========================================================================================
FloridaCarolyn Benale, wrestling,
Palmetto Ridge: Won her third straight girls state championship at 135
pounds.
Kathy Harcourt, wrestling,
Barron Collier: Claimed 103-pound title at girls state finals for third
consecutive year.
==============================================================================================Posted: 01/25/2010
07:01:19 PM PST
Novato wrestlers Marie MacDonald (left) and Courtney Madson have
their... (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel)
Novato's Marie MacDonald (left) and Courtney Madson demonstrate
their... (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel)
Courtney Madson braces herself as she heads for the mat during a
takedown... (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel) |
WHEN the Novato High girls wrestling team heads to Hanford on Friday
for the California Women's Wrestling Association state meet, two
Hornets, Marie MacDonald and Courtney Madson, will arrive with
aspirations of a state title.
But aside from the four-hour
trip south on Interstate 5, the roads traveled by the two wrestlers are
rather different. Madson has been a wrestler for years, while MacDonald
is still a newcomer to the sport.
For MacDonald, a 175-pound,
17-year-old senior wrestling at 189 pounds, a state title would be the
fairy-tale ending to a wrestling career that's still in its embryonic
stage. After playing basketball her freshman and sophomore years at
Novato, MacDonald swapped the sheen of the hardwood for the punishment
of the wrestling mat. The transition went smoothly for MacDonald.
"Last year, wrestling, it kind
of came naturally to me," said MacDonald, whose family moved to Novato
in 1994. "I grew up with two brothers and we wrestled every day. I was
proud that I was successful my first year. É But this year I
took another step."
"She's very athletic, she looks
like an athlete, she wrestles like an athlete, even when she's giving
up weight she's a better wrestler than most the girls she's facing,"
Novato coach Steve Sanner said. "Marie's a confident young girl, she
expects to win."
This year MacDonald is 17-1 - a
fitting encore to last season when she placed at state. But while she
admits that a first-place finish at state would be "dream
come true,"
regardless of the outcome, MacDonald's wrestling days will be numbered.
Described by Sanner as
"extremely well-rounded," MacDonald is an exemplary student, helping
the Hornets earn a North Coast Section award for cumulative grade-point
average in 2009. She also elected to sacrifice eight weeks of her
summer vacation last year to travel to South America, spending time in
Paraguay, working with children and building volleyball courts among
other things.
"It was a good experience
because it definitely opened my eyes to other people in the world,"
MacDonald said.
The experience provided
MacDonald with a new outlook. Though she has a realistic chance of a
state title, wrestling is an activity for MacDonald - another new,
constructive way to spend her time. So following this weekend's state
tournament and the NCS girls meet Feb. 27, MacDonald is eyeing a
college education, ideally at the University of Hawaii, that she can
parlay into a career in either international business, or early child
development - though that too could be postponed to spend more time
traveling abroad.
Regardless of her appetite for
new experiences, her unwavering confidence and her inherent skill,
MacDonald acknowledges that her decision to wrestle wouldn't have been
as easy were it not for Madson.
Madson, 16, is a two-time
All-American with wrestling in her blood. Her dad, Steve Madson, an
assistant at Novato, has guided Courtney throughout her career which
began, unofficially, in a first-grade match against the daughter of her
future coach, Julia Sanner.
"In first grade, Julia and I
were wrestling, and our dads were watching," Madson recalled. "They
began relating (the moves and positions) to letters É I just
got hooked."
But without the opportunity to
wrestle regularly, Madson turned her attention elsewhere, getting
involved in student leadership, soccer, and theater arts. Then in sixth
grade, during winter break, Madson got the urge to wrestle. After some
research she found a girls tournament only a few days away.
"I was looking on-line and
found a tournament," Madson said. "And I asked my dad: Can you teach me
to wrestle, in like a week?"
Courtney took second at the
tournament.
Now, 11 years after her first
match, Madson is still wrestling, and doing it quite well in fact.
Wrestling at 108 pounds, Novato's junior class president - an office
she's held each grade level since sixth grade - is 20-0. In its latest
issue, USA Wrestling Magazine ranked Madson fourth in the nation in her
weight class. Sanner says Madson's favored to win state and has
ambitions of being a national champion too.
"(Courtney) is the real deal,
she brings a combination of natural ability, hard work and discipline,"
Sanner beamed. "She is probably the most technically skilled girl
wrestler out there because of the regimen her dad has developed for
her. É He's one of the best coaches in California."
Like MacDonald, Madson's focus,
however laser-like it can be at times, isn't solely trained on
wrestling. She runs cross country in the fall, does track and field in
the spring, and hopes to run rather than wrestle if she's afforded the
opportunity in college.
But right now both Madson and
MacDonald are singularly focused on the task at hand.
"You can never be over prepared
for state. I know I need to still work," Madson said. "If I'm going to
be a state and national champion, I've got to be the best I can
possibly be. É And if we do it, it would be fantastic."
STATE FINALS
The high school girls state
championship is set for Friday-Saturday at Hanford West High, south of
Fresno.
On the Web: www.californiawomenswrestling.com
GIRLS WRESTLING
Several high school girls from
Marin are competing in the California Women's Wrestling Association
tournament Friday and Saturday at Hanford West High, south of Fresno:
- Lily Lu: Novato senior, 126
pounds. Finished sixth at the NorCal meet in Sacramento, finished
second at Lady Lancer in Manteca.
- Katie Given: Novato senior,
122. Finished second at Dave Liddel Invitational in Vallejo, placed at
NCS 2009.
- Citlali Benecome: Novato
senior, 126. First-year wrestler.
- Nichole Harrington: Novato
senior, 118. Second-year wrestler, water polo standout.
- Arleth Torres Lopez: Novato
junior, 108. First-year wrestler, out with injury.
- Ashley Macholz: Novato
freshman, 132. First-year wrestler, took eighth at Vintage Classic in
Napa.
- Chelsea Walker: Redwood
junior, 119 pounds. Finished first at Lee Allen Classic in Oakland, and
earned MVP honors of the lower-weight division (103-142 pounds).
The Vintage High School girls
wrestling squad added a first-place team finish to its already
impressive season resume Saturday at the third annual Lee Allen
Invitational, which held at Castlemont High School in Oakland.
Vintage took eight wrestlers to
the tournament, and all medaled, including a season-high four champions.
Heather O’Connor (165
pounds), along with a championship performance, was also named the
Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament. O’Connor was 3-0 on
the day, pushing her season record to 19-4, including 13 pins. The
Outstanding Wrestler award is based on a vote of all coaches at the
tournament.
“Heather has been a
tremendous competitor all year, and it’s very satisfying that
the rest of the girls’ wrestling community has acknowledged
that as well,” said Vintage coach Rob Lanterman.
“It’s a great confidence boost going in to the
state championships next week.”
Jonnarose Palma (114) posted
her second championship finish on the year with an impressive 3-0
record as well. Palma entered the Northern California Regionals last
week as a top seeded wrestler, but ran in to bad luck on the second day
and fell out of the tournament before the medal rounds. This week was
doubly satisfying for Palma, as she posted 4-1 decision over her
opponent, the same wrestler who eliminated her last week.
“She rededicated
herself this week, and came out like the Jonna we’re used to
seeing.” said Lanterman.
Jennelyn Lazo (146) also went
3-0 en route to her first-place finish, including a 14-second pin. This
was Lazo’s first championship title of the season, and the
second consecutive year she has won this event. She now has 16 wins on
the season.
Heavyweight Mia Folster added
Vintage’s fourth championship title on the day, adding two
pins along the way. Folster had finished second three other times this
year, but finally captured the championship that had eluded her.
“It feels good to get
this done. This will help me going into state next week,”
said Folster.
Raeveen Barrola (132), who has
posted some key wins recently, broke through with her second
third-place finish on the season.
Isabel Bito (122), Treenamariel
San Juan (126) and Liz Palencia (118) all stepped up to earn their
first medals of the year.
Bito and San Juan both captured
third-place titles and Palencia garnered a fourth-place finish.
“It’s not
only exciting for these girls to see some rewards for their hard work
all year long, it’s also indicative of what we’ve
done as a team,” said Lanterman. “We’re
not reliant on one or two great wrestlers. We’re getting huge
contributions from every single girl that’s hitting the mat.
It doesn’t get any easier next week at state, but
we’re walking in the door knowing we can compete with
anybody.”
This week the Crushers will be
focused on preparing for the California Girls Invitational State
Championship, to be held Jan. 29 and 30 at Hanford West High School in
Hanford.
Before practice on a Monday
afternoon, the Spartans, Stuyvesant’s varsity wrestling team,
look similar to any other high school wrestling team. Players suit up,
discuss techniques, and joke around before the arrival of coach Richard
Murray. Yet upon closer inspection, there seems to be something amiss.
Lying down on the mats, 6-foot-5-inch junior Jacob Pastor is
arm-wrestling a considerably lither teammate. Junior Jane Ko loses the
arm wrestle, but is not fazed by the defeat. Ko is one of just three
female juniors on the Spartans, including juniors Samantha Sooknarine
and Della Chu. The representation of girls on the Spartans has added to
the popularity of wrestling at Stuyvesant, and seems to have made the
team, and the girls who play on it, stronger as the season progresses.
Because there is no female
wrestling team at Stuyvesant, any girl is allowed to try out for the
boys’ team. However, prior to last season, there were no
girls on the team. Yet when Chu and Ko, who were sophomores at the
time, joined, the face of the wrestling team changed dramatically.
While Ko admits that “wrestling is a mostly male-dominated
sport”, she decided that joining the team would still be a
good move. “I thought [wrestling] was a combination of skill
and strength and I wanted to work on both,” Ko said.
While Ko started to wrestle
because she wanted to get stronger, Chu joined the team because she
“was looking for a contact sport to involve [herself]
in.” Chu also attributes the no-excuses attitude of wrestlers
to her desire to pick up the sport. “I liked the idea of
competing against only opponents in my own weight class because I felt
that myself and my opponent would both be on an equal
footing,” Chu said. Whatever the initial reason, since Chu,
Ko and Sooknarine joined the team, the male Spartans have embraced them
as friends and teammates. “I think having girls on the team
is great because most people perceive wrestling to be an only male
sport, but having girls kind of proves that wrong,” junior
Krzysztof Miezgiel said.
The presence of girls on the
Spartans’ roster also reflects the popularity growth that the
team has seen in the past several seasons. While the 2006 team only had
15 students—all male—this year’s team
boasts an astonishing 47 wrestlers, and the change has not gone
unnoticed. “We get to attract more people since girls have
joined; they help us advertise and show their friends, male or female,
that wrestling can be for anyone with dedication,” Murray
said.
“The team’s
definitely gotten more popular since the girls joined,”
senior and captain Paul Kim said. While not many students attended
wrestling matches at the beginning of last year, the third floor gym is
often packed this year with fans watching the match.
Although the team is very
comfortable with its female members now, it was not always that way for
Chu and Ko. “At first it was awkward but we’re all
people and it doesn’t bother me anymore,” Ko said.
Chu agreed. “Male
wrestlers also often hesitate to practice with me, because the
positions that we get into can be awkward,” she said. Yet
most males on the team respect the girls, and appreciate their decision
to compete in a sport that the Public Schools Athletic League
classifies as boys’ wrestling.
“We’re all
the same as wrestlers,” junior Matthew Boccio said. Although
wrestling may seem a fairly masculine sport, the Spartans have
definitely become not only accepting but proud of their female members.
After Murray gets to practice,
the team stretches and starts to jog around the sixth floor dance gym.
While Sooknarine and Chu have not arrived at practice yet, Ko jogs with
the rest of the team. She easily keeps up with the rest of the
Spartans, who, obviously, have grown comfortable with her, as well as
Chu and Sooknarine. What started as an awkward integration of two girls
has evolved past that, and Chu now freely admits that she is just
“one of the guys.”
