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2003 TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team named; Five repeat on First Team
7/9/2003
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
The nation’s best girls high school wrestlers are being honored with the announcement of the Third Annual TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team.
Brandy Rosenbrock, a senior from Montrose High in Michigan, made the First Team of TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team for the third straight year.
Those making the First Team for the second straight year included Ali Bernard of New Ulm High in Minnesota, Laura DiCesare of Monroe High in Michigan, Samantha Lang of Tualatin High in Oregon and Shawn Swarzlender of Burns High in Oregon.
TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team is selected by a nationwide panel of wrestling experts. It is the only national all-star team for which female high school wrestlers competing on all four grade levels are eligible. Athletes from across the nation were considered for their achievements in high school wrestling, as well as the major post-season freestyle and folkstyle competitions.
TheMat.com is the official web page of the Amateur Wrestling Alliance, and is one of the leading sports web pages on the internet. ASICS is a national sponsor of USA Wrestling and a major supporter of wrestling at all levels. ASICS has sponsored the nationally respected Asics Tiger High School All-American Team for boys wrestlers for 18 years.
“The ASICS Tiger Corporation is proud to be a sponsor of the All-American wrestling team for girls,” said Neil Duncan, Vice President of TW Promotions which represents ASICS. “We see this sport having a huge potential for growth, and look forward to the day when many high schools and colleges across the country offer wrestling programs for the female athlete. These are our future Olympians in women’s wrestling.”
Members of the First Team, as well as TheMat.com/ASICS Wrestler of the Year, will be honored prior to the finals of the ASICS/Vaughan Junior National Championships July 26 at Fargo, N.D.
Oregon led the First Team selections with three athletes: Lang, Swarzlender and Na’Tasha Umemoto of David Douglas High.
Three states had two First Team selections, Minnesota, Michigan and Hawaii. Minnesota boasted Bernard, plus Chelynne Pringle of Forest Lake High. Michigan featured DiCesare and Rosenbrock. Hawaii was led by Debbi Sakai of Mililani High and Caylene Valdez of Moanaloa High.
Many of the First Team members are nationally ranked on the Senior level in freestyle wrestling, competing against the best women wrestlers of all ages.
Lang placed second at the U.S. Nationals this season, and Rosenbrock finished in third place. Claiming fourth place at the U.S. Nationals were Sakai and Bernard, and capturing a fifth-place finish was Heather Martin of Keystone High in Ohio.
The First Team featured 10 wrestlers who won national scholastic-style titles this year, by claiming gold medals at the 2003 USGWA National Championships in Michigan. The USGWA National champions on the First Team were Bernard, DiCesare, Lang, Martin, Rosenbrock, Sakai, Umemoto and Valdez plus Sara Fulp-Allen of Half Moon Bay High in California, and Deanna Rix of Marshfield High in Maine.
Rounding out the First Team were Caitlyn Chase of Glenbard North High in Illinois and Jen Chu of Germantown Friends School in Pennsylvania.
Eight First Team members won USA Wrestling age-group national freestyle titles this year. Winning FILA Junior National titles were Lang, Rosenbrock, Bernard and Sakai, all who will represent the United States at the Junior World Championships in Turkey this summer. Winning FILA Cadet National titles this year were Lang, Bernard, Martin, Umemoto, Chase and Pringle. Last summer, at the first ASICS Junior Nationals for women, champions from the First Team included Lang and Martin.
The First Team featured seven seniors, three juniors and three sophomores and one freshman. In total, nine states were represented on the First Team.
The Second Team was also star-studded, led by USGWA National Champions Madeline Briones of San Leandro High in California, Iris Mucha of West Anchorage High in Alaska, Stephanie Shaw of Waterford High in Connecticut, and Damaris Barrios of University City High in California. Also on the Second Team were 2002 Junior National champion Rachel Holthaus of Little Falls High in Minnesota, as well as 2003 U.S. Senior Nationals All-American Othella Lucas of Crawford High in California.
The Third Team featured 2003 FILA Junior Nationals champion Juanita Russell of Galway Central High in New York, 2002 Junior Nationals champion and Outstanding Wrestler Amberle Montgomery of Tahoma High in Washington, plus USGWA Nationals runners-up Jessica Hseih of Vintage High in California and Nicole Fonda of Kakuku High in Hawaii.
As the National Federation of State High Schools has yet to determine specific weight classes for girls wrestling, the athletes were selected based solely on achievement and ability. The top 14 athletes were named to the First Team, the second 14 athletes were named to the Second Team and the third 14 athletes were selected to the Third Team. Thirty athletes were named as Honorable Mention. An effort was made to make a reasonable spread of weights on each team. If the National Federation sets specific girls weight classes in the future, the selection committee will consider using those weight classes for the selection criteria at that time.
For the TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team, athletes were identified in three weight ranges: Light (100-121 pounds); Middle (122-140 pounds); Upper (141 pounds and above).
In total, 72 wrestlers were selected to TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team. California led all states with 11 selections, followed by Michigan with eight, Hawaii with seven, Minnesota with six and Texas with five.
A total of 22 states were represented on the All-American Team. The team included 32 seniors, 13 juniors, 19 sophomores and eight freshmen.
Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports among youth sports for women. Women’s wrestling has been added to the program of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Ga. There are an estimated 5,000 girls competing on the high school level in the United States today, and the number has grown each year for the last dozen years. A number of colleges have begun to add women’s wrestling on the varsity and club level across the nation.
TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team will be prominently featured on TheMat.com web page, as well as in USA Wrestler, the official publication of USA Wrestling.
2003 TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestling Team
First Team (alphabetically)
Ali Bernard, junior, New Ulm, Minn., New Ulm High School, upper*
Caitlyn Chase, freshman, Naperville, Illinois, Glenbard North High School, light
Jen Chu, senior, Philadelphia, Pa., Germantown Friends School, middle*
Laura DiCesare, senior, Monroe, Mich., Monroe High School, upper*
Sara Fulp Allen, senior, El Granada, Calif., Half Moon Bay High School, light*
Samantha Lang, junior, Tualatin, Ore., Tualatin High School, upper*
Heather Martin, senior, Wellington, Ohio, Keystone High School, upper*
Chelynne Pringle, sophomore, Hugo, Minn., Forest Lake High School, middle*
Deanna Rix, sophomore, South Berwick, Maine, Marshfield High School, light*
Brandy Rosenbrock, senior, Montrose, Mich, Montrose High School, middle*
Debbie Sakai, senior, Mililani, Hawaii, Mililani High School, light*
Shawn Swarzlender, junior, Burns, Ore., Burns High School, upper*
Na’Tasha Umemoto, sophomore, Portland, Ore., David Douglas High School, middle*
Caylene Valdez, senior, Honolulu, Hawaii, Moanalua High School, light*
Second Team
Damaris Barrios, senior, San Diego, Calif., University City High School, light
Madeline Briones, senior, San Leandro, Calif., San Leandro High School, middle*
Wendy Casey, senior, Binghamton, N.Y., Binghamton High School, upper*
Claire DuPont, junior, Leadville, Colo., Lake County High School, light
Rachel Groft, junior, Abbottstown, Pa., New Oxford High School, light*
Rachel Holthaus, sophomore, Little Falls, Minn., Little Falls High School, light*
Anna Jenkins, sophomore, Lake Orion, Mich., Lake Orion High School, upper
Hillary Lucarelli, senior, Ishpeming, Mich., Westwood High School, middle*
Othella Lucas, senior, San Diego, Calif., Crawford High School, middle
Iris Mucha, senior, Anchorage, Alaska, West Anchorage High School, middle*
Vanessa Oswalt, sophomore, Mount Vernon, Ohio, Mt. Vernon High School, middle*
Lizz Sanders, sophomore, Masonville, Iowa, Newton High School, upper
Stephanie Shaw, sophomore, Waterford, Conn., Waterford High School, middle
Misty Stalley, senior, San Mateo, Calif., Aragon High School, upper*
Third Team
Silvia Cortez, senior, Hanford, Calif., Hanford West High School, light
Nicole Fonda, senior, Kahuku, Hawaii, Kakuku High School, light
Danyelle Hedin, junior, Kailua, Hawaii, Kailua High School, middle
Jessica Hseih, junior, Vallejo, Calif., Vintage High School, light
Nikia Jensen, junior, Eden Prairie, Minn., Eden Prairie High School, upper*
Michael Kaufmann, junior, Flinton, Pa., Glendale High School, upper*
Michelle Ludwig, senior, San Diego, Calif., Patrick Henry High School, middle
Amberle Montgomery, sophomore, Maple Valley, Wash., Tahoma High School, light*
Jasmine Norman, senior, Holaloa, Hawaii, Kealakehe High School, middle
Juanita Russell, sophomore, Galway, N.Y., Galway Central High School, upper
Suekoila Shelly, senior, Hurst, Texas, L.D. Bell High School, middle
Elizabeth Torres, senior, Kahuku, Hawaii, Kakuku High School, light
Maika Watanabe, senior, Napa, Calif., Vintage High School, light*
Lakisha Wilson, senior, Killeen, Texas, Ellison High School, upper
Note: Lightweights (100-121 lbs.); Middleweights (122-140); Upperweights (141 and above)
* - Member of 2001 TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Team
Honorable mention
Madison Bangert, sophomore, Midland, Mich. , H.H. Dow High School, light*
Sara Bergman, junior, Otsego, Minn., Elk River High School, light
Ashley Bice, sophomore, Clinton, Iowa, Clinton High School, light
Rachel Billerbeck, junior, Pfulgerville, Texas, Pflugerville High School, middle
Krisha Childres, sophomore, Goddard, Kan., Goddard High School, middle
Amanda Chittenden, sophomore, Greenville, Mich., Greenville High School, upper
Toni Copeland, freshman, McDonough, N.Y., Oxford Academy High School, upper
Laurin Daniels, junior, Vashon, Wash., Vashon Island High School, middle
Nicole Darrow, freshman, Pittsfield, Mass., Mt. Greylock High School, light
Yesenia De LaMora, senior, Spring Valley, Calif., Granite Hills High School, light*
Genevieve DiNatale, senior, Lancaster, Mass., Nashua Regional High School, light
Katherine Fulp-Allen, freshman, El Grenada, Calif, Half Moon Bay High School, light
Tabetha Golt, junior, Chesapeake, Va., Oscar Smith High School, upper
Sheri Hilliard, senior, Lakota, N.D., Devils Lake High School, upper
Aquilla Hills, senior, Bristol, Pa., Harry Truman High School, light
Casey Johnson, senior, Spencer, Iowa, Spencer High School, upper
Naomi Karlen, senior, Honolulu., Hawaii, Punahou High School, light
Lauren Lindsey, senior, Amarillo, Texas, Palo Dura High School, light
Diana Mato, senior, Katy, Texas, Taylor High School, middle
Dallas Monreal-Berner, freshman, Niles, Ill., Niles West High School, upper
Megan Nevill, senior, Clare, Mich., Clare High School, middle
Jessica Pierce, sophomore, Parish, N.Y., Altmar-Parish-Williamstown HS, middle*
Elena Pirozhkov, sophomore, Greenfield, Mass., Greenfield High School, middle
Kelli Rasmussen, freshman, Winnebago, Minn., Blue Earth High School, light
Chelsea Roundtree, sophomore, Crestwood, Ky., South Oldham High School, middle
Maneulita Swarzlender, freshman, Burns, Ore., Burns High School, light
Brittany Shell, sophomore, Big Lake, Alaska, Houston High School, middle
Melissa Simmons, freshman, Ridgefield, Wash., Ridgefield High School, upper
Leah Wood, sophomore, Greenville, Mich., Greenville High School, light
Jessica Worthington, senior, Springhill, Fla., Land O’ Lakes High School, middle
Note: Lightweights (100-121 lbs.); Middleweights (122-140); Upperweights (141 and above)
* - Member of 2002 TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Team
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USA Wrestling Women’s Future Olympian Camp gives talented girls a look at their wrestling future
7/9/2003
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
The first wave of U.S. women’s Olympic wrestlers has met the next generation, and is passing on the secrets to success in freestyle wrestling.
The USA Wrestling Women’s Future Olympic Freestyle Camp is being held July 5-11 in Colorado Springs, Colo., with 40 of the nation’s most talented and dedicated young female wrestlers in attendance. These girls are getting taught the fine art of wrestling from all of the members of the U.S. Olympic Training Center Women’s Wrestling Resident Program, the same athletes who are now battling for spots on the first U.S. Women’s Wrestling Olympic Team next year.
Under the guidance of National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner, today’s women wrestling heroes are setting an example for the young athletes to follow.
If you have ever attended a wrestling camp, this looks very similar to the hundreds of training opportunities around the nation. They slowly drift in at the beginning of each session, putting on their ASICS and tucking in their training gear. Perfectly normal, except all of the athletes are female. Nowhere else in the nation has this many young women trained together. Even more unique is that these girls are being taught to wrestle by women, rather than men.
The whole concept is rather new, not only to the campers, but also to the women athletes who came up in a sport dominated by males. The fact that women’s wrestling has grown to the point where women wrestling stars are teaching a camp full of young girl wrestlers is not lost on those who are there.
USOTC resident athlete Nina Vernon of the Gator WC, who is helping coach the young women, notes that she had never seen an all-girls wrestling camp before, not has she ever seen so many girls working out together in one setting. Vernon has been nationally competitive since high school, and competed on an all-women’s team in college. Yet this setting is new and exciting to Vernon, as well as the other resident athletes helping teach the young women.
Resident athlete Sally Roberts, a 2003 U.S. Nationals champion, lines up the girls for attendance, shortest to tallest. This activity shows the variety of athletes in the camp this year, from small elementary school girls to almost-adult high school upperclassmen.
The shortest was Katie Agey of Des Moines, Iowa, a seven year old who weighs about 50 pounds. The tallest is 5’10” Emily Strachen of Houston, Texas, a 17 year old who will be a senior at Pine Forest High School in the fall.
Sunday afternoon’s training session was more of a review, with athletes drilling technique and strategies taught in the first two sessions. Coach Steiner ran the first part of the practice, putting the young women through drills of specific situations, including a number of counter offense moves and positions.
The student-teacher ratio is very high here, as about 10 resident athletes are there to help the 40 girls, meaning that almost every pair of training partners are able to get some personal attention as they attempt the drills.
When a few of the girls were talking too much during the drilling time, U.S. Nationals champion and resident athlete Sara McMann offered them an opportunity to run extra sprints if they continued the chatter. In ways like this, it was like just about any other major wrestling camp held across the nation.
The girls were getting some high quality technique, mixed in with a complete review of the basics needed for success. Coach Steiner showed a unique counter move where an athlete kicks out of a lower leg attack. “I love that move,” said Steiner. “Dave Schultz showed it to me.”
Just as some of the Senior women stars had never been around so many young girls in wrestling, likewise, for many of the campers, it was the first time they had ever been instructed by women wrestlers. For a majority of the training session, resident athlete women wrestlers showed the techniques, answered the questions and assisted in the drilling process.
Coach Steiner also scheduled a resident athlete workout immediately following the afternoon workout, providing an opportunity for the campers to watch America’s best women wrestlers work out and wrestle in a live situation.
Women’s wrestling is quite new in public perception. The sport has not yet developed the well-known heroes for young girls to emulate, the Mia Hamms and Cammie Granatos who became famous because of the Olympic Games. One of the women at the training camp might become the first national hero from women’s wrestling. The young athletes who are learning from them will remember this summer’s training camp when watching the women wrestlers on television at the Athens Games.
Wrestling is like a secret, passed on from one generation to the next. Now, women’s wrestling is developing its own tradition of sharing the knowledge, from older to younger, just like the men in wrestling.
WOMEN’S FUTURE OLYMPIAN FREESTYLE CAMPERS
From shortest to tallest
Katie Agey
Erin Goldston
Hannah Martin
Alisha Pohren
Sage Schell
Katherine Williams
Emily Smith
Brieana Delgado
Candace Workman
Taylor Fredrickson
Beth Johnson
Amber Miracle
Nickia Jensen
Anna Matteson
Shayla Iokia
Linda Alverson
Christina Johnson
Mariah Eberhart
Camie Yeik
Valerie Prise
Sara Collins
Layla Chittim
Emma Mercer
Brittany Delgado
Arenet Delmonico
Lauren Lindsay
Elizabeth Perkins
Lizz Sanders
Stephanie Egan
Brittany Schell
Chelsea Arnold
Emily Duckworth
Chandra Peterson
Kate Klammer
Jessica Allen
Emily Strachen
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7/9/2003
Jeff Weitekamp/Indiana Sports Corp
USA Wrestling and Indiana Sports Corporation announced today that the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling, which will take place at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, have been moved from May 20-22, 2004, (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) to May 21-23, 2004 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
The move was made to stage the event on one weekday and two weekend days to better accommodate athletes, coaches, officials and fans that will be traveling to Indianapolis for the event.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling is the nation's most important and meaningful wrestling event. The RCA Dome - home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the 1991, 1997, 2000, 2006 and 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four, 2005 NCAA Women's Final Four and the 1991 World Gymnastics Championships - will become the first NFL domed stadium to ever host a U.S. wrestling event. Like the recent 2003 USA Wrestling World Team Trials, USA Wrestling and Indiana Sports Corporation (ISC) are organizing the event.
"No event has more pressure in our sport than the Olympic Trials," said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling's executive director. "We cannot wait to bring our most coveted event to Indianapolis at a time when it is most known for its sports."
Those fans that bought Gold-Medal Level tickets for the 2003 USA Wrestling World Team Trials may reserve their seats now by contacting Indiana Sports Corporation at 1-800-HI-FIVES. Tickets will go on sale to the general public through Ticketmaster in November. For the latest news and event information visit www.indianasportscorp.com and www.themat.com.
The city is no stranger to Olympic Trials events. Indianapolis - known as one of the world's leading amateur sports capitals - has hosted 14 U.S. Olympic Trials, including diving, rowing, swimming, synchronized swimming and track & field. The most recent Olympic Trials event that took place in the city was the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming. The event was a sellout with more than 63,000 tickets sold six months prior to the competition - the earliest sellout of a swimming event in the U.S.
"We have a 25-year tradition of allowing the best amateur athletes perform at their best," said Earl Goode, chairman of the board of directors for ISC. "We are honored that USA Wrestling has entrusted us with their greatest event, and look forward to showing the wrestling community Hoosier Hospitality and tremendous support for their athletes."
"In May 2004, some of the greatest athletes in America will be here competing for the opportunity to wrestle on the team that will take on the world in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics and of their sport." said Thomas Major, co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee "There's an extra charge in the air already, and we couldn't be more excited."
The competition format for the Olympic Trials will be similar to last month's World Team Trials. The men's and women's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman will be staged together and include a two-day challenge tournament and a championship finals series. The challenge tournament in all three styles will take place Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22. This will include all of the competitors, except for the 2004 national champions who will automatically be in the finals. The 2004 national championships will be in Las Vegas April 7-10.
Sunday, May 23, will be the championship finals in each weight class, featuring the national champion facing the challenge tournament winner in a best-of-three series.
There will be seven weight classes in Greco-Roman and men's freestyle. Also, women's freestyle wrestling will be contested at the Olympic Games for the first time in four weight classes - 48 kg./105.5 lbs., 55 kg./121 lbs., 63 kg./138.5 lbs. and 72 kg./158.5 kg. Only the champions in each weight class will be on the U.S. Olympic Team and compete at the Olympic Games August 22-29, 2004, in Athens, Greece.
Superstars such as Rulon Gardner, Dremiel Byers, Joe Williams, Cael Sanderson, Brandon Paulson and others are sure to complete. Tina George, Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann and Toccara Montgomery could be the first women wrestlers to earn their spot on the Olympic Team at the RCA Dome.
"History is always made at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but with women's freestyle being added to the Olympic Games, this event will have even more historical significance," said Bender. "That coupled with our recent success at World Championships and the Olympic Games in Greco-Roman and freestyle, we are looking forward to the event with great anticipation."