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Wrestling competition a hot topic
By Tiffany L. Woods
The Capital-Journal 7/20/02
Two tiny girls stood amid sweaty, tired wrestlers who hadn't eaten all day.
But don't let 13-year-old Oklahoman Joey Miller and her best friend, Ohio native Nicole Feasel, fool you. They were at Topeka West High School on Friday to weigh in for the Sunflower State Games' weekend competition.
"I just like to beat people up," said Feasel, who has been wrestling for a year.
After both girls weighed in at less than 90 pounds, Miller sat on the ground outside the school and dove into a package of pretzels.
Her father, Jerry Miller, said the girls hadn't eaten all day because of the weigh-in.
"When they don't eat, we don't eat, so we are all going to find some food now," he said.
The two, who sometimes wrestle each other, will compete in the Ohio State Games later this year.
Joey, who has a Web site, www.wrestlegirl.com, is grooming her 7-week-old sister, Madison, to be a wrestler.
"She came home from the hospital in a singlet," Joey said, as she continued to chomp on her snack.
While Joey, who also plays football, was set to enjoy the rest of her evening, Kansas State sophomore Callie Warrem was busy at work.
The wrestling coordinator for the Sunflower State Games, Warrem was trying to keep things under control as she addressed concerns from angry and concerned parents who had noticed that a large, squeaky floor fan, labeled Heat Buster, was failing to live up to its name inside the humid gymnasium.
"This is going to be a fun weekend, but a very long weekend," Warrem said after talking with a woman who threatened to fight for the return of her entry fee if her wrestler got sick because of heat.
Warrem and other volunteers passed out T-shirts, souvenir cups and packets of information to the wrestlers who began lining up at the door a half-hour before check-in time.
"I didn't know they would be here so early," Warrem said. "Now they can go eat."
More than 225 wrestlers will compete in the folk-style category, and more than 100 will participate in freestyle. The competition will start at 9 a.m. today and Sunday at Topeka West, 2001 S.W. Fairlawn.
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List of registered wrestlers for Junior National Girls Freestyle Championships in Fargo, N.D.
7/22/2002
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Women/Freestyle
as of 7/22/02
Alaska
128 Shell, Brittany
California
101 Coffey, Tabitha
101 Fulp-Allen, Sara
101 Watanabe, Maika
110 Figueroa, Jackie
110 Jauck, Jessica
110 Rafanan, Christy
110 Ripley, Malinda
110 Solis, Sharlee
119 Cortez, Silvia
119 Pina, Estella
119 Valdez, Sabrina
128 Briones, Madeline
128 Butanda, Vanesa
128 Mezzaferro, Nicole
128 Owens, Lindsey
138 Jacobson, Shannon
138 Olguin, Monica
138 Rinehart, Emily
150 Graff, Michelle
150 Murphree, Emilee
165 Richardson, Megan
165 Wallace, Jaime
175 Stalley, Misty
Colorado
110 Dupont, Claire
119 Stolzman, Amy
Connecticut
138 Shaw, Stefanie
Florida
101 Molina, Dominique
110 Lozano, Maria
110 Malphurs, Judy
119 Pellerin, Candice
119 Susse, Kayte
138 Bush, Courtney
Hawaii
95 Javier, Bernadette
101 Miyasaki, Tanya
110 Sakai, Debbi
119 Hedin, Danyelle
150 Johnson, Kuuiini
175 Ashley, Gasper
Illinois
95 Helding, Hilary
110 Kelly, Mary
Indiana
110 Monroe, Rachel
119 Paarlberg, Hannah
128 Almond, Michelle
128 Smoot, Stephanie
Kansas
110 Lassman, Stacey
119 Bogren, Brooke
Kentucky
128 Rountree, Chelsea
Maryland
101 Duckworth, Emily
138 Stolitz, Sammatha
Michigan
101 Heinzelman, Gina
110 Emmons, Jenna
110 Haughn, Heidi
119 Strause, Casey
128 Berube, Alaina
128 Rosenbrock, Brandy
138 Jezierski, Bethany
150 Chittenden, Amanda
150 Jenkins, Anna
150 Nevill, Megan
Minnesota
95 Halthaus, Rachel
101 Alverado, Delilah
110 Bergman, Sara
110 Strandjord, Alysse
119 Alverado, Lolita
128 Pringle, Chelynne
128 Zahn, Alisha
138 Faber, Erin
138 Kriesel, Alisha
150 Bernard, Ali
165 Jensen, Nickia
165 Mena, Alicia
Missouri
128 Wisdom, Brittany
New Jersey
101 Wu, Joanna
New York
95 Whitaker, Peggy
110 Paquette, Lisa
119 Benton, Nicole
138 Casey, Wendy
Oregon
110 Umemoto, Na'Tasha
128 Bryant, Jordan
128 Swartzlender, Shawn
138 Gourley, Cindy
138 Pownall, Courtney
165 Lang, Sammie
Texas
101 Ashby, Laurie
101 Stewart, Erica
119 Cortez, Lilli
119 Sifford, Kirstan
128 Hernandez, Kim
128 Rodger, Allison
128 Shelly, Suekoilya
138 Dalton, Glory
138 Jolke, Krystal
138 Mato, Diana
150 Aguilera, Yadira
165 Miller, Jennifer
175 Dalke, Clarissa
Virginia
95 Giles, Julie
128 Morgan, Saretta
Washington
110 Montgomery, Aberle
Wisconsin
110 Chappa, Jamie
Wyoming
128 Clark, Debra
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Eight Hawai'i girls on All-American wrestling team
By Dennis Anderson 6/13/02
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's status as a female wrestling power-hub was affirmed yesterday when eight local girls were named on the TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team.
Three were chosen second-team All-America, three on the third-team and two received honorable mention.
Hawai'i ranked third behind California (17) and Michigan (9) in selections. Minnesota had seven. The 72 wrestlers selected (42 on three teams and 30 honorable mentions) come from 20 states, demonstrating the growth of girls wrestling from a handful of states two years ago.
Seven of Hawai'i's ASICS All-Americans also were selected on Wrestling USA Magazine's All-America team last month. Only seniors were eligible for that team.
Named Second Team ASICS All-Americans were:
Shani Alvarado, a senior at Moanalua High School from Mililani, middle weight (122 to 140 pounds);
Stephany Lee, Moanalua senior, upper weight (over 140 pounds);
Anna Tong, Kaiser senior, upper weight. Tong is the only Hawai'i repeater from the 2001 team.
Third Team:
Melissa Fukushima, Punahou senior, light weight (100 to 121 pounds);
Jennifer Miyahara, Mid-Pacific senior, middle.
Caylene Valdez, Moanalua junior, light.
Honorable mention:
Melissa Orden, McKinley senior from 'Ewa Beach, light.
Debbie Sakai, Mililani junior, light
Alvarado, Lee and Fukushima all won gold medals at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association national championships on March 24.
"The selection criteria prevents Hawai'i girls from being on the First Team since we do not participate in the non-folkstyle events, such as the senior nationals," Pac-Five coach Keith Matsumoto said.
"Still, what great recognition this is for our girls and our state in the world of girls wrestling."
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Area girls grapple with wrestling
By Lisette Kaczka, News-Sentinel sportswriter
May 12, 2002
In the 1980s, pop singer Cyndi Lauper belted out a tune claiming that "Girls just want to have fun," and she was right.
Lately, some area women are having fun through participation in sports that were once perceived as male oriented . Take for example, the Knoxville Summit. This is a team of women who put on pads and hit the gridiron - and each other - in "full-contact" football games each week.
On Tuesday, another male dominated sport - wrestling - is welcoming area girls into its fold, or in this case, its "pack."
The Wolf Pack Wrestling Club is an Amateur Athletic Union member club. Coach Tim Pittman, who also is the wrestling coach at Gibbs High School, is offering his support to form a female branch of the Wolf Pack. Also aiding in the effort to begin a high school-age girls' wrestling club team are Joy Madrid and Anne Waddell, former Cumberland College women's varsity wrestling team members.
Any girls interested in participating are encouraged to attend an organizational meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at South-Doyle High School in the small cafeteria. Experience in wrestling is not required.
"This group of coaches is ready to teach and train young ladies to be great athletes," Madrid said
Practices are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6-7:30 at SDHS. The intent will be to prepare girls for East Tennessee AAU tournaments that have women's divisions.
"The ultimate goal will be to bring a team to the Girls' High School Nationals held at Lake Orion, Mich., each March," Madrid said.
The tournament caters to girls from primary school to college, and involves more than 300 female wrestlers. All-American status is reserved for the top 12 girls in each weight class.
Currently, there are five colleges in the nation which offer varsity women's wrestling programs, Madrid said. In 2001, the Olympic committee added women's wrestling to the 2004 Games in Greece.
"My vision for this team is to give young women the opportunity to enter the sport of women's wrestling and participate while being in a supportive and comfortable setting," Waddell said.
Being a club team, dues will be approximately $80-100 per girl, which covers the cost of a team shirt and shorts and an AAU registration card. For more information, contact Madrid at 539-3056, Waddell at 694-3940 or Pittman at 689-9130.
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Home Cookin': Hyatt wrestling all over the world
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer 5/14/02
A few years back, when she was in the midst of her "punk phase,"
Kierstin Hyatt would leave others frozen in their tracks.
That happens when you sport various shades of purple hair and you're weighted down with dozens of rings, necklaces and bracelets. And combat boots, the kind that have 20 pounds of steel toe per foot.
These days, the El Camino High School graduate looks more like the young lady who won the Sacramento Junior Miss Pageant in 2000, though she's no less ferocious in her current run as an elite wrestler.
Hyatt cleans up the competition on her own, placing third at the NAIA Wrestling Championships in February at 123 pounds for Missouri Valley College. In March, she claimed the United States Girls Wrestling Association's North American women's freestyle championship.
May 27, Hyatt will compete at the Junior World Team Championships in Tennessee. And in June, she'll be in China for nine days for an exhibition with the Chinese national team.
