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With family in center ring, wrestler's life is no circus

By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY 1/27/04

Wrestler Kristie Marano comes into the Olympic year on a high note, having won her second world championship in September. The Albany, N.Y., native also moved up a weight class and won the New York Athletic Club championship in December. She spoke with USATODAY.com's Beau Dure from Colorado Springs, where she trains and lives with her daughter, Kayla, and her father, Conrad Stenglein.

. Women's wrestling is new to the Olympic program. Is there any sort of pressure to put on a good show to convince the IOC to keep you in the Games?

I think we always feel pressure just because we always feel the need to prove ourselves as a real sport. It's easy for people to turn their heads and say, "oh, women's wrestling isn't really a sport." But I think that we put most of the pressure on ourselves to do good and to show people that we really can pull this off.

2. There are only four weight classes in the Olympics, and you're one of seven U.S. women to win medals in the last world championships. How does the team deal with such intense competition for spots in the Olympics?

I don't think we've really looked at it yet. Right now we're concentrating on international spots. But we know we all are going to have to go against each other eventually, and it could become real competitive in the practice room.

3. You have seven medals, including two gold, in seven world championships. How have you stayed so consistent?

Every year at the world championships, I'll set a goal. Last year I came off a really hard loss in the semis and took third. From there, I had to do better to improve myself. Each time I do something that I consider a mistake, I put pressure on myself to do better the next tournament.

4. You switched from judo to wrestling because you needed to wear a knee brace, which wasn't allowed in judo. What was the biggest adjustment you had to make?

Probably getting used to scoring. In judo ... you're allowed to roll around on your back. Any back exposure in wrestling is two points. Sometimes I'd think I'd be getting out of something using a judo move, and the other person would be awarded two points!

5. The Olympic gold medalists from wrestling, boxing, judo and taekwondo are in a bar fight. Who wins?

It would come down to judo and wrestling. If a wrestler were to take down a boxer, she wouldn't know what to do. Block their punch and take them down — that'd be my strategy.

6. You have a 5-year-old daughter, Kayla. Is she already wrestling?

Back in New York, I coached a peewee program from ages 6 to 15. I used to bring her in, and she used to roll around on the mats. She had this one kid who was around her age, and they'd always go off to the side and wrestle. Since we've been out here (in Colorado Springs), she hasn't really been able to do that. She wants to get back into it.

7. Did guys get used to wrestling against a girl when you were in high school, or did that take a little bit of time?

I think I was in a unique situation because of my judo background. A lot of guys and a lot of the coaches knew who I was. If they won or they lost, it wasn't a huge deal just because of how they knew me.

8. What's your daily routine for balancing your training and time with Kayla?

We have practice twice a day, either double mat practice or a practice and a lift. She goes to school now; she started kindergarten this year. So I'll go to practice at 8 to 9:30, and my dad is out here helping me, so sometimes we'll alternate and he'll drop Kayla off at school and I'll go into work at USA Wrestling. Usually we'll rotate; I'll pick her up at 3 in the afternoon and she'll come to practice with me. And then after practice, I just come home and hang out with her.

9. You just turned 25. How long can you stay in wrestling?

I don't know. Stephanie Murata is about 32. (Murata turned 33 in October.) I guess it depends on how long you're dedicated, because it definitely takes a wear and tear on your body. I have no plans on stopping any time soon.

10. What's your best moment in sports?

Probably this year's world championships, winning it in New York where my friends and family are. My closest friends, my mom and dad and my grandpa came down to New York City to watch me wrestle. My grandfather had never seen me wrestle before against girls. All my tournaments are usually overseas. He just turned 80, so he doesn't really travel a lot. He got to come down to New York City to watch me wrestle — and win.

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Girls making their move(s)
West Covina ranked No. 4 in state

By Joe Haakenson , Staff Writer 1/26/04

It's difficult enough being a girl in a sport dominated by boys. But it wasn't a boy who gave West Covina High School wrestler Norine Cruz reason to get angry.

Cruz, the No. 1-ranked girls wrestler in the state in the 98-pound weight class, won't soon forget a recent match against a female wrestler from South Hills High.

Cruz had her forearm in the girl's face, a crossface move, and after about 10 seconds, it happened.

"She bit me,' Cruz said. "Everyone was saying, 'Oh, she didn't bite you.' The referee said, 'There's no broken skin, keep wrestling.' But my coach (Donnie Stephens) believes me. He knows I'm not a drama queen.

"I got mad. I wanted to brutalize her. I didn't want to pin her, because I wanted to keep wrestling her so she could feel my wrath.'

Even though Cruz, a senior, weighs only 92 pounds, she also wrestles on the boys varsity team in the 103-pound class. She places priority on the girls tournaments if there is a conflict with a boys meet. She's 13-1 against girls this season, 7-2 against boys.

One of the losses against a boy was a controversial overtime loss to a Bishop Amat wrestler in the semifinals of the West Covina Classic. Instead of a trip to the finals, she eventually placed fifth in the tournament, the highest she's placed in a boys varsity tournament.

But probably a bigger disappointment is that Cruz won't be able to wrestle in the San Antonio League finals next month. It's because they are on the same day as the girls state tournament. The girls, which will have Southern and Northern California Regionals as a state qualifier for the first time, are not sanctioned by CIF.

Girls wrestling is growing, slowly but surely, and particularly at West Covina High, where the girls have their own team and are ranked No. 4 in the state.

Stephens has nine girls out for the sport, including three who are ranked in the state. Besides Cruz, Monique Sanchez is ranked eighth at 138 pounds and Tsutee Johnson is ranked fourth at 160 pounds.

Nearly all the girls who wrestle for Stephens at West Covina High got started in his junior high program.

"You better be careful if you wrestle a girl,' Stephens said. "Because girls beating boys is happening more and more often. Being in the sport as long as I have, I made the mistake of thinking girls can't wrestle. Ten years ago, I thought they were there to meet boys.'

Cruz is one who has helped to change Stephens' perception.

"She broke her nose in eighth grade,' Stephens said. "The doctor said he could fix the nose but she'd be done for the season. Or she could wrestle the season, but the doctor would have to rebreak the nose in order to set it properly. She wrestled. I kind of knew an injury would not stop her.'

An injury stopped her last season when she was thrown to the mat and landed on her shoulder, popping the shoulder out of joint and breaking her collarbone. But it didn't stop her from helping the team. Stephens calls her a player- coach, helping out the other girl wrestlers.

"She helps me a lot with everything,' said Sanchez, who has placed in numerous girls tournaments and placed seventh in the Northview boys frosh-soph tournament. "Not only is she good with moves and technique, but she shows you how to be mentally and physically ready.'

Omega Walters, a 138-pounder who placed sixth at the Northview tournament, said the idea of girls wrestling might be gaining more acceptance, but it still has a ways to go.

"There are some guys, even on our team, who don't want to wrestle us,' Walters said. "They don't think it's right.'

While there are boys who don't think it's right, there might be some who couldn't bear the embarrassment of losing to a girl. But Cruz isn't about to feel sorry for a boy she wrestles.

"I have no sympathy for them,' Cruz said, "no sympathy. I'm already giving up eight or nine pounds. No sympathy. I don't think anyone has ever gone easy on me. I have to be ready.'

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Girl grapplers 'hold' their own

By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE Staff writer
sconstantine@repub.com 01/28/2004

GRANBY - For self-admitted tomboys Danielle L. Mercier and Courtney A. Crosby both sophomores at the Junior-Senior High School, being the only girls on the coeducational wres- tling team comes naturally.

Mercier, 15, who joined the team last year, said the other day that she has wrestled with her male cousins since the age of 2. Crosby, 16, who joined the group this year, said she has wrestled with her older brother, 17-year-old Luke A. Crosby, and her neighbors since she was 5.

"I thought it would be fun," said Mercier. "A lot of people in my family used to wrestle."

Her father, Andre L. Mercier, and two uncles wrestled for the Junior-Senior High School.

Mercier said her father is supportive of her being on the wrestling team and that she is not afraid of getting hurt.

"I do this kind of stuff all the time," she said. "Me and my dad are into dirt bikes, and go riding all the time. Plus, I beat up my cousins who are older than me all the time."

Mercier said she might like to wrestle or ride motocross bikes professionally some day.

"I thought it would be a way to meet new people, since I pretty much hang out with guys," said Crosby, who recently transferred to the High School from Belchertown.

Crosby said her best friend is also a tomboy and they are used to bossing around their friends and younger brothers.

As far as professional wrestling is concerned, Crosby is not thinking that far ahead.

She said that Mercier has helped her out in learning the sport.

T.J. Howell, 17, a junior and tri-captain of the wrestling team, said the squad draws energy from the two females.

He said that only a couple of males on the team grumbled about girls joining their ranks, but that they get beaten a lot.

"Danielle has taken me down about three times," Howell said.

School Principal Mary A. McDowell said she admires the girls' courage and fortitude in joining the team.

Team coach Paul M. Danielovich said he is no more worried about girls getting hurt than the boys. In competitions, participants wrestle only with contestants in their weight classes. However, during practice, they may cross weight classes.

Danielovich said he has coached teams that included girls for nine of the last 10 years, including stints at Greenfield High School and Pioneer Valley Regional High School in Northfield.

He said girls do not go as far in coeducational wrestling as boys because they lack upper-body strength.

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Reenie Belamide

School: Hogan

Sport: Wrestling

Weight Class: 114

Grade: 12

Won the Castro Valley Tournament by beating the top seed

The queen of Castro Valley

By RHONDA REASON-THOMAS, Times-Herald correspondent 1/27/04

Patience and focus were a part of the combined ingredients that Hogan High School wrestler Reenie Belamide used to defeat her top-seeded opponent 4-2 at the Castro Valley Tournament last Saturday.

With the victory, Belamide won the championship in the 114-pound weight class.

In her first match, the Times-Herald Athlete Of The Week earned her way to the top spot by defeating her Tulare opponent with a pin in the first round.

Belamide made use of single-leg shots to gain points for the lead, then won the match with an aggressive front headlock and duck-under move that put her opponent straight on her back.

Belamide had a 6-2 lead before she laid her opponent down for the count.

The finals match didn't come so easily, but Belamide was ready to meet the next challenge, top seed Leta Pombo.

"It was a small tournament, but I was looking forward to competing with the top wrestler (Pombo)," said Belamide. "I didn't know what to expect from the match. I went out there thinking I had nothing to lose.

Belamide said she thought to herself, "Leta's the No. 1 girl and I all I can do is go all the way and not be scared of anything."

Hogan head coach Ric Manibusan gave Belamide sound advice for staying focused and humble.

"My coach told me not to worry about Pombo's style too much and for me to wrestle the way I know how," she said.

Both Belamide and Pombo have similar wrestling styles, which is probably why nobody scored in the first round.

"She's more of an upper-body person like me," said Belamide of Pombo. "So I went against someone who wrestles like me."

Pombo decided to start the second round on the bottom position. She went on to score a point after Belamide was penalized for pushing her out of bounds.

In the third round, however, Belamide began on bottom and scored from there. She caught Pombo's arm and scored on a reversal and two nearfall points.

Assistant coach Mike Bryant described what he called a battle between two good wrestlers.

"We had some idea of what Pombo can do, but she didn't know what Reenie could do," said Bryant. "They're both really good on their feet. I think Reenie frustrated her a little. Reenie shut her down and wouldn't let her get her offense off. They basically stopped each other."

Belamide surpassed her expectations to defeat her No. 1 seeded opponent. She recently returned to tournament competition, after sitting out for a month to nurse back and shoulder injuries.

"I didn't know what to say after the win," she said. "I was really surprised that I won. My coach told me to stay humble, because I would probably see her again in the state tournament.

Only her second girls tournament this season, Belamide has also competed against boys. She took eighth place in a boys tournament at Mountain View High School in Oregon last week.

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Mat Made

Vanderwall has earned respect of Bison teammates

By Kyle Wright, Journal and Courier 1/27/04

OXFORD -- Benton Central's wrestlers and coaches had similar reactions when Ashley Vanderwall made her first appearance in the Bison wrestling room four years ago.

Surprised. Resistant. And absolutely convinced Vanderwall wouldn't last as a female in a male-dominated sport.

Vanderwall lasted. She persevered through the uncomfortable early days, injuries and family tragedy to spend four years in the BC program.

She earned the respect of her coaches and teammates along the way. She serves as a tri-captain this season and has a 13-9 record at 103 pounds entering Saturday's local wrestling sectional at Lafayette Jeff.

"She's as much one of the guys as anyone in the room," BC assistant coach Kevin Elliott says -- and it's a compliment. "It's been a pleasure to have her."

Vanderwall first took an interest in wrestling when a cousin showed her the sport on television.

"I thought it was kind of cool," she said.

Vanderwall was home-schooled at the time. Within a day, she enrolled at Benton Central so she could join the Bison wrestling team.

Vanderwall started her BC career with two strikes against her: She was a female, and she had almost zero wrestling experience. During her first few weeks on the team, Vanderwall found herself getting ignored off the mat and pummeled on it.

"I would tell the other coaches after practice, 'I have no idea why she's doing this,' " said first-year Bison head coach John Campagna, who served as an assistant coach during Vanderwall's first three years. "I know of no other guys who would take that much punishment day-in and day-out and wouldn't leave the room. I give her credit for sticking with it."

Vanderwall knew people would question her presence on the wrestling team, but she didn't worry about it.

"I didn't really think about the whole guy aspect of it, and I didn't really care," she said. "There were a lot of people who probably thought I wasn't able to do it or wasn't going to last, or that I would quit before I got to my senior year -- or even my sophomore year. The only thing I ever thought was, I was home-schooled, no one knows me, and there's no reason they should be right. I didn't really have any worries."

Vanderwall won over the coaches and wrestlers with two major accomplishments at the end of her freshman year.

First, she pinned her opponent in the 103-pound fifth-place match at the Hoosier Conference meet, providing the margin of victory in Benton Central's team championship.

"It was the first pin I ever had, and I was excited," Vanderwall said. "When I walked off the mat, my coaches gave me the biggest hug. I just couldn't breathe.

"After I did that, nobody saw the guy I pinned for the rest of the day. I think he was hiding under the bleachers."

Two weeks later, Vanderwall finished second in the sectional to earn a regional berth and help BC to the team title.

"We wouldn't have won conference or sectional her freshman year if she hadn't been on the team," Campagna said.

Vanderwall's wrestling career encountered different roadblocks in her next two seasons.

A torn knee ligament wiped out most of Vanderwall's sophomore wrestling season. Then, in the spring, Vanderwall's mother, Linda, nearly lost her life in a horseback riding accident. Linda spent several months in a coma.

"The doctors said she probably wouldn't make it the first night," Ashley said. "That was pretty scary because my mom was always real supportive of me, especially in wrestling, because she loves me doing it.

"And the following year, being scared she might not be there was pretty tough to take. But I pushed myself to keep wrestling because I figured she would want me to do it anyway. So I pushed myself through it junior year and now I'm back into it and working harder than I ever have."

Vanderwall said she senses respect from her opponents now. She said most of them offer pointers and wish her good luck after matches.

Campagna got a sense of that respect during Vanderwall's last home match. Vanderwall lost a decision against a wrestler from Pioneer. During the bout, though, the Pioneer coach glanced at Campagna and mouthed, "She's pretty good."

"I never really realized she would turn out to be such a good wrestler and positive influence for us," Campagna said. "She sticks with everything she does and she's an extremely hard worker. She's there every day, whether she feels like it or not, and she wrestles hurt. A lot of guys won't do that, and she will."

Vanderwall hopes to continue her wrestling career in college, perhaps at a school that sponsors women's wrestling.

She has a word of advice for any girls interesting in taking up the sport.

"To anyone that's thinking about it, you should do it," she said.