womens wrestling news

Photo of - Ray Takahashi with his son Steven at 2001 Canada Summer Games in London

London, Ontario, CANADA : He may stand only 5-foot-3, but wrestling legend Ray Takahashi is a giant when it comes to the local sports community. For that reason, the former Olympic wrestler and coach of the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and London-Western wrestling clubs was one of nine Londoners recently named to the Mayor's Honour List for 2010.

Few London athletes or coaches have bettered their sports to the same degree Ray has over the past 25 years.

Raised in Ottawa, the amiable grappler won four Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (now Canadian Interuniversity Sports or CIS) titles, was named Canadian Wrestler of the Year twice (1978 and 1984) and was inducted into the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1991.

Ray, 51, competed at three Olympic games, with a best finish of fourth in men's flyweight-freestyle at the Los Angeles Summer Games in 1984.

"It was my last shot," says Ray. "I fell short of a medal, but it was a great experience for me, from an athletic standpoint, and from an overall development standpoint."

After Los Angeles, Ray returned to Western to pursue graduate work, and took the post of wrestling coach in 1985. While a Mustang wrestler Ray was coached by Glynn Leyshon and Josip Mrkoci. Today, the Mustangs award the Leyshon Trophy to the Most Dedicated Wrestler, and the Leyshon Award for financial assistance. Ray calls Leyshon "a great mentor."

Ray was selected Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Coach of the Year six times, including Women's Coach of the Year four times, and in 1990 was chosen CIS Coach of the Year. Under Ray, the Mustangs captured OUA team titles in 1990, '91 and '93, and one CIS title in 1990. The women Mustangs won their first OUA team title in 2007. Ray was instrumental in establishing the Mustangs Wrestling Wall of Fame in 1985, and he implemented the women's program in 1996-97.

"Women's wrestling has come a long way - not just here at Western, but across the country," says Ray. "At the international level, it has blossomed. It filters down, now that it's an Olympic sport."

Athletics are popular amongst the entire Takahashi clan. Ray's wife, Janet, is a former competitive middle distance runner who ran both cross country and track and field for the Mustangs, and ran competitively right up to the Over-40 Masters division. Janet coaches with the London Legion Track and Field Club.

Ray and Janet have two children who are following in their parents' footsteps. Daughter Mariko, 19, is in her sophomore year at Boston University where she runs middle distance on the Terriers' track and field squad. Son Steven, 17, is a member of the London-Western club and Canada's junior wrestling club. He recently won gold in the 54 kg weight class at the Commonwealth Youth Championships in Singapore.

"The London-Western club is a community-based club with all levels, from kids to national team athletes," says Ray. "I think wrestling is a great sport. It is combative, but it teaches you a lot about cooperation and respect. Like any other sport, you can take a lot of good things from wrestling. It builds character and teaches you life skills."

Five prep stories to watch as winter unfolds

Last year Bremerton High School junior Lauren Richardson became the school's first female wrestler to win a state championship. The 103-pounder pinned Jomae Alewine of Lake Stevens to secure the title at Mat Classic XXI at the Tacoma Dome.

Now Richardson, also know as "buzz saw," is thinking repeat. She would bid for a trifecta as a senior if she pulls down the title in February.

“I know she’s excited, but now she’s starting to show it. She’s ready to show she deserves to be No. 1,” coach Jeff Barton said. “I told her, though, and she knows this, ‘You’re gonna make their (the opponents’) season if they knock you off. When you step on that mat every single time, you have to be ready to wrestle.’”

The Bremerton wrestling team competes in the Rainshadow Tournament Friday at Sequim High School.

State powerhouses St. Edward, St. Paris Graham square off Saturday: Wrestling Insider West

Different perspective:Crestwood coach Dave Wrobel admits to not being a big proponent of girls wrestling boys when his 103-pound senior, Paige Nemec, arrived in 2006. She won her 100th career match last week.

"I've evolved in those four years," he said. "I've become very protective of her. It's to the point you want to see her go out and wrestle all the time. There are some who will avoid wrestling her, and that's frustrating because you want her to be treated the same. She's willing to work hard, so you go to bat for her."

Wrestling player of the week

“Biri” champions women’s high school wrestling in Selma

Biridiana Mendoza is the lone girl on the Selma High School Wrestling Team.

Read the full story on “Biri” in next week’s Vida.

Sixth-ranked in the nation (133-pound division), Biridiana Mendoza began the sport of wrestling at about five years old, following older sibling, José, to the Selma Wrestling Club to work out under the tutelage of Jose Ramos, Diego Quintana, and several others who formed the club from the ground up.

The club was made up primarily of boys. So “Biri,” as she’s known, took to wrestling against boys. She won a lot of her matches, gaining a huge amount of experience in the process.

Since those days, Biri has championed the cause for girl’s wrestling in the Central Section winning the Hanford Invitational (the unofficial state tourney) last year. She also won numerous individual tournaments. Today, she’s the lone female on the junior varsity wrestling squad at Selma High School. On Jan. 22-23, she’ll be in southern California competing at the CIF Southern Regionals!

Biri Mendoza works out with a teammate at Selma High School.

As she ponders her early days in the sport, she says her parents, from Guanajuato, México, Antonia y José Mendoza, didn’t figure their second-oldest daughter would continue in the male-dominate sport of take-downs and leg-grappling.

“I like working out with the boys,” says Mendoza. “I think it’s giving me an advantage because they’re stronger than me.”

In the last five years, women’s high-school wrestling has grown in popularity and, in 2004, became an Olympic sport, but some areas have problems fielding a women’s team. So competitors, like Mendoza, often wrestle against the boys. Read more about Mendoza and Olympic wrestlers Tatiana Padilla and Jessica Medina in next week’s Vida en el Valle.

Girls — 1, Sedro-Woolley; 2, Mount Baker; 3, Kelso; 4, Washougal; 5, Enumclaw; 6, Auburn Mountainview; 7, Shelton; 8, Fife; 9, Kennedy Catholic; 10, Bremerton.

MHS to induct 6

Girl wrestlers eager for state event

The Soddy-Daisy sophomore is planning to attend the traditional state wrestling tournaments, and she's hoping to compete.

Girls' wrestling again will be part of Tennessee's championship competition, which this year moves to the Williamson County Agricultural Center in Franklin.

''It's growing," Soddy-Daisy coach Steve Henry said. "We're headed in the right direction."

Soddy-Daisy had a girls' division in its invitational tournament a couple of weeks ago and wound up with 28 competitors despite the loss of teams from Stone Mountain, South Doyle and Science Hill because of inclement weather.

At least three schools in the Chattanooga area offer girls' wrestling apart from the boys. Soddy-Daisy won the first girls' state dual tournament and had competed for years against Red Bank in a fundraising girls' meet. Signal Mountain has 10 girls competing

''None of them have ever wrestled before, but we have submitted the names to the state," Eagles coach Casey Thompson said. "We practice three or four days each week. Everybody seems to be OK with it. It's new, so I guess we're breaking that barrier. It has not traditionally been a female sport, but people are seeing that the girls are working as hard as the guys."

The TSSAA has ruled that girls competing in the invitational state cannot have competed against boys during the season.

''There had been a debate whether girls who had wrestled guys could wrestle in this tournament," TSSAA assistant director Mark Reeves said. "The format that was approved was for girls who had wrestled only girls. We'll evaluate the numbers and see how that works and make adjustments if we need to. We're looking for the best way to present it in order to grow the sport."

Said Chapdelaine: "There's a place for women, and sometimes it's harder for girls to make a name for themselves. But I think if boys have a wrestling team, then so should girls, just like I think there if there's girls' volleyball then there should be boys' volleyball."

Last year's invitational was open to girls who had competed against boys, primarily because of Tullahoma wrestler Emily Gessler. That rule has been changed.

''If girls are that dead set to wrestle guys, then they can still do that, but the majority of girls don't want to," Henry said. "There's one girl out there who can compete with guys. Can she compete with the best guys? No, and the majority of girls aren't at that level and won't be for some time.

''She is a sweet girl and she and her family are nice people. We basically agreed to disagree."

Reeves has checked nationally to see what other state associations have done and which have seen the sport grow.

''Folks are doing it different ways -- compete separately or compete and then do what we did last year (allowing girls who had wrestled boys to compete in the girls' tournament)," Reeves said. "Those who have been more successful have said, 'We want girls wrestling girls only.' That was the basis for our recommendation to the Board of Control."

The TSSAA went so far as to declare girls ineligible for the girls' tourney if they had competed against boys in junior varsity events.

''We said that and put it in writing on day one," Reeves said. "I anticipate some disgruntled phone calls, but we wanted to head that off prior to the event."

The other change from last year is that schools may wind up with more than one wrestler in each weight class to fill eight-wrestler brackets, but the coach will designate before the tournament starts which girl will be scoring team points.

Chapdelaine, who didn't get to wrestle in last year's tournament because she lost a challenge match, hopes to be one of those scoring points. A versatile middle school athlete who competed in softball, basketball, volleyball and golf, she grew up playing soccer but competes now only in wrestling.

''I don't know what it is about the sport, but I love it," she said. "It's a team sport, but when you get down to it it's you and another girl out there on the mat."

Thompson has noted no real difference in coaching girls other than spending more time with the basics than with most guys.

''I had never coached girls, but they come to practice and work hard every day," he said. "It's starting fresh. We started with step one like we would with any first-year wrestler. It's basic fundamentals."

To see more of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesfreepress.com.

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