Updated:
Wednesday, 17 Feb 2010, 6:45 AM EST
Published : Wednesday, 17 Feb 2010, 6:45 AM EST
HAVERHILL
(FOX25, myfoxboston) - Shannon Constantine isn't just a good female
wrestler. She's a good wrestler, period.
The
Senior at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School was
looking for something to do to stay in shape, back in the winter of
2006. She decided to take up wrestling.
The
first year was tough. Constantine won just two matches and
struggled to fit in with her teammates.
As the
years moved on, Shannon progressed both on and off the mat.
Along with making more friends on the team, she also started to rack up
the wins. She logged a 12-19 record her Sophomore year, then
cracked the 20 win plateau as a Junior, going 21-12.
This
year, all of Shannon's hard work came to fruition. She became
jus the 2nd female wrestler to ever be ranked in
Massachusetts. With the success has come some
frustration. Some schools have chosen to forfeit their
matches against Shannon for embarassing their male wrestlers.
It's happened 5 times this season, and it's something Shannon believes
is not fair.
Shannon
Constantine finished this year with a 21-3 record. Hear from
her in the video to the left.
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Maine
Pictures
On the first photo,
they
only will wrestle her in scrimmages:
Liverpool PCYC wrestler Carissa Holland throws her brother Justin
over her shoulder. Picture: ARMEN DEUSHIAN -PP373391
CARISSA Holland is ready to wrestle her way to the top of the
international field.
The 16-year-old, who trains at Liverpool PCYC, is aiming to qualify
for the Youth Olympics in August.
To earn her place on the Australian team, the teenager needs to win
either the Oceania Championships in Samoa in April or the National
Wrestling Championships next month.
Carissa, who will compete in the women’s 16 to 18 years
under-52kg division, said she was optimistic of winning a spot on the
team.
“I know I can win,” she said.
“I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it will all pay off
in the end.”
The teenager, who is a seven-time national champion, recently
returned from an overseas tour where she won a gold and a silver medal.
She picked up a silver at the Youth Commonwealth Championships in
Singapore and a gold in the open girls under-51kg division at the
Sarnia Invitational Championships in Canada.
Battling a chest infection, Carissa contested the Champion of
Champions tournament in Canada, where she finished one place outside of
the medals.
She said her gold-medal win at the Sarnia Invitational Championships
included one of her most memorable wins.
“I actually beat the national Canadian wrestling
champion,” she said.
“It was overwhelming to beat her because wrestling is so
strong for girls in Canada.
“They have more girls than boys doing wrestling.”
Carissa, who is coached by Fabricio Itte, said it would mean
everything to win selection for Australia at the Youth Olympics.
“My goal is to ... make Australia proud,” she said.
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washington
By MARIAN EASTON
Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Contributor Today, 1:44 PM · UPDATED
2/17/10
Seven Pirate wrestlers qualified for the Mat Classic State
Tournament by competing in the Regionals last Saturday. First-time
attendees Vince Jovanovich, Elliot Ellingsen and Dominik Stemer will
join veterans Madeleine Wolczko, Iris Spring, Geran Webb and Sam
Chapman at the Tacoma Dome this weekend.
“I’m pleased with the overall performance of the team
and excited for the matches this weekend,” said Assistant Coach
Per-Lars Blomgren. But for each of these Pirate wrestlers, the path to
the state tourney was paved with hard work and dedication.
For the majority of the season, second-year wrestler Jovanovich
could not compete because of school administrative restrictions. In
fact, he became eligible to wrestle only two weeks before Regionals. To
secure a spot at state, Jovanovich had to battle Orting’s Matt
King, a 285-pound wrestler who soundly had beaten Jovanovich the week
before at Sub-Regionals. The Vashon coaches anticipated this rematch
and had “developed a custom-tailored approach to thwart
King’s game plan,” Blomgren said. Using this approach,
Jovanovich won 6-4 to take third and the right to advance to state.
Wolczko also had to play catch-up this season. She missed the first
two months of practice and matches because of a lingering illness.
Wolczko, a two-time state placewinner, rejoined the Vashon team just
four weeks ago, but “is back in top form and ready for the state
tourney,” said girls’ coach B.J. Nelson. She took third at
Regionals, with her only loss coming in overtime to the eventual
champion at 119 pounds.
Just recently, Ellingsen became ranked as one of the top 10 1A
wrestlers at 160 pounds. He took second place at Regionals with a pin
at 1:26, a decision and a loss in the finals. Many opponents have tried
but cannot overcome his “deliberate, yet unique, style of
wrestling that is perfectly suited for his body type,” Blomgren
said.
Stemer earned second place and his first trip to the state tourney
with a pin, a decision and a loss in the finals at 140 pounds. Blomgren
credited Stemer’s work ethic as a primary factor in the
grappler’s achievement.
Webb finished in first place at 215 pounds and will make his third
appearance at state, after previously having placed fourth and eighth.
Webb exudes the cool confidence of a champion. While acknowledging his
tough matches ahead, Webb predicted that his “extensive
after-hours preparation of film study and conditioning will pay
off.”
Chapman won the 112-pound weight class at Regionals and advances to
his fourth state tourney. In past years, Chapman had placed first,
second and seventh. He knows what to expect and has a well-practiced
method of “getting prepared physically and not psyched-out
mentally” for the intensity of post-season action.
Sophomore Spring won the right to attend her second state tourney
with two major decisions and two losses for fourth place. Unlike the
boys’ Regionals, the top six girls in each weight class advance
from the girls’ Regionals.
Graeme Britz, Robert Easton and Anthony Sawyer finished fifth and
will serve as second alternates for the state tourney. Maximo Mandl
wrestled at Regionals but did not advance. Tucker Lazare qualified for
Regionals but did not wrestle.
Overall, the boys’ team placed third with 113.5 points behind
Orting with 389 and Nooksack Valley at 250. The girls’ team
finished 14th out of 34 teams.
The state tourney will be held Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma
Dome.
— Marian Easton is the mother of Pirate Robert Easton
==============================================================================================
Washington
By RICHARD WALKER
Journal of the San Juans Editor Today, 5:01 PM · UPDATED
2/17/10
Seven wrestlers advanced
to the Boys 1A Regional Tournament Feb. 13 at Bellevue Christian; five
were No. 1 seeds in their weight divisions. One female wrestler, Kia
Johns, advanced to the 1A Subregional Tournament at Squalicum High
School and, although she didn't qualify for the Girls Region 1
Tournament, MacDiarmid was quick to spotlight her performance in her
debut year.
"She always has two or three moves going at a time," MacDiarmid said
at the seeding tournament.
================================================================================================
Washington
GIRLS WRESTLING: Charboneau pinned her opponent to win the 285-pound
championship in the Region I meet.
================================================================================================
Japan
Beijing Olympics champion Kaori Icho and Beijing
bronze medalist Kyoko Hamaguchi will represent Japan at a World Cup
team competition in March, the Japan Wrestling Federation said Tuesday.
Icho will be competing in the women's 63-kg category
at the March 27-28 event in Nanjing, China, as her first international
competition since the Beijing Games. Hamaguchi is slated to take part
at 72 kg.
Seven-time world champion Saori Yoshida has decided to
sit out the 55 kg to concentrate on nursing her injured right wrist.
Chikako Matsukawa, runnerup to Yoshida at the national
championships last year, will wrestle in place of her.
Japan will be aiming for its first title in four
meets. The first-place team in each of the two four-team groups
advances to the final.
Only Burlington qualified more wrestlers for the state tournament
than Paonia, with 13. The sixth-ranked Eagles have 12 qualifiers. Seven
of them were state qualifiers last year and four of them placed. Justin
Smith was a state runner-up and James Drinkhouse was a state runner-up
in Class 3A for Grand Valley. Paonia’s other five qualifiers are
wrestling in state for the first time. Meeker’s three state
qualifiers made it for the first time as well, including freshman Cody
Pfau, who is the third girl in state history to qualify for state. She
is joined by senior Pat Love and sophomore Justin Hardy. Soroco’s
Lauryn Bruggnik qualified for the second consecutive year.
Seven wrestlers advanced
to the Boys 1A Regional Tournament Feb. 13 at Bellevue Christian; five
were No. 1 seeds in their weight divisions. One female wrestler, Kia
Johns, advanced to the 1A Subregional Tournament at Squalicum High
School and, although she didn't qualify for the Girls Region 1
Tournament, MacDiarmid was quick to spotlight her performance in her
debut year.