Womens wrestling news

Tessa Plana recorded one of the Stars' six pins Saturday.

1/9/2010 5:22:06 PM

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Oklahoma City University opened defense of its NWCA National Duals women’s wrestling championship by overwhelming Menlo (Calif.) 43-3 on Saturday at the UNI Dome.

The Stars, the two-time defending national duals champions, faces Missouri Valley at 9 a.m. Sunday. The championship dual will be 3 p.m. Sunday.

OCU used six falls to post the victory. Nicole Woody picked up a pin of Sherylyn Sabado at 55 seconds into the second period of the 48-kilogram match to put OCU ahead 10-0.

OCU’s Michaela Hutchison pinned Jacquelyn Davis at 55, then Ashley Hudson beat Rachael Skroch by fall at 59. Tessa Plana made it back-to-back-to-back pins with the win over Kayla Garza at 63.

Brittney Roberts pinned Rebecca Medeiros in the 72-kilo bout, and Brittany Delgado finish off Menlo with the pin over Brittany Caoiole at 95.

Katherine Fulp-Allen, the defending 51-kilogram national champion, won the only match for Menlo, defeating Na’Tasha Umemoto 6-4, 2-2, 1-0.

OKLAHOMA CITY 43

MENLO 3

44: Stephanie Waters, OCU, by forfeit (OCU leads 5-0)

48: Nicole Woody, OCU, pinned Sherylyn Sabado, 0-2,0:55 (OCU leads 10-0)

51: Katherine Fulp-Allen, MC, dec. Na’Tasha Umemoto, 6-4,2-2,1-0 (OCU leads 10-3)

55: Michaela Hutchison, OCU, pinned Jacquelyn Davis, 1:26,1:05 (OCU leads 15-3)

59: Ashley Hudson, OCU, pinned Rachael Skroch, 0:58,1:16 (OCU leads 20-3)

63: Tessa Plana, OCU, pinned Kayla Garza, 0-7,1:33 (OCU leads 25-3)

67: Sheila McCabe, OCU, dec. Keaton Long, 8-9,6-3,4-2 (OCU leads 28-3)

72: Brittney Roberts, OCU, pinned Rebecca Medeiros, 1:12 (OCU leads 33-3)

82: Melissa Simmons, OCU, by forfeit (OCU leads 38-3)

95: Brittany Delgado, OCU, pinned Brittany Caoiole, 1:36 (OCU wins 43-3)

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O’Connor shows heart in ASICS girls wrestling tourney

By ANDY WILCOX
Register Sports Writer 1/10/10
Photos

Just three months after learning how to wrestle from her brother, Vintage’s Heather O’Connor was shocking the world at the ASICS Napa Valley Girls Classic.

Going largely on conditioning and heart from fall water polo, the junior prevailed in Friday’s first two rounds and Saturday’s semifinal.

In her 165-pound championship match against Albany’s Alex Holt, O’Connor scored a quick takedown for a 2-0 lead. But after Holt got out of bounds to force a re-start, she got on top of O’Connor, exposing one of the Crusher’s weaknesses, and pinned her late in the first period.

It was O’Connor’s third loss of the season, and first by pin. It left her lying on her face in pain, then holding her right shoulder as she walked to the trainer’s table — a tough finish to an otherwise impressive performance in the nation’s second-largest girls high school tournament.

“She’s just been wrestling a lot longer than I have,” O’Connor said afterward. “I think now that I’ve faced her and lost to her, I’m going to train harder. I’m never usually on the bottom, and she just had a lot more technique.”

Too bad it wasn’t in the pool, where O’Connor was named Most Improved Player for the league-champion Crushers and received all-section honorable mention.

“Water polo definitely gave me strength and got me on the right road to being fit,” O’Connor said. “I wish I’d started wrestling as a freshman. I’d be a beast by now.

O’Connor pinned her first three opponents, including Hogan’s Katrina Abueg in the semifinals.

“She was really good,” O’Connor said. “Most of the girls I wrestle aren’t as strong and don’t have as much technique as her, but it didn’t stop me.”

Then came about a five-hour wait for her final.

“That was a really, really long time,” she said. “I wished it was shorter so I still had that mental flow going. This tournament is a real good eye-opener.”

The Crushers also had three other wrestlers make the semifinals. Taide Guerra-Martinez (108) finished third, Jonnarose Palma (114) took fourth, Jennelyn Lazo (146) finished fifth, and Mia Folster (235) took seventh.

Also for the Crushers, Elizabeth Palencia (118), Isabel Bito (126) and Raeveen Barrola (138) each went 2-2, Nilla Marie Mercado (138) was 1-2, and Gin Gascon (98) was 0-2.

Napa High’s four-wrestler contingent was led by senior Samantha Gardner, who took third at 146 with a 12-8 win over Petaluma High’s Jonni Machado. Kortney Denna (118) went 2-2 and fellow freshman Alyssa Vela (108) went 0-2. Senior Sukhova Ksenia (146), in just her sixth week of the sport, went 1-2.

Vintage finished fourth as a team with 96 points, its highest finish since placing third in 2005. Bethel won with 144.5, followed by Albany (111) and Castro Valley (107). Napa (29) was 32nd out of 87 schools from as far away as Reno and Los Angeles.

Gardner, who missed last year’s ASICS tourney due to injury after wrestling it as a freshman and sophomore, had pinned Machado on Friday.

In the third-place match, Gardner was penalized a point three times for touching her hands together while holding Machado. But she pulled away from an early 4-4 tie.

“That was a good match, really good,” Gardner said. “She was one of my first matches yesterday, and today she was my third — you get worn out being here all day. She has a longer reach, so when I shoot she can grab the back of my legs. When she shoots, it’s hard for me to do that. She times she did a lot more moves today, which was cool. It felt really good to beat her again.”

Gardner began her day by facing one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the nation, three-time state champion Brittany David of Liberty-Brentwood, who pinned her in the first period.

“She’s only lost once her entire career, but I wrestled really good against her,” Gardner said. “It was my fault that I lost. I made a stupid move and ended up on my back. We were head-to-head.

“At first I was scared of her. I was like ‘Oh my God, she’s shooting like a pro, she’s one of the best, she’s ranked like second in the nation,’ so I got terrified. But once I wrestled her she wasn’t liked I’d expected. Next time I’ll go in and not worry as much as I did; that’s what made me make stupid decisions. She got in my head a little bit.”

Gardner was coaxed into wrestling by 2008 Napa High alumna Alyx McChesney, who is now in the U.S. Army.

“She didn’t want to be the only girl wrestling at our school. We practiced together every day,” Gardner said. “I love doing guys sports. I dirtbike, hunt, go four-wheeling, all that stuff.

“(David) made my toughness come out. I matched her toughness, but I think I can do better if I see her again.”

Palma, a sophomore, was pinned in the semifinals by Terra Nova nemesis Sandra Costello, against whom Palma fell to 0-4 in her career. She came back and pinned Edison-Stockton’s Alexis Ferguson and reach the third-place match.

She lost her finale to a North Salinas foe by pin, but was upbeat afterward because she took as a learning experience.

“I learned a new move from her,” Palma said. “It was a weird arm-control thing where she was on the bottom and grabbed my arm. It’s really easy, but it works because I just got caught in it. I beat her (on Friday) but I knew I didn’t really win fairly because I kept her down by stalling, because I didn’t know what to do. This time I moved the whole time and got pinned. I guess I should have stalled more. But I think I was more nervous.”

Palma loves wrestling — so much that she said she helped recruit most of the nine girls on this year’s team — but she’s also captain of the Crushers’ badminton team in the spring. She said the conditioning for both sports is similar.

“You’re flicking a birdie, but it’s really harder than that,” she said about badminton. “I think I sweat more in badminton than I do in wrestling. I’m the smallest one on the wrestling team, so people around school don’t think I wrestle. But I got all my friends to wrestle. My friend Raeveen won two matches here. She’s like my hero.”

Hoover, Bethel girls lead way for local wrestlers in Napa Valley

Hoover took the 114-pound class title and led the Bethel girls to the tournament crown.

Annabelle Molina (103), Camille Bordon (122) and Alyssa Balcena (heavyweight) all placed third for the Jaguars. Desire Espena (108) was fourth, Frankie Liang (118) and Alyssa Wong (132) were both fifth and Nancy Nguyen (98) was seventh.

Vallejo's Breanne Boggs (148) took eighth. The Apaches were going strong in the opening rounds on Friday, but four of the five girls went down with injuries.

Hogan had three wrestlers fare well at the Napa Valley Classic. Chantel White (165) was third, Katrina Adueg (165) was sixth and Ahea Kanngataa (189) was sixth.

The Daily World

KELSO — Three Grays Harbor wrestlers claimed individual weight class titles during Saturday’s Kelso Invitational girls wrestling event at Kelso High School.

Hoquiam’s Marissa Aube and Dallas Wagner, plus Montesano’s Michaela Ecklund, won their weight divisions in the 16-wrestler brackets.

Hoquiam finished tied for sixth in the team standings, with Montesano 20th and Elma 28th. Washougal won the team title.

According to HHS assistant coach Hope Farmer, some of the divisions had pigtail matches to enter the main brackets.

“It was, by far, the biggest tournament we’ve wrestled in this season,” Farmer added. “The girls are wrestling well. They’re improving every week. They’re pretty tired right now.”

Aube went 3-0 in the 130-pound division, pinning Kelso’s Shay Workman in 3:20 in the championship final.

Wagner went 4-0 at 125, pinning Rainier’s Katy Dawson in 1:10 in the final to finish the tournament with four pins.

Ecklund went 3-0 at 160, pinning Olympia’s Cassie Martin in the third round of the championship final. Ecklund also finished the tournament with three pins.

Kelso Duals

On Friday, several teams faced off in mixed-and-matched dual meets prior to the Invitational.

Hoquiam, which brought a full complement of eight wrestlers, had six wrestlers finish with two wins or better and knocked off state tournament rival Emerald Ridge in one of the dual meets.

“We faced Emerald Ridge in one of the duals and only lost one match,” Farmer said. “Beating Emerald Ridge was a big deal. They’re a really good team and it is a good confidence booster for the girls.”

Wagner and Aube both went 3-0 for the Grizzlies, with Kelsey Sund (119), Sam King (135), Brianna Looney (140) and Lexi Taylor (152) winning two matches each.

For Montesano, Ecklund went 3-0, with three first-round pins, and Kelly Tackett won one of her three matches.

Hereford nips Caprock to claim tourney crown

The Hereford Lady Whitefaces won the tournament with 182 points Saturday. Hereford edged six-time defending state champion Caprock, which took second with 176 points.

Tascosa (136 points), El Paso Chapin (112) and Amarillo High (92) rounded out the top five.

"Six points, wow, one pin," Hereford assistant coach Levi Keith said. "That's as close as it gets around here. That's one pin on the good side. A lot of girls did a lot of good things on the good side."

Caprock coach Anthony Hoppe gave credit to Hereford, but he also recognized his team for nearly pulling out a win despite having two key injuries and not having any wrestlers at the 148- and 165-pound weight classes.

"I believe that those two weights would have made the difference," Hoppe said. "On any given day, any team can sit here and step up and win. I just need kids to be healthy so we can compete. In all honesty, I didn't think we would be this close to them, but the girls did an excellent job of coming back and coming through. They know they have to work hard to continue the success known for Caprock."

Hereford and Caprock have finished in the top two spots in three major tournaments this season. Caprock won the Raider Duals, and Hereford won the Frisco tournament.

"It's been a long time coming," Keith said. "These coaches have been together for four or five years now, and we've worked hard. It feels really nice to finally get over the hump for these girls. It's always nice to beat someone who's a defending state champ."

Caprock closed the gap by winning two head-to-head finals matches with Hereford.

At 215 pounds, the final match, Caprock's Malexsis McAdoo pinned Hereford's Miriam Moreno. It was quite a turnaround as Moreno bolted to a 5-0 lead and led 6-2 in the second period.

But Moreno tripped and was taken down by McAdoo, who pinned her with 32.9 seconds left in the period.

"I was always told to fight because if you give up you will never succeed," McAdoo said. "It was a hard match, she was good competition, but I stuck it out to the end."

Team Totals (Top 15): 1. Hereford, 182; 2. Caprock, 176; 3. Tascosa, 136; 4. El Paso Chapin, 112; 5. Amarillo High, 92; 6. EP Irvin, 84; 7. Palo Duro, 83; 8. El Paso Hanks, 80; 9. EP Americas, 72; 10. Azle, 68; 11. Vernon, 64; 12. EP Burges, 53; 13. Franklin, 48; 14. EP Del Valla, 46.5; 15. Eastwood, 46.

95: 1. Mitzi Rodriguez, Caprock; 2. Justin Martinez, Hereford; 3. Tiffany Chavez, Andress.

102: 1. Cheyenne Kemp, unattached; 2. Kelsey Baker, Palo Duro; 3. Hilary Cordero, Caprock.

110 Orange: 1. Alba Mendoza, Franklin; Jordanne Diaz, Hanks; 3. Ahahi Meneses, Burgess.

110 White: 1. Delilah Perez, Hanks; 2. Brenda Villela, Bowie; 3. Gabby Valejo, Hereford.

119: 1. Shelby Morrison, unattached; 2. Jo De La River, Burgess; 3. Darlene Fernandez, Hanks.

128 Orange: 1. Nicole Alamanza, Caprock; 2. Clairisse Richardson, Amarillo High; 3. Garbriela Nelson, Chapin.

128 White: 1. Jeneisha Woods, Tascosa; 2. Franchesca Varela, Hereford; 3. Leah Grubbs, Azle.

138: 1. China Saucedo, Hereford; 2. Jessica Brito, Amarillo High; 3. Jerilyn Partin, Chapin.

165: 1.Valerie Rosales, Americas; 2. Jami Martinez, Tascosa; 3. Melissa Valdez, Chapin.

185: 1. Britnee Barbosa, Caprock; 2. Pam Abshire, Azle; 3. Dorothy Scott, Palo Duro.

215: 1. Malexsis McAdoo, Caprock; 2. Miriam Moreno, Hereford; 3. Cheyenne Vidales, Monterey.

Cucchiara top grappler at Bradshaw Wrestling Tournament

Larger tournament history was made last night, when Webster Schroeder senior Tanya Kusse advanced to the 119 final. Kusse is believed to be the first girl to advance to a Bradshaw championship bout.

"It was just the feeling of anticipation, of not knowing whether you are going to win or lose.

The crowd seemed to be behind Kusse but she was defeated 6-2 by Geneva junior Parker Foster, who improved to 15-2.

"I was expecting someone else,'' Foster said of No. 1 seed Troy Colton from Attica.

Foster, who congratulated Kusse after the award ceremony, is in his third season with the Geneva varsity.

This was Foster's second tournament, as a shoulder injury knocked him out of one at Irondequoit and SAT testing kept him away from another at East High.

"He's an intelligent wrestler; he picks his spots,'' Geneva coach Gene Wild said.

"We wanted him to attack (Kusse's legs) quickly and try to control her that way.

"She's a good wrestler. She has a half-ride (partial scholarship to Lindenwood University near Saint Louis)."

CARBONDALE - The 49th annual Murdale Wrestling Tournament is once again a showcase of top wrestling talent with four state ranked teams, 25 ranked wrestlers, including three at No. 1, and four returning champions.

The tournament begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Carbondale Community High School gym with a 16-team field that includes 10th ranked Herrin, 24th ranked Chatham-Glenwood, honorable mention Cahokia and the 12th ranked team from Indiana as well as defending champion Murphysboro and the entire South Seven Conference. The finals will begin at 5 p.m.

"We're always looking to upgrade the tournament and bring in good competition," said CCHS coach Dennis Ragan. "This year, we're fortunate to have a good Indiana team that comes in undefeated. In addition, the South Seven is improved this year with ten ranked wrestlers including two at No. 1."

The other returning champions are 119-champion Carbondale sophomore Zane Richards (21-1), top ranked Belleville Althoff senior Ryne Harris (17-0) at 112 and Mount Vernon senior Torrey Pollard (13-5) at 189.

Richards is ranked first at 125 but will compete at 130. Carbondale finished fourth last year and also has second ranked senior Preston Thomas (22-2) at 119 and honorable mention senior Alli Ragan (19-3) at 125.

01/10/10

CARBONDALE - For the second time in the last three years, the Belleville East Lancers were the champions of the 49th annual Murdale Wrestling Tournament, edging Cahokia by 10.5 points.

The Lancers won only two individual titles, but picked up needed points with one second-place finish, three thirds, two fourths, three fifths and three sixths.

"This title was a team effort because every one of our 14 kids placed," Belleville East coach Maurice Brown said. "We needed every point to win it."

The Lancers' two titles were won by sophomore Skylar Procasky, who beat Carbondale's Alli Ragan by an 8-2 decision at 125, and junior O'Shea Smith-Traylor at 145, who stopped Murphysboro's Jake Miller's bid to become a four-time Murdale winner with a 4-2 decision.

Championship matches:

103 - Michael Harris (ALT) t-fall Zach Cassulo (BE) 17-2.

112 - Ryne Harris (BA) pinned Alex Vosburgh (MTV) in 1:15.

119 - Prentice Thomas (CAR) maj. dec. Alex Griesemer (PRI) 13-4.

125 - Skyler Procasky (BE) dec. Alli Ragan (CAR) 8-2.

Pictures from 48th Murdale Wrestling tournament last year (Has Alli Regan in them)

At another venue, San Marcos female wrestler Mallory Fleischman got to take a break from wrestling against boys competition and placed first among 119-pounders at Santa Paula’s female tournament. Two weekends from now, she’ll wrestle in the girls CIF qualifying meet at Northview High School.

Raider grapplers handle Federal Way

"Last year I was implementing things in the program," said Mango. "This year I want them to buy into things."

Weinberger, who took second in the state last year in girls wrestling at the T-Dome, nodded her head as Molina said, "We've grown in numbers from last year. Our coach has put in time, a lot of time. He's dedicated."

And added Weinberger, "We've already tripled statistics as far as takedowns, pins, wins, in general, far as this point in the season with last season. Wrestlers have stayed around, too."

That last part speaks of the numbers growing as Molina mentioned and the girls are nice to have out there for the guys, who can teach them. And, yes, you may have guessed what comes next, learn from them, too.

"I've learned to be less uptight from the girls," said Molina. "I was pretty uptight last year. This year I'm not so super tight."

"They train with the guys," said Molina, pausing, thinking of something to say to the question just asked him. And, Weinberger added in quickly, "We wrestle smart."

What about "advancing to state" for Levi, Jocie? Is that what Molina is going to do?

The rest of the season will be good for the Eagles to keep on keeping on improving and getting this program resurrected under Mango's dedicated leadership. For the Raiders, they were 3-5 last year in league and look to improve this year. The way to improvement will come through the likes of Beamer and Decatur, however.

"Hopefully our kids are ready to wrestle them," said Workman, adding, "Decatur is the team to beat."

And don't forget Beamer. They lost by one point to the Gators in a league dual match already completed earlier this season in mid-December that Beamer led until the very last wrestle of the night.

The girls wrestling for the Eagles all have winning records against girls. Maria Manzueta is 2-1, Bianca Arizpe is 2-0, Kaylee Harris is 3-0, and Weinberger 4-0.

Some even have winning records for the season, which means they've beaten some boys, like Harris (10-7) and Weinberger (6-4). Some other TJ winners were Mike Roybal at 119 (pin 1:30), Matt Cruz (pin 3:54), KW Williams (pin 3:54). Godfrey Meafou, for the Eagles, won in the heavyweight class by injury default in the second round. That was a good match against Zach Walin for the Raiders, who led, 8-2, before Meafou came back and tied it and the injury default happend then.

"He's 14-6, he's small in the 285 weight class, but I've seen him throw a 285 pound man."

"We are very young, with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. We are excited for next year," said Mango.

That says a lot. But if it says enough to take on the likes of Beamer and Decatur successfully this season remains to be seen.

By Rick S. Alvord / The Daily News | Posted: Saturday, January 9, 2010 11:00 pm | (0) Comments

Elle Mustion (119 pounds) and Alisha Beach (171-plus) each won individual titles as Kelso finished third in the 33-team Kelso Invitational girls wrestling tournament on Saturday.

Washougal captured the team crown with 123 points, followed by Mount Baker with 117 and Kelso at 111.

"This is probably the toughest tournament we've been in this season because of the quality of wrestlers and the state placers," Kelso coach Tyson Lindeman said. "I thought we wrestled tough all day."

Mustion defeated teammate Emma Destrom 5-0 in the 119-pound championship. Destromp made the finals by knocking off Battle Ground's Chelsea Reynosa 3-2 in the semifinals. Reynosa wrestles for BG's varsity boys from time to time, Lindeman said.

Beach dominated defending state champion Kendra Creamens from Bethel 10-0 in the finals. Creamens took a 90-2 career record into Saturday's showdown with Beach.

Shay Workman (130) won by pin and a 9-1 decision en route to the title match, where she was pinned and finished second. Other placers for the Lassies were Hannah Baron at 160 (sixth) and her twin sister, Mykie Baron at 171 (fifth), and Brittany Carterby at 103 (tie for fifth).

CEDAR FALLS - Each wrestler prepares for a big match in a different way.

Some run wind sprints. Others bounce anxiously on the balls of their feet. Still others settle down for a power nap.

But all the athletes at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Saturday had one pre-match routine in common: A trip to the team cooler.

"After you weigh in, it's really important that you refuel because you want to be ready for your matches," Central Michigan wrestler Christian Cullinan said as he munched on a bagel sandwich, piled high with turkey and slathered with cream cheese and mustard. "If you don't eat, you're not going to have the energy to give it your all when you're out there."

In the days leading up to this weekend's tournament, most participants restricted their calories in order to compete in a lower weight class. After hitting the scales Saturday morning, the wrestlers reached for healthy foods to replenish their strength.

"You're so drained from cutting weight," said Brittney Roberts, a freshman from the Oklahoma City University squad - one of seven women's team competing in the duals. "You need good, energizing food to get your edge back."

Popular items included fresh fruit, peanut butter, tuna fish and sports drinks. Trail mix, jelly and sweet tea also made the grade for the student-athletes.

"Most people eat small meals all day to keep their energy levels up until they are done wrestling," said Jon Treml, a senior at the University of Wisconsin's Parkside campus. "Everybody brings the most nutritious food so that they can get back their levels of nutrition in the shortest amount of time."

After making the 197-pound cut-off Saturday morning, Treml enjoyed a sandwich and Gatorade. Before his mid-morning match, he planned to down a concentrated drink called "5-Hour Energy."

Proper nutrition is as important as technique for collegiate wrestlers, said Roye Oliver, assistant coach with the California Baptist University Lancers. His team snacks on bananas and granola bars before heading to the mat.

"Everybody has their individual regimen - they know what they like to eat and drink," he said. "We try to give them stuff that is easily digestible and high in energy. If they don't get what they need they'll start cramping up, their body will start shutting down."

Central Michigan's Cullinan agreed. He rifled through his team's blue ice chest on Saturday morning, while one of his teammates grappled with an opponent a few yards away.

"Food's a big part of (wrestling)," said the red-shirted freshman. "You gotta keep your metabolism up."