Women's wrestling coming out of the shadows

by Dave Bancroft 2/1/02
For FYILondon.com

Katie Wilson is doing her part to bring women's wrestling out of the shadows but the University of Western Ontario student often encounters more resistance and difficulties in trying to promote the sport than she does on the mat against a game opponent.
"Some people don't even know there is women's wrestling," says Wilson, who is a member of the Western and London Amateur Wrestling and Athletic Club teams. "I don't think they realize women want to do it. It's annoying."

The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. native and her LAWAC female teammates continued their quest to boost the image of women's wrestling and improve their grappling skills Saturday at the Junior Provincial Wrestling Championships (18-20 year-olds) hosted by UWO and LAWAC. Over 160 of the best wrestlers in Ontario from 20 teams/clubs attended the tournament at Carling Heights Optimist Centre.

Wilson placed third in the 43-kg weight class and the LAWAC women won six medals overall to win the team competition. Other LAWAC medal winners, composed of Western and high school wrestlers, included: 50-kg-Courtney Lafond, second; 50-kg-Tara Rutherford, third; 54-kg-Andrea Ross, second; 58-kg-Terri McNutt, third; 63-kg-Sarah Gil, second.

Ray Takahashi, head coach of the UWO and LAWAC teams, says it was the first time in five years the women had won the team title at the meet.

"We fielded a really strong team," he says. "We'll have a strong group for the national championships in Winnipeg March 23."

Takahashi says the quality and profile of women's wrestling is improving all the time.

"Women's wrestling is at a high calibre and Canada is one of the top five countries in the world," he says. "Virtually every high school wrestling program includes a women's team, and all CIS (university) teams have women's teams."

"Women's wrestling has progressed well in Canada because the wrestling community -- coaches, athletes, administrators -- have all accepted women's participation and have supported it equally along with the men's program. It is common that women and men train together in most programs."

The first women wrestler at Western was Anne Guzman, who was placed on the varsity roster in 1996. Western currently has a roster of ten women on the squad. The Western women placed fourth at the Canadian championships in 2001.

Ian Collins, a fourth-year Western grappler, says women's wrestling has come a long way since he was in high school when he observed that most matches ended very quickly.

"They scrap it out just as well as the guys do," says Collins, a fourth place finisher in the 90-kg class at the Western Open meet on Sunday despite fighting with a painful rib injury. "Women's wrestling is becoming more and more accepted. It's a valid sport now."

Those comments would be music to the ears of Wilson and her female teammates.

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Women’s wrestling squadearning acceptance through work

by Craig Skinner
FYI London 2/10/02

Rachel Dean doesn’t care who she has to wrestle – she just wants to get better.
“In practice it doesn’t matter to me if I’m wrestling a guy or a girl,” the captain of Western’s women’s wrestling team said, while taking a break from the action. “It’s just nice to have lots of different practice partners. Plus, if I’m wrestling a guy, most of the time he’s stronger than me, so it’s great practice. It helps me to get bet better. And I get a great workout.”

Dean, 21, of Woodstock, Ont. has been getting her workouts on the mat for seven years, thanks to a spur-of-the-moment decision to join up after seeing a poster for tryouts in high school. This is the fourth year the kinesiology student has wrestled at Western. Dean said she’s seen big improvements in women’s wrestling during that time.

“The new girls that are coming in this year are really good. They’re all very dedicated. They’re hard workers,” she said. “Every year more people get involved and the level of competition gets better. It’s great for the sport and a lot of fun.”

Ray Takahashi, the coach of the Western wrestling team, said the quality of women’s wrestling has improved greatly since it began a varsity sport two years ago.

“The women we have are very strong. They’re very good wrestlers, who are very strong technically.”

Takahashi said the 10-woman squad has earned the respect and admiration of the 20-plus male wrestlers they train with every day.

“(The men) saw the women were training hard and just accepted them as wrestlers. They welcomed more people who were getting involved. They didn’t look at them as a threat or in terms of ‘we’re male and they’re female’,” he said. “They look at the women as fellow wrestlers.”

Mark Young, one of the captains of the men’s team, agrees with Takahashi.

“We just look at things from the team aspect. The women work hard and hold their own, so in practice we all work together, as a team, to help each other improve.”

Dean hopes working with her teammates, both male and female, will help her improve in competition. Dean won a bronze medal in the CIS championship two years ago and hopes to better that result in March in Thunder Bay, Ont.

To get ready the team will compete in a number of tournaments, including one in Montreal at the end of October.

Even if she doesn’t win a medal, her time in Western wrestling will have been a success, as she has helped groom the next successful crop of female wrestlers at Western.

“Rachel has been helping all of us a lot,” said Terrie McNutt, a first-year nursing student. “She gives a lot of good advice and helps us improve our moves, working on any technical problems we’re having. She’s a great captain.”

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Soft-spoken teenager all business as wrestler

7/19/01by Morris Dalla Costa
The London Free Press

She's about as far from the image of a wrestler as one can imagine.
Stephanie Szmiett appears shy. She's soft-spoken, polite, family-focused and someone who knows the value of hard work. The 16-year-old also happens to be the 46-kilogram division Canadian juvenile champion in one of the toughest, most demanding sports there is.

She's nice.

But get her on a wrestling mat and ...

"She's all business," said coach Marty Leeson. "She's very focused. She can accomplish a lot in the sport."

She's already accomplished a great deal. The Petrolia Lambton Central student is heading into Grade 12. Her pedigree is impressive. It culminates with what will be a trip to the junior girls' world wrestling championships in Switzerland the middle of August, one of eight Canadian women making the trip.

Soft-spoken she may be but there's little question about her ability as a grappler.

Check out her other accomplishments. She began wrestling three years ago at the high school level. She won a bronze medal at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations that first year. The following two years she won gold. She was a member of the Lambton Central OFSAA championship team for 2001 and the most valuable wrestler at the Lambton County wrestling tournament and SWOSSAA. She was undefeated in high school competition in the 2000-2001 season.

As a member of the Sarnia Amateur Wrestling Club, she is the two-time Canadian cadet champ, the provincial juvenile and junior champion in 2001, a silver medallist at the Canadian juvenile championships in Saskatoon; winner of her weight class at the world junior tryouts in Vancouver; and she placed second at the Canada Cup in Calgary wrestling for the national junior team.

While some regard wrestling as somewhat of a novelty when it involves women, the novelty is wearing off. More and more women like the discipline, challenge and individuality the sport offers. Szmiett was aware of the sport long before she hit high school. Her brother Bobby, 20, competed at the Canadian championships. Her sister Jeanette, 19, also wrestled. Stephanie works out with her other brother Brian, who is 15.

"My brother and sister said that wrestling was a lot of fun so I figured I'd try it out," she said. "I was kind of iffy at first because I was playing soccer, but I went to the first practice and I've been at it every since."

Szmiett likes the intensity and dedication the sport brings out, not only in her but the others involved in it.

"It's the longest season of any sport," she said. "You don't see anyone come out just for the heck of it. They eventually die off."

Dedication and success are often words tossed around by athletes and those who deal with athletes. In Szmiett's case, the words fit her as perfectly as tight wrestling skins.

Besides working out three times a week on the wrestling mat, she holds down a job at an Arkona fruit farm, a 10-hour-a-day job that takes her an hour to get to by bicycle. She also participates in her family's farm operation south of Arkona (chickens, animals, crops and a blueberry patch.)

"I don't like not doing something. I like my day busy," Szmiett said. "I've spent a lot of time away from home. I have work and everything and the blueberries have come on.

"Mom and dad wish I could be home a little more to help."

But her family is supportive of her endeavours. They are in the process of building a big home that still needs to be finished inside.

The Szmietts have made a training room out of their unfinished living room. It's quite a site. A gorgeous cathedral ceiling spans a wall with huge windows and wall-to-wall wrestling mats.

"I want to do well," Szmiett said. "I also want to do well for my dad because he really likes it and gets enjoyment out of watching me.

"I hate it when he brags to people about me, though. It gets really annoying. But seeing him happy and everything..."

The worlds will be tough competition. She'll be wrestling against competitors who may be as much as three years older than she is, and while Szmiett has goals, she'll take things as they come.

"I didn't think it would take me this far," she said. "I just thought it would be a high school thing and when I got out I would go to college and university and it would just stop there."

It seems there's little chance of that.

To discuss the opinions of columnist Morris Dalla Costa, call (519) 667-4533. Outside the London dialing area, call 1-800-265-4167, extension 4533. Fax him at (519) 667-4528. Write him at:
THE LONDON FREE PRESS
PO BOX 2280 STN B
LONDON ON N6A 4G1
CANADA

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London teen has her eye on mat success

by Morris Dalla Costa 4/29/01
The London Free Press

Gillian McCallum has never backed away from a challenge. She's a well-spoken, confident 15-year-old who has a pretty clear idea of where she wants to be in two years.
"I'm in Grade 10 this year so I hope to be top-three at Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) next year," McCallum said. "It would be nice to have an OFSAA medal. In Grade 12, I'd like to win OFSAA. That's my long-term goal and I think I can achieve that. I've wrestled the OFSAA champion many times and I've beat her once."

McCallum is a wrestler and a pretty good one. She won a bronze medal at the 2001 cadet female national championship in Saskatoon recently. She competed in the juvenile 70-kilogram division. It was the highest national-level competition in which she has participated.

McCallum is one of those athletes in whom competitive fires burn deep. She attends Oakridge secondary school, which does not have a wrestling team. So she trains at Saunders secondary school with Saunders wrestlers and their coach, Harry Geris. Geris is also coach for the Amateur Wrestlers of London, the club McCallum wrestles with. Since her school has no wrestling club, she often trains alone or with her brother. She also works out with the boys' rugby team.

But since her goal is OFSAA, she plans to transfer to Saunders next year to compete with that school's wrestling team. In her short athletic career, she played football with the London Minor Football Association, two years ago was the starting defensive tackle on the Oaks junior football team, played competitive rugby and competitive fastball.

"I won't be playing football any more because the boys are getting really big. I'm only going to be able to play house league fastball because I just don't have the time for the competitive fastball," McCallum said. "Wrestling is the sport I prefer. What I need to get now is more mat time. I need the experience from the high school tournaments."

It is one of the most brutally demanding individual sports. McCallum is fortunate she often trains with Londoner Katie Patroch, a national-calibre junior wrestler in the 58-kilogram class.

"She's so talented, she's taught me a lot," said McCallum. "It really benefited me, especially with the technical ability. Just watching her do moves helped me. She's going to try for the national team and I hope she makes it. That means I can learn a lot more from her."

In Saskatoon, McCallum had to battle hard, not only physically but mentally.

"My first match was against last year's national champion who was wrestling in her home town," said McCallum. "It was tough. I was up 5-0 and unfortunately I was really nervous and I wound up losing that match. That dropped me into the loser's side of the bracket. The mental aspect was hard. You know that you've already lost once and if you lose again you're done.

"But I fought my way back. I wound up facing her again for third and I won. We went into overtime. I should have beaten her the first time. Finishing third gave me some recognition in the wrestling community."

It was a successful tournament for other Londoners as well. The London Amateur Wrestling and Athletic Club finished third as a club in juvenile female. Tara Rutherford won bronze in the 48-kilogram division and Andrea Ross a silver in the 52-kilogram category.

They had two fourth-place finishers -- Laura Skopelianos in 46-kilogram and Lauren Radoja in 60-kilogram. Mark Crockett was fifth in the male juvenile 54-kilogram division.

"I heard that the 2005 Canada Summer Games may have women's wrestling," McCallum said. "Then there's the chance that women's wrestling will be a demonstrator sport in the Olympics."

For McCallum, there's always something to look forward to.

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Saunders wrestler aims for a golden triple crown

by Steve Green 3/15/01
The London Free Press

Katie Patroch, to put it mildly, is on a roll. Actually, she's been more like a steamroller.
The 18-year-old OAC student at Saunders has dominated her opponents on the wrestling mat this year. She breezed to the women's gold at 63 kilograms at the Ontario junior (19-20) championships in London in January and went undefeated -- and unscored upon -- in the girls' 64-kilogram division at the Ontario high school championships this month in Guelph.

And she's a solid bet to make it a triple crown at the national junior championships tomorrow and Saturday at Fanshawe College, but it won't be as easy.

For one thing, she's dropped down to the 58-kilogram class, where she won silver at last year's juvenile (17-18) championships. For another, she's not sure who her major opponents will be.

"I'm not sure who the big guns are at 58," she said yesterday before practice. "Brianne Graham of Calgary is the defending champ but I don't know if she's cutting (dropping a weight class). And the girl who beat me last year at OFSAA, Megan Dolan (of Smithville), if she cuts, she'll be tough.

"Plus there are a lot of people out there I don't know."

Patroch, one of about 20 local competitors in the meet, is confident heading into the preliminary bouts tomorrow but she's not counting a gold by any means.

"From where I'm sitting I don't feel I'm that far ahead of things," she said. "I know people my age who have two national titles. There are always people better than you; you can't afford to let yourself think you're in that great a position.

"But the window of opportunity is definitely there. It all depends on what kind of day I'm having. A lot of it is mental, because when you get to this level, everyone's a good wrestler. There are no duds out there, so it just comes down to who's mentally better prepared.

"If you go in with doubts about yourself, chances are you will lose."

But the combination of an Ontario high school gold and some top-flight international competition at the Sunkist International in Arizona in November and the Manitoba Open in early February has helped increase her mental toughness and repertoire of moves.

"I wrestled a lot more open and senior this year than I normally do and wrestling feels more natural now. At OFSAA, I wasn't going to accept not winning, especially since I'd tried so hard for four years and came so close last year.

"OFSAA was a four-year goal. It was four years of my life put into four minutes on the mat and I can't describe how much it meant to me to win that gold medal."

She still had to lose about a kilogram before today's 5 p.m. weigh-in but she said losing the weight's been no problem as she's been doing it slowly over the last couple of weeks. Her job at Tim Hortons is the hard part, she said with a laugh.

"Everyone on their break has a free coffee and doughnut and I'm sitting there with my low-fat muffin and glass of water," she said, adding she's got tonight's menu already planned once she makes her weight. "Steak, sweet potatoes, spinach salad and ice cream."

As an added dessert, a national championship would give her an edge heading into the national world junior trials later this year.

"Everyone has dreams and I would love to represent Canada," she said. "To wear that Canadian singlet would be very fulfilling."

EVENT GUIDE

Canadian junior (19-20) wrestling championships

Where: Fanshawe College, J-Gym.

When: Tomorrow-Sunday.

Schedule: Tomorrow, freestyle preliminaries, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 6-9 p.m.; Saturday, freestyle semifinals, 9 a.m.-noon, finals 5 p.m.; Sunday, Greco-Roman (men only), preliminaries start 9 a.m., finals 3 p.m.

EVENT GLANCE

Ontario high school wrestling championships

Area medallists: Girls -- Stephanie Szmiett, Lambton Central, gold, 47.5kg; Katie Patroch, Saunders, gold, 64kg; Leslie Woolfinden, Lambton Central, gold, 72kg; Kate Woolfinden, Lambton Central, gold, heavyweight; Sarah Migchels, Lambton Central, silver, 64kg; Mandy Daley, Lambton Central, silver, 84kg; Lisa Migchels, Lambton Central, bronze, 77kg; Lambton Central, team gold, overall combined silver; Boys -- Phil Fraser, Sarnia CI, silver, 41kg; Anthony Charette, Parkside, silver, 44kg; Leonard Payne, Sarnia CI, silver, heavyweight; Scott Dionne, Parkside, bronze, 57.5kg.

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TWINS TACKLE RUGBY AND WRESTLING

RYAN PYETTE, FREE PRESS SPORTS 1/25/02

BODY:
Tara Wells is definitely double trouble.

The 21-year-old Aurora native and third-year Western political science
student spends her falls rucking with the Mustangs women's rugby team
and her winters mucking it up on the wrestling squad.

Normally, that combo would make a pretty unique athlete but not in the
Wells household. Tara's identical twin sister Krista is also a university
wrestler and rugby player -- at Queen's in Kingston. Strangely, the sisters
entered restling independently. Tara was introduced to the sport by a rugby
friend just a few years ago.

Surprisingly, the twins have never met on the mat.

"I'm 15 pounds heavier, we're in different weight classes," said
five-foot-three, 130-pound Tara, who wrestles in the 57-kilogram group.
"Of course, we see each other at every meet. We always played rugby but we
both just kind of fell into wrestling on our own."

The rugby all-star took to the mat quickly. With little experience,
Tara grappled her way to second at the Ontario championships and fifth at
nationals last year.

This weekend, Wells and her Mustangs teammates host the Western Open,
starting at 9 a.m. Sunday. Crease wars?
Do you go with the Benz or the BMW? Either way, you're travelling in
style but it's still a toughie.

And the same type of sentiment applies to Western men's hockey coach
Clarke inger, who must decide which of his two strong goalies will take his
18-0 and nationally No. 1 Mustangs the rest of the way.

Rookie goalie Mike D'Alessandro owns a Canada-best 0.90 goals-against
average and two shutouts. Veteran Jarrett Rose boasts a 1.39
goals-against average, third in the country.

Singer's stingy duo has allowed just 21 goals in 18 straight league
wins and has not surrendered more than two goals in any league game.

Final auditions take place tonight against Brock (7:35 p.m. at Thompson
arena), tomorrow against York (7:35 p.m.) and Thursday in Guelph.

The stats slightly favour rookie D'Alessandro, who is rumoured by some
sources to be the front-runner for the job.

But no one should forget veteran Rose shone down the stretch and at the
University Cup national championships in Kitchener last March.

In fact, the Sudbury native was the primary reason for the Mustangs'
5-3
upset win over the No. 1-ranked Alberta Golden Bears -- Western's first
victory at the national tournament since 1988.

Plus, the nationals are back in Kitchener this year and Rose is a
former Kitchener Rangers puckstopper who knows every nook and cranny of the
old Aud.

D'Alessandro was a member of the OHL-winning Barrie Colts in 2000 but
spent much of his time backing up star keeper Brian Finley.

If Western wins tonight, the Mustangs will be the first team in OUA
hockey history to win 19 straight games. They are six wins away from a perfect
regular season. Tight scheduling
Western men's hoops coach Craig Boydell is not happy about playing two
games in less than 24 hours -- tonight (6 p.m. against Laurentian) and
tomorrow (noon against York, on CH Television).

There is a league rule forbidding it but OUA rules are designed to bend
when the league TV deal enters the fray.

Still, with both games at Alumni Hall, the Mustangs have little to
complain about.

The London Knights encounter the back-to-back, night-day routine five
times this season -- and not once are both games at the Ice House.

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