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Girl grapplers take to mats in Mishicot, Reedsville

Wrestling open to all students
By Amy Weaver 12/08/02
Herald Times Reporter

REEDSVILLE — Amberlee Ebert has the same dream as many other high school athletes. She wants to make it to the state tournament.

However, her voyage to Madison would be one for the record books — as the first female wrestler.

“I think that would be cool,” she said of the possibility of turning some heads.

Ebert, a freshman at Reedsville High School, was brought up on the sport. Her father Bob, a former Panther wrestler himself, has coached youth wrestling for 18 years. She started wrestling competitively in sixth grade.

Ebert, 14, doesn’t break any gender barriers with her appearance on the wrestling squad because girls have been allowed on the mat for the past 30 years.

Having a girl on the wrestling mat or even the football field used to be unheard of, but it is becoming more and more common. Reedsville wrestling coach Greg Penza said he has seen at least two or three girls competing in tournaments for the last few years.

Title IX, a federal anti-discrimination law passed in 1972, says high schools and colleges have to be equitable to both sexes in all aspects of education, including athletics. That means girls can play on the boys’ team — as long as there isn’t a comparable sport for them, like football and wrestling.

Boys can play on the girls’ team for the same reason, if the state athletic association allows it. Wisconsin does not.

This season, Ebert and two other girls have joined their boys’ wrestling teams. Freshmen Katie Bratz is a teammate of Ebert’s at Reedsville, and junior Nicole Papierniak is in her second year on the squad at Mishicot High School.

Valders High School had a female wrestler last year. A girl was issued equipment for this year’s football team, but didn’t pursue it.

Penza is not opposed to the idea of having girls on his team. In fact, he recruited Bratz. He took a chance that her petite frame meant she could compete at the 103-pound weight class.

“They should have the opportunity to compete,” Penza said.

“It should be that way for every sport,” Mishicot freshmen wrestler Aaron Schwerma said.

Just one of the guys

Bratz, who plans on playing softball in the spring, wasn’t opposed to the idea of being on the team either. She thought it would be interesting.

Papierniak gave up dance to join the Indians squad last year because it was something different.

None of the girls questioned their decision to be ‘just one of the guys’ or were concerned about being treated differently.

“I don’t think they mind,” Papierniak said. “They don’t seem to hate me.”

Whether there really was a pool going last year to see how long she’d last on the squad, Papierniak said it only inspired her to stay on and show them she deserved to be a part of the team.

It’s an adjustment period for all — she needs to adjust to wrestling boys as much as the boys need to adjust to wrestling her — but her teammates are accepting. Schwerma, who wrestles in the 103- and 112-pound weight classes with Papierniak, has been beaten by her in practice before and still believes she’s a good addition to the team.

“She’s fun and she has a different perspective on things,” he said.

Schwerma isn’t embarrassed that he has lost to Papierniak before. He takes the match as a lesson and learns from it to improve his game.

“They are very accepting,” Ebert said of her male teammates. “They treat us like members of the team. Just because we’re girls, they don’t put us down.”

No one ‘takes it easy’ on them either at practice. You can’t learn anything from playing like that, Penza said. No matter who wins a practice match, Penza said both wrestlers work together to improve his or her own skills.

Bratz said if a boy isn’t wrestling his hardest against her it’s not because of her gender but because of her inexperience — she has never wrestled before — or her weight.

Papierniak isn’t outstanding at her new sport, but she hits the mat with the same amount of determination her teammates do. She won several matches last season by forfeit, but lost several by pin.

Penza said he would only forfeit his wrestlers — boy or girl — if they weren’t ready to wrestle. He wouldn’t forfeit to avoid the possibility of ‘losing to a girl.’

“I’ll give up the six (points) if a freshmen was going against a seasoned varsity lettermen,” Penza said. “It’s a matter of experience.”

The forfeits for Papierniak were generally because the other team didn’t have anyone to wrestle in the 103-pound class.

“If I was a guy I would try my hardest not to be beaten by a girl,” Papierniak said. The ridicule would be too much to bear.

Schwerma, who’s lost to her, disagreed. It’s all a learning experience, he said.

No difference

Wrestlers — male or female — are so centered on the task at hand when they compete, they don’t think about how awkward it would be in a different situation to grab here or touch there.

“I’m in it. I just want to win,” Bratz said. “I don’t really think about that stuff.”

Schwerma said he treats his opponents the same — boy or girl.

Even though she’s better at track and enjoys dance tremendously, Papierniak wanted to return to the mat this year because she wanted to improve her record — and get her first pin, much like her freshmen teammates.

She lost her first varsity match of the season to Chilton Thursday night. Schwerma did as well.

Ebert, who wrestles in the 125-pound class, may have her sights on state, but Bratz is taking one match at a time.

“This is only my first year,” she said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”

Even if her teammates secretly disliked her, Papierniak knows she gets their support at matches because wrestling is both an individual and team sport.

“As long as I’m in there, I’m helping them not have a forfeit and lose points,” she said. “I’m not just wrestling for myself, but for the team.”

While Ebert has the complete support of her father, Papierniak’s mother is opposed to her wrestling because of the increased risk of personal injuries. Although she could get just as injured in dance, she wears the bruises on her arm like a badge of honor that she shares with her teammates.

“We all get our fair share,” she stressed.

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On common ground Whaley is latest woman to challenge conventions

Times Union; Albany, N.Y.; Dec 6, 2002

Golf pro Suzy Whaley's decision earlier this week to accept an
invitation to play in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open represents the newest chapter in
the book of women pioneers in sports.

Beginning with tennis great Billie Jean King's victory over Bobby Riggs
in the much-hyped "Battle of the Sexes" in 19xx, women have made small
inroads when competing with men on the playing fields and racing surfaces of
the sports world. Men clearly have maintained the upper hand in sports that
emphasize speed, strength and stamina, but women have proved that they
can succeed at the highest levels of sports such as auto racing and horse
racing, where guts, guile and technical skills are put to the test.

The 36-year-old Whaley qualified for her moment in the sun by winning
the PGA Connecticut Sectional in September, hitting from tees 10 percent
shorter than the men's. In the GHO, set for July 21- 27 at the TPC at River
Highlands in Cromwell, Whaley will play from the same tees as the men,
adding about 700 yards to her game.

"I understand the historical implications of this decision," she said,
"and the importance it has for women golfers."

Billie Jean King: In the best-known of the "Battle of the Sexes," King,
then 29, rose to the level of feminist icon with an effortless victory (6-4,
6-3, 6-3) over 55-year-old former pro Bobby Riggs in an exhibition match
played at the Astrodome in Houston. The match, televised in prime time, drew
50 million viewers and remains the most-watched tennis event of all-time.

Nancy Lieberman: After testing her skills for years in professional
women's leagues, Lieberman became the first woman to play in a men's
professional league. She suited up for the United States Basketball League's
Springfield Fame in 1986, then switched to the USBL's Long Island Knights in 1987.
In 1988 she played on the Washington Generals and married teammate Tim
Cline. a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, she is among the best women's
players ever.

Ann Meyers: Meyers, a former UCLA star, remains the only woman to try
out with an NBA team. The Indiana Pacers signed her to a free- agent
contract in 1979, and although she didn't make the roster, Meyers was enshrined in
the Basketball Hall of Fame for her stellar collegiate and international
career.

Ila Borders: In 1997, Borders, a left-hander, became the first woman to
pitch in a regular-season minor league baseball game. She made 21
relief appearances and one start in two seasons, first with the St. Paul
Saints and then in 1998 with the Duluth-Superior Dukes of the Northern League,
where she had a streak of 12 scoreless innings.

Manon Rheaume: On Sept. 23, 1992, Rheaume made sports history by being
the first women to play in one of the four major sports leagues in the
United States. She was in goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National
Hockey League in a preseason game against the St. Louis Blues. She later
became the first woman to play in a regular-season professional hockey game with
Tampa Bay's minor- league affiliate, the Atlanta Knights, on Dec. 3, 1992,
against the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.

Julie Krone: A fan favorite in the early 1990s at Saratoga, Krone was
the most successful female jockey in history, winning more than 3,500
races, $80 million in purses and 11 riding titles at some of the top thoroughbred
meets in the world. She won the 1993 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair,
and remains the only woman to win a Triple Crown race.

Sarah Fisher: In May 2000, Fisher, then 19, became the third- youngest
driver (male or female) and the youngest woman ever to compete in the
Indianapolis 500. She became the first woman in Indy- car history to
win a pole, with a qualifying lap of 221.390 mph, a track record, at Kentucky
Speedway in August. Janet Guthrie and Lyn St. James also have raced in
the Indy 500. Shawna Robinson started from the pole in a NASCAR Busch
Series race in 1994. Shelly Anderson, a four-time winner on the national
drag-racing circuit, is the only driver in National Hot Rod Association
history to record three runs under 4.75 seconds.

Kristy Stenglein: A three-time national women's wrestling champion,
Stenglein first made her name locally against the boys. She scored a
roster spot on the varsity team at Colonie halfway through her junior year,
and finished her career record, all against males, at 13-12. Mickey Kelly,
an Olympic hopeful in the modern pentathlon, played two seasons as a wide
receiver for the Chatham High football team, and soccer star Caroline
Parsons doubled as a placekicker this past season for the Glens Falls
High football team, kicking five extra points in a 35-0 victory over South
Glens Falls in September.

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Speak up in support of women's athletics

By Nellie McNeil
Columnist 12/09/02

If anything in the last 30 years has strengthened the cause of women's equality, it's Title IX - landmark legislation designed to end gender discrimination in sports.

Title IX applies to all schools - public and private, secondary or higher education, that receive any federal funds, including colleges and universities whose students are recipients of federal aid programs.

If you or your daughter has played varsity high school basketball, soccer or tennis or run track or cross country or been on a volleyball, golf or swim team, you can thank Title IX.

In my school days, girls were not supposed to perspire. What's more, the word "sweat'' was not even in language concerning the fairer sex. Consequently, our sporting opportunities were restricted to swimming and a mild game of tennis in late afternoons. The concept of Title IX was too alien then to be thought.

My older daughter graduating in 1972, the year Title IX was passed into law, also missed its opportunities. Therefore, her high school sport was limited to cheerleading.

My younger daughter, on the other hand, was likewise a cheerleader, but she additionally ran track and played varsity basketball. And what a difference sports made in her high school days!

She learned to manage her time in order to practice daily and to attend competitions, sometimes requiring travel. She made high marks - a condition for staying on the team. She learned to be a team player, essential now in the world of work.

Because of the demands of her three sports, she had no time for alcohol, drugs or getting into trouble. From playing sports she learned leadership skills. She had the advantage of knowing and learning from dedicated coaches who had lessons to teach that her mother couldn't. She practiced a healthy lifestyle and made it a habit. Today she continues to be an athlete.

Athletics, everyone knows, contributes to girls' high self-esteem and aids in girls' physical development. Athletics keeps girls fit.

While my younger daughter had the benefits of play along with these life lessons, my other daughter had to find her strengths elsewhere.

What Title IX is all about is treating people fairly. What Title IX really means is that educational institutions must give females equal opportunity to play sports.

It does not mean that if a male football player's uniform costs $700, an equal amount must be spent on a female's soccer outfit. Rather male and female uniforms must be the same quality.

Since the passage of Title IX both men's and women's participation in sports has increased, albeit women still have fewer opportunities and not as many scholarships offered.

Now the Bush administration has turned its attention on Title IX, causing many to fear the undoing of the strides women have made in athletics.

The Bush administration has appointed a commission to consider changes in Title IX. The Commission on Opportunity in Athletics is traveling the country gathering public opinions regarding this significant legislation, including complaints that Title IX harms men's athletics.

The real problem is not that men are being left out. The problem primarily is that some institutions are spending so much on the high profile, popular sports such as football that less visible sports such as wrestling and volleyball are being cut.

According to experts like the president of the National Association of Collegiate Women's Athletics Administration, "Title IX is not the problem. But enforcement of Title IX is the solution."

When the president's investigative commission finishes its work in January 2003, it will report its findings to Congress.

If you agree that women's athletics are as important as men's and that women should have equal access to athletics, you need to let your opinions be known. The same goes if you disagree.

The National Women's Law Center, the American Association of University Women, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Women's Sports Foundation are among many groups actively supporting Title IX.

Likely the easiest way to let your opinions be known is to click on the Women's Sports Foundation - http://capwiz.com/wsf/issues/alert/?alertid=424561&type=CO.

Equally important, you must directly contact Rep. Bill Jenkins, Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. Bill Frist. Their addresses are on a pink page in the middle of the phone book.
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The MSWA Girls Folkstyle Holiday Tournament will be on Sunday, December 22, at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. The divisions are elementary (grades 3-5), middle (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12). Weigh-ins are 9 to 10 am, and wrestling starts at 10:30 am. The location is convenient for girls from MD, DC, VA, and out-of-state. The Sunday date avoids conflicts with high school programs.

The tournament flyer with directions is attached. The flyer can also be downloaded from the website: www.mdgirlswrestling.com

The tournament is only two weeks away. Can you help publicize it by forwarding this e-mail to anyone you think might be interested, distributing the flyer, and posting information on girls' wrestling websites. Please send me a short reply e-mail so I know that you received this information. Thanks for your help.