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Sunday, February 27, 2000

By Keith Morris
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

The smile was back on Keristen LaBelle's face Saturday.

Despite surviving the individual district tournament a week earlier, the Davison sophomore was not celebrating. Although she is believed to be the first girl in state history to have reached a district championship match, she was upset with her performance in falling to teammate Danny Charron in the 103-pound title match.

In the Division I regional Saturday at Carman-Ainsworth, the smile returned after she was congratulated by teammates and coaches following a 7-4 win over Charron which made her the first girl in state history to win a regional championship.

She was one of a school-record 12 Cardinals to qualify for the March 9-11 state finals at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Davison qualified nine in 1985.

"Twelve's amazing," said Davison coach Roy Hall. "You have to have so many things go right. You can't be injured and you've got to be peaking and the kids are."

LaBelle, who went 3-0 to improve to an impressive 49-8, joins Saginaw Buena Vista's Cynthia Harrold as the only girls to reach the state finals. Harrold qualified last year but did not win the regional.

"You don't notice things until you come off the mat and everybody's like, 'Oh my God, you just won the regional. You're the first girl to ever do it,'" LaBelle said. "This is pretty big because it means that I'm going to the big show."

LaBelle said just qualifying for the state finals would have been enough this week.

"It makes it better that I won, but if I'd finished second I still would have been proud that I was going to states."

Harrold didn't place among the top eight and didn't make All-State, something LaBelle hopes to accomplish.

"She was focused and she wrestled three tough matches," Hall said. "I'm really proud of her. But, as I said before, I just think of her as a wrestler."

LaBelle was one of seven Davison regional champions, as only two of the 14 who qualified for the regional failed to place among the top four and survive. Ten Cardinals reached title matches.

The other Cardinals to win were: Shaun Newton, Chase Metcalf, Joe Whitman, Chad Roush, Casey Streeter and Jon Phillips. Whitman improved to 50-0.

Zemaior Pittman, who improved to 56-1 at 152, and Mike DeLorge (275) won titles for Carman-Ainsworth, which also had Dave Vennie (140) qualify. Scott Walker (125) and Justin Straley (103) qualified for Flushing.

Championship matches103 - Keristen LaBelle (Davison) d. Danny Charron (Davison) 7-4; 112 - Shaun Newton (Davison) d. Teig McLellan (Bay City Western) 17-1; 119 - Omar Youssef (Rochester Adams) d. John Whitman (Davison) 12-10; 125 - Chase Metcalf (Davison) d. Scott Walker (Flushing) 5-1; 130 - Ricky Kallis (Lake Orion) d. Mike Holtz (Rochester Adams) 7-2; 135 - Joe Whitman (Davison) d. Kellen Klosowski (BC Western) 19-4; 140 - Chad Roush (Davison) d. Scott Norton (Romeo) 10-0; 145 - Tim Markel (BC Western) d. Tim Zeits (Traverse City West) 4-2; 152 - Zemaior Pittman (Carman-Ainsworth) d. Clint DeGain (Clarkston), injury default; 160 - Casey Streeter (Davison) d. Mike Mayes (Saginaw Heritage) 11-7; 171 - Jon Phillips (Davison) d. Ben Barlow (Saginaw Heritage) 12-2; 189 - Dave Anderson (Midland Dow) d. Jesse Navarre (Rochester) 12-7; 215 - Bryan Schilb (BC Western) d. Ben Perez (Midland Dow) 12-10; 275 - Mike DeLorge (Carman-Ainsworth) d. Nic LaFear (Davison) 5-2.

Consolation matches

103 - Jarard Arnold (Saginaw) d. Justin Straley (Flushing) 7-3; 112 - Tom Barkham (Rochester Adams) d. Chris Currie (Midland Dow) 2:10; 119 - Mike Quigley (Lake Orion) d. Ken Skutt (Midland Dow) 13-6; 125 - Dan Siedzik (Romeo) d. Ethan Smith (Traverse City Central) 5:13; 130 - Joe Heinzelman (Saginaw Heritage) d. Justin Kellogg (TC West) 7-5; 135 - Dusty Ansorge (TC West) d. Jon Barkham (Rochester Adams) 8-0; 140 - Dave Vennie (Carman-Ainsworth) d. Dave Wilson (Saginaw Heritage) 8-4; 145 - Jimmy McFall (Davison) d. Nick Montie (Alpena) 7-5, OT; 152 - Charles Katil (Midland Dow) d. Steve Walter (Lake Orion) 1:42; 160 - Jason Ford (TC West) d. Drew Michelotti (Rochester Adams) 1:59; 171 - Dave Boyd (Rochester Adams) d. Chris Avery (Waterford Mott) 11-6; 189 - Matt Eckenrode (TC Central) d. Adam Wilmoth (Davison) 7-5, OT; 215 - Brian Patrick (Lake Orion) d. Nate Decker (Saginaw Heritage) 7-1; 275 - Charles Perez (Midland Dow) d. Peter Stewart (TC Central) 4:09.

--------------------------------

Wirt County girl makes state wrestling history

February 24, 2000, Thursday,

Erica Dye was unaware she made West Virginia high school wrestling
history Thursday night.

The Wirt County sophomore became the first girl to win a first-round match
at the state tournament.

She defeated Meadow Bridge's Scott Dickerson, 15-5, in the 103-pound weight
class in the Class AA-A tournament at the Huntington Civic Arena.

Yet her thoughts were elsewhere.

"I've just got to win tomorrow," Dye said as she sat among her teammates and
family in the stands. "If I win tomorrow, I'll place" among the top five.

Beneath the smile and brown hair, there's a fierce competitor who listens to
AC-DC music on her headphones before matches.

"It gets me ready," she said, pausing briefly to think of an explanation for
why a teen-ager is hooked on 1970s heavy metal music.

"And it's good, I guess."

It's obvious this teen-ager isn't just here for the fun. She was too nervous
to sleep Wednesday night and had a severe case of butterflies all day
Thursday.

She admits she was thinking ahead to the second round even before her
first-round match.

"I shouldn't have been, but I was," Dye said. "I feel like I did awful. I
was too nervous and I was slow on my feet."

Her father, Kenny, a 1992 Wirt County graduate, wrestled for four years. He
also qualified for the state meet but never got past the first round.

"She's got one on me," he said. "That's all right. I'll take all of them I
can get. I'm tickled to death."

"It's all in the family," Erica added.

Neither father nor daughter knew she was the first girl to win a first-round
match.

"Hopefully she'll be the first to place," the elder Dye said.

Madonna's Amy Alvaro was the first girl to qualify for the state tournament
in 1998 but lost in the first round. She won a consolation match at 112
pounds.

Teammates have accepted Erica as one of their own. She has been wrestling
for six years and has known them since their days in youth tournaments. Her
boyfriend,
Josh Cross, also wrestles for Wirt County. He pinned his first-round
opponent Thursday.

Erica is no slouch, either. She's ranked seventh nationally among female
wrestlers in her weight class, her father said.

Wirt County was in fifth place in the team standings after the first round
and isn't expected to be a factor in the end.

Oak Glen is favored to win its fourth straight Class AA-A title. It held a
10-point lead over Cameron. Williamstown was third and Independence fourth.

In Class AAA, defending champion Parkersburg South had a slim lead over
Hedgesville after the first round. Cabell Midland was third, Wheeling Park
was fourth
and Parkersburg was fifth.

Parkersburg South coach Tim McCartney knew all others would be aiming to
knock off his team.

"They say we're sitting on top, but anything can happen," he said. "Anybody
can win and anybody can lose on any given day. If we can put a good
tournament
together, I think we'll be all right."

Parkersburg South won six Class AAA titles in the 1990s. It was the first
for McCartney, now in his third season.

Only two schools from outside Parkersburg have won the Class AAA title since
1987. North Marion was the last to do it in 1998.

Two wrestlers are seeking their third straight individual championships,
both in Class AA-A. Williamstown's Ash Wenmoth at 125 pounds and Ritchie
County's
Jason Hayhurst at 130 pounds each pinned first-round opponents.

Two other matches were over almost as soon as they started.

Oak Glen's Zack Zubay pinned Brandon Westerman of Grafton in 17 seconds in
their Class AA-A match at 103 pounds. In Class AAA, Wheeling Park's Adam
Kennedy pinned Nicholas County's Joel Wadsworth in 19 seconds in their
112-pound match.

The tournament runs through Saturday.

---------------------------------------------

Data House Girls State Wrestling Championships

Last Updated: 02/27/2000

Girls Final Team Standings:
Moanalua 143.5, Leilehua 113, McKinley 102, Mililani 95.5, Castle 83.5, Roosevelt 57, Kamehameha 55, Waipahu 44, Pearl City 37, Kaiser 36, Baldwin 34.5, Kahuku 30, Lahainaluna 28, Nanakuli 26, Radford 25.5, Punahou 25, Aiea 25, Hilo 23, Ka'u 22, Farrington 18, Campbell 18, St. Andrews 16, Iolani 15.5, Kealakehe 13, Hawaii Baptist 12, Kaimuki 10.5, Kalaheo 9, King Kekaulike 8, St. Francis 7, University 7, Kalani 7, Maui 4, Waianae 4, Hana 3, St. Anthony 0, Kaahumanu Hou 0

Girls 98 lb.
Whitney Rabacal (Roosevelt) def. Darilyn Blancafor (Waipahu) 17-4
Francine Anny (Leilehua) def. Kristin Fujioka (Castle) 9-6
Kristin Fujioka (Castle) def. Jessica Toyama (Moanalua) pin 1:26
Darilyn Blancaflor (Waipahu) def. Monic Melandez (Mililani) pin 1:16

Championship
Whitney Rabacal (Roosevelt) def. Francine Anny (Leilehua) pin 3:37

Third Place
Kristin Fujioka (Castle) def. Darilyn Blancaflor (Waipahu) 12-3

Fifth Place
Jessica Toyama (Moanalua) def. Monic Melandez (Mililani) 3-2

Girls 103 lb.
Melissa Orden (McKinley) def. Tanya Miyasaki (Castle) pin 2:20
Sherilyn Hashiro (Roosevelt) def. Charise Kekawa (Aiea) pin 2:58
Tanya Miyasaki (Castle) def. Doris Mosuela (Lahainaluna) 5-4
Shanel Vivas (Kahuku) def. Charise Kekawa (Aiea) pin 4:25

Championship
Melissa Orden (McKinley) def. Sherilyn Hashiro (Roosevelt) tech 4:00

Third Place
Shanel Vivas (Kahuku) def. Tanya Miyasaki (Castle) 2-1

Fifth Place
Doris Mosuela (Lahainaluna) def. Charise Kekawa (Aiea) 10-5

Girls 108 lb.
Caylene Valdez (Moanalua) def. Krystal Hirose (Castle) pin 1:14
Leihua Ballesteros (Leilehua) def. Deanna Lau (Punahou) 8-6 (OT)
Krystal Hirose (Castle) def. Natalie Ebisu (Pearl City) pin 3:13
Deanna Lau (Punahou) def. Debbi Sakai (Mililani) pin 1:50

Championship
Caylene Valdez (Moanalua) def. Leihua Ballesteros (Leilehua) pin 2:00

Third Place
Deanna Lau (Punahou) def. Krystal Hirose (Castle) pin 4:12

Fifth Place
Debbi Sakai (Mililani) def. Natalie Ebisu (Pearl City) pin 2:39

Girls 114 lb.
Carrie Nishimura (McKinley) def. Celena Fretias (HBA) pin 0:19
Kaui Kaina (Hilo) def. Natalie Dawson (Campbell) pin 3:25
Charmane Ballesteros (Leilehua) def. Celena Freitas (HBA) def.
Natalie Dawson (Campbell) def. Jesiere Dela Cruz (Waipahu) pin 3:46

Championship
Carrie Nishimura (McKinley) def. Kaui Kaina (Hilo) pin 5:53

Third Place
Charmane Ballesteros (Leilehua) def. Natalie Dawson (Campbell) 11-5

Fifth Place
Jesiere Dela Cruz (Waipahu) def. Celena Freitas (HBA) pin 4:41

Girls 121 lb.
Sharlette Taba (McKinley) def. Brandi Vallesteros (Mililani) 2-1
Cathy Migita (Castle) def. Katrina Winget (Moanalua) 13-1
Brandi Vallesteros (Mililani) def. Lynne Lam (Iolani) 11-1
Katrina Winget (Moanalua) def. Lora Jan Bansuel (Waipahu) pin 2:11

Championship
Cathy Migita (Castle) def. Sharlette Taba (McKinley) 6-3

Third Place
Brandi Vallesteros (Mililani) def. Katrina Winget (Moanalua) 4-2

Fifth Place
Lynne Lam (Iolani) def. Lora Jan Bansuel (Waipahu) 5-1

Girls 130 lb.
Shani Alvarado (Mililani) def. Diane Kau (Moanalua) pin 1:01
Dara Ching (Pearl City) def. Staci Saito (McKinley) pin 5:37
Diane Kau (Moanalua) def. Veronica Ferreira (Baldwin) pin 1:16
Staci Saito (McKinley) def. Cellina Wong (Kaimuki) 9-4

Championship
Shani Alvarado (Mililani) def. Dara Ching (Pearl City) pin 1:33

Third Place
Diane Kau (Moanalua) def. Staci Saito (McKinley) pin 1:53

Fifth Place
Cellina Wong (Kaimuki) def. Veronica Ferreira (Baldwin) 5-4

Girls 140 lb.
Stephany Lee (Moanalua) def. Jessica Maea (Leilehua) pin 5:07
Stephanie Bolton (Radford) def. Jennifer Miyahira (St. Andrews) 7-5
Anna Tong (Kaiser) def. Jessica Maea (Leilehua) pin 2:32
Jennifer Miyahira (St. Andrews) def. Sweetie Poole (Kalaheo) 6-0

Championship
Stephany Lee (Moanalua) def. Stephanie Bolton (Radford) pin 4:51

Third Place
Anna Tong (Kaiser) def. Jennifer Miyahira (St. Andrews) pin 2:09

Fifth Place
Jessica Maea (Leilehua) def. Sweetie Poole (Kalaheo) 5-1 OT

Girls 155 lb.
Ashley Gasper (Nanakuli) def. Rachel Kamahele (St. Francis) 5-2
Charisse Hanawahine (Kamehameha) def. Selina Perez (Baldwin) pin 0:24
Vanessa Naluai (Kaiser) def. Rachel Kamahele (Pac-Five) 7-2
Selina Perez (Baldwin) def. Ku'u Sarte-Sweeden (Moanalua) pin 2:30

Championship
Ashley Gasper (Nanakuli) def. Charisse Hanawahine (Kamehameha) pin 5:08

Third Place
Vanessa Naluai (Kaiser) def. Selina Perez (Baldwin) 13-9

Fifth Place
Ku'u Sarte-Sweeden (Moanalua) def. Rachel Kamahele (St. Francis) 4-2

Girls 175 lb.
Rose Enos (Ka'u) def. Cassie Suetes (Lahainaluna) pin 0:29
Iwalani Fonoimoana (Kamahameha) def. Michelle Brogden (Mililani) pin 0:55
Gabrielle Nicholas (Moanalua) def. Cassie Suetes (Lahainaluna) pin 0:26
Michelle Brogden (Mililani) def. Janette Valmoja (Leilehua) pin 0:26

Championship
Iwalani Fonoimoana (Kamahameha) def. Rose Enos (Ka'u) pin 1:28

Third Place
Gabrielle Nicholas (Moanalua) def. Michelle Brogden (Mililani) pin 2:00

Fifth Place
Cassie Suetes (Lahainaluna) def. Janette Valmoja (Leilehua) pin 0:12

Girls 220 lb.
Malama Sylve (Leilehua) def. Lauren Phillips (Kealakehe) pin 0:15
Charmelle Kahele (Farrington) def. Bernadette Maea (Moanalua) pin 4:48

Championship
Malama Sylve (Leilehua) def. Charmelle Kahele (Farrington) pin 4:38

Third Place
Lauren Phillips (Kealakehe) def. Bernadette Maea (Moanalua) pin 3:05

----------------------------------------

GENDER NO BARRIER FOR SANTALUCES WRESTLER

Leslie Barreiro doesn't have any complaints about being the only girl on the
Santaluces wrestling team.

Actually, she has one - kind of. "During the weigh-ins, I always have to
weigh in last. Coach (Sam Agresti) forgets about me a lot of times," said
Barreiro, a junior
who competes in the 103-pound weight class on the Chiefs' junior varsity
team.

"I'm always the last in the locker room. When we go away to other teams for
matches, I usually have to sit by myself outside, because all the guys are
in the locker
room."

But Barreiro, 16, sees that as a small price to pay for competing in a
male-dominated sport she has grown to love since she started competing last
year. "It's fun,"
she said. "It's full-contact, and you just exert yourself so much. And when
you're done - you're in great shape."

Barreiro, who ran track in middle school, never even thought about wrestling
until a friend of hers convinced her to try out for the team.

"My best friend wrestled, and we were wrestling around at home, and he said,
'You're really strong. You should come out with me and see if you like it,'
" she said.
"I did, and I liked it."

She never considered her gender to be a barrier, either.

"She's a determined young lady," Agresti said. "I never had a girl even
fathom to think about this, and our program has been pretty top-of-the-line
from day one.

"I basically asked her point blank what she was trying to prove coming out
for a male-dominated sport. She said nothing. She just wanted to try it."

Barreiro, who is 5-foot-2 1/2 and 103 pounds, began wrestling as a sophomore
last year on the JV team, and has become a team leader.

"From the first day, she's accepted that she'd be treated like just one of
the guys and would be expected to do everything the guys do," Agresti said.

"She's done everything asked, and has worked as hard as anybody, if not
harder. She leads by example, and does not use any kind of handicap."

Barreiro was 4-5 last season, including a 1-2 mark in varsity competition
after filling in for a wrestler who was ill during a Christmas tournament.
She wrestled over
the summer for the Lantana Wrestling Club, and went 2-1 this season in JV
competition.

"She took second in a tournament, but really, our JV's haven't had much mat
time," Agresti said. "We don't wrestle too many dual matches, so she hasn't
had much
chance to wrestle."

But Agresti hopes that will change next season. "I can't predict next year,
but my plans are to give her a chance to wrestle varsity and be my starting
3-pounder," he
said. "We're rebuilding since we're a senior team this year, but I have a
freshman (Danny Pollitt) who's done wonders this year for me at 3 as a JV.

"They wrestle well as practice partners, and my plans are basically for him
to grow to 12 (112 pounds) and her to stay at 3, which I think she realizes
she can be
more competitive at. That's our team plan, and she knows it."

She also knows it won't be easy. "It's a big step," she said. "It's going to
be a lot harder and more intense if I do get to wrestle there next year."

Barreiro has never felt any pressure in being one of the few female
wrestlers in the county, and she doesn't expect that to change if she
wrestles varsity. "I haven't had
to wrestle a girl yet," she said. "All my friends are guys anyway, so it's
really nothing big.

"I feel more pressure when I have to wrestle varsity for coach - there's
more pressure there on you because you're pulling for your team."

Barreiro hopes to wrestle club again this summer before returning to
Santaluces for her senior year and a shot at the varsity team. "I'm going to
keep trying and see if I get better," she said.

"Wrestling is fun. It's not the same thing every day. Like when you run
track, you're always running in a circle. With wrestling, you get to do a
lot of different stuff,
and you learn so much. There's so much you can do with the sport."

-----------------------------------------

Counterpoint: The fatal flaw in Title IX

Burton J. Ewing

Published Saturday, February 26, 2000

Doug Grow's Feb. 21 Star Tribune column totally missed the mark in his assessment of wrestling coach J Robinson's position regarding Title IX.

First, let me digress and explain that I'm not: 1) acquainted with Robinson, 2) a dyed-in-the-wool wrestling fan or 3) antagonistic to women or their participation in sports. On the contrary, I've raised three daughters and three sons. I've female and male grandkids as well. I'm as interested in the rights of women as I am in the rights of men.

When I was in high school, the athletic girls in my class had zero opportunities to participate in interscholastic sports. That was wrong. I'm delighted by the dramatic changes that have come about because of Title IX.

While very pleased at the positive changes, I've been aware for some time of a serious flaw in how the worthy Title IX goals are being achieved. I've not taken part in Coach Robinson's efforts to change how Title IX is being mechanized, but I do believe that he and I have independently reached essentially identical positions on this matter.

Grow criticizes Robinson unfairly for an alleged desire to "charge into the past." Regarding many of the political and social issues of the day, I very often agree with what Grow has written, so it isn't that I lack respect for him. However, on this occasion, it seems that Grow's research and thinking weren't sufficiently thorough to permit him to "get it."

Coach Robinson primarily objects to the quota/ratio system being used to enforce Title IX's intended positive changes for women. The negative impact of this system is that it reduces opportunities for male athletes involved in so-called minor sports.

Football, of course, is the reason that the current approach fails some male athletes. While the basic idea that as many women should be allowed to compete as men is just fine, it really only works if you're dealing with the two genders' participation in a given sport. For example, there should be just as many opportunities for women to compete in track and field as there are for their male counterparts. Ditto for basketball, or hockey, or any other sports where both genders field teams.

Where it breaks down is those situations where only one gender is involved in the sport. There is no men's intercollegiate volleyball team. The women shouldn't have to worry about the numbers of people involved in volleyball when it comes to any political or financial resource struggles within the Athletic Department. Of course, they're not worried about this, since they've still fewer total athletes than the men have.

The reason there are more male athletes is simply the huge numbers of people involved in football. There is, for the moment, no comparable women's sport that involves such massive numbers. When one lumps participation numbers for all of the sports for each gender together and then compares totals, the number of males is larger than the number of females.

The arbitrary attempt to make the numbers equal (or at least in ratio to the proportions of the genders in the overall student population) has the effect of killing off some of the minor sports for men.

Since football is still one of the big moneymaking sports, no foreseeable curtailment of numbers is likely in football. Thus, if (as under the current scheme) the Men's Athletic Department must work to achieve ratio parity, it must cut participation in some of the other men's sports, or simply cut the sports completely.

This is patently unfair to the men involved in such sports. Coach Robinson points out that the number of collegiate wrestling programs has fallen dramatically. I believe that the change in men's gymnastics is even more pronounced.

Even in the big-revenue sports, it's much tougher for a young man to "walk on" than in the past, since nonscholarship athletes are included in the totals. It's easier for female athletes to walk on, since they're not looking down the barrel of the Title IX ratio gun.

I'm very doubtful that this is what the authors of Title IX intended. If we don't change how Title IX is being enforced, more of the same damage will occur. None of this is necessary. Wise and honorable leaders should be able to create and maintain a level playing field that lets all of our daughters and sons have chances to compete.

None of this should be about who runs fastest, jumps highest, lifts most or puts the most people in the stands. It should simply be about doing the absolute best job we can of making it possible for our young people to develop themselves to their fullest potentials. The harsh realities of athletic competition will weed out those who really can't compete for roster spots at a given level. We don't need politicians to further and arbitrarily limit opportunities.

-- Burton J. Ewing, New Brighton. Software engineer.