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SAUNDERS WRESTLER AIMS FOR A GOLDEN TRIPLE CROWN

London Free Press 3/15/2001

Katie Patroch, to put it mildly, is on a roll. Actually, she's been more
like a steamroller.

The 18-year-old OAC student at Saunders has dominated her opponents on the
wrestling mat this year. She breezed to the women's gold at 63 kilograms at
the Ontario junior (19-20) championships in London in January and went
undefeated -- and unscored upon -- in the girls' 64-kilogram division at the
Ontario high school championships this month in Guelph.

And she's a solid bet to make it a triple crown at the national junior
championships tomorrow and Saturday at Fanshawe College, but it won't be as
easy.

For one thing, she's dropped down to the 58-kilogram class, where she won
silver at last year's juvenile (17-18) championships. For another, she's not
sure who her major opponents will be.

"I'm not sure who the big guns are at 58," she said yesterday before
practice. "Brianne Graham of Calgary is the defending champ but I don't know
if she's cutting (dropping a weight class). And the girl who beat me last
year at OFSAA, Megan Dolan (of Smithville), if she cuts, she'll be tough.

"Plus there are a lot of people out there I don't know."

Patroch, one of about 20 local competitors in the meet, is confident heading
into the preliminary bouts tomorrow but she's not counting a gold by any
means.

"From where I'm sitting I don't feel I'm that far ahead of things," she
said. "I know people my age who have two national titles. There are always
people better than you; you can't afford to let yourself think you're in
that great a position.

"But the window of opportunity is definitely there. It all depends on what
kind of day I'm having. A lot of it is mental, because when you get to this
level, everyone's a good wrestler. There are no duds out there, so it just
comes down to who's mentally better prepared.

"If you go in with doubts about yourself, chances are you will lose."

But the combination of an Ontario high school gold and some top-flight
international competition at the Sunkist International in Arizona in
November and the Manitoba Open in early February has helped increase her
mental toughness and repertoire of moves.

"I wrestled a lot more open and senior this year than I normally do and
wrestling feels more natural now. At OFSAA, I wasn't going to accept not
winning, especially since I'd tried so hard for four years and came so close
last year.

"OFSAA was a four-year goal. It was four years of my life put into four
minutes on the mat and I can't describe how much it meant to me to win that
gold medal."

She still had to lose about a kilogram before today's 5 p.m. weigh-in but
she said losing the weight's been no problem as she's been doing it slowly
over the last couple of weeks. Her job at Tim Hortons is the hard part, she
said with a laugh.

"Everyone on their break has a free coffee and doughnut and I'm sitting
there with my low-fat muffin and glass of water," she said, adding she's got
tonight's menu already planned once she makes her weight. "Steak, sweet
potatoes, spinach salad and ice cream."

As an added dessert, a national championship would give her an edge heading
into the national world junior trials later this year.

"Everyone has dreams and I would love to represent Canada," she said. "To
wear that Canadian singlet would be very fulfilling."
EVENT GUIDE
Canadian junior (19-20) wrestling championships
Where: Fanshawe College, J-Gym.
When: Tomorrow-Sunday.
Schedule: Tomorrow, freestyle preliminaries, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 6-9 p.m.;
Saturday, freestyle semifinals, 9 a.m.-noon, finals 5 p.m.; Sunday,
Greco-Roman (men only), preliminaries start 9 a.m., finals 3 p.m.
EVENT GLANCE
Ontario high school wrestling championships

Area medallists: Girls -- Stephanie Szmiett, Lambton Central, gold, 47.5kg;
Katie Patroch, Saunders, gold, 64kg; Leslie Woolfinden, Lambton Central,
gold, 72kg; Kate Woolfinden, Lambton Central, gold, heavyweight; Sarah
Migchels, Lambton Central, silver, 64kg; Mandy Daley, Lambton Central,
silver, 84kg; Lisa Migchels, Lambton Central, bronze, 77kg; Lambton Central,
team gold, overall combined silver; Boys -- Phil Fraser, Sarnia CI, silver,
41kg; Anthony Charette, Parkside, silver, 44kg; Leonard Payne, Sarnia CI,
silver, heavyweight; Scott Dionne, Parkside, bronze, 57.5kg.

-----------------------------------------

Girls' wrestling continues to grow;
Township's Heckman headed to national tourney

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL (LANCASTER, PA.)

3/14/2001

The Pennsylvania Girls' High School Wrestling Championship Tournament
showcased the elite talents of female athletes in a relatively new sport.

The third edition of this event, which was hosted by McCaskey, brought
together wrestlers from Milton Hershey to Germantown.

"For many girls this was their first wrestling competition against other
females," said Jon Mitchell, tourney director and McCaskey head coach. "In
some cases this may be their only opportunity all year to wrestle other
females."

Mitchell added that the tounament "most importantly, gives girls an
opportunity to participate in a sport that they dearly love, without being
ostracized by the other parents, coaches, competitors, and fans."

He emphasized that this contest was a real test of their skills.

"Competition against other females gives the girls an opportunity to show
their level of technical expertise, without being overpowered by someone who
is not necessarily a better wrestler," Mitchell said.

Wrestlers were excited to participate in the tournament.

Garden Spot wrestler Tonda Nguyen began her career in the sport as a
wrestling manager in seventh grade. She is a three-year veteran who likes
the challenge of the sport.

Her mother Judy Nguyen, added that her daughter only wrestles girls in her
107-pound class. A junior, Nguyen also competes in track.

Columbia sophomore Tammy Bitzel, who joined the wrestling team because of
her friends encouragement, is a second-year competitor and also competes in
volleyball and track.

Lancaster McCaskey junior Michelle Gonzalez took wrestling on as a
challenge. "People thought I couldn't wrestle and I wanted to prove to them
that I could," Gonzalez said.

Gonzales, who also competed in cross country, track, field hockey and
soccer, said that friendships attract her to sports.

Coaches approach the sport of girls' wrestling similar to the boys' version.

"The skills are identical, so the approach to teaching them is the same,"
said Garden Spot coach Ray Kahler. "When girls wrestle boys, it helps them
to compete better against other girls."

Mitchell, who has coached wrestling at McCaskey since the 1994-95 season,
concurred that "there is very little difference between the wrestling for
girls and the wrestling for boys."

He believes that most girls wrestle against boys only because there are not
enough opportunities to compete against other girls, not because they want
to prove a point.

Once considered to be a male's domain, wrestling has exploded nationally,
for girls.

According to Mitchell, there were 112 girls competing on boys' teams across
the country in 1990, which grew to 2,361 girls on boys' teams in 1999.

Columbia junior high wrestling coach Tony Munoz, concluded that the growth
of the sport gives the girls another positive alternative as well as
teaching them about the commitment to overcome challenges.

One local wrestler who benefitted from her opportunity in wrestling is
Manheim Township senior Jessica Heckman.

Heckman was named a High School All-American for the last two years and is
preparing to take on the challenge one more time as a senior.

Heckman will travel to Michigan for to compete at nationals on March 24-25.

Heckman finished eighth in the tourney as a sophomore and 11th as a junior,
in spite of an hamstring injury.

Heckman, a nine-year wrestling veteran, along with her coaches, decided that
it was better to rest the hamstrings this week to avoid any possibilities of
a similar problems.

Heckman said that her interest in the sport was sparked by her brothers
involvement when she came to his matches as a fourth grader.

A senior, Heckman also competed in cross country and swimming. She said that
wrestling on a boys' team helped her skills.

"To succeed in a boys' sport is a challenge," Heckman said. "It is difficult
to compete against their strength, but my dad told me that I usually get
their best matches because they don't want to lose to a girl."

Her high school team paid her the ultimate respect in choosing her as one of
the Manheim township varsity wrestling team captains.

Heckman hopes to continue her wrestling career when she goes to college.

But, first, Heckman plans to give the competitors at Nationals her best
matches.

GIRLS' WRESTLING TOURNEY

Pennsylvania High School Girls' Championship results.

Most Outstanding Wrestler -- Rachael Groft, New Oxford.

Most Falls in Least Time -- Kim Chu (three falls in 3:22), Germantown
Friends School.

WEIGHT CLASS RESULTS

100 -- 1. Aquilla Hills; 2. Crystal Upton, Bentworth Junior High.

107 -- 1. Rachael Groft, New Oxford; 2. Michelle Gonzalez, McCaskey.

114 -- 1. Kim Chu, Germantown Friends School; 2. Claire Maturro, George
School, 3. Juli Strang; Steele Valley, 4. Jaime Bradley, Athens Area.

122 -- 1. Jen Chu, Germantown Friends School; 2. Maura MacFeat, George
School.

130 -- 1. Sabrina Sampson-Knapp, Germantown Friends School; 2. Kathleen
Tierney, Wyomissing.

139 -- 1. Robin Henderson, Milton Hershey School; 2. Abbey Washlack,
Bentworth.

149 -- 1. Rebecca Hare, Shikellamy; 2. Maria Lewis, Milton Hershey School,
3. Rousanna Rosado, William Penn (All wrestlers in this class finished 1-1.
Places were decided by criteria.)

HWT -- 1. Natalie Ann Hare, Shikellamy; 2. Faith Brutus, Franklin D.
Roosevelt.