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Turnout better than expected for girls tourney
December 25, 2001
By Richard Motroni
CORRESPONDENT-Alameda Times-Star Online
Organizers of the inaugural Lady Bearcat Invitational, a high school girls wrestling tournament, hoped to get just enough participants to fill all 11 weight classes.
When the tournament began over the weekend at San Mateo High, 85 wrestlers from 33 high schools competed making it the largest girls wrestling tournament in California history.
The larger-than-expected number of wrestlers and overall success of the tournament both pleased and surprised those who worked to put together the Lady Bearcat Invitational.
"I thought that we were going to have about 40 compete, but as time went on, more people showed up," said Robert Redman, who is San Mateo's coach and a tournament official. "We had schools all over Northern California come over, and afterwards, several coaches told us it was one of the best-run tournaments they had seen."
Numbers aside, another successful aspect of the Lady Bearcat Invitational was the high level of competition that featured at least one nationally ranked wrestler in each weight class.
Throughout the tournament, wrestlers from the Peninsula Athletic League held their own, with six placing with the top four, including two champions.
One who has made of habit of taking home the top medal in tournaments is Half Moon Bay's Sarah Fulp-Allen. Just weeks after taking the 103-pound class at the Mills tournament (which she was named Most Outstanding Lightweight Wrestler), Fulp-Allen took command of the 108-pound division. Facing nationally ranked Lenci Landaker of Vallejo, Fulp-Allen was all business and scored a second-round pin.
Aragon's Misty Stalley appeared to be at a slight disadvantage going into the 230-pound class. At 171 pounds, Stalley was one of the division's lightest wrestlers, but it soon became apparent that she was also the best, dominating her first two matches then recording a first-round pin over Becky Unger of American in the title match.
San Mateo's Lauren Yee managed to reach the 120-pound championship match, but fell to Alexis Gonzales of San Leandro 8-4. Also finishing second was Alissa Gammon of Half Moon Bay in the 114-pound class.
Other PAL athletes placing were Laura Ludwig of San Mateo who took fourth (114) and Burlingame's Kristen McNamara (230) also finished fourth.
LADY BEARCAT INVIATIONAL
103--Horogada (Fremont). 108--Fulp-Allten (HMB). 112--Belamide (Hogan). 114--S.Lerit (Vallejo), 2nd Gammon (HMB), 4th Ludwig (SM). 120--Gonzales (San Leandro), 2nd Yee (SM). 125--Del Ben (Laguna Creek). 128--Wallace (San Leandro). 135--Briones (San Leandro). 144--Murphree (Vintage). 162--Llach (American). 230--Stalley (Aragon), 4th McNamara (Burlingame).
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Athletes of the Week
Tuesday, December 25, 2001
Female Athlete of the Week
Alexis Mezzetta, Justin-Siena girls basketball
Mezzetta made her only appearance of the week count Friday night in Lakeport, scoring 33 points -- a high throughout the area, boys and girls -- in her team's 57-41 win over Clear Lake. The victory put the Braves at 7-3 for the season heading into the Stokes Tournament in Kelseyville this week -- Justin's last preseason action before Marin County Athletic League competition.
Honorable Mention
* Precious Jones (Napa girls basketball) -- Jones scored eight, 13 and 12 points, respectively, in Napa's three wins at the Fort Bragg Tournament last week, helping her team to a tournament title and earning Most Valuable Player honors.
* Maika Watanabe (Vintage wrestling) -- Watanabe won her first Monticello Empire League match on Tuesday gaining a pin over her Fairfield opponent in the second round at 103 pounds. The Crushers won 43-30.
* Stephanie Jones (PUC Prep girls basketball) -- Jones was a dominant force for the Falcons this past week as she scored 57 points and grabbed 41 rebounds and helped PUC Prep win three games.