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News Page
Jan. 29, 2000
By Rick Anderson
Daily World sports editor
MONTESANO - With only minor deviations in the form chart, Elma maintained its wrestling dominance over Montesano Friday night.
First round pins by Neil Bickford and Danny Ireland and a clinching decision victory by Jamie Rakevich at the upper weights gave the Eagles a 41-35 victory over the Bulldogs in an Evergreen League dual match finale at Montesano.
The Eagles finished league dual competition at 5-1. The Bulldogs were 3-3 in the league.
After finding themselves in an early 11-0 hole, courtesy of Montesano's Bradbury siblings, the Eagles appeared on the verge of running the table at the remainder of the lower and middle weights.
They swept the next five bouts before Monte freshman Trino Salazar, in the nearest thing to an upset all night, pinned Elma sophomore Nathan Ritter in the 145-pound bout.
Salazar trailed 9-5 before reversing and pinning Ritter with six seconds remaining in the second round.
That, an an ensuing Montesano forfeit at 152, trimmed the Eagle lead to 26-23 with five matches remaining.
But Eagle 160-pounder Neil Bickford, taking down Bryan Parks in the first 15 seconds, needed just 50 seconds to record a pin.
Elma senior Danny Ireland made even quicker work of his opponent at 171 pounds. Ireland polished off Felix Salazar in 33 seconds to give Elma a 38-23 advantage.
That meant the Bulldogs had to sweep the final three matches - a scenario they've followed in a couple of their victories this season.
Monte's Steve Schmitz pinned Andrew Pittman with two seconds remaining in the second round of their 189-pound bout.
But the Eagles had an ace in the hole in Rakevich, a prime state contender at 215 pounds.
In front from the opening minute, Rakevich built a 5-1 lead over Montesano's Scott Schmitz early in the second round.
Schmitz, a natural 189-pounder, hung tough and closed the deficit to 5-3 early in the final stanza. But Rakevich fended off Schmitz's attempts at a tying takedown, although he was penalized a point for stalling in the final seconds.
With the victory assured, Elma coach Rick Rakevich forfeited the heavyweight bout to Shaun Straka.
Coach Rakevich took the victory in stride.
"We've got a whole week to get ready for (subdistrict)," said Rakevich. "We'll work hard this week and start the second season."
"If we could have won one more match in the middle..." said Monte coach Clayton Bradbury, who acknowledged that he hadn't expected a victory.
"The other thing was they got a really great match from Danny Ireland. He came out fired up," said Bradbury. "I really didn't think he'd take care of Felix that way."
The Eagles also received pins from Nathan Skuza at 119 and Trent Hill at 125. Coach Rakevich was particularly pleased with the showing of Hill, filling in for the injured Jeremy Krausse.
Montesano 112-pounder Jordan Bradbury, who had scored a narrow decision over Elma's Nathanael Arnold in the Hoquiam Invitational, this time pinned him in the second round.
His sister, Arielle, had earlier turned in a dominating performance in a technical fall over Elma's Justin Smith at 103.
Next up for both teams is subdistrict competition next Saturday at Elma.
EAGLES 41, BULLDOGS 35
103 - Arielle Bradbury (M) tech. fall over Justin Smith, 16-0. 112 - Jordan Bradbury (M) pinned Nathanael Arnold, 3:55. 119 - Nathan Skuza (E) pinned Pat Miller, 2:53. 125 - Trent Hill (E) pinned Chris Goldman, 3:37. 130 - Cody Sample (E) dec. Casey Brule, 16-5. 135 - Mike Horn (E) won forfeit. 140 - Jeremy Russell (E) dec. Tyler Fischback, 10-1. 145 - Trino Salazar (M) pinned Nathan Ritter, 3:54. 152 - Brian Fry (M) won forfeit. 160 - Neil Bickford (E) pinned Bryan Parks, 0:50. 171 - Danny Ireland (E) pinned Felix Salazar, 0:33. 189 - Steve Schmitz (M) pinned Andrew Pittman, 3:58. 215 - Jamie Rakevich (E) dec. Scott Schmitz, 5-4. Hwt - Shaun Straka (M) won forfeit.
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Grappling with girl power
Jumoke R. Gamble
of The Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on January 28, 2000 .
Oviedo girls wrestling coach Marge Carver is gushing with pride. Lyman's coach, Mario Miranda, is sick with anticipation.
Tonight is Florida's second Seminole Athletic Conference girls wrestling championship at 5:30 at Seminole High School.
"We're trying to build the sport up and get people to take it as seriously as the girls who participate do," said Miranda, 38.
There will be no mudslinging, no pile drivers and no scripted head butts. The SAC championship is another indication that scientific girls wrestling finally is becoming accepted in the state, although the sport has yet to be sanctioned by the Florida High School Activities Association.
Lyman defeated Oviedo to win last year's tournament. They are the elite teams in the conference, but a slew of first-year teams entered the mix this season.
Oviedo has the largest number of female wrestlers with 14. Lyman has 10, Gateway six and Lake Mary two. Lake Brantley, Seminole and Winter Springs each have one female wrestler. Outside of the county, Ocala Forest has 11, and Pine Ridge and Merritt Island each have five wrestlers.
Lyman boasts Florida's best female wrestler, Holly Haritan. Haritan, also the school's homecoming queen, is undefeated in more than 35 matches. She is looked upon as a trendsetter by opposing wrestlers.
"Her technique is so good, and she's so quick," said Oviedo sophomore Erin Kelly. "I respect her because she loves what she does and is really dedicated."
Expect Lyman and Oviedo to sweep the various weight classes, but accomplishing the feat will be a bit harder than last year.
Miranda said he doesn't mind the improved competition. He remembers when he had to travel long distances to find girls for his team to wrestle. Sometimes it had to wrestle boys.
He said there are now about 50 female wrestlers in Central Florida. The increase has fueled Miranda's latest endeavor: a statewide invitational girls high school tournament, which will include about 100 participants, to be held Feb. 5 at Lyman.
The event, however, will not be sanctioned by the FHSAA. Despite the growing numbers, the FHSAA is unclear as to when girls wrestling will become a sanctioned sport. Gary Pigott, FHSAA assistant director of athletics, said 30 percent of its member schools must have a girls wrestling team for the league to sanction the sport.
"It's hard to tell when it will be sanctioned," Pigott said. "I don't know if we have a handle on how many schools actually have a team."
The FHSAA is working on a new policy to change the rule, because "our membership grows by 10 to 15 percent each year, and the [needed] percentage will be increasingly harder to reach."
Until then, Carver said, an open-invitation tournament will suffice.
"We've had girls wrestle boys in Florida for the past 10 years," said Carver, 55. "The tournament is a great thing. Girls are not as physically strong as boys and shouldn't have to wrestle someone outside of their gender."
When the coaches decided to become pioneers in the male-dominated sport, neither of them thought it would spread throughout Central Florida like a hot rumor.
Miranda, the former Lyman boys coach, sure didn't when he started the girls program at the school three years ago.
"When I first started, I didn't know what to expect," Miranda said. "Soon I found out that the girls are just as skilled, exciting and work just as hard as the guys. Girls are not into being macho and proving their strength. They are meticulous in preparation and technique."
The frequent stereotyping and discrimination of female wrestlers are the reasons why Carver got involved. She admits she knows very little about the sport's technical aspects, although her grandfather was a three-time world professional wrestling champion in the 1940s. Boys coach Chris Napoletano teaches the Oviedo team the proper way to grapple. Carver assumes a motherly role.
"I knew they needed a female to take care of them," Carver said. "I set up the matches and make sure they have everything they need, like the proper uniform."
Carver said the main reason the sport is growing is because colleges are offering girls wrestling scholarships, an indication young women are breaking down another barrier once thought to be impenetrable.
Former Lion Joy Warren won the 135-pound championship last season. Warren, now a freshman at Cumberland College in Tennessee, became the first area girl to receive a wrestling scholarship.
Still, said Miranda, many people try to deter females from wrestling. Most of the schools are forced into starting girls programs.
"Some are genuinely behind equity in sports, and others are against female participation in wrestling," he said. "But [they] don't want to lose their boys programs and are forced into Title IX compliance."
Regardless of the reason, the influx of female wrestlers has thrust the sport into the national spotlight. It will be an Olympic event in 2004, and the Sunshine Network will air a show on March 6 called Top Of The Game, showcasing Lyman's girls team.
Carver said the next logical step is helping girls wrestling in Florida reach the level of success it enjoys in Texas, California, Michigan and Hawaii.
"Every bit of publicity helps," Carver said. "We have a ways to go, but I'm proud of how far we've come."
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No holding her back
By KATHY RUMLESKI -- London Free Press
Saturday, January 29, 2000
Megan McGuire has been a wrestling fanatic ever since she first tried the sport in Grade 9.
If she had her way, she would have been introduced to the sport earlier, but public school curriculum dictated other sports.
"We had to do gymnastics," the first-year Western wrestler said.
But by the time she hit high school at Huron Park in Woodstock, nothing was holding her back.
"I loved it. It was more one-on-one. I like that better than team sports. If you mess up, it's your fault."
McGuire hasn't messed up much.
In 1998, she finished second at nationals in her age group.
At the Ontario high school championships, McGuire had three fourth-place finishes and a fifth.
"She's doing well. She's working hard. She has a good future with it," said Western coach Ray Takahashi.
McGuire was recruited by a number of universities, but in the end chose Western.
McGuire joined the London Amateur Wrestling and Athletic Club last year. That club is affiliated with Western's program.
"She became more familiar with Western during that past year. She's always been ranked high and she's making a good transition at the university level," Takahashi said.
McGuire, who is in the 48-kilog ram class, said it's a big adjustment to compete at the university level.
"It's a lot tougher than high school. I've learned a lot more. It's a completely different set of moves."
McGuire is part of a nine-member Western's women's team that is ranked No. 7 in Canadian university ranking. The men are No. 9.
Tomorrow both the women's and mens' teams at UWO will be put to the test in the Western Open at Carling Heights community centre.
Today is the Ontario junior championships, also at Carling Heights, for wrestlers 18-20.
McGuire will be competing today to gauge her abilities before the national junior championships in March in Scarborough.
Depending on how tired and sore she is, she may also wrestle in the Western Open.
Western is also host to the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union championships Feb. 25 and 26.
McGuire was pleased that Western will hold the national championships in her first year of university competition.
"It's awesome. The only thing is, it's over slack week. Hopefully there will be people out to watch."
The wrestling meet is part of a busy weekend for Western athletes.
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