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Cervantes turns table on Dal Ben
January 22, 2002 pressdemocrat.com
Girl Prep Athlete of the week
Adriana Cervantes of Casa Grande was looking forward to her rematch with Theresa Dal Ben of Lake Creek, who defeated her in the open girls wrestling state championships last year.
After the match in the Napa Valley Girls' Classic at Vintage High School Saturday, Dal Ben probably isn't looking foward to meeting with Cervantes again.
The Casa Grande junior, wrestling at 122 pounds, was ahead of Dal Ben by one point when the defending state champion injury defaulted with 15 seconds remaining in the third period.
Cervantes, who pinned her opponent in the first round in just 19 seconds, won her second-round match with a pin in the first period and had a technical fall in the semifinals, winning 16-0.
"She's a technically sound wrestler, and in outstanding physical condition," Casa Grande assistant coach John Talent said of Cervantes, who placed third in the state last year. She ended up in the third-place match after losing to Dal Ben in the semis by just a point.
"When she decides to hit her moves she hits them the way they're supposed to be hit," Talent said.
Cervantes did just that against Dal Ben. Behind by two points after the first period and trailing by one after the second, she tied it, 9-9, with an escape and went up 11-9 with a near fall.
Dal Ben first began complaining of rib pain after tumbling to the mat with about 45 seconds remaining in the match, but got up and re-engaged. The nationals qualifier, who had pinned all her opponents before Cervantes, didn't return to the match after rolling and complaining of rib pain a second time.
Dal Ben and Cervantes may meet again in the girls state championships in Vallejo Feb. 2. The parity of talent between them will make for another good match-up. While the newness of girls' wrestling leads to many unbalanced matches, that's not the case between Cervantes and Dal Ben.
"It's easier to focus when I'm wrestling a girl," Cervantes said, "because I know there's not going to be a major muscle advantage."
-- Leah Etling
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VERO BEACH GIRLS TEAM NOT QUITTING
1/23/2002 Stuart News Company
Press Journal (Vero Beach, FL)
The Vero Beach girls wrestling team was on a losing streak before its
season started.
The squad was considered a varsity team last season, its first. But
before this season, it was demoted to club status, meaning the athletic
department isn't paying program expenses. Girls wrestling is not officially
sanctioned by the Florida High School Activities Association. Besides that, the
team's roster dropped from about 20 in the preseason to seven.
"It's tough," girls coach Sam Cassara said. "The girls have to work
more as individuals than as a team. But they keep the team concept in the back
of their mind."
Because the Indians must forfeit half of their 14 matches at every
meet, they aren't doing much winning as a team. But as individuals, the girls
are thriving.
In a tournament at Vero Beach earlier this month, all seven wrestlers
finished first or second. Five finished first or second in a tournament
in Ocala last weekend.
And in dual meets, the Indians are winning about 70 percent of their
matches, Cassara said.
"The girls started slow but each match they're increasing in skills and
intensity," Cassara said.
Cassara believes 118-pound competitor Ericka Duffy and 122-pounder
Mallory Sample have strong chances to win state club titles. But Duffy, a
senior, has higher aspirations.
The state tournament is Feb. 2 at Kissimmee-Gateway.
"I want a national title," Duffy said. State winners advance to
regional and national competitions. "It'll take a lot of hard work but I can do i,."
she said.
Duffy is offering more than talk. At the Vero Beach tournament, she
pinned a wrestler from Gateway ranked seventh in the nation. Duffy needed 54
seconds to record the pin.
Sample, a sophomore who took second at the Vero Beach tournament,
believes she can win a state title.
"It'll take a lot of endurance," Sample said. "I'll have to focus
harder. But I want it bad."
The girls say the loss of their varsity status is frustrating. Most
agree that having a limited roster also makes practice a difficult
proposition at best.
But the complaints don't last long.
"We always had about this many last year," Sample said. "When we had
30, they all quit because it was too hard. We'd rather stick with people
who want it."
Cassara would like to see more girls come out for the team next season.
Many members of this year's team have made recruiting trips to the Freshman
Learning Center. And every girl on this season's team is a sophomore
except Duffy.
"We need more people," Cassara said. "We can get first or second in
every class and that takes us only so far. If we had more girls we would've
gotten first in some of these tournaments ... But we've got our survivors."
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Girls Team from Iowa(Coach Dave Storm)
