Eight on All-America wrestling team

Advertiser Staff 6/22/02

Eight of the 55 seniors selected on Wrestling USA magazine's High School Girls All-America team are from Hawai'i.

California led selections with 18. Michigan followed Hawai'i with five.

The Hawai'i All-Americans are:

• Shani Alvarado, Moanalua —Won the 138-pound gold medal on a pin at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association National Championships on March 24. Won state high-school championship two of the last three seasons. Will wrestle at Menlo College (Calif.).

• Melissa Fukushima, Punahou — Won the 114-pound gold medal at the USGWA this year and was second in 2001. Deciding on college between Syracuse and Illinois, which do not have women's wrestling teams.

• Stephany Lee, Moanalua — Won USGWA 152-pound gold medal in her first national tournament. Won three state high-school championships. Had surgery this month to fix a torn right rotator cuff and will attend a local community college.

• Jennifer Miyahira, Pac-Five (Mid-Pacific) — Finished second in the 126-pound division of the USGWA. Won state high-school championship this year. Will wrestle at Pacific. (Ore.).

• Tanya Miyasaki, Castle — Finished eighth at 105 pounds at USGWA Nationals. 2001 state high-school champion. Will wrestle at Menlo (Calif.).

• Melissa Orden, McKinley — Placed fifth at 105 pounds at USGWA. Three-time state high-school champion. Will attend a local community college.

• Anna Tong, Kaiser — Was 144-pound USGWA runner-up past two years. Runner-up to Alvarado in state championship. Ranked No. 1 all season by USGWA at 138. Will wrestle at Menlo (Calif.).

• Shanel Vivas, Kahuku — Took fifth place at 105 pounds at USGWA nationals. Runner-up to three-time state champion Caylene Valdez, a junior, in state championship. Will attend the University of Hawai'i and pursue her other sport, cheerleading.

The girls qualified for the team by placing eighth or higher at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association national championships in their senior year or ninth-through-12th in their senior year with eighth-or-higher finishes in a previous year.

Kent Bailo, director of the USGWA, and the Wrestling USA magazine staff made the selections.

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Sports: McMann, other female wrestlers, hope to make mark at Olympics

By PAULA PARRISH, Scripps Howard News Service
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 23, 2002 2:13 p.m. EDT) -

Through dozens of matches, she doggedly kept walking back onto the mat, facing hostile crowds, sexist coaches and dismissive opponents.

When Sara McMann started wrestling as a high school freshman in North Carolina, an opposing coach sent a three-year starting letterman out to intimidate her.

He pinned her in 10 seconds.

But she kept walking out onto that mat.

Some of her opponents - she didn't face a girl until the end of her junior year - refused to wrestle her, forfeiting outright or claiming injury rather than wrestling - and possibly losing to - a girl.

Her own teammates didn't want her wrestling.

"They thought that women definitely had their place," McMann said, "and it wasn't in a wrestling room."

Today, her place is on the mats in the Olympic wrestling room at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. - the same room that produced Olympic champion Rulon Gardner and a host of other Olympic medalists. She's following in their footsteps - hopefully, right onto the Olympic podium.

Women's freestyle wrestling will make its Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Summer Games.

"It's about time," McMann said.

For the past six weeks, 32 of the country's top female wrestlers have been training in Colorado Springs for the 2002 U.S. World Team Trials this weekend at St. Paul, Minn. The seven winners will represent the United States at the 2002 World Wrestling Championships Oct. 10-13 in Patras, Greece.

But that's not all. The top competitors from this weekend's Trials will have the best shot at the 20 spots up for grabs in the inaugural women's wrestling residency program at the OTC, which begins later this year. It's a precious opportunity in a historically male sport.

"I think I have a pretty good shot," said McMann, 21, a defending three-time national champion who is ranked No. 1 in the country at 138.75 pounds and is seeking this weekend to make a world team for the third consecutive time.

Though new to the Olympics, women's wrestling has had world championships since 1987 and U.S. national championships since 1990.

But comparatively speaking, the sport still is in its infancy. Only five colleges field varsity women's teams: Minnesota-Morris, Cumberland (Ky.), Missouri Valley (Mo.), Menlo (Calif.) and Neosho County (Kan.).

About 3,000 girls compete on the high school level in the United States, according to the National Federation of State High School Federation, but USA Wrestling, the national governing body for the sport, puts the number closer to 5,000. Most girls must compete against boys, because Hawaii and Texas are the only states with separate girls and boys divisions. In Colorado, 15 girls competed in the 2000-01 school year, according to the Colorado High School Activities Association.

McMann was the first female high school wrestler in North Carolina. She typifies many girls who get into the sport: her older brother was a wrestler.

"At first, my high school coach couldn't believe it," McMann said. "But after my first year, he knew I was serious."

After that 10-second pin in a demonstration match, her coach was incensed and demanded an opponent closer to her freshman abilities.

She beat that boy. He cried. She never did, even when she wanted to.

"In wrestling, you just take it so personally, and in high school, egos are so fragile," she said. "If they lost to me, they had good reason to worry, because their teammates dogged them forever."

But the few personal relationships off the mat suffered.

"They expect you to kick their butt, I guess, or be some big ogre with two teeth," she said. "A lot of female wrestlers are tough and pretty and very feminine."

In two years, the United States could send as many as four women (four weight classes) to Athens.

"I do think about it a lot, but I focus more on my love for Christ, because if I don't do things right there, the victory will be hollow," she said. "There are so many athletes training and hoping, so who is to say I am going to be the one?"

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World University Women's Update

6/24/2002
Marty Knack/

EDMONTON -- Canada, China and Japan made a big impression Sunday as women's freestyle competition made its debut at the world university wrestling championships.

Canadians collected one gold, two silver and three bronze medals, as well as the team championship, with 56 points at the University of Alberta's main gym.

China was second in the team standings with 54 points. The Chinese secured one gold, four silver and one bronze medal.

Japan won four gold medals and one bronze in seven divisions. The Japanese were third with 53 points.

Hamilton's Pam Wilson closed out the competition with Canada's lone gold, in the 72-kilogram division. She defeated Samantha Branka of the U.S. on a fall at 1:41 of the first period.

Shannon Samler of North Vancouver and Viola Yanik of Saskatoon secured silvers for Canada, at 67 and 63 kg, respectively.

Lindsay Belisle of Hazelton, B.C., Emily Richardson of North Vancouver and Tonya Verbeek of Beamsville, Ont., added bronze for Canada, at 51-, 55- and 59-kg, respectively.

Yang Yangli won China's gold when she defeated Samler 7-4.

Three-time world champion Seiko Yamomoto was among Japan's gold medallists. She won at 55 kg, beating Verbeek 10-0 in her final match in a round-robin.

Mika Noguchi, Chiharu Icho and Saori Yoshida were Japan's other gold medallists, at 48, 51 and 59 kg, respectively.

Yamomoto won four matches without allowing a point. She opened with a win on a fall over Sarah Tolin of the U.S., beat Saira Martinez Zaldana of El Salvador by superiority, 11-0, then defeated China's Sun Dongmei 5-0 before her match against Verbeek.

Noguchi allowed one point in four consecutive wins. She won on falls in her first two matches, beat Belinda Chou of Chinese Taipei 5-1 in one semi-final and won on a fall over Zhong Xiue of China at 2:25 of the first period in the final.

Noguchi also had the distinction of beating Elizabeth Short of the U.S. on a fall, at 1:18 of the first period, in the first women's match in the fifth world championships.

Yoshida permitted two points in four straight wins. She had falls in her first two matches, won by superiority, 12-0, and defeated Su Huihua of China 8-2 in her gold-medal showdown.

Icho also won four consecutive matches and allowed just three points. She won her first two matches by superiority, 11-0 in each instance.

Malgorzata Bassa of Poland won the remaining gold medal, at 63 kg. She beat Yanik on a fall at 2:25 of the first period.

There were 42 competitors representing 12 countries. There were also 31 falls in 72 matches.

The competition will conclude with men's Greco Roman on Monday and Tuesday.

5TH WORLD UNIVERSITY WRESTLING CHAMPIOHSHIPS
WOMENS FREESTYLE TEAM STANDINGS

COUNTRY POINTS

1. CANADA 56
2. CHINA 54
3. JAPAN 53
4. UNITED STATES 25
5. FRANCE 20
6. EL SALVADOR 19
7. MEXICO 19
8. KOREA 18
9. POLAND 10
10. CHINESE TAIPEI 8
11. GERMANY 7
12. ITALY 5

Following are Sunday’s women’s freestyle results from the fifth world university wrestling championships in Edmonton:

48 kg
Gold-medal match

Mika Noguchi, Japan defeated Zhong Xieu, China by fall

Bonze-medal match

Belinda Chou, Chinese Taipei def. Lauriane Mary, France by fall

Semi-finals

Noguchi defeated Chou 5-1
Xieu def. Mary 7-4

Remaining final placements
5th – Maria Barraza Sanchez, Mexico; 6th – Ingrid Medrano Cuellar, El Salvador; 7th – Julie Harris, Canada (Edmonton); 8th – Elizabeth Short, U.S.; 9th – Yu-Jin Kim, Korea.

Preliminary matches
Noguchi def. Short by fall
Xiue def. Harris 8-3
Mary def. Kim 7-2
Barraza Sanchez def. Short by fall
Chou def. Harris by fall
Mary def. Medrano Cuellar by fall
Noguchi def. Barraza Shanchez by fall
Chou def. Xiue by fall
Medrano Cuellar def. Kim by fall
Xieu def. Barraza by superiority, 10-0
Barrazo def. Medrano Cuellar by fall
Xieu def. Medrano Cuellar by superiority, 11-1

51 kg
Round-robin results
Chiharu Icho, Japan def. Kera Pemberton, U.S. by superiority, 11-0
Gao Yanzhi, China def. Lindsay Belisle, Canada (Hazelton, B.C.) 9-4
Icho def. Liliana Rosales Alcantar, Mexico by superiority, 11-0
Belisle def. Pemberton by superiority, 11-0
Icho def. Yanzhi 5-1
Pemberton def. Rosales Alcantar 7-6
Icho def. Belisle 6-2
Yanzhi def. Rosales Alcantar by superiority, 11-0
Yanzhi def. Pemberton by fall
Belisle def. Rosales Alcantar by fall

Gold medallist – Icho; silver medallist – Yanzhi; bronze medallist – Belisle; 4th – Pemberton; 5th – Rosales Alcantar

55 kg
Round-robin results
Tonya Verbeek, Canada (Beamsville, Ont.) def. Saira Martinez Zaldana, El Salvador by superiority, 11-0
Seiko Yamomoto, Japan def. Sarah Tolin, U.S. by fall
Sun Dongmei, China def. Martinez Zaldana by fall
Verbeek def. Tolin by superiority, 11-0
Yamamoto def. Martinez Zaldana by superiority, 11-0
Dongmei def. Verbeek by fall
Martinez Zaldana def. Tolin by fall
Yamomoto def. Dongmei 5-0
Dongmei def. Tolin by injury forfeit

Gold medallist – Yamomoto; silver medallist – Dongmei; bronze medallist – Verbeek; 4th – Martinez Zoldana; 5th – Tolin

59 kg
Gold-medal match

Saori Yoshida, Japan def. Su Huihua, China 8-2

Bronze-medal match

Emily Richardson, Canada (North Vancouver) def. Meryem Selloum, France by fall

Remaining final placements

5th – Nan-Ha Cho, Korea; 6th – Filomena Curatella, Italy; 7th – Zonia Molina Barcenas, El Salvador; 8th – Erica Vargas, Mexico

Preliminary matches
Richardson def. Curatella by fall
Yoshida def. Vargas by fall
Huihua def. Molina Barcenas by superiority, 10-0
Selloum def. Cho by fall
Richardson def. Vargas by fall
Yoshida def. Curatella by fall
Cho def. Molina Barcenas 4-0
Huihua def. Selloum by superiority, 12-2
Yoshida def. Richardson by superiority, 12-0
Curatella def. Vargas 5-0
Selloum def. Molina Barcenas by fall
Huihua def. Cho by fall

63 kg
Gold-medal match

Malgorzata Bassa, Poland def. Viola Yanik, Canada (Saskatoon) by fall

Bronze-medal match

Xu Haiyan, China def. Stephanie Gross, Germany 4-0

Semi-finals

Bassa def. Haiyan 7-6 in overtime after a video replay
Yanik def. Gross 3-2 in overtime

Remaining final placements

5th – Nadia Moussaoui, France; 6th – Ayako Suga, Japan; 7th – Lil Azucena Canales, El Salvador; 8th – Liliana Hernandez, Mexico; 9th – Jin-Young Han, Korea

Preliminary matches
Suga def. Hang by injury forfeit
Haiyan def. Canales by fall
Moussaoui def. Hernandez by fall
Bassa def. Suga by fall
Haiyan def. Yanik 4-3
Gross def. Moussaoui 6-1
Bassa def. Hang by injury forfeit
Yanik def. Canales by superiority, 12-1
Gross def. Hernandez by fall
Yanik def. Suga 6-0
Moussaoui def. Suga 3-0
Yanik def. Moussaoui by superiority, 12-0

67 kg
Gold-medal match

Yang Yangli, China def. Shannon Samler, Canada (North Vancouver) 7-4

Preliminary round

Samler def. Nan-Ha Kim, Korea by forfeit (Kim wins bronze medal)

72 kg
Gold-medal match

Pam Wilson, Canada (Hamilton) def. Samantha Branka, U.S. by fall

Preliminary round

Wilson def. Ayako Murashima, Japan by superiority, 10-0

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