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What About Girls?
By: Erica Gray and Brittany Maldonado
November 20, 1999
A girl's wrestling team? We think there should be a girls only wrestling team in junior high and high schools across America.
One of the reasons why we think this is because the boys get to compete in more winter sports than girls:basketball, swimming and wrestling. The boys are sometimes stronger then the girls, so there should not be co-ed teams. We think it would be more fair if the girls had a team of their own and wrestle teens of the same sex.
We also have observed that sometimes girls are stronger than boys. If a stronger girl and a boy were wrestling, the girl may have an advantage to beat the boy. The gentleman’s teammates may be mad at him and tease him for getting beaten by the girl.
Did you know that in Pennslyvania there is a college wrestling team with only girls? There is, and the girls can even get wrestling scholarships. There are even some schools across Ohio that have girls wrestling. It's time to add wrestling for girls!
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Haven for girls who are pining to pin someone
Intelligencer Journal; Lancaster; Feb 8, 2000; Jeff Hawkes;
Elizabeth Hoefler, 16, wore blue. Her opponent was in black. At the
referee's whistle, they came together.
Hands grabbed, arms entwined, legs pushed.
Elizabeth made the first move. She dove for one of the legs of the girl in
black, and both dropped to the mat.
They grappled, they locked limbs, they twisted and turned.
In a match before several hundred spirited spectators Saturday at McCaskey
High School, the girls wrestled.
High school wrestling is no longer just for boys. Girls are muscling in on
the sport. McCaskey on Saturday
hosted the second annual girls' state championships, and 48 girls competed.
The tournament offers a rare chance for girls to wrestle girls. In
Pennsylvania scholastic athletics, girls'
wrestling is not sanctioned. Girls who want to wrestle join the boys' team.
They practice against the boys,
compete against the boys, pose for the yearbook with the boys.
What happens on the mat is only half the struggle. America celebrates women
who swim, golf, skate, play
tennis, spring off balance beams and -- after the World Cup -- play soccer.
But girl wrestlers? Who dreams of their little girl executing a half-nelson?
Worried parents
Randy Hoefler of Lancaster didn't. He enjoyed watching his daughter, a
sophomore who lives with her
mother in York County, play soccer, swim and run cross country. He wasn't
thrilled when she became the
only girl on the nationally ranked Dallastown Area High School wrestling
team.
Randy wrestled in junior high, where he saw a teammate crack his collar
bone. What's more, he could
imagine how any boy, who has to wrestle a girl, would feel.
"If you're going against a girl," Randy observed, "and all the guys on your
team are watching, do you think
you're going to lose that match? It would be awful hard to be a gentleman."
Elizabeth's mother, Mary Hoefler of Dallastown, like her ex- husband,
worried about her daughter getting
hurt. She also was concerned about Elizabeth, an honor roll student, a
trumpet player in the band and a
part-time supermarket cashier, taking on more than she could manage.
And Mary worried about the unkindnesses sure to come Elizabeth's way.
"People are going to say things
(about her) that are not true," Mary said.
On the other hand, Elizabeth's parents knew that if any girl fit the mold of
a trailblazer, it was their daughter.
They speak with admiration of Elizabeth's intensity and grit and point out
that she wants to go to medical
school.
"German bullheadedness" is how Mary describes her daughter. "Wrestling just
fits her personality."
Doing her best
Time expired on the six-minute match Saturday as Elizabeth, grunting and
sweating, tried to force her
opponent, lying flat on her belly with taut legs splayed, onto her back.
After the whistle, the girls stood and
shook hands. Elizabeth had outscored her opponent, 13 to 3.
Cooling off in the corridor, her broad face pink, Elizabeth attributed her
win to sticking with basic moves and
taking advantage of her opponent's tendency to lean forward.
"I didn't think of winning or anything," she said. "All I think of is, Do my
best. If I lose, I lose. If I win, I win.
Either way, you learn."
Elizabeth is a quick study. As the tournament progressed, she pinned her
opponents in both the second and
championship rounds. Her effort in the 148-pound weight class secured her a
trophy as the tournament's
"most outstanding wrestler."
Her parents rooted her on the whole way. Afterward, they were relieved and
proud. Proud to be parents of
a girl wrestler.
"I'm proud No. 1 that she's courageous enough to try something that's new,"
Randy said. "No. 2, that she has
the willpower to see it through. And No. 3, it's just more experience for
her in life."
Mary agreed. She sees the strenuous competition, against girls and boys,
making her daughter tough.
"Inside," she said, "it makes her feel she can reach any goal."
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Making the boys cry Angela Hernandez just wants to be a winner on the mat
Copyright Sarasota Herald Tribune Feb 3, 2000
Angela Hernandez never wanted to be a novelty or a pioneer in the women's
movement. The Lemon Bay
High School senior just wants to be respected in her chosen sport.
Angela is doing more than just competing in what has been considered a male
domain. She is the first female
at the high school to wrestle on the varsity and the first in Charlotte
County to win on that level.
The 5-foot, 1-inch, 103-pounder isn't just breaking barriers. She is
demolishing them.
The 17-year-old has tred where no one else has gone around these parts.
She's made boys cry and sent
some home feeling embarrassed, though that is not her intent. She just wants
to win.
Hernandez has won four matches this season, all by pins.
"Every time I beat a kid, it seems as if they are all ready to cry. I think
it crushes them and it shouldn't
because their coaches tell them if they take me lightly they will get their
butts kicked," Angela said. "After a
few seconds on the mat, they know I am not a typical girl wrestler. If I
beat them and they take it personally
I feel sorry that they are so insecure about themselves and close minded
about me."
When Angela came out for the team last year, it wasn't to become part of a
movement or clear the path for
other females. In previous years, she had tried cheerleading and softball
and found it wasn't for her. She did
some boxing for the local Police Athletic League, but the program faltered
and she was left without an
outlet.
She wrestled on the JV team last year and compiled a 13-5 record with all
her victories coming by pins. She
is 4-6 on the varsity this season, but has looked exceptionally strong in
recent weeks.
Angela has taken her success in stride and says she is not out to belittle
anyone or prove anything except
that she is a good wrestler.
"Nothing happened to me in my childhood to make me hate guys and I don't. I
don't want to prove anything
and I despise girls who tried out for wrestling just to say they did it,"
Hernandez said. "I enjoy these kinds of
sports because I am small and it's a challenge. I enjoy this sport because
it pushes you to the limit and when
you think you can't do anymore, you do. I am drawn to this sport because it
is so hard."
One person not surprised at her success is Lemon Bay assistant wrestling
coach Vern Kohlenberg, who has
seen a lot of wrestlers come and go in the program.
"She is strong, pays attention and works hard. Angela goes out with the
attitude she can't be beat. When
most kids first go out there they usually have a timid attitude, but that
never happened to her," Kohlenberg
said.
One of the hardest things for Angela was being accepted by her teammates. It
didn't happen until this year
when she earned her way on the varsity by winning a wrestle-off and then won
some matches.
"I felt everyone was against me last year because they never had a girl on
the team, especially one who
could do things, and I was invading their territory," Angela said. "Just
going to practice was hard, but I have
always been kind of brutal and I gave them a tough time. After I won my
first match this year, I started to
become accepted."
There has been some taunting and some wrestlers have tried to avoid
competing with her by moving up in
weight class or just not participating.
One boy pulled out of a match with her because his father thought it was
immoral to wrestle her. Angela
didn't buy the argument.
"I say after five minutes in a match with me when you have your face in the
mat you won't think about
where you are touching me," Angela said. "That's a copout for getting your
butt kicked. They just don't want
to admit I'm a good wrestler."
At a recent match, her opponent pulled out of their 103-pound match and
moved up to 112. She then moved
up and pinned him.
"When I get pinned, they take it like they pinned a girl. They don't say
they pinned a wrestler. If they win
(over me) it doesn't mean anything, but if they lose, it's like they can't
lose to a girl," Angela said.
A growing number of high schools throughout Florida have already formed
female teams and there are
colleges with female wrestling squads that are offering scholarships.
Angela will be competing in a statewide invitational girls tournament this
weekend at Lyman High School,
though she would like to keep things status quo.
"I wouldn't want to be on an all-girls team because that would be too easy.
I don't want to go to college
because of a Title IX thing. I want to go to college because I am good,"
Angela said.
"Some of the guys I beat were stronger and better wrestlers than me. A lot
of times, it's the person with
more heart who wins."
Angela works out and lifts weights regularly. Last year, she finished third
in the state at 103 pounds in
weight lifting and benched 115 pounds, which was the most of any competitor
in her weight class.
Angela believes she gets her toughness from her mother, Carmella, who raised
three children by herself.
"At one time, she was working three jobs to support us and she didn't even
have a car. I finally told her to
stop and she cut down a little. I admire her for everything she has done,"
Angela said.
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Girls wrestling for first time
By: Annie Romeo
November 18, 1999
The first women’s wrestling team ever in MacArthur’s history consists of six girls. They include Heather Harrison, Christina Jalomo, Tai Ingram, Jennifer Starnes,Tara Kirkland, and Lauren Travis.
Tai Ingram, one of the two captains, is captain of the squad.
Tai has always loved sports, and considers herself very aggressive.
“I’m aggressive and strong enough to wrestle,” she said. “Plus, no one else was doing it.”
This idea defiantly different, but the guys are adapting to the changes very well.
“Most of the guys are very supportive. There’s only a few sexist punks,” Tai said.
There is a strict no touch policy. Therefore, the girls have to learn wrestling moves by watching the guys.
For those girls who are interested in wrestling they are encouraged to come out and join.
Work outs are the same for both guys and girls. It consists of running a mile or so before practice, followed by weight training and tons of upper body work outs.
The first meet for the girls is Nov. 20 against Churchill.
“The first year will be great because all the girls are dedicated and strong,” Tai predicts.
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Girls take it to the mat
By: Holly Pendergrass
December 10, 1999
Soddy Daisy High school and Red Bank High school made history on November 30, 1999. For the first time in the history of Tennessee, two all-girls teams from different schools competed in a wrestling match. The purpose of the match was to raise money for the boys’ teams. The Soddy Daisy girls had two practices in which some of the boys’ team stayed and helped them. After some practice and hope to raise money, the girls were ready to wrestle. The members included: Missy Ledwell, Tiffany Vandergriff, Heather Bledsoe, Sarah Eldredge, Dawn Ferris, Heather McCommon, Carry Smith, Alice Eldredge, Ashley Paige, Kelly Wene, Sandra Morgan, Rachael Smith, Holly Pendergrass, Katie Sullivan, and Cara Stiles. Kelly Wene, a 95-pounder, wrestled a Red Bank girl that out-weighed her by about 35 pounds. However, that did not stand in her way. With a lot of determination and hard work, Kelly out-pointed her 10-2. Missy Ledwell, Tiffany Vandergriff, Ashley Paige, Rachael Smith, Carry Smith, and Kelly Wene all pinned their opponents .
The final score was 27-58. Although Red Bank won, the girls from both schools succeeded because the stands were packed. The amount raised was about $1,000.
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