MARIO BARTEL/MetroValley
Emily Richardson and Jennica Day are key members of SFU top-ranked women's wrestling team.
News Page
By Michael McQuillan
MetroValley News 12/12/03
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MARIO BARTEL/MetroValley |
Longtime Simon Fraser University wrestling coach Mike Jones didn't know what to think when young women came out to train with the team.
He didn't like the idea of women wrestling against men.
That was more than 10 years ago and Jones long ago realized that the women wanted to wrestle each other and not the men.
Now he's a huge fan of female wrestling, which becomes a full-fledged Olympic sport in 2004.
He's also the coach of the university's and the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club women's teams, along with Olympic team coach Dave McKay and Jeff Thue.
Because the women's team is a full partner to the strong men's team, it's also become dominant. Recently it was named the top university and college women's team in North America by TheMat.com, which rates programs in Canada and the United States. The University of Calgary, which recruits B.C. wrestlers for its team, was second in the rankings. Cumberland College in Kentucky was third.
Jones looks at the grassroots of female wrestling when asked how the varsity team came by its success. Elementary, followed by high school teams began offering female wrestling years before it was introduced at the university level. Naturally those young wrestlers expected a varsity program when they graduated from their prep programs and moved on to SFU.
Jones admits to being apprehensive about women's wrestling at first but success helps one adapt to new things. "I'm finding this group works as hard, if not harder than any other I've had," said Jones of the 15 or so that train daily in SFU's combatants room.
Last year Simon Fraser won the CIS title, the first it ever competed for. The team was composed of mostly second and third year wrestlers and had the experience edge on every other team. They also claimed the first ever NAIA title in 2002.
"We were really the first to offer a program," said Jones of the Clan's advantage.
SFU boasts a perfect dual meet record, having not lost against another varsity program since it began in 1990.
Because Simon Fraser is so far ahead of the female wrestling development curve, one of the problems it runs into is there aren't enough competitions for the Clan.
One of the big meets coming up next month is the qualifications for the Olympic team. The Athens Games will offer four of the seven weight categories for female wrestling's inaugural Olympics. The four weight classes, 48-, 55-, 63- and 72-kilograms, are unfortunately not SFU's strongest, but Jones believes the team has a chance at qualifying in all four competitions.
Senior Emily Richardson of North Vancouver stands a good chance of making the team. She was eighth at the 2003 world championships and is a defending CIS champion and was rated No. 1 at 63-kilograms.
Sophomore Sarah White of New Westminster, a silver medallist at the 2003 world junior championships, is top-ranked at 51-kilograms. Junior Jessica Peterson of Shawnigan Lake, who transferred to SFU this year from Douglas College, was ranked No. 1 at 59-kilograms.
Other SFU varsity wrestlers in the top 10 were senior Kathleen Takeda of Prince Rupert (5th at 48-kilograms), Jennica Day of New Westminster (4th at 63-kg) and Ashlea McManus of Port Alberni (4th at 67-kg).
Earlier this month, Clan kept its unbeaten streak intact after winning five straight dual meets to capture the inaugural women's championship cup of wrestling tournament in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Simon Fraser scored a decisive 22-6 victory over the University of Calgary in the championship final after both schools posted 4-0 records in their respective pools.
"Our success is to the point now where it perpetuates itself," said Jones. "New student-athletes who come into the program see how hard the older athletes work, and how successful they are, and they drive themselves to duplicate it."
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Montgomery third in voting for USOC Female Athlete of the Month
12/12/2003
Jennifer Sheffield/USOC
** U.S. Olympic Committee Honors Jennifer Rodriguez, Tony Benshoof and USA Hockey's Women's Select Team for November Accomplishments
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) today named two-time Olympic speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez and USA Luge's Tony Benshoof as the November Athletes of the Month. The USOC Team of the Month honor was awarded to USA Hockey's Women's Select Team.
Third in the voting among the women was freestyle wrestler Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio). Competing for Cumberland College, Montgomery went undefeated during November in four women's freestyle wrestling competitions in Canada. Montgomery, a two-time World silver medalist, won the gold medal at 80kg on Nov. 1 at the McMaster Varsity Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, where she defeated former Canadian World Team member
Pam Wilson, leading Cumberland to second place in the team race. At the Ontario Cup in Toronto, Cumberland won the team title as Montgomery claimed the 80kg division uncontested. Montgomery was also undefeated in the Women's Championship Cup of Wrestling in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on Nov. 15 and the Brock Invitational in St. Catherine's on Nov. 30. In the two events, Montgomery had a 7-0 individual record plus two forfeit wins. She scored four pins and two technical falls, plus earned a 6-3 decision over Wilson. Montgomery is currently the No. 1 wrestler in her weight class in the North American Women's College rankings.
Winning among women was Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.), who kicked off the World Cup season in style by winning five medals and skating to the lead in the 1500m World Cup standings. At the season-opening event in Hamar, Norway, Nov. 8-9, Rodriguez won her first gold medal in the 1500m distance, defeating favorite Anni Friesinger of Germany. The following weekend, in Erfurt, Germany, Rodriguez again won 1500m gold, as well as gold in the 500m race,
en route to the all-around competition title. She ended the month with a bronze medal in the 1500m at the World Cup event in Heerenveen, Netherlands, Nov. 21-23, and maintains her lead at that distance in the World Cup standings after three of five events.
Ice Hochey goaltender Pam Dreyer (Eagle River, Ark.) was runner-up among the female candidates for the Athlete of the Month award. Dreyer recorded two victories against Canada and led the 2003 U.S. Women's Select Team (4-0-0) to its second-ever gold medal at the Four Nations Cupin Skovde.
In his eighth season on the senior international luge circuit, men’s winner Benshoof (White Bear Lake, Minn.) is enjoying his best career start. In November, he claimed two medals, his first international title and a track record.
Finishing second among the men nominated for November achievements was USA goaltender Alex Westlund (Flemington Village, N.J.) who stopped 43 of 44 shots in two games to lead the 2003 U.S. Men's Select Ice Hockey Team to its first-ever championship victory at the Deutschland Cup in Hanover, Germany, Nov. 7-9.
Paralympic swimmer Travis Mohr (Northampton, Pa.) finished in third place on the men's ballot for his
excellence in disability swimming. Mohr set a World record in the men's class SB6 100m breaststroke at the U.S. Paralympics last chance meet in Indianapolis, Ind. on Nov. 29. Mohr also swims the 100m backstroke.
Freestyle wrestler Steve Mocco (N. Bergen, N.J.) did not place in the top three among men, but did receive a first-place vote for his second-place finish at the Yargin Cup in Moscow, Russia, an all-star tournament featuring many of the world’s best wrestlers in his division.
The U.S. Women's Select Ice Hockey Team earned four wins and the gold medal at the 2003 Four Nations Cup in Skovde, Sweden, Nov. 5-9. Team USA opened the tournament with an 8-0 victory over Finland and went on to
blank Canada, 2-0. The U.S. then defeated host Sweden, 5-1, before facing Canada in the gold-medal game that was tied at the end of regulation play. Team USA's Cammi Granato (Downers Grove, Ill.) scored in a shootout for the win. This marked only the second time the U.S. has captured the gold at the Cup and the third time that the U.S. has defeated Canada in a gold-medal situation.
Finishing second in the Team of the Month voting was the 2003 USA Softball Women's National Team The squad proved why it is ranked No. 1 in the world during November as it captured its second consecutive Japan Cup title Nov. 28-30 in Yokohama, Japan.
Rounding out the Team of the Month ballot in third place was the U.S. 21-and-Under Water Ski Team that capped off the 2003 season by winning the World team title atop a field of 19 on Nov. 30 at the inaugural 21-and-Under Water Ski World Championships in San Bernardo, Chile. U.S. team members combined for nine medals, including six gold.
Results (first place votes in parentheses)
WOMEN
1. Jennifer Rodriguez, speedskating, 51 (12)
2. Pam Dreyer, ice hockey 35 (7)
3. Toccara Montgomery, wrestling 11 (1)
Also receiving first place votes: Crystl Bustos (Softball)
MEN
1. Tony Benshoof, luge 28 (8)
2. Alex Westlund, ice hockey 21 (5)
3. Travis Mohr, paralympic swimming, 19 (5)
Also receiving first place votes: Chad Hedrick (Speedskating), Tahl Leibovitz (Paralympic Table Tennis), Steven Mocco (Wrestling) and Jimmy Siemers (Water Ski)
TEAM
1. Women's Select Ice Hockey Team 46 (9)
2. USA Softball 32 (4)
3. 21-and-Under Water Ski Team 24 (5)
Also receiving first place votes: Team USA (Bowling), the Debbie McCormick rink (Curling) and the USA Show Jumping Team (Equestrian)
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Christine grapplin' for Olympic gold
Albertan has dominated women's wrestling, now fighting to make Team Canada
Collin Gallant
Freelance Saturday, December 13, 2003
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Christine Nordhagen takes down a training partner on Friday in Sherwood Park. |
SHERWOOD PARK -Christine Nordhagen has waited ten years for the rest of the women's wrestling world to catch up with her.
The problem is, now that the sport is finally on the Olympic stage, the rest of the world has.
With six world championships, Nordhagen has defined women's wrestling in Canada, but she's now in the toughest stretch of her largely anonymous career, attempting to win a ticket to Athens this August and the first-ever Olympic female tournament.
"It took a long time and I'm a better wrestler because of it," said Nordhagen, the sentimental favourite, but lowest seed among three quality challengers for the 72-kilogram division at this weekend's Canadian Olympic Wrestling trials at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park.
The 32-year-old Calgarian took all of 2002 off to undergo surgery on both knees in preparation for this Olympic-qualifying year. That time off hurt, minor injuries mounted on her comeback trail, as did something unexpected.
"All of sudden I was losing a lot of matches," said Nordhagen, who was nearly invincible in the 1990s.
"I've lost more matches in the last year than in my entire career, and it was a real eye-opener.
"There were holes in my wrestling before, sometimes I could win matches (anyway) ... . I'd always trained hard, but not always putting everything into it."
To make the Canadian team, she will need to defeat Pam Wilson of Hamilton today and then win two of three matches over Guelph's Ohenewa Akuffo, who pinned Nordhagen to win 72-kilogram gold at the last senior nationals.
"I've picked up my training and I just appreciate it more," said Nordhagen, who grew up in Valhalla Center, Alta., a tiny hamlet 50 kilometres west of Grande Prairie.
She was introduced to life on the mat while studying education at the University of Alberta in the early 1990s, and soon transferred to wrestle and study at the University of Calgary.
Early on in her career, she was by far the best wrestler in a shallow talent pool on the Canadian and international scene.
But as numbers grew, so did the level of competition in women's wrestling, which features less power than men's wrestling, but greater flexibility and a much higher pain threshold among athletes.
"In the beginning of her career, Christine was simply overpowering opponents," said Leigh Veirling, the Canadian women's coach and Nordhagen's husband.
"A lot of people thought that girls wouldn't be that aggressive.
"She really stood out, and her success came because she was such a physical and driven athlete.
"But that wouldn't have sustained her when you see how the sport has developed, and she's become a much more technical wrestler."
Since her poor showing at senior nationals last May, Nordhagen has defeated Akuffo twice and pinned the reigning world champion at October's World Cup of Women's Wrestling in Japan. She's also stepped up her coaching duties, most recently at the world junior wrestling championships.
In the summer of 2002, she coached the Canadian women to a gold at a world university meet in Edmonton, and is an assistant with the successful University of Calgary Dinos' program.
The Canadian university and club system has helped produce a pool of athletes strong enough that whoever fills the classes this weekend will be pegged as medal contenders at Athens.
While the Canadian men have been stuck as a middle power internationally, the national women's team has been on the leading edge.
Of the four weight divisions allotted to women in Athens, Canada has already qualified for one (63 kg). The rest are expected to be filled in March in Tunisia.
Going into today's final rounds of freestyle matches, the four women who sit atop the trials ladder are: Akuffo (72 kg); Lindsay Belisle (48 kg) and Jennifer Ryz (55 kg), both of Burnaby, B.C.; and Saskatoon's Viola Yanik (66 kg).
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12/12/2003
CAWA web page/
* Draw determined for the 2004 Olympic Wrestling Trials pool and ladder competition
Sherwood Park, Alberta - Over 90 athletes have entered the Olympic Trials competition for the Freestyle and Women events. A total of 11 weight classes are being contested for a potential berth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Two of the top ladder qualifiers have applied for injury provisions that were accepted by the CAWA Technical Committee: at 74 kilograms, World and Olympic Champion, Daniel Igali of the Burnaby Mountain W.C. and at 55 kilograms in the women's event, Tonya Verbeek from the Brock W.C. in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Both Igali and Verbeek will face up hill battles by taking an injury provision. They must defeat some ladder opponents to get to the final and then face the winner of the Olympic Trials in a best of three series in which they will be down by one match. These matches will be completed at some point early in the new year.
Currently, the winner of the 66 kilogram men's and 63 kilogram women's events have automatically qualified based upon a top 10 performance at the 2003 World Championships. All the other weight categories will have to attempt further qualifying at two international events in February/March of 2004.
The pool competitors will wrestle off in a single elimination competition on Friday morning. The pool winner will face the 3rd ranked ladder wrestler in a single match wrestle off on Friday afternoon. The winner of the pool vs. 3rd match will face the second ranked wrestler in a single match on Saturday morning. The winner of that match will then get the opportunity to face the top ranked wrestler in a best of three match final.
CBC Sports Saturday will be covering the second round of the final matches LIVE between 2:00 & 4:00 PM, Alberta time. Check you local listings.
Canadian Olympic Trials Freestyle Draw
Women
48 kilograms
1. Lindsay Belisle - BMWC
2. Belinda Chou - Cattown
3. Carol Huynh - BMWC
Pool - Draw
Ashley Goertz - Salisbury W.C. - BYE
Melissa Hillaby - Bears W.C. vs. Julie Harris - UCWC
Krista Wells - Kingston W.C. - Bye
Angela Mott - BMWC - BYE
55 kilograms
1. Jennifer Ryz - BMWC
2. Erica Sharp - UCWC
Pool - Draw
Justine Bouchard - BYE
Brittanee Laverdure - UCWC vs. Teresa Piotrowski - Guelph
Terri McNutt - London-Western vs. Tina Pihl - Independent
Audrey Pang - Team Impact vs. Laura McDougall - UCWC
63 kilograms
1. Viola Yanik - Saskatoon W.C.
2. Tamara Medwidsky - Montreal W.C.
3. Tara Hedican - Guelph W.C.
Pool - Draw
Heidi Kulak - Bears W.C. - BYE
Megan Dolan - Brock W.C. vs. Amy Dyck - Saskatoon W.C.
Helen Hennick - UCWC - BYE
Martine Dugrenier - Montreal W.C. - BYE
Breanne Graham - UCWC - BYE
Emily Richardson - BMWC - BYE
Shannon Samler - BMWC vs. Shannon Mathie - Bears W.C.
Theresa Vladicka - Bears W.C. - BYE
72 kilograms
1. Ohenewa Akuffo - Guelph W.C.
2. Pam Wilson - Hamilton W.C.
3. Christine Nordhagen - UCWC
NO Pool Entires
Freestyle
55 kilograms - FS
1. Mikheil Japaridze - Montreal W.C.
2. Mike Stitt - UCWC
Pool - Draw
Jamie Macari - Brock W.C. vs. Sean Dalton - Cattown
Cory Horsburgh - Calgary Rebels vs. Promise Mwenga - Black Bears W.C.
Clint Kingsbury - Brock W.C. vs. Apollo Belisle - Cattown
Travis Bellarose - Prince George W.C. vs. Andy Hutchinson - UCWC
60 kilograms - FS
1. Gia Sissaouri - Montreal W.C.
2. Saeed Azarbayjani - Brock W.C.
Pool - Draw
Joe Slobodian - Bears W.C. - BYE
Jesse Nelson - Bears W.C. vs. Chris Chase - Salisbury W.C.
66 kilograms - FS
1. Evan MacDonald - Brock W.C.
2. Rob Lang - Cattown
3. Mike Francis - Team Impact
Pool - Draw
Neal Ewers - BMWC vs. Nasir Lal - BMWC
Fred Harrisson - CLAB vs. Jeremy Podlog - UCWC
Danny Brown - Guelph W.C. vs. Ainsley Robinson - Team Impact
Chris Prickett - Guelph W.C. vs. Ryan Weicker - Brock W.C.
74 kilograms - FS
1. Zoltan Hunyady - Guelph W.C.
2. Danny Einhorn - BMWC
3. Steve Rose - BMWC
Pool - Draw
Steve Zureski - Bears W.C. - BYE
Dean DeHamel - BMWC vs. Cody Thordarson - Salisbury W.C.
Wade Elliot - UCWC vs. Roger Alves - Bears W.C.
Paul Harrison - Team Impact vs. Chris Harada - BMWC
84 kilograms - FS
1. Carl Rainville - Montreal W.C.
2. Roozbeh Banihashemi - BMWC
3. Nick Ugoalah - BMWC
Pool - Draw
Travis Cross - BMWC - BYE
Jonathan Rioux - Montreal W.C. vs. Victor Sprenger - Guelph W.C.
96 kilograms - FS
1. Dean Schmeichel - UCWC
2. Randeep Sodhi - BMWC
3. David Zilberman - Montreal W.C.
Pool - Draw
Mel Campbell - Calgary Rebels vs. Jeremy Rudack - UCWC
Peter Guterson - Independent vs. Chris Cox - Cattown
120 kilograms - FS
1. Wayne Weathers - Team Impact
2. Colbie Bell - Bears W.C.
Pool - Draw
Ari Taub - UCWC - BYE
Eric Kirschner - UCWC vs. Orett Morgan - Guelph W.C.
Derek Lauder - Toronto Thunder (CYC) vs. Adriano Bernardo - Prince George W.C.
James Kirkland - Bears W.C. vs. Steve Snyders - Brock W.C.
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Kolhapur expands wrestling arena with training centre for girls
Radheshyam Jadhav
Pune, December 11:
IT boasts a wrestling tradition dating back to 1830. Now, Kolhapur is expanding its arena with plans to set up a special training centre for girls.
Estimated to cost Rs 75 lakh, the talim will be the first of its kind in the State. It will come up under the aegis of Kolhapur District Rashtriya Talim Sangh (KDRTS), a wing of the Maharashtra Wrestling Federation.
KDRTS member Bal Gaikwad said half of the required amount has been sought from the Central Government, while the remaining will be raised with help from the State government.
Hundreds of aspirant wrestlers from Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh enroll at the 35 talims in Kolhapur every year. Some talims like Motibagh offer hostel facilities for youths, but there is no separate talim or training centre for aspirant girl wrestlers.
‘‘Women’s wrestling is gaining momentum and girls from the State should play the role of trailblazer in this sport,’’ says Shripatrao Khancnale, a well-known wrestler and the winner of most titles like Hind Kesari, adding that a training centre for women wrestlers would encourage girls to join the traditional sport of Maharashtra.
KDRTS has already finalised the site for establishing the Wresting Training Centre. It is proposed to have accommodation facility for over 100 girls, the latest training equipment and a woman coach.
Recently, a representative from the Central Government had visited Kolhapur to discuss setting up of the training centre and assured help, KDRTS members said.
‘‘We promise that a girl from Kolhapur’s training centre will fetch a gold for the country in the Olympics,’’ says a confident Bal Gaikwad, recalling that it was Khashaba Jadhav from Karad who started his wrestling career in Kolhapur, and won the first medal in the individual category in 1952 at the Olympics in Helsinki (Finland).
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