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By STEVE BELVIN
Globe-News Sports Writer

Sunday, February 6, 2000

The Amarillo High Sandies definitely benefited from not competing in the state dual meet last week. The Palo Duro Lady Dons pulled off the daily double. Both teams came away with team championships at the Region 5 wresting tournament Saturday night at Caprock Activity Center.

The Lady Dons turned the tables on the Caprock Lady Longhorns who had beaten them in a non-district match a few weeks ago. But Palo Duro had beaten Caprock in the district dual match, winning the district dual tournament, earning a trip to state duals last week, where they finished second.

The Lady Dons scored 117 points compared to 107 for Caprock. Tascosa was third with 27 points and Amarillo High was fourth with 19.

The Palo Duro girls, led by heavyweight Dyana McIntyre, won the 167, 187 and 217-pound divisions to pull away from Caprock, the No. 1-ranked girls team in the state.

McIntyre pinned Caprock's Marie Hernandez in the third round for the 217-pound championship.

"It was great to beat Caprock," she said. "In practice we were just trying to get prepared after we lost at the state meet. We had to come back and prove ourselves."

Caprock was hampered with the loss of two of its wrestlers, Mimi Garcia, in the 130-pound division, who was injured, and 104-pound Dedra Puentes, who was sick.

Caprock's Tori Adams won the 150-pound division, pinning Palo Duro's Janice Gooden in the second round. Adams is the number one ranked wrestler in the nation in her weight class for the second year-in-a row.

Adams, 20-0 this season, had trouble finding opponents this year.

"You work hard all week in practice and then find out that the girl in your weight class doesn't want to wrestle you. It's real frustrating," Adams said.

She said this year she concentrated strictly on wrestling.

"I didn't play volleyball or basketball this year. I dedicated myself to wrestling. The extra time on the mat has paid off."

Palo Duro wrestling coach Steve Nelson was a gracious winner.

"I feel very fortunate to win over Caprock," he said. "As close as the score is tells you how close these teams are. They beat us all year long. We were lucky enough to win the district dual which gave us the district championship. I don't know if we're that good or just lucky. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."

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Tough district leaves good wrestlers out of regionals

By Rick Mauch Monday, Feb. 7, 2000 at 00:32 CST
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Sam Houston newcomer works hard to win district

Latosha Gillion decided she'd give wrestling a try a couple of weeks ago. Now, she's the District 15-5A champion at 215 pounds.

Gillion pinned Kara Armstrong of Arlington, a defending state champion and the No. 6 wrestler in the nation in her weight class according to the United State Girls Wrestling Association, in three minutes and 28 seconds. She pinned her in 1:17 at first, but because she used an illegal hold, the match continued.

"I saw the headlock and went, `Oh no,' " Sam Houston coach Roy Shultz said. "But I knew she could go back and win it anyway."

Gillion improved to 5-1 with the pin. Her first competition was at the state duals on Jan. 28-29.

"I just had to do it again, that's all," Gillion said of returning to the mat against Armstrong. "I just went back more determined."

Troegle tradition

As thrilled as he was at winning the District 15-5A title at 152 pounds and getting a shot at returning to state, Josh Troegle was beaming when his younger brother, Clayton, won at 112.

"He is going to be awesome. He's already awesome," Josh, a senior, said of sophomore Clayton. "I can't wait to come back in a couple of years and see how good he's gotten."

Said a smiling Lamar coach Jeff Provence, "I've got one for another few weeks and the other for a couple of years. We're going to have a lot more wins from the Troegles."

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STATEWIDEGIRLS WRESTLING INVITATIONAL SET
GATEWAY SENDS SIX WRESTLERS TO SATURDAY'S INAUGURAL EVENT AT LYMAN, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO DRAW 100 ENTRANTS.

Sentinel Sports Story
(2/7/00}
KISSIMMEE - A gender accustomed to wrestling bad hair days now grapples to
break down barriers in a sport dominated by the opposite sex.

Senior Joanie Snider and sophomore Michelle Puig are among a half-dozen
Gateway High School females no longer content to stand and cheer for male
wrestlers.


They are among an estimated 100 females traveling to Longwood on Saturday
to compete in a statewide invitational at Lyman High. Matches get under way
at 10 a.m.
``The competition is going to be tough, but I've got a pretty good feeling
that I'll place,'' Snider said.

The Florida High School Activities Association does not sanction girls
wrestling as a state tournament sport. Gary Pigott, the group's assistant
director of athletics, points out that 30 percent of all member schools
must offer a sport before it can be sanctioned.

Females have knocked on wrestling's door in Osceola County for a decade.
However, this year, Gateway is the only county high school with female
grapplers. Coach Ettie Singleton's squad also showcases senior Issa
Alvarez, plus sophomores Salome Gipson, Suleika Cuevos and Naomi Santiago,
a contingent with a combined record of 39-12 over the past two seasons.

Snider, 18, laughs recalling the day she reported for a practice.

``Wrestling always has interested me,'' she said. ``I had a bunch of
friends who decided they were going to join the team.'' When they didn't
show, Snider went alone.

Still, Gateway's homecoming queen doesn't fit the rough-and-tumble mold
although she has won nine of 15 matches - eight via pins - the past two
years. Two of her six losses were to males. No matter the gender, losing
feels the same.

``My heart gets broken when I get pinned,'' Snider said.

Snider is anything but a stereotype.

``I'm not the homecoming type,'' she said. ``The message I want to send is
that I can be a lady and an athlete as the same time.''

Puig, 16, contends females can wrestle and not give up their femininity.

``Hey! I wear lipstick, makeup and dress up occasionally,'' she said.

Support begins at home. Joanie's mom, Rita, ``believes girls can do
anything guys can do,'' Snider said. ``I don't necessarily believe that
myself, but I enjoy the sport.''

``My friends think it's cool, but guys are usually shocked when they find
out I wrestle,'' said Puig, who competes at 160 pounds.

Undefeated the past two seasons with 10 pin victories in a dozen matches,
Puig was searching for an athletic outlet when she stumbled into wrestling.

``It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,'' she said.

Snider, Puig and Gateway's other female wrestlers are mostly well-received
on campus.

``We don't have problems with anyone. The feedback I get is mostly
positive,'' Snider said. ``Male wrestlers treat me with respect, like a
little sister.

``The rest of the student body calls me he-she and looks at me like I'm a
tough cookie they shouldn't touch. My boyfriend's not scared of me, but
he's a wrestler, too.''

Snider, who competes in the 125-pound weight class, practices mostly
against girls. There are times, however, when the competition is male.

``There's no grabby stuff. It's strictly wrestling,'' she said.

Debbie Puig, who has not seen any of her daughter's matches, worried about
the physical demands, but never voiced a concern over female/male contact
on mats.

``She knew that wouldn't be a problem,'' Puig said. ``Coach wouldn't allow
that to happen.''

Said Snider: ``I won't say wrestling is for all girls. It's a lot of work,
a lot of time. If they're not emotionally and physically equipped to handle
themselves, they shouldn't do it.''

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Youth medal winner honored for her energy, spirit

Monday, February 07, 2000

By Carmen J. Lee, Post-Gazette Education Writer

Those who know Shayna Rae Lubawski, 17, say she's tough: Not the mean kind of tough, but the hard-working, dedicated, take charge kind of tough.

Tough enough two years ago to attempt talking an intoxicated man out of jumping off the Birmingham Bridge, then, with the help of an acquaintance, pulling the man over the rail to safety.

Tough enough to be the only female on the Schenley High School wrestling team for three years.

Tough enough to become, at age 15, the youngest and the first female chief petty officer of the U.S. Navy Sea Cadet Corps-Pittsburgh Division, the highest rank in the maritime youth organization.

Tough enough to be the first Pittsburgh youth to receive a Navy League of the United States Youth Medal, awarded to recognize qualities such as energy, courage, spirit and fair play.

That kind of tough.

"She started out being shy, but then she really took to the program and aggressively completed the courses," said John Alger, chairman of the Naval Sea Cadet Council, after pinning on Lubawski yesterday the gold youth medal during a formal inspection of the local Sea Cadet battalion at the U.S. Navy and Marine Reserve Center in North Versailles.

"She asks no quarter and gives no quarter," said Schenley wrestling coach Kenneth Haselrig. "She sets her sights on something and goes at it."

Five feet tall with blonde hair, blue eyes and a maturity beyond her years, Lubawski was poised yesterday in her Navy-like formal attire, known as "dress blues," despite the pressures of serving as the mistress of ceremonies and receiving the youth medal.

The South Side teen actually was first given the award at what was supposed to be a surprise presentation during a Navy League dinner Saturday night. Lubawski, who has her own office at the reserve center, said with a smile that she probably knew about the award before those who presented it to her.

"It's hard to keep things from me around here," she said.

Still, she modestly accepted the praise of Alger and others as they listed her many accomplishments.

Among them were being a high honor senior at Schenley, ranking fifth nationally in her weight class last year among female high school wrestlers, being a gold medalist in judo in the U.S. Junior Olympics, and receiving a number of Sea Cadet commendations, including an honor ribbon for helping to save the man's life on the Birmingham Bridge.

But after the ceremony, Lubawski described herself in maternal terms, as someone who looks upon the 35 Sea Cadets who call her "chief" as her "kids," even if they might squirm at the reference.

"I hope they see that I had some effect on their lives and I hope it was a positive effect," she said.

"What we're trying to do is take them off the streets and give them another alternative that they can be proud of. I am their chief and they are my kids."

The second oldest of five children, Lubawski joined the cadets when she was 12, following in the footsteps of her older brother, John, the first chief petty officer in the Pittsburgh program and also a high school wrestler.

Lubawski said she was reluctant at first to get involved in the cadets but grew to appreciate the program, especially after attending her first summer boot camp when she was 13.

Lubawski would later spend all her summers attending cadet training at military posts and bases across the eastern United States, earning various commendations and advanced positions.

Because of her commitment at a time when the local Sea Cadet group was much smaller than its current enrollment, Lubawski moved up in rank quickly and was given more responsibility, sometimes faster than she wanted.

But she said she had no regrets about any of her activities, including wrestling, which she had to quit this year to get a job.

The activities helped to build her confidence, and she always had the support of her parents, John Sr. and Sandra, in whatever she did.

"I'm really proud of her," her mother said, adding that she had wanted to join the Marines with her husband 20 years ago but was discouraged by the recruiting officer. "I say go for it ... if she can handle it and that's what she wants to do."

Lubawski plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh in the fall. And while she knows she has been compared to "G.I. Jane," the movie in which actress Demi Moore plays a Navy Seal, Lubawski said she's "not a killer" and is more interested in studying special education, after working with Special Olympics as a Sea Cadet.

She's also thinking about joining the Marine reserves or the ROTC.

What Lubawski is looking forward to now, though, is a summer without Sea Cadet training.

"I'm going into a long-awaited retirement," she said.

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SEGREGATION OF GIRLS, GUYS STILL EXISTS

February 6, 2000

Dear Editor: Women have come a long way since the Dark Ages. We can now wear
pants, go to school, work, own property,
vote and make our own decisions. All these privileges we now have are taken
for granted by most, but even though we are legally
equal, de facto segregation continues in a number of situations.

Consider the example of sports. Women's wrestling is thought of as silly,
even stupid. I compliment a girl in Verona who last year
was the only girl wrestler on the team. Women aren't denied from the team;
it's just thought of as a ''guy'' sport.

Many things are stereotyped for guys, not gals. I'm in a class called
Exploring Technology at Verona Area High School. It touches
base on everything from construction to communication and transportation. We
rode a hovercraft, made rockets and steam
engines. It's a cool class, but unfortunately I am the only girl. I didn't
think that would happen. I took the class to learn new things,
but the content is thought of for guys.

I don't think societies will ever stop thinking girls play with dolls, and
boys play with cars and trucks. As long as everyone is
open-minded, we can try to achieve a balance of girls and guys in many
different fields. Once that happens we are a step closer to
the American dream of equality.

Kristina L. Kaker, Madison