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GRYPHON WRESTLER HAS
A HEADLOCK ON SUCCESS

World junior champion is Canada's top female aboriginal athlete of the year

BY LORI BONA HUNT 2/27/03

I expected Tara Hedican to be larger than life. The second-year history student is the first Canadian woman to win a world junior wrestling championship. She's also a two-time Canadian junior national champion and a three-time Canadian senior national silver medallist. This week, she received the Tom Longboat Award as the country's top female aboriginal athlete of the year, beating out competitors from all other sports. Her next goal is to be among the first women to wrestle at the Olympics.

I'm so sure I can pick her out of a crowd that I confidently tell her just to show up at a popular coffee spot on campus for our interview. Never mind that it's high noon in the world of coffee drinkers and that there's certain to be at least 100 other people around. Someone with her athletic ability and résumé of medals and awards must surely have an aura about her.

Good thing Hedican spots me and my notebook first. The 20-year-old is shorter and smaller than I anticipated, with a quiet voice and a shy smile. Meeting her is a refreshing reminder that stereotypes are usually just that, and a reaffirmation of just how little I know about wrestling. It's a sport that relies as much on intellectual strength as physical prowess, Hedican tells me.

"That's what I like about it. When you're out there on the mat, it's just you and your opponent. You don't have a team with you. I just take it one point at a time, one match at a time. I try not to look too far ahead."

That's the secret of her success, says Doug Cox, who coaches both the Guelph Wresting Club and the Gryphon team. "Tara is strong and her technique is good, but her mental state is the best," says Cox, who, along with high school coach Mark Howlett and fellow Guelph Wrestling Club coach Dave Mair, has worked with Hedican since her mid-teens.

"Once you're among the top 100 wrestlers, you're all basically at the same level and it becomes a mental game," says Cox. "This is where Tara shines. She thrives on competition. I think she likes the pressure."

Since enrolling at U of G, Hedican, who also plays on the Gryphon rugby team, has captured gold at both the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and the Ontario University Athletics championships and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at both competitions. In addition, she won gold at the Dave Shultz Memorial Tournament in Colorado this year, was the 2001 Junior National's Most Outstanding Wrestler and Senior Provincial 2001 champion and received U of G's Mary Beverly-Burton Rookie of the Year Award.

Hedican won the world junior title (a category for people under 20) last fall in Switzerland. She says standing atop the podium listening to O Canada furthered her ambition to compete in the 2004 Olympics, which, if efforts are successful, will be the first games to include women's wrestling.

"When I was still in high school, I told my coach: 'I want to be in the Olympics.' Women's wrestling wasn't even on its way to becoming an Olympic sport, but he just said: 'Go for it.'"

Cox, himself a former Olympian, says he knew from the start that Hedican had what it takes to be a champion. "Here was this 15-year-old kid, showing up five nights a week to practise with the university students. She was always here on time, ready to get the job done."

And the same holds true today. I stop by the Athletics Centre one evening and find Hedican out on the mats practising moves with other Wrestling Club members, flipping people over her shoulder and pinning them down with ease. She explains later that they were working on technique, which is why it looked effortless, and assures me that being slammed to the mat isn't painful. "Wrestlers hardly ever get injured. You only get hurt when you're up against someone who doesn't know what they're doing."

Hedican, who is the daughter of Prof. Ed Hedican, Sociology and Anthropology, has been wrestling since she was 12. She discovered the sport by chance.

"I was in junior high and heard they were looking for girls for the wrestling team, so I just thought I'd give it a try."

She didn't realize just how good she was until high school, when "I hardly ever lost any matches. I have a bit of natural talent, but the main reason I do well is that I work a lot harder than most people do."

Hedican, who wrestles in the 63-kilogram weight class, practises six days a week, in addition to running about six hours a week and weight training before competitions.

"Plus, I've been practising with university athletes since I was in Grade 10. I think that has given me an advantage."

Zoltan Hunyady was one of those university athletes. As a Gryphon, he was a CIS champion and a three-time All-Canadian and is still an active competitor for the Guelph Wrestling Club. He has considered himself Hedican's teammate for the past five years.

"I was already in my third or fourth year at U of G when she started practising here," he says. "I knew right away she would be good. She is by far the most aggressive female wrestler I've ever seen and has a lot of natural ability. She's become a wonderful draw for the club - it's great to have the world junior champion here."

Hedican has only recently begun to understand that being a champion often means being a role model.

"I guess younger athletes do look to me as an example," she says, adding - with just a hint of pride - that both her younger sisters wrestle. She also conducts sports clinics and gives motivational talks to children across the province.

The Longboat Award has special meaning for her as well. Growing up in Guelph, she didn't realize the effect her accomplishments might have on other aboriginal athletes. "I want to be someone that other aboriginal kids can look up to," she says.

For Cox, seeing Hedican flourish in this new role is more satisfying than any of her athletic successes.

"When I first met her, she was so shy, she would look at the ground when you talked to her. Now she is very different. That's what is so great about sports - they can convert a kid from being shy to being self-confident by building up his or her self-esteem. With Tara, that's the greatest thing for me to have witnessed."

When it comes to the future, Hedican isn't sure what she'll do after university, but she is certain about one thing: "Wrestling will always be in my life." She notes that many competitors continue into their 30s and even beyond.

"Wrestlers come in all different shapes and sizes - that's why I like it. Being short can be an advantage, being tall can be an advantage. There is room for all body types. It just depends on what you do with your body type."

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NCAA champion Lee inspires young athletes

By Brandon Masuoka 6/11/03
Advertiser Staff Writer

Travis Lee became Hawai'i's first NCAA Division I wrestling champion this year, and if the Saint Louis School graduate has his wish, he won't be the last.

Lee won the 125-pound championship as a Cornell University sophomore in March and he's banking on more Hawai'i wrestlers winning titles in the future.

Lee, 20, is serving as guest instructor at this week's third annual Iolani Wrestling Clinic, which has more than 70 participants from fifth grade to high school. The five-day clinic began Monday and features many of the state's top coaches and wrestlers.

"There's definitely a lot of potential in this room," said Lee, who is 5 feet 5 and now weighs 145 pounds. "This is a lot of kids. The numbers have grown with girls wrestling coming in."

Hawai'i has about 2,000 to 3,000 wrestlers in the intermediate and high school ranks, according to Iolani coach Yoshi Honda. He said Lee's championship has set the standard and has brought national recognition to Hawai'i wrestling.

"It just sends a message to all the colleges that Hawai'i has talented kids who can wrestle at that level," Honda said. "If this were football or basketball, (Lee) would be walking through Waikiki signing autographs."

Brandon Low, defending state champion in the 112-pound division, said Lee's championship fills him with hope.

"To see someone from our own state win, it's very inspiring," said Low, 15, who will be a sophomore at Saint Louis in the fall. "It makes me think, I can do it too. If I train as hard as him, I can do it."

Lee's former high school coach, Todd Los Banos, compared Lee's accomplishment to that of the University of Hawai'i football team winning the national championship.

"Wrestling in Hawai'i is not as big as the Mainland," said Los Banos, an instructor at the clinic. "Not too many people know about wrestlers from Hawai'i. What Travis has done is put Hawai'i on the map with its first national (NCAA) champion. He's definitely an ambassador for the state of Hawai'i."

Low said it was encouraging to see the turnout at the clinic. "It shows how much they are dedicated to the sport," he said. "There's more people getting involved in it."

Brandee Toyama was one of several girls sharpening her skills this week. The incoming Iolani junior said she's here to bond with teammates and improve on her runner-up finish in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu and her sixth-place finish in the state championships.

"I came here to get better at wrestling and to learn techniques and styles," said Toyama, 16, who added that she wanted to learn freestyle and Greco-Roman styles.

Toyama said she aspires to be like 1999 Iolani graduate Jill Remiticado, a three-time national collegiate champion for Division III Pacific University in Oregon.

"It's easier to look to her as a role model because she's a girl in what some guys would call a guy's sport," Toyama said. "And she's actually very successful."

Remiticado, who assists the Iolani program in her free time, is a candidate for the U.S. national team Lee also has hopes of competing in the Olympics — either in Athens in 2004 or Beijing in 2008.

"I'm trying to use next year as a gauge to where I stand on the Olympic ladder," said Lee, who is majoring in biological and environmental engineering at Cornell. "I'll try for the 2004 Olympic trials. After I get out of college, I'll train for (the 2008 Games)."

As for a long-term goal, the three-time state champion would like to help groom young wrestlers.

"I do have dreams of starting a wrestling club in Hawai'i to try to get things going," he said. "But we'll see."

Notes: Travis Lee upset top-ranked Chris Fleeger of Purdue, 6-4, to win the NCAA 125-pound championship at Kansas City, Mo., on March 22. Lee was ranked No. 2 at the time. "It's probably one of the best feelings I've ever had in my life being up there in the finals match, and winning, and having my hand raised in front of thousands of fans," he said. "It was amazing."... Lee said he plans to move up in weight class to 133 pounds next year.

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MOVIE REVIEW: GIRL WRESTLER

Director Diane Zander doesn’t try to jump through hoops with this eye-opening documentary, preferring to let us draw our own conclusions rather than investigate matters deeply and connect the dots for us. Traditionally, this is a good move in a documentary; after all, you’re supposed to keep your personal biases and influence out of the picture if you’re going to bring a true presentation of reality to the screen. But while showing us the events in this girl’s life certainly opens the audience’s eyes, it also presents many questions that should be answered by someone.

Such as, for example, why these kids, some as young as 12, are putting themselves into mortal danger trying to lose weight so that they can get into a lesser weight category and thus wrestle easier opponents. When the camera shows one of these kids sticking his fingers down his throat in an effort to vomit up a pound or two (in public), you have to ask how many people officiating in this sport turn a blind eye to what these rules do to a competitive kid. When you see Tara’s father remonstrating her for having gained a pound (or not lost four), you wonder whether these people even care about the welfare of their children. And when you see ‘Eli’s Mother’, yelling at her son as he wrestles Tara, bug-eyed in rage and yelling things like “pull her leg off”, you just have to sit back and think to yourself whether the children are the only ones with any sense at all.

You’ve got to feel for Tara after watching this film. She just wants to wrestle and have fun doing it, but she’s made to sit out years of her life because some old farts don’t want their sons to get a complex when they lose. On top of that, her father seems to think that wrestling is the only thing that matters in his daughter’s life. On top of that, she finally meets her wrestling idol, only to hear him say that he doesn’t agree with girls wrestling boys. In all seriousness, isn’t anyone prepared to just let a girl grapple, and deal with their own personal issues in their own head? It’s somewhat startling to see barely anybody ever approach this girl and just shake her hand for having the temerity to fight the system, fight the boys and fight her parents, while remaining sane and keeping her competitive spirit to the fore.

Things are changing in the wrestling world – the Olympics in Athens will host women’s wrestling for the first time – but as this documentary disturbingly shows, just being able to wrestle isn’t enough. Being able to wrestle without spending four hours at a time jogging in full sunlight, and days on end starving yourself, would be a nice thing too.

Perhaps this documentary will bring further improvements to the sport of wrestling, but if it had pressed a little harder and a little deeper, it could have been a film that made a real difference. Close, but no cigar.

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Another Atkinson, another champion

04/04/2003 By STEVE BEHR

CHRIS ATKINSON/ Sydney Atkinson, a student at Green Valley Elementary, pins Amanda Levaskevich of Ohio.

Sister Sydney wins national title

PONTIAC, Mich. — Sydney Atkinson seems poised to follow in her two brothers’ footsteps. Her brothers Matt and Garrett both wrestle at North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They both have state 4-A prep wrestling championships. Sydney collected a championship of her own in a national girls wrestling tournament this past weekend.


By the time she was finished wrestling on Sunday, Sydney Atkinson was the national championship for the 73-pound, elementary school division. Atkinson went 4-0 in her bracket and won her final match by pinfall, which was held at Lake Orion High School.

Atkinson, an 11-year-old student at Green Valley Elementary, beat girls from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Kansas to win the championship. The event, sponsored by the United State Girls Wrestling Association, was attended by over 600 wrestlers in divisions that has girls aged in high school and college.

The national championship goes with the two state championships she’s won in the past.

According to Sydney’s mother, Chris Atkinson, it was the first time Sydney had ever wrestled against girls. Sydney wrestles for the Watauga middle school team and the Blue Ridge Wrestling Club, but she’s always wrestled boys.

“A lot of the girls there also have wrestled against boys, so they take it as seriously as we do,” Chris Atkinson said. “That’s what so wonderful about it. We didn’t stick out. She was one of the many and they were all very serious, so she did get some competition.”

Atkinson started the tournament on March 29. Of her first three matches, she won two by decision and one by pinfall. One of the decisions went into overtime.

Atkinson then won the championship match by pinning Ohio’s Amanda Levaskevich at the 2:28 mark.

“Sydney was just determined to do it and I think she had a mental edge,” Chris Atkinson said. “Going into the finals match on Sunday she told us at the hotel that she was going to be a national champion.”

The event drew some of the top female wrestlers in the country, including former McDowell three-year starter Sarah McMahon, who wrestles nationally at 136 pounds. Sydney Atkinson also got an autograph from national champion Trisha Saunders, who is expected to wrestle in one of the four weight classes in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Women’s wrestling will be making its debut in the games.

The event also drew girls and women from 44 states including Alaska and Hawaii.

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All that Jasmine

By RON ELAND/ West Hawaii Today 4/15/03

Kealakehe senior fourth at national wrestling tourney.

Wrestling isn't just a guy's sport anymore - just ask Jasmine Norman.

The Kealakehe High School senior, who last month captured the girls state title in the 130 - pound division, recently returned from the mainland where she took part in the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association national high school championships. The event featured more than 350 wrestlers from 29 states - including a dozen from Hawaii.

Despite several injuries, Norman finished in fourth place in her weight class. And even though the competition was stiff, the climate proved to be her biggest nemesis.

"The Hawaii girls were having a tough time breathing," said of the meet which took place in Lake Orion, Mich. "There were a couple times when I dropped down and began coughing up blood because it was so dry back there. I could have handled the cold weather, but it was the dryness that really got to me."

Even though she went a perfect 3 - 0 on the first day of competition, she said her opening match proved to be one of the toughest.

"My first match was a good warm - up for me but it was also one of my hardest because I had to adjust to the dryness of the air. Just my luck, my first opponent was from Michigan and she could breathe," she said laughing.

Norman said she wasn't feeling any better on the second day of the event and to add to it, in her fourth match she faced the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the competition. She lost the match 4 - 0 and in the process injured her knew and fractured her thumb. In addition, she was nursing an ankle injury she has sustained in December.

She won her fifth match in double overtime and lost her sixth and final match, 5 - 1. She finished the event with four wins and two losses - her two defeats coming at the hands of the eventual second and third - place finishers.

"I was kind of disappointed because with so many injuries I didn't know what my true potential was," she said. "I really wanted to know where I stood. Bit, I guess fourth place in the nation is pretty decent."

Norman said she first became interested in wrestling in intermediate school and joined the Waverider wrestling team her freshman year. Being that girl's wrestling was, and still is, a relatively new sport in Hawaii, she often found herself facing boys in her weight class.

"I never saw it as wrestling a guy, I just saw the other person as an opponent," she said, noting that along the way she beat six boys on the Big Island.

This season was the first year that the state banned opposite sex matches. For Norman, that meant far fewer matches since the number of girls in or near her weight class in the league was very limited. Despite having fewer than 10 matches, she was still able to capture her weight division at the state tournament.

"When I won I kept asking myself, 'did I really win, was this really happening or was it a dream,'" she said. "I was afraid I was going to wake up and realize it was all just a dream - a pretty good dream."

Norman, who currently holds a 3.97 grade - point average, said there are less than 10 colleges in the nation which have women's wrestling teams. Two of those - Menlo College and Pacific University - have been recruiting her this year. She's learning towards Pacific with the hopes of some day becoming a pharmacist. And, she has her sights set on being a member of the 2008 Olympic wrestling team.

But in the meantime, she said she wants to help promote the sport of girl's wrestling on the Big Island.

"I would totally encourage girls to wrestle," she said, noting that she helped start a wrestling program through the YMCA. "It's physical but it also mind over matter. It really pushes your mind and body to its limits. I've played several different sports but nothing has challenged me as much as wrestling."

reland@westhawaiitoday.com

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Moanalua coach resigns

By Dennis Anderson 4/15/03
Advertiser Staff Writer

Joel Kawachi, who coached two Moanalua High girls state wrestling championship teams, said yesterday that he is resigning.

Kawachi, 33, said, "It's good timing for me. I've met every goal I set except one — the OIA boys championship. We were second to McKinley by two points in 2002. I'm very happy with what we've created and the people who have come through the program."

Kawachi, who will continue as a special education teacher at Moanalua, has been head boys and girls coach for five years and in the program at Moanalua about 10 years.

Kawachi and his staff coached 10 individual state champions, three national champions, a three-time state champion (Stephany Lee) and the first girls four-time state champion (Caylene Valdez).

The 2001 Menehune team was inducted into the Moanalua High School Hall of Fame and the 2002 team was the No. 1 high school at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association championships.

Moanalua had a dual meet record of 42-7 in boys and 45-4 in girls in Kawachi's head coaching tenure, winning or sharing 12 O'ahu Interscholastic Association or divisional championships.

He has taken pride in the non-athletic achievements of his athletes as well.

"We've had two senior prom queens, two senior prom kings, three student body presidents, four valedictorians and a National Honor Society president, among other honors," Kawachi said.

Four of his athletes have wrestled in college and "some of them had no thought of going to college until they got involved in wrestling," he said.

Kawachi said that athletic director Dana Dias would interview all of his assistants and would open the job to outside applicants, as is required by the Department of Education.

He said he would remain involved with wrestling.

"There is so much for us to do to promote the sport, I will never leave it," he said.

Kawachi formally announced his resignation at a team banquet Sunday night.

Girls volleyball

Miyashiro puts family first: Joey Miyashiro announced yesterday that she would not return next season as head coach at the Kamehameha Schools, which won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship last season with a 15-0 record.

"I'm going to be doing a lot of things, but my roles will be different," Miyashiro said. "I have five children, three of whom are in high school. They are all very active in school activities and sports.

"I've coached for 25 years. This year I don't plan on coaching at any particular school, but have been contacted by several schools to do 'consulting.' "

Miyashiro said it's time to focus on her children.

"For once in my life, I'm going to try to be there to support my son Ainoa (junior setter for Kamehameha), my daughter Tamari (All-OIA sophomore at Kalani) and my younger son Kaulana (freshman varsity football player at Kalani), and of course, we're hoping our daughter Tehani will return as the girls varsity volleyball coach at Kalani.

"I've been helping other people's kids to fulfill their dreams through club and school volleyball, and have missed out on my own children's endeavors. I missed out on the majority of their games and activities due to my own team's commitments."

Miyashiro had been head coach at Kamehameha for three years. She replaced Dan Kitashima, who won seven state titles in nine years.

Cheerleading

Career focus: Maile Kapuniai, Punahou head varsity coach the past two seasons, has resigned to "focus on (my) school counseling career and other personal pursuits."

Kapuniai's teams qualified for the state championships both years, finishing third this year in the medium-squad division.