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YORK — It´s safe to say Blake Munson wasn´t expecting to see a female facing him on the mat during the opening day of the Maine-Nebraska friendship wrestling series.
The seven-day event began its 25th year Monday at York High, with wrestlers from eight schools in southern Maine and New Hampshire competing against wrestlers from Nebraska.
"That was a first," Munson said of wrestling Reaha Goyetche, who will be a senior at York. "I haven´t wrestled against a girl since I was really little.
"We have some really good female wrestlers in Nebraska and they compete with us, but I´ve never gone against one before."
Goyetche wasn´t intimidated. Females traditionally compete against males during Maine´s high school wrestling season.
"(He) was a very technical wrestler," said Goyetche, who competed against Munson in the 115-pound class. "All of the wrestlers were strong, and they were very confident."
Nebraska won 14 of the 16 matches: York´s Billy Gauthier defeated Mitch Lienemann 10-6 in the 140-pound class, and Massabesic´s Joe Eon and Riley Allen tied 1-1 in two overtimes in the 165-pound class.
===========================================================================================================With more than 60 members, the KOWC - started in 1985 - celebrated the end of another successful season recently.
In fact, Eric Roberts, who is now the past-president, said the club is "probably stronger than ever."
Much of the reason for that strength has to do with an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant from the province this past season. It enabled the club to purchase new equipment, like mats, digital clocks and scales as well as get coaches training qualifications and referee training.
As the club is predominantly comprised of high school athletes, the KOWC's members come from Port Hope High School -- where Roberts is a teacher and coach -- Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West, CDCI East, East Northumberland Secondary School as well as Peterborough schools like Crestwood and Kenner Collegiate, and others like Bancroft and Haliburton.
There are two practices each week during the season; one in Port Hope and one in Peterborough.
On the mat, there were plenty of successes this year. Chris Henthorne won the National Cadet Field Championship for his division. Tyler Cochrane will be attending a national team camp in Prince Edward Island.
It's not all about wins and losses for the athletes. Coaches like Roger Jenkins, Chris Crooks and Roberts see growth in the wrestlers from when they started to where they are now.
"They're definitely more confident than they were before. We can really see that," said Roberts, adding that athletes gain a greater respect for the sport of wrestling.
"To be successful, you have to work really hard at it."
At its recent year-end banquet, the KOWC handed out several awards to its male and female wrestlers.
Jennine Boyce, Francis Dobri, Cole Reed and Matt Vetor also received Graduate Awards for having wrestled for the club throughout their high school years.
Jeff Kawzenuk, Leo Reyns and Eric Roberts received Builders Awards for their long service to the KOWC.
Taking over for Roberts in the president role will be Jenkins, a former Canadian Olympic Trials champion, who is the head coach at Crestwood Secondary School.
"He has been absolutely fantastic for us," Roberts said.
A registration for next season will be held later in the summer but interested participants can also log onto the club's website at www.kawarthawrestling.ca for a form or other information required.
This year's award winners also included:
Girls' Awards
Rookie of the Year: Libby George
Most Outstanding Season:
Andrea Wakelin Most Outstanding Tournament: Andrea Wakelin
Most Improved: Brooke McKinlay
Sportsman: Jennine Boyce The Wolf (a fiercely competitive, rapacious, aggressive, persistent wrestler): Andrea Wakelin
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Demi Allen’s energy reminds Pendleton Heights coach Dave Cloud of a young Mason Todd.
That’s saying a lot, considering Todd qualified for the state finals last year as a freshman for the Arabians.
And Allen is 7 years old.
“In some ways, she compares to the best we’ve had,” Cloud said. “In other ways, there is no comparison. She’s one of a kind.”
Clearly, Allen is no average third-grader.
She so dominated a youth soccer league, scoring 28 goals in a single game, her mother, Lisa, pulled her out to silence the protests of other parents.
She’s a star in Pendleton’s youth football league. And one parent of a teammate hopes to enter her in the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition this fall. Because he believes she can win her age group.
“She’s a very gifted athlete, period,” Cloud said. “She’s one of those kids who would be fantastic at anything she did because of her natural athletic ability.”
How has that translated to the wrestling mat?
Allen is 122-10 since January wrestling primarily against boys, and she became the first female ever to win Indiana’s Triple Crown — the freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman state championships.
She trains nearly every day at Indianapolis’ esteemed Red Cobra wrestling club and once a week with Cloud at Pendleton Heights.
She routinely wrestles opponents more than 20 pounds heavier and several years older.
“She’s just fearless,” Cloud said.
Lisa Allen is at a loss to explain where her daughter’s athletic gifts come from. Older sisters Liz, 13, and Emily, 8, have shown little interest in sports. Even Demi’s twin brother, Dawson, does not share her competitive fire.
Allen got started in wrestling after she brought a flier home from school.
“I thought basketball just ended, and she’s real athletic,” Lisa said. “I didn’t think she’d be good.”
She’s been outstanding.
She finished eighth in the folkstyle nationals in Iowa this March, earning All-America honors.
She cites former Pendleton Heights star Katie Downing as her hero and has made an Olympic appearance her long-term goal.
“She really wanted to meet Katie,” Cloud said. “And it was a good experience. Katie blazed a lot of paths for women in wrestling. Katie’s goal was to get to the Olympics, and she got so close, being a first alternate. It would be great if someone else from Pendleton could pick that up and carry it on.”
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