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Kristie Marano named 2000 USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year
4/10/01
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Kristie Marano (Albany, N.Y./ATWA) has been named the 2000 Women’s Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the second time that Marano has received this prestigious award (1998, 2000).
Marano was the 2000 World Champion at 149.75 pounds, the top performance of the U.S athletes. She became only the third U.S. woman to win a World Wrestling title, joining four-time champion Tricia Saunders and last year’s champion Sandra Bacher.
Marano had a 4-0 record at the World Championships. She pinned her first three opponents, Sakizligi Gamze of Turkey, Ewelina Pruszko of Poland and Xiomara Guevara of Venezuela. She defeated Anna Shamova of Russia in the gold-medal finals, 6-5 in overtime.
Marano won her fifth career World medal, to go with four World silver medals (1996-1999). She has made the gold-medal finals in every Women’s World Championships that she has entered.
After the World Championships, Marano was the 2000 Women’s Special Wrestle-off winner, defeating 1999 World Champion Sandra Bacher in two straight matches by pin. The match was held after the World Championships, because Bacher was unable to compete due to attending the Olympic Games in judo. Marano was the 2000 Women’s World Team Trials champion in June, earning the right to face Bacher in the Wrestle-off.
She was a 2000 U.S. Nationals runner-up, losing in the gold medal finals to Bacher. 2000 Women’s University Nationals champion. Marano was also second in 2000 Klippan Ladies Open in Sweden, and finished the year with a 18-3 record. She attends Hudson Valley CC, and previously attended Colonie Central High School in Albany, N.Y.
USA Wrestling will be announcing major award winners each day this week on TheMat.com, the official web page of the Amateur Wrestling Alliance.
PAST WOMEN'S WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
2000 - Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1999 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1998 - Kristie Stenglein, Albany, N.Y., ATWA
1997 - Sandra Bacher, San Jose, Calif., Dave Schultz WC
1996 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1995 - Vickie Zummo, Hamburg, N.J., New York AC
1994 - Shannon Williams, Ontario, Calif., Sunkist Kids
1993 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
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Wrestling against convention Air Force candidate Lauren Mancuso succeeds in macho world
By Brian Martin 3/01/2001
In her wrestling debut, Lauren Mancuso was pinned four times in five matches, went home with a black eye and couldn't open it for three days.
A year later, she returned to the same Valley of the Moon Tournament in Sonoma, and entered the highest level of competition, winning half of her six matches.
"I was out in the first round of every match last year," Mancuso said. "This year, there were the same quality wrestlers and I did a lot better. I've learned a lot since last year."
Mancuso is in her senior year at St. Francis High School and was the Troubadours' lone wrestler. She placed third at the Metro League championship meet Feb. 10 and qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Subsection meet Feb. 16 at Vintage High School, where she was eliminated after two matches. She was the only female wrestler to advance to the subsections.
Mancuso, who said she hopes to compete in the 2004 Olympics, was inspired to wrestle by her older brother, Nino. After watching dozens of his matches, she wanted to try the sport when she was in the seventh grade at Camerado Middle School.
But her physical education teacher suggested that she join a club program instead of competing against the boys on the middle school team. When she couldn't find a club team, Mancuso went so far as to try to persuade a group of her classmates to form a girls squad, but her friends declined.
Relegated to being a spectator, Mancuso did not begin wrestling until her junior year at St. Francis.
Nino, then a senior and co-captain of the Jesuit wrestling team, encouraged her to give the sport another try. She started to practice with the Marauders.
"When I started training with Jesuit, I thought, 'This isn't that hard,' " she said. "At first, I gave a commitment to do it for two weeks. I've stuck with it since then. Once I started, I knew I wouldn't stop."
However, she did switch training partners. Instead of making the daily trek to Jesuit from St. Francis, she travels to Ponderosa, which is close to her home.
Jesuit, an all-boys school, has no girls locker room in which to shower, so Mancuso would have to sit in her car in rush-hour traffic in sweaty clothes on her way back to her Cameron Park home. By the time she got home, showered and ate, it was well after 8 p.m.
Ponderosa coach Tyson Escobar welcomed Mancuso to practice with the Bruins, where she can train longer and still get home at a decent hour.
The bonus to working out at Ponderosa was that the school has one of the top teams in the section.
"When she came in, she was OK. She was working with the Jesuit program, which is OK at best, so she was a little raw," Escobar said. "She's improved tenfold since she first got here, mostly from working with better wrestlers.
"When she first came in, she got beat up on a daily basis. But she didn't give up."
Mancuso knew what to expect when she began training at Ponderosa.
"They have had girls who have tried to be on the team before, and they couldn't do it," she said. "I had friends on the wrestling team in years back that said they wouldn't accept having a girl on the team. But I was ready for battle, and now I'm just like one of the guys."
According to Escobar, Mancuso's work ethic exceeds that of most of his other wrestlers.
"We have about 45 kids, and she is the only one that hasn't missed a practice," he said. "She comes early and runs and stays after practice and asks questions and then runs again. I wish some of my guys would take her approach. She has the most dedication of any athlete I've ever seen."
Escobar said Mancuso is the first girl to survive the Ponderosa program.
"We've had four or five others try," Escobar said. "They usually last about two or three weeks at the most. But Lauren's been here every single day."
Mancuso has to be dedicated. Since St. Francis doesn't have a wrestling team, she can't compete in dual meets. So, she has to try to find tournaments that will accept her on an individual basis.
With the help of Escobar and Mancuso's father, Larry, she was able to compete in 39 matches this year. She posted a 25-14 record.
While Mancuso has displayed a knack for wrestling, Escobar said taking the sport to the next level will be challenging.
He said there are about 50 colleges nationwide that offer women's wrestling programs or clubs affiliated with the school. Women also compete in freestyle rather than collegiate-style wrestling, which has been adopted at the high school level.
Those challenges don't seem to faze Mancuso.
"I don't know where I'll go to college, but I'll definitely compete wherever I go," Mancuso said. "I'm not familiar with freestyle yet. I've wrestled some college girls, and I got beat pretty badly. But if I practice freestyle some more, I know I'll get better at it."
Escobar said that because of Mancuso's determination and perseverance, he is confident she will be able make the transition from collegiate to freestyle wrestling next year.
But Mancuso wishes she had started to wrestle earlier.
"I still have a lot of things to work on," Mancuso said. "I've worked hard and stayed after practice, but I wish I had more time. Right now, it's not much about winning, but learning as much as I can in as little time possible. Every night after practice, I ask myself, 'What did I learn today?' "
When Mancuso isn't busy flying across the mat, she can be found flying over the hills of El Dorado County. Mancuso is also learning to become a pilot. Her father owns a small plane that is housed at the Cameron Park Airport.
"I've always gone flying with my dad," she said. "I can land the plane if I had to, but I don't know all the rules. I want to learn, and I've started reading the pilot's handbook. They have summer schools that I'm going to go to."
The ability to fly will be useful if Mancuso is accepted to the Air Force Academy, which is her top choice of schools to attend next year. She has been nominated by Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin.
"That's the first step, and I didn't think I'd get that far," she said. "Now I have to wait for the panel at the Air Force to decide."
Mancuso hopes her strong physical displays in wrestling will influence the panel. Air Force offers women's wrestling. She maintains a 3.3 grade point average and has scored 1110 on the SAT, a score that, while quite good by most standards, she said could hinder her chances of being accepted.
She will hear from the Air Force Academy between March and May, but she has applied to several other schools in case the academy does not work out.
"I applied at UC Davis, but I don't know if I've gotten in yet," she said. "I've been accepted to Sonoma State, Monterey Bay and Humboldt State. I can always go to Sierra College - they have a good wrestling team.
"But I think going away would be the best thing for me - to be a little more independent. My parents are great, but I think I'm ready for it."
Besides considering a career as a pilot, Mancuso said she is contemplating forensic pathology and teaching.
Her interest in teaching relates to her struggles with reading when she was younger.
"I used to be a terrible reader," she said. "Everyone thought I was dyslexic. I'd try to read, and if I couldn't say a word right, I'd close the book. I wouldn't sound the word out like other kids. I didn't want to be wrong.
"I overcame that, so I think I can help others. I understand how frustrating that can be. I was always intimidated, and I needed more attention than I got. I can give that attention. It's easy to give attention to the 'smart' kids, but it's harder to give attention to the ones that need help."
Growing up, Mancuso said she was shy and that was one reason she gravitated toward individual rather than team sports. She used to compete in track and run cross country.
"I like wrestling because it's intense," Mancuso said "There's nothing more competitive. You are trying to beat the other person, and all you have are kneepads and shoes to work with. You're by yourself."
After she was pinned four times in five matches at her first tournament, no one would have blamed Mancuso if she gave up wrestling. She said her parents recently told her they had wanted her to quit at the time.
She didn't quit then and doesn't plan to quit anytime soon.
Women's wrestling will be introduced at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and Mancuso's ultimate goal is to compete in Greece.
"If she keeps working like she has this year, I know she can reach that goal," Escobar said.
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