News Page

T’PURAM, The Kasargod team emerged champions at the 56th Kerala State Senior Men Wrestling Championship 2008-09 held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

 The team secured 35 points in the championship while the Kollam team came second with 24 points. Kottayam district team emerged third in the championship with 23 points.

 Nishad A. Jabbar of Thiruvananthapuram became state champion in the 55 kg category and Sanju Raveendran of the district emerged runner-up in the 120 kg category at the championship.  The district also emerged champions in the 11th Kerala State Sub-Junior Girls Wrestling Championship held on Friday and won second place in the Junior Girls Wrestling Championship held on Saturday.

 The Kasargod team also won the 30th Junior Boys Wrestling Championship held on Saturday. Actor Madhu distributed the prizes to the winners at a function held at the stadium on Sunday

Chapin wrestling: No. 1 girls team looks to make state

EL PASO -- A banner hangs over the wrestling mats at Chapin High School, and beneath it, disciplined wrestlers are hard at work trying to make one key phrase a reality.

"Year of the Dawg."

"If things keep on going the way they are, then we have a pretty darn good chance to win state," senior Crystal Romero said.

That's the goal for the girls, the only accomplishment that will appease this highly focused group.

The "Mat Dawgs" like their chances after returning six wrestlers from last year's team that made city girls wrestling history by placing third at regionals.

In all, Chapin fields 16 girls. Four are returning district champions, two of them state qualifiers (Romero at 185 pounds; Burges transfer Lorena Garcia at 138 pounds).

"On paper, we have eight out of 10 girls ranked in the top three in the whole city," Chapin coach Angel Nevarez said.

Chapin's oozing confidence begins with Nevarez.

"A lot of these ladies have worked tremendously hard through the offseason, through the summer seasons," Nevarez said. "I have very high expectations of them because of that."

Nevarez characterizes these wrestlers as having a Spartan mentality, an all-or-nothing approach to practice and competition.

"When we want to take it easy in practice, we can't, because we know people are after us," said Romero, a two-time state qualifier. "We have to do double the work they do."

Their potential is evident in "the desire and the work they put in," Nevarez said. "They believe in themselves as a team, as a unit."

Chapin's work ethic comes straight from the coach, who harps on fundamentals --"techniques are just the weapons."

"He's a tough coach --tough," junior 165-pounder Melissa Valadez said. "He expects a lot from us, but at the same time he knows (what to tell us)."

And that knowledge comes from years of experience.

Nevarez was a three-time state qualifier at Irvin in the early 1990s and a national medalist in college. A former soldier as well, Chapin's second-year coach even wrestled for the All-Army team.

Yet more than teaching his athletes how to wrestle on the mat, Nevarez preaches the sport as a way of grappling with life.

"One thing we try to teach here is that wrestling is not just about a sport; it's about life," he said. "You're going to face adversity every day, just like at a match you're going to have an opponent you're going to wrestle. By overcoming that adversity here on the mat, one on one, with hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of people watching you, it'll make you successful out there."

With the wrestling season getting under way this past weekend, Nevarez sees a bright future ahead for his girls, who finished second out of 30 teams at the Army Strong tournament.

The initial goal is to win a regional title, and after that, they believe anything is possible.

Ask Nevarez, and the conviction is clear in his voice and in a stare that reveals a passion for the sport and for his Huskies.

"They're on the path of a champion," he said.

Jimmies wrestle to draw with Lakehead

The Jamestown Sun
Published Monday, November 17, 2008

The Jimmies wrestled to a 21-21 tie with Lakehead (Ont.) following a basketball doubleaeder.

Tiffany Sluik and Tani Ader picked up pins to help JC remain unbeaten in duals at 1-0-1.

“The girls had a great match agaist a veteran Canadian team,” JC coach Cisco Cole said. “We had two pins from our captains. Unfortunately, our other captain, Christina Vorland, had to sit out and we lost the 48 kg match.

“It was a great environment and a lot of people were surprised at how exciting it was.”

Kuuipo Badayos also picked up a win for the Jimmies, and Amanda Athon picked up a win by forfeit in the dual.

The Jimmies host Regina (Sask.) on Friday night at 8 p.m. in a dual meet, and they host the Can-Am tournament on Saturday, both in the Hansen Center.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kasaragod and Kottayam won the men’s and women’s titles in the State senior wrestling championships which concluded at the Central stadium here on Monday.

In the men’s section, Kollam and Kottayam finished second and third respectively. In the women’s section, Ernakulam and host Thiruvananthapuram took the second and third places.

Team championship: 1. Kottayam (20 pts), 2. Ernakulam (16 pts), 3. Thiruvananthapuram ( 8 pts).

Nov 17, 2008 - 09:00 AM

WHITBY -- The Team Impact Wrestling Club dominated the mats at Sinclair Secondary School, winning both the male and female team titles of the 2008 Toronto Open it hosted earlier this month.

The men were particularly dominant, picking up 43 points, 21 more than the runners-up from the University of Guelph. The women's 20 team points were just two better than second-place Western.

Following is a list of the top Impact finishers in their weight classes.

Women

48kg: Lena Thong 1st, Sahana Mazumder 3rd; 51kg: Ana Gheorghe 1st; 63kg: Rebecca Levitt 2nd.

Oklahoma

Stephanie Waters had a pin in 13 seconds for the quickest fall by a Star.