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Wong wins silver medal at Yarygin Memorial for women; Miranda, McMann, Smith advance from their pools

2/1/2003
Rusty Davidson/

Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) captured a silver medal at 51 kg/112.25 pounds, on the first day of medal competition at the Yarygin Memorial International in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Feb. 1.

After capturing her pool competition on Friday, Wong opened up today’s action with a 12-1 technical fall over Elena Andrieva of Russia in the semifinals. Wong was ahead in the gold-medal finals by a 5-0 margin, before she was caught and pinned by Elena Tolstenko of Russia at the 5:06 mark.

Wong, who is the No. 1 U.S. athlete at 112.25 pounds, won all of her preliminary bouts by pin or technical fall.

"Jenny really turned a corner here at this event,” said U.S. coach Rusty Davidson. “When you wrestle quality like Tolstenko, you just can't make a mistake."

Three U.S. wrestlers were undefeated on their first day of action and advanced from their pool competition: Patricia Miranda (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) at 48 kg/105.5 pounds, Sara McMann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 63 kg/138.75 pounds and Iris Smith (Fort Carson, Colo./U.S. Army) at 72 kg/158.5 pounds.

Miranda won her first two bouts, a 4-1 decision over Lilia Kaskarakova of Russia and a 7-1 decision over Irina Merleni of Greece. Miranda, a 2000 World silver medalist, was a member of the 2002 U.S. Women’s World Team.

McMann had three strong victories. She opened with an 11-3 win over Ludmila Golovchenko of Ukraine. Her next two wins were dominant, a 3:28 pin over Kristina Odrina of Latvia and a 10-0 technical fall over Olga Khilko of Bulgaria. McMann has competed in three straight World Championships for the United States.

Smith also scored three wins. She opened with a 3-0 victory over Karina Shedoyan of Russia, then stopped Svetlana Mikailina of Russia, 7-0. Her third match was a 7-6 battle over Anastasis Deshneva of Greece, which Smith won on a last-second reversal. Smith is a two-time U.S. World Team member.

The only U.S. athlete to suffer a loss in the pool competition today was 2002 World silver medalist Tina Wilson at 55 kg/121 pounds. Wilson won her first bout with a 5-2 decision over Naidan Otgonzhargal of Mongolia. In her second bout, Wilson was defeated in overtime by veteran Russian star Natalia Karamchakova, 3-1.

"It was a great day for U.S. women's wrestling,” said Davidson. “It's easy to see the impact our resident program has had in its first six months. Our future is very bright."

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It's not a guy thing: Girls who play 'boys' sports gain respect

By THERESA WINSLOW 1/30/03

By G. Nick Lundskow -- The Capital South River High wrestler Emily Duckworth practices with Mark Nelson.

It's amazing what you can "pick up" from wrestling. Take Emily Duckworth, for example.

Besides new holds and new friends, the South River High School sophomore is now fluent in two very distinct languages: Womanese and Manglish.

She was already a born expert in the first, and she picked up the second during her two years as the only girl on the boys wrestling team.

Being surrounded by the opposite sex, she's learned a lot about how boys think, talk and act.

"Guys don't talk much and they're more laid-back," said Emily, who wrestles in the 112-pound weight class. "Relationships aren't as demanding, not as high-maintenance. When you're together (with guys), it's all about having fun. With girls, you have fun, but you have to entertain, too."

Emily is one of a handful of teen girls braving the waters of boys sports. Many teams for young children start out coed, only to split along gender lines later on. But not all boys and girls go their separate ways.

While Emily is loathe to call attention to herself, she and others like her - 13-year-old Severna Park baseball player Megan MacNabb, for example - are pioneers of a sort.

Both have encountered adversity as they challenge athletic stereotypes, but their parents said that, by and large, people have been supportive.

Their teammates stick by them, too. Maybe that's because the pair didn't start playing "boys" sports to make a statement. They just wanted to play and had no girls team to join.

"Softball's a good sport," said Megan, who takes the field for teams from the Green Hornets and the Frozen Ropes training facility in Glen Burnie. "I don't have anything against it. I was (just) always interested in baseball. I've been playing since I was 4. I guess I'm just used to baseball."

Megan, an eighth-grader at Severna Park Middle School, wants to try out for the high school baseball team next year. Emily wants to continue wrestling, too.

Both have parents who played sports growing up, and both also play other sports on girls teams. Megan plays basketball and soccer. Emily runs track and cross country, and also swims.

Megan said the biggest difference between girls and boys teams is the gossip. The boys are more down to business, she said.

"I think (having a girl on the roster) is a good experience for the team," said South River wrestling coach John Klessinger, whose Seahawks are currently 6-6. "Through the years, it's been more nontraditional. But it's slowly building."

Wrestling with the facts

At first, Ed Duckworth tried to convince his daughter and only child to try another sport when she suggested wrestling. But when she insisted, he relented.

"Emily just goes by her own drummer," said Mr. Duckworth, who runs an insurance business with his wife, Peggy. "I think Emily's the type of person that the tougher it gets, the more she takes in. She just digs in deeper. She doesn't like to fail."

And she hasn't.

She recently won all three of her matches in an all-girls wrestling meet. But she's only had two matches for the junior varsity boys team this year.

The problem is twofold: Not enough wrestlers in her weight class, and other teams' reluctance to put a boy against her in a match, Mrs. Duckworth said.

She likens the state of girls in wrestling to girls in soccer a couple decades ago. "It's like a baby - you're watching it grow," she explained.

Emily said she hangs out with her teammates and, after an initial test period, which she said is common with any new athlete, respect and acceptance came easily.

"It doesn't affect me much," said sophomore Andrew Myers, 15. "I'd say she's the same as everybody else - besides the fact she's a girl."

Teammate Chris Elliott, a 15-year-old freshman, said it was kind of weird at first to wrestle alongside a girl, but now it's normal. When they practice, he said, "she's just another teammate."

Emily's the fifth girl Mr. Klessinger has coached, so it's nothing new to him. It's also not entirely new to the team, which might have eased her acceptance. There were two previous girl wrestlers at South River, and Mr. Klessinger also coached two in North Carolina.

"I think if it was exposed to them more, a lot more girls would be in the sport," he said.

Emily said students at her school also have been supportive. She hears "You go, girl" a lot from other girls when she walks down the hall.

"A lot of people tell me I'm a pioneer," she said. "I'm just wrestling. I enjoy the sport."

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