PICTURES FROM KLIPPAN Lady Open 2002
03.03.2002

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Female wrestler has high goal: to be an Olympic champion

ALAN CROSS, Newton Daily News 3/18/02

Liz Sanders made an impression on Newton Senior High School wrestling
coach Bill Reed the very first practice without even attempting a takedown.

"I told all the wrestlers who wanted to be a conference champion to
stand up," Reed said. "I told them to keep standing if they wanted to be a
state qualifier, then a state champ, then an NCAA champ in college and so on.

"By the time I got to being an Olympic champ, only three people in the
room were still standing - Liz and Joe and Jeremy Meyer. I admire that kind
of determination. Sanders, a freshman at Newton, is building a strong
foundation to make that Olympic dream a reality. She has won five
national titles in her career and is undefeated in her bid for the United States
Girls' Wrestling Association Belt Championship Series title this
season.

"I want to win every time I step on the mat," Sanders said. "I don't
care who I wrestle - whether it be a boy or a girl. I just want to win."

Sanders also doesn't care how far or what state she has to travel to
find competition. She has competed in eight tournaments so far this year in
states like Tennessee, Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri.

Recently, for example, Sanders traveled to Richmond, Mo., to compete in
the Missouri girls' state wrestling tournament. After the tournament, she
and her father drove back to Iowa where she competed in the Iowa girls'
state wrestling tournament in Gilbert Sunday.

She won both tournaments and was named the most outstanding wrestler at
each event.

"I actually got to wrestle a lot 1/8that 3/8 weekend," Sanders said. "I
wrestled eight matches."

There have been times where Sanders has traveled to a tournament only
to find out there was nobody for her to wrestle. She traveled to Criswell,
Tenn., for the First Annual USGWA Tennessee Girls' Wrestling State
Championship in February but was unopposed in her weight class.

It was the same way at the American Classic in Richmond, Mich., last
December. She was able to get on the mat, however, and wrestle in an
exhibition match.

"Girls' wrestling is getting more popular," Sanders said, "but there
are still times when there isn't enough girls to fill out a weight class."

Sanders' dad, Steve, takes her to all the weekend tournaments.
Sometimes the two leave Friday afternoon and return late Sunday night in time for
Sanders to return to school.

"My dad is a farmer, so he has to get someone to do the chores while
he's gone," said Sanders. "Then if I have to miss classes at school, I have
to do those assignments a day ahead. The teachers have been real supportive
and helpful when I have to do that."

Sanders is currently ranked fourth in the nation in the 165-pound plus
division by the USGWA, but she leads the Belt Championship Series.

"It's like a boxing championship belt," Sanders said. "You get points
for every win and extra points for pinning an opponent. The wrestler with
the most points after all the tournaments are completed is awarded the
belt."

This was the first year Sanders was able to compete on the boys' high
school wrestling team, and the experience was very beneficial.

"I learned so much," she said. "I was wrestling against good
competition every day in practice, and that made me better."

Sanders said she didn't' want to be treated any differently when she
first stepped into the wrestling practice room.

Reed obliged.

"I expected the same thins from her that I expect from anyone who steps
on to this mat," Reed said. "I expected her to come to practice every day,
work hard and give me everything she has.

"She did that."

Sanders wrestled in the 171-pound weight class on the Cardinal
wrestling junior varsity wrestling team where she finished the season with a 5-13
record

Four of those wins were by pins, and she was only put on her back three
times.

"She was wrestling in a very tough weight division," Reed said. "The
guys she wrestled were bigger and stronger, so it's a credit to her that she
did so well."

Sanders said she knew she couldn't out-muscle her opponents, so she had
to figure out other ways to win her matches.

"I had to be a better technical wrestler," she said. "I also had to
outthink them. A lot of times, my opponents thought they could out-muscle me and
charge right at me. I used that to my advantage and caught them
off-guard a lot."

Her workout partner for most of the season was Cody Criqui. He finished
the season as the Cardinals' top junior varsity wrestler in the 152-pound
division. He was 28-5 and had the most pins and wins at the junior
varsity level.

"She wasn't going up against any slouches in practice," Reed said.

"I think being on the high school team this year and going up against
my teammates in practice every day has really helped me out this year,"
Sanders said.

"I'm going to keep working hard to achieve my goals. Many people may
laugh at me, but I really do want to become and Olympic champion."

That opportunity may come in the 2008 games.

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U of G women's rugby, wrestling teams scratch each other's back

Thursday March 7, 2002
Rob Massey
The Guelph Mercury

The University of Guelph's varsity wrestling team has decided it has something good going with its women's programme.
Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. That's the attitude the wrestling team is taking in regards to the university's varsity women's rugby team.

The Gryphs sent two women to last weekend's Canadian Interuniversity Sports championship meet in Thunder Bay.

One was Tara Hedican, a reigning world junior wrestling champion who is also a standout with the rugby team.

The other was Brooke Hilditch. She's also a standout with the rugby squad as she's been the team's scoring leader each of the last two seasons.

While Hedican was a winning wrestler in high school, she talked Hilditch into joining the Gryphon grapplers.

"We had (five) rugby girls come out this year and it was great," said wrestling coach Doug Cox, a former Olympian. "Those girls worked very hard. With one or two months of training, you just can't do much. Brooke, she got where she is because she's that good of an athlete. She's very strong, a very good athlete - her balance is exceptional."

Hilditch finished sixth in her weight class at the CIS championship meet. The other three whose names can be found on the rosters for both teams were Nat Bendavid, Michaela Jeffs and Suzanne Kramer.

"For next year, what we'd like to do is recruit a bunch more rugby girls even if they're going to use it as a secondary sport for cross-training," said Cox. "It's great for them and it's great for us."

By joining both the rugby and wrestling squads, the women can be active athletically the entire school year.

"There are quite a few similarities in the mentalities between wrestling and rugby," said Cox, pointing out that both are tough sports. "It just seems to be that the mentality of the men and women we get is that they like to get in there and grind it out and they like to kinda prove themselves individually.

"I'm hoping that we'll get lots of rugby girls. I know that a lot of the girls that we recruit for wrestling that are outstanding high school wrestlers right now do also play rugby.

"It's a nice complement both ways. If we can help the rugby team and the rugby team can help us, that's great."

Hedican broke a personal jinx when she defeated Breanne Graham of Calgary 3-0 in the gold-medal bout at the CIS championships. It was the first time in six meetings that Hedican had defeated Graham. The pair finished one-two last year, with Graham getting gold and Hedican silver.

"Getting over those mental hurdles is huge," said Cox. "Everybody's got that thorn in their side that they've got to get over but she just blew the girl away."

Hedican was named the top wrestler in the women's championships for her efforts. Included in her weight class were two other wrestlers who were also medalists in world championship action.

"You have to understand that Canada, for women's wrestling, is number two or three in the world," said Cox. "When we say that Tara went there and beat two world medalists, that's huge."

Hedican has worked on what was deemed her weakness last season. She was thought to be a first-round wrestler, one who would put all her effort into the opening round but then fade in the second round if the bout got that far.

"Sometimes she would tend to lose focus in the second round but this year it was just constant right through," said Cox. "She just dominated the match. It was no question In anybody's mind who was MVP just because of the weight class she was in. It was by far the toughest weight class there.

"We pointed that out last year that that was her weakness. She could wrestle anybody in the world. She wrestled a five-time world champion here once and she was up on her 7-0 but ended up losing the match in overtime.

"She's very well-prepared for matches but I think her concentration used to lax a little bit in the second round. Now she's learned how to deal with that. If you take a look at her year, she's having an unbelievable year."

The turnaround might just have been before her world junior championship title win last year.

"Our assistant coach, Dave Mair, was the coach of the junior world women's team and when he went, one of his biggest concerns was that Tara in the finals would be really, really aggressive in the first round but not show up in the second round," stated Cox.

It turned out that there was no reason for Mair to worry.

"I've seen the film," said Cox. "It was just total pursuit. It was great."

And Cox will think it's just great if Hedican, Hilditch and the other women's rugby players on the wrestling team talk other members of the rugby team to join them on the mat.

It can only help both teams as it keeps their fitness levels near peak condition throughout the year.

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Wrestling with stereotypes
Top Aboriginal sports honour for Hedican

Wednesday March 13, 2002
DAVE POLLARD
MERCURY STAFF

GUELPH - As a world junior wrestling champion, Tara Hedican knows she's in a position to change the stereotypes many people have about Aboriginal peoples.
Later this month, when Hedican accepts the Tom Longboat Award as Canada's top female Aboriginal athlete of the year at a televised ceremony in Toronto, her profile will be raised even higher. Already the 20-year-old Guelph native is thinking like a role model.

"Not very many Aboriginal kids have role models to look up to," Hedican said. "It's not really overwhelming. It's part of who I am, I guess. It goes with the title."

Some who have followed Hedican's wrestling career from a distance might not even realize she is of Aboriginal descent. It's not that Hedican isn't proud of her native heritage, she's just not in people's faces about it.

But now she realizes she has a platform from which to be heard on the issue.

"I think it's important to let people know I'm Aboriginal," she said. "There are a lot of stereotypes out there. All I've accomplished undermines the stereotypes."

In the summer, Hedican will compete in her first North American Indigenous Games, which will be held in Winnipeg. The Games bring native peoples from across the continent together for an Olympic-type experience.

"I'm just going there for the experience," Hedican said. "I'm sure the competition won't be too stiff. I'll go to support native athletes in general."

Growing up, Hedican hasn't been immune to racist comments, although she down-played it when the topic was brought up. Many were off-hand comments not directed at her.

"People say stuff but it's by accident, I think," she said. "But I take offence to comments like that."

Hedican will receive the Longboat Award, named after one of Canada's best distance runners in history, at the Canadian Sports Awards ceremony March 26 at the CBC Building in Toronto. She will be presented with a ring and trophy and receive a $500 bursary.

Among the former recipients of the Longboat Award are Darren Zack, one of the best male softball pitchers that sport has ever seen, and Waneek Horn-Miller, a member of the Canadian Olympic women's water polo team in 2000.

Also up for athlete of the year awards are the likes of world champion speed skaters Catriona Le May Doan and Jeremy Wotherspoon, both of whom competed in the Salt Lake City Olympics.

"I'm pretty excited to be there with Canada's best athletes," Hedican said. "It's everyone you get to see on TV and I actually get to meet them."

Hedican is as much a star in her own right as the other award recipients.

Hedican, who wrestles under the Guelph Gryphons and Guelph Wrestling Club banners, made Canadian history by winning the world junior title in August. When Hedican defeated Daria Nasarova of Russia in the 63-kilogram final during the meet in Martigny, Switzerland, it marked the first time ever a Canadian has won a gold medal at the world junior level.

"In some respects I look at it and say, 'Wow,'" Hedican said. "But I aspire to so much more, I don't want to stop there. (Women's) wrestling will be in the Olympics in 2004 for the first time. I'm thinking of wrestling in the next one after that as well."

Hedican is as excited about the chance to raise wrestling's profile as she is her Aboriginal status.

"It's important to get the sport out in the open as well," she said. "Wrestling is pretty low profile. We have four world champions in Canada and not many people know about it."

During the award ceremony, Hedican will be required to make a 60-second speech. A woman of few words, Hedican still doesn't know what she'll say.

"It's going to be broadcast on CBC, Ron McLean will be there," she said, almost incredulous. "It's pretty crazy stuff."

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Spirited beginning to Games
Friday March 8, 2002
HILARY STEAD
MERCURY STAFF

GUELPH - It started with a dramatic "Let the Games begin."
With those words, James Bartleman opened the 2002 Ontario Winter Games in Guelph, performing his first official function just hours after being sworn in as Ontario's 27th lieutenant governor.

"I'm grateful the first event is with the young people of Ontario," said Bartleman Thursday night from the podium of the brightly-lit stage at the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre.

Ontario's first aboriginal lieutenant governor joked with the crowd of more than 3,000 athletes, parents, coaches and volunteers that he is no stranger to Guelph where his daughter, a PhD student in microbiology, is enrolled at the University of Guelph.

"I've been a major contributor to the economy of this part of Ontario," he said.

Bartleman's appearance is just one of the events that triggered great excitement in the arena. Each of the dignitaries only had to mention a town or city in Ontario or one of the sports represented at the Games to set off the spirited crowd of young athletes.

"Thunder Bay, Ottawa, gymnastics, wrestling," yelled Tim Hudak, Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, as hundreds of young people cheered and waved tiny flags.

"As minister of sport, this has been a very good year," he said, referring to the Canada Summer Games in London and Canada's best performance ever at the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Thursday night was not the Olympics, but Guelph put on a lively show for the visitors who will compete in the city over the next three days.

Three Guelph athletes, former champion wrestler Albert Tschirhart, Tara Hedican, the 2001 junior world champion wrestler, and nine-year-old hockey player Seth Binkley, representing the past, the present and the future, carried torches through the arena and lit the symbolic flame.

Hockey player Scott Pettipiere and rifle shooter Jessica Stewart took an oath of good sportsmanship on behalf of all of the competitors.

Between speeches from politicians and organizers, the crowd was entertained by emcee "Superfan" Cameron Hughes and by the acrobatics of the Raptor Dance Pak.

The evening began with the athletes massing in the halls behind the banners for their sports as organizers executed a flawless parade of athletes into the arena.

This was followed by a splendid rendition of O Canada by the Guelph Youth Singers who also sang Song of Our City by James Gordon commissioned for Guelph's 175th birthday and performed for the first time at the event.

Tim Blevins, vice president of Reid's Heritage Group, a major sponsor, helped stir up the crowd for "the coolest games in town.

"Not every athlete will leave here with a medal, but every athlete here is already a winner," he said.

Jim Rooney, co-chair of the games, was finally able to exhale at the end of the ceremony which was nine months in the making. "It was a thrill that the city had the honour of the lieutenant governor's presence," said Rooney, a big fan of bringing together the arts and athletics.

"They are one and the same," he said, because both require creativity, skill and imagination.

Rooney had praise for everyone involved, including the overwhelming generosity of 1,000 volunteers. More wanted to donate their time, he said, but there were not enough jobs to go around.

"It's a credit to the community," he said, singling out Marva Wisdom and Chris Finamore in particular for their investment of time, including 24 volunteer training sessions in February.

Also on hand Thursday night was artist Ken Danby, who was asked to represent parents at a civic event prior to the opening ceremony.

Danby's youngest son, Noah, was Ontario Wrestling Champion in the mid-1990s.

"Parents pay a major role, that's often overlooked," said Danby.

The evening ended with a concert by the Saskatoon-based youth band Wide Mouth Mason.

The Ontario Winter Games started Thursday and will continue until Sunday, ending with the women's gold medal hockey game and the extinguishing of the torch at the downtown arena.

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