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On September 20, 2008, several wrestlers from the University of the Cumberlands Women’s Wrestling Team participated in the World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, CO. They competed against some of the top competitors nation-wide, displaying what it meant to be a part of the number one ranked program in the nation.

The winners at the Trials qualify for the 2008 World Championships. The World Championships for women’s freestyle will be held Oct. 11-13 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The World Championships are being held in the seven women’s freestyle weights, but only four weight classes were contested at the Olympic Games for women.

Although it was extremely early in the season, the team had a slim eight practices under their belt; Coach Kip Flanik compiled a group of eager wrestlers to take on the competition in Colorado. The trip was a great experience for the handful of wrestlers, which included team members: Jackie Stiles (Corpus Christi, TX), Shannon Reeves (Cuyahoga Falls, OH), and Breisja Macera (Kissimmee, Fl). Stiles returned to the mat for the first time since last year and Macera, battling a minor shoulder injury, persistently returned to help out her teammates.

Due to her outstanding performance, former graduate and UC standout, Alaina Berube (Escanaba, MI), won the 63 kg weight class and will represent USA at next month’s World Championships in Tokyo. Career notes for Berube include:

The women’s wrestling team will continue to train and prepare as they hit the mats for their next competition on October 11th when they host Missouri Valley.

Article Provided by Whitney Kirby, University of the Cumberlands Sports Information Student Assistant

Dix Hills girl, 9, goes to the mat for wrestling title

There are pink sandals on the floor, a Disney Princess comforter on the bed and a shelf of soccer trophies in the corner. In every way, Kayla Brown's bedroom screams average-third-grade girl. Make that every way but one.

Off in another corner is a small collection of wrestling dolls surrounding the newest addition to Kayla's room: a plaque declaring her a New York State wrestling champion.

That's right. Wrestling. With about 500 spectators cheering her every move, the 9-year-old from Dix Hills pinned two boys from upstate to win the Midget 120-pound division at the New York State Kids Folkstyle Championships in Loch Sheldrake last month.

"Kayla's best move is the headlock," says Ed Fiorvanti, one of her coaches on the Commack Claw Club team.

Since women's wrestling became an Olympic sport in 2004, more and more girls have become interested in the sport. According to the National Federation of High School Associations, 5,048 girls competed on high school teams last season -- up from only 217 participants just 10 years ago.

Though there are some all-girls high school wrestling teams -- almost all are in Texas and Hawaii, with a few in California -- on the pre-high school level, girls' teams are virtually nonexistent. That means girls like Kayla who are interested in the sport must practice and compete with boys.

Since the whole point of wrestling is physical contact, it can be disconcerting for spectators to see boys and girls trying to flip, pin and straddle each other. And the process of breaking into a team that has no other girls can be intimidating.

"At first, I was against the whole idea," says Tara Ryan, Kayla's mother. "I kept saying what about dance? What about cheerleading? I seriously didn't even think they'd let her sign up."

Kayla told her parents she wanted to join the Commack team three years ago when her brother, Nicholas, 10, brought home a flier from school. Nicholas wrestled one year and then quit. Kayla stuck with the program and finished this year's season, her third, with a 15-2 record.

"Wrestling is fun, and I get to be with my friends," she said with a shrug when asked what in particular about the sport appealed to her.

Kayla's stepfather, Brendan Ryan, had competed in wrestling at Kings Park High School and has become her biggest fan. He said the key to Kayla's success is that her teammates and coaches have accepted and encouraged her from the start.

At 4-foot-7, 116 pounds, Kayla is a big girl -- she competes in the 120-pound division -- so in dual meets she often finds herself matched against boys who are two and three years older because she outweighs most of the boys in her age group. While her teammates have been supportive and respectful, the same cannot be said of some of her opponents.

Often, says her mother, boys from other teams will roll their eyes and snicker when they first see they have drawn "the girl." That quickly changes once the match begins.

"She's very strong and very aggressive, and she likes to go for the headlock," Fiorvanti said. "When you have someone beating on your head, it's pretty intimidating. She intimidates the boys, which is pretty unique."

So is the reaction she gets from some of her opponents' parents.

"Some of the mothers get very upset," Tara Ryan said. "After Kayla beat one boy, his mother actually came up and started yelling 'What kind of mother are you?' '"

Tara Ryan believes she is the kind of mother who has learned you need to let children follow their own dreams even though you may not initially understand them.

Said Brendan Ryan: "Wrestling has helped Kayla in school. It's taught her about discipline and goals and confidence. We tried to talk her out of it, but now we see it's the best thing that could have happened to her... . she's happy."

Great Scott

A YOUNG wrestler is on a high after becoming the first girl from Salford to win the British Championship Novice Competition.

Seedley Primary School pupil Bethany Scott, aged nine, took part in the UK-wide freestyle wrestling competition at the Olympic Wrestling Academy in Broughton.

Bethany, who took up the sport only a year ago, entered the competition on behalf of her wrestling class at Pendleton College on Eccles Old Road, which she attends twice a week.

She and her brother Dean, aged five, also wrestle twice a week at the YMCA Wildcats Club on Liverpool Road, Manchester.

Bethany’s mum Eva, of Buckingham Avenue, Weaste, said: “Bethany’s interest in wrestling came about after seeing her brother wrestle at the Y club and they asked if she wanted to do it.

“She came third in the last competition in Wigan and she also does judo, where she has a yellow belt and two red stripes.

“There were quite a lot of girls in the competition and she was the only girl in Salford to win.

“Dean also won a medal in the competition. He took silver so it was a double success for the family.”

"That's why I'm really into the Forgotten Realms series (of fantasy literature)," said Huynh, relaxing in the University of Calgary's wrestling gym.

"The authors write so vividly that you think you're right in the middle of the action."

Canadians were right in the middle of Huynh's own fight scene a month ago when she claimed our nation's first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

The supremely fit 27-year-old defeated Japan's Chiharu Icho to claim gold in the women's 48-kilogram freestyle wrestling event, helping to end a week-long medal drought for a nation thirsty for Olympic success.

"Reading is a great release for me. It's a great balance from training and competition and a good companion when I'm travelling a lot," says Huynh.

Reading is front and centre in Calgary this morning as hundreds of volunteers offer copies of today's Herald in exchange for donations as part of the Canwest Raise-a-Reader campaign.

All proceeds from today's street sales will stay in Calgary to support five agencies which promote youth and family literacy programs. Now in its seventh year, Raise-a-Reader has raised more than $650,000 for Calgary programs, which help spread the love of literature and offer important skills to youngsters who are in the formative stages of their reading journey.

"The Raise-a-Reader campaign is one of the most important things that we do," said Lorne Motley, Herald editor-in-chief.

"Literacy efforts in our city should be a going concern of everyone. We are proud to make a contribution and give a boost to the people and groups making a difference with others less fortunate," Motley adds.

Reading has been an important part of Huynh's life for as long as she can remember.

The third of five children of Vietnamese parents who came to Canada under the sponsorship of a church, Huynh was raised in the small northern B.C. town of Hazelton.

"For a community of about 1,500 people, Hazelton had a pretty good library," said Huynh.

"My parents were working very hard, so my older sister Ngoc would take me and we'd always come home with armfuls of books, as many as I could carry. One of my favourites as a kid was the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder."

Huynh also picked up a love of wrestling from her large, close-knit family and soon was attracting the attention of university and national team coaches by winning the B.C. high school crown in Grade 12.

"My favourite sport was always basketball, but as I continued to wrestle, I think I began to sense I could do really something with it," she added.

After studying psychology and kinesiology at Simon Fraser University, Huynh married fellow wrestler Dan Biggs in 2005 and moved to Calgary and the U of C program.

"I needed a change in coaching perspectives and this was Dan's home, so it was a great decision."

The rest, as they say, is history. For Huynh, that golden moment in Beijing in mid-August is still crystal clear

Huynh is planning further studies in counselling with the long-range goal of becoming a sports psychologist and coach. She has not decided whether to try for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

When competing on the road, Huynh reads voraciously in airports and hotels and frequently curls up with a novel after training sessions and breakfast.

"I often have a couple of books on the go," she says with a smile. "Right now, I'm really into Twilight, the first of a trilogy about vampires."

By buying today's Raise-a-Reader edition, readers are helping these five local agencies: Calgary Reads, the Calgary Public Library's Read with Me program, the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Further Education Society of Alberta.

Dix Hills girl, 9, goes to the mat for wrestling title

Great Scott

You can help someone who is wrestling with reading

Gold medallist takes literacy to heart

Graeme Morton, Calgary Herald