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Originally published Sep 20, 2003

Gregory Kane

HERE'S THE headline you didn't read, because nobody wrote it: "American women outshine American men at World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling."

My train pulled into New York City's Penn Station a little before 8:40 a.m. Sunday. I had less than 20 minutes to wade through the crowd, get to the Seventh Avenue exit and then make the short right into Madison Square Garden, site of the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling.

The championships were supposed to be held here two years ago, in late September. But then came the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The tournament was postponed, and the freestyle festivities ended up in Sofia, Bulgaria - a bit out of my itinerary.

Now the championships were back, and I was determined not to miss them. So there I was, ready to enter Madison Square Garden for the first time, to attend, for the first time, the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling, when I learned that the starting time of 9 a.m. listed on the ever-unreliable Internet was wrong. The action would start at 10, but at least I now had time to gobble down a chili dog.

I sat in the cheap seats waiting for the wrestling to get started. The Iranians were already out in force, rooting for their team before any matches had begun. Someone in the Iran contingent had a horn that tooted out consistently a few notes, and then the Iranians would shout "Iran!" while waving the red-white-and-green flag of their country. As I learned at the World Cup of wrestling (different from the world championships) in Baltimore in May 2001, the Iranians are about three-fifths of the fun at these events.

A video screen flashed scenes of America's wrestling heroes of the past: Dan Gable, Dave Schultz, Lee Kemp. I was pleasantly surprised to see vintage film of Maryland's own Lloyd Keaser, from the tiny Anne Arundel County community of Pumphrey, throttling his opponents. Keaser won a world championship in 1973 and was a silver medalist at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. But I would learn that the 2003 championships would produce a new Maryland hero.

Soon the wrestlers took to the four mats - think big blue squares with yellow circles inscribed in larger red circles - and the semifinals were on. The women wrestled on two mats and the men on the other two. I was just noticing a pattern emerge when an African-American woman with shoulder-length dreadlocks slipped into the row and sat two seats down from me.

America's Tina George - a 121-pounder - was on the mat and had surged to a 4-0 lead over her Chinese opponent. But George gave up some crucial points and had to hold on for a 4-3 win.

"She made that a bit harder than was necessary," I said to the young woman. We started a conversation, and I learned she was more than just a casual wrestling fan.

Her name, she said, was Tina Pihl. That last name is pronounced "peel" - like Mrs. Emma Peel on The Avengers television show, who became popular by giving male bad guys thorough beat-downs. Pihl hailed from Guilford, Conn., and had moved to Colorado Springs, Colo. to train as a wrestler at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

As Pihl saw me scribbling notes, she wanted to know whether I was a coach or a journalist. Primarily a journalist, I told her, but today just a wrestling weirdo, although I might write something about this if I saw a story forming. Soon one did. Pihl and I watched the American women who followed George. We would have followed the American men, if there had been any. (It turned out we'd have to wait a bit to see the only two American men in the semifinals.) But it was the women who were representing America.

Sally Roberts lost at 130 pounds, but at least she had a chance for a bronze medal. Eric Guerrero, the American men's 132-pounder, lost in the quarterfinals. Only two American men made the semifinals: Cael Sanderson at 185 pounds and Kerry McCoy at 264. But our womenfolk were giving beat-downs and taking names.

Sara McMann, who was born in Takoma Park, took only 39 seconds to pin her Canadian opponent at 138.5 pounds. Kristie Marano, our 147.5-pounder, flattened her Canadian opponent in 2:15. Toccara Montgomery made similar short work of her 158.5-pound Chinese opponent, dispatching her in 2:59.

When the semifinals were over, five American women and two American men would vie for gold medals. When the tournament ended, all seven American women had won five silvers, one gold (for Marano) and two bronze medals. Sanderson and McCoy won silvers.

Pihl, at 33, took up wrestling only two years ago and hopes one day to be one of those American women competing in international competition. We should all wish her luck, and be put on notice that America has some new wrestling heroes.

Their names are Patricia, Jenny, Tina, Sally, Sara, Kristie and Toccara.