regional and state." The Mustangs have three wrestlers on the
boys side ranked in the state. Sophomore Patrick Huff (103) is 34-0 and
ranked No. 1 in the state, according to Hart. Junior Anthony Rubio (180) is
30-2 and ranked No. 2 in the state. Junior Geoff Messer (125) is 38-1 and
ranked No. 5 in the state. Also wrestling well for Taylor are sophomore
Greg Green (112), senior Steven Hastings (119), senior Chad Stenger (130),
sophomore Reid Minto (135), junior John Rivas (140), senior Drew Graham
(145), senior Matt Brucker (160), senior Brian Mato (171), junior Rhett
Campbell (189), junior Adam Salt (215) and senior Matt Shaw (275). The
girls team is bordering on phenomenal. With just four to five girls
participating in each tournament, the Lady Mustangs have been able to
compete at a high level both individually and as a team. Taylor recently
won the Katy Tournament. "The girls team is doing great," Hart said. "They'
re awesome right now. The girls we have are top-notch." Junior Kristin
Baldon (110) is undefeated in 12 matches, while sophomore Diana Mato (128)
has just one loss this year. Senior Valerie Hanson (138) has won every
match but two this year. Junior Emily Holloman (138) is a strong competitor
who might wrestle up in the next few meets. Senior Kate Moore and junior
Julia Smaniotto are also key wrestlers for the Lady Mustangs. Hart said he
knows there will be strong challenges at the district meet, which is set
for Feb. 3 at Mayde Creek. The top two from each weight class at district
will advance to regionals Feb. 9-10 in Dallas. From there, the top four
>advance to state Feb. 23-24 in Austin.