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Female wrestler shows her strength

From The Tahoma Times, MAPLE VALLEY, WA
By: Jazz Grant
February 04, 2000

She is an athlete, but not the typical soccer player, runner, or basketball player—she is a wrestler. Who is she, you ask? She is Alicia Feldman, a 103-pound wrestler for Tahoma High School.
Feldman made her wrestling debut at the high school varsity level on Friday, January 11, 2000. And quite a debut it was; she pinned her male opponent in the second round of the aggressive bout.
At the beginning of the year she was wrestling on the junior varsity team, but has since moved up. The tough competition of the other 103 pounder, sophomore Jason Kenway, has been filling in for a teammate at the next weight, opening up the opportunity for Feldman to show her toughness and talent.
“I was surprised at first… but now I think, ‘wow that’s cool,’” says junior Travis Cornelison, a Tahoma student. Others were surprised by Feldman’s choice to participate in a sport that has been primarily male dominated, including her new teammates. But like Cornelison, Feldman has gained many supporters.
“At first they didn’t know what to do. But two of the wrestlers started helping me out at practice by showing me moves and working with me. That encouraged the rest of the team to accept me, a girl wrestler,” Feldman states.
Some might wonder how Feldman gets a long with the wrestlers, who have a reputation of being somewhat unruly. “Things were awkward, but I fit in now. I hear the locker-room talk, [but] I get a long with all of them. I also hang out and talk to the managers, Katie Kennedy and Katie Seger. Katie Kennedy has been with me all the way.” Kennedy has been a manager since her seventh grade year when Feldman started wrestling.
While it takes courage to be the only female wrestler around, courage isn’t Feldman’s only asset—she has muscle and talent too. Feldman finds that there are actually advantages to being a female wrestler. Her gymnastic skills have carried over to wrestling, and have been useful. “Flexibility is a key asset. It helps me to get out of moves easier. I am stronger than most my opponents, too. Gymnastics has helped me with that,” she says. Since she signing up for weight room in the fall, she has been able to bench-press a maximum 215 lbs.
In the near future, Feldman has plans to do freestyle wrestling and maybe join a girl’s wrestling team. As far as her life plan goes, she wants to be a massage therapist.
Feldman started wrestling in the seventh grade when she switched over from gymnastics. She has been wrestling ever since under the head coaching of Mr. Russ Hayden and Mr. Jeff Brady.
When asked why she started wrestling she says, “Because it was something different. I like it because it’s not thought of normally as a girl sport.” That is why Alicia Feldman is becoming a familiar name—she is doing something that is out of the ordinary, and that takes guts.

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Should Girls Wrestle?
January 5th, 2000 - Dear guru, There was an announcement at school saying that any students wanting to wrestle should sign up. My girl friends thought it was a great idea, so they went ahead and signed up, but the coach crossed their names off. When the girls attended the meeting anyway, the coach screamed "LEAVE!" without so much as a reason why. Two of the girls then put a petition together saying they thought girls should be able to wrestle, and hundreds of people signed it. But the school board voted against girls' wrestling, and one of our teachers even said some of the moves would be uncomfortable for girls. I wish we could have done more. I thought that was a pretty sexist thing to do. What do you think?

During the course of her sports pioneering days, the guru has met many people who were opposed to women competing in athletics, particularly in sports like wrestling that have historically been considered "for men only." This coach seems especially behind the times. Hasn't he heard of intergender wrestling champ Andy Kaufman? Doesn't he know that girls' wrestling has enjoyed a groundswell of grassroots support in recent years with around 660 high schools fielding girls' or co-ed teams? Apparently not. In the guru's opinion, people like this coach who try to ignore this burgeoning interest in wrestling--or stop a girl from pursuing any athletic endeavor she chooses--are quite simply dopes. what do you think? tell the guru!let's hear it!
take the girls' wrestling poll! voice your opinion in the dig or dis!
Click here to go to page
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Girls' wrestling debate resurfaces as regular season begins

By Brandon Bartell
iHigh.com Student Correspondent

As many of us return to the mats this winter season and we look around at our teammates whose pain, happiness and often blood we will share, we notice something different. Throughout the room there are many girls.

This has been a huge debate in schools across the state as to the ethics and morality of a girl wrestling on a boys team. In my school alone, there have been some class periods where nothing more than this very subject has been discussed, though the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association has decided the legality of it for us. It is not the strengths nor weaknesses of girls that is really causing the controversy over girls wrestling. It is that throughout our lives, we have been taught the fundamental basics on appropriate and inappropriate touching. "This is where it is OK or not OK to touch." From birth these things have been drilled into our minds. Now, put girls on a wrestling mat with boys, and what is to be done? Many wrestling moves don't fall into the area of what we have been taught is appropriate touching.

Are we to say that under certain conditions it is OK to touch wherever necessary, but in others it is not? Are there now exceptions to the rule? Can we tell children that it is wrong to touch a girl somewhere during class, but as soon as school gets out and they step into the wrestling room, social standards stay outside the door? Imagine the confusion for the younger generation of wrestlers. Another point that makes one stop and think is the question of whether or not the social impact is all right on the boys. Socially, if they win a match, they lose; if they lose the match, they lose. In other words, if they lose they just got "beat by a girl" and will be made fun of indefinitely. If they win, they are no better off; they just "beat up" a girl. What happens to the wrestler whose morals forbid this type of behavior? They must forfeit.

This all leads to another point we have also been taught: it is wrong to hit girls. Once again, does this stop the second they enter the wrestling room? Many would say that wrestling isn't hitting, but those people must have never seen a cross face. Others would argue that in our great country, we have a thing called assumption of risk. If they want to get hit, let them. But that is not the point. What about the guys who are morally opposed to it? Punish them by giving them a loss?

I am writing not to condone or promote this issue. This is being written to give voice to some issues that are of concern to many. Maybe it will even help bring rise to such questions and the push for an all-girls wrestling team will receive momentum. I am not so ignorant as to believe that it is a simple black and white issue; I just challenge people to think about it for themselves and not say, "If WIAA says it is all right, then it must be." If hitting girls is advancement in the issue of equal rights, then I do not want to be a part of it.

Note: iHigh.com Student Correspondent Brandon Bartell, senior, is a varsity wrestler at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee, WA. Bartell was the 1999 wrestling champion in the 178-pound division, as well as an academic state champion the same year.

So what do you think? Should girls be allowed to wrestle with guys or does that send a mixed message? Send us your comments!

Read what others have to say about this issue:
"I think if girls want to wrestle, then they are going to have to put up with the touching in those areas because I know a lot of the moves are in the upper body in the chest area. I don't think it should be co-ed, but if there was a girls team there probably wouldn't be enough to do it. I know of a kid that had to wrestle a female last year and she was complaining about where his hands were during moves. I think it just comes with the sport of wrestling and if girls can't deal with it then they shouldn't be doing it."
--Patrick, Indiana


I just don't get this big fuss about coed this and coed that. If girls want to do what boys do or vice versa, let them. They're perfectly capable. The only thing is don't make a big fuss or complain about it - the boys OR the girls. The rules of the sport aren't going to change because a member of a different sex comes in.
--Sandy Hokanson

I have asked the question about girls wrestling in my mind over and over. At my school many girls have tried to wrestle, but all but one quit before the end of the season. I am all for equal rights, but girls should not be allowed to wrestle guys. If they want to wrestle, then make a girl wrestling team. It is an unfair advantage for a guy to wrestle a girl because of muscle, but it is also unfair for a guy to be scared where to put his hands. In the end, wrestling is a losing proposition for both sides.
--Nick Zuccarello

I wrestled for two years and supported the team for another two in my high school career. Personally I think coed wrestling is a bad idea. I once wrestled a girl that wanted to try out for the team. The whole time I had to watch wear I placed my hands, not only that but I didn't want to hurt her. In wrestling we get broken everything. From fingers, ankles and up to legs. My sophomore year I blew a kid's knee out. I don't know how I would take it if I knew I crippled a girl.
--Marcus Galindo

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What's a girl like you . . .

by Mark Kram 3/4/2000
Daily News Sports Writer

Quietly, the phenomenon has swept the country. While it has caused chagrin among some coaches, parents and others, high school wrestling has literally found itself steeped in a battle of the sexes. In keeping with the spirit of Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972 -- which prohibits sex discrimination among educational institutions that receive federal funding -- the absence of girls teams has led an increasing percentage of high schools to allow girls to wrestle with the boys.
How widespread is this phenomenon? The National Federation of State High School Associations indicated that 1,907 girls wrestled for high school teams in 26 states in 1997-98 -- which more than doubled the total from three years ago. However, Kent Bailo, the director of the United States Girls' Wrestling Association, argued that those statistics are "way, way, way low" and said that there are "easily 6,000 girls" on teams in 46 states. (Texas and Hawaii have separate girls leagues; Arkansas and Mississippi do not have organized wrestling.)

"Girls are pouring into the sport in droves," said Bailo, promoter of this month's second annual USGWA national championship in Lake Orion, Mich. "Girls have found that it is fun, and that it is excellent exercise."

The subject has become immensely controversial. Girls see it as a challenge that places them on equal footing with the opposite sex, but the boys tend to be fearful of touching them in the wrong places or hurting them. While no hard data exists on how potentially dangerous the sport is for girls -- if, indeed, it is -- Germantown Friends School acknowledged in a statement to the Daily News last month that "one of its female wrestlers was seriously injured in a recent match." The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the injury.

The statement said the girl "has undergone treatment, but we do not yet have a clear prognosis on her condition." A school spokesman added this week that "her condition continues to improve."

The school did not release the girl's name "in deference to the family" and had no additional comment.

Neither did the injured wrestler's father.

Scant agreement can be found among state and local athletic officials when it comes to coed wrestling: The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association does not prohibit it, but has "no rules which deal with the participation of boys and girls on the same athletic team . . . " In Philadelphia, the Public League allows it, but the Catholic League does not. Of the seven teams in the Friends League, only three allow it, including Germantown Friends.

On the next two pages, we take an in-depth look at girls wrestling boys at local high schools from both sides: the girls and their parents and the boys who oppose them.

Is this a good idea?

Choose a side.

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Grappling for equality

It's a big challenge for girls, and their parents

Overbrook wrestler Stephanie Curry (center) runs under the arms of her teammates before her match. (Daily News/Steven M. Falk)

by Mark Kram 3/4/2000
Daily News Sports Writer

Inside the noisy wrestling room at Central High School, Overbrook senior Stephanie Curry removed her hooded warmup suit behind her bench and prepared to square off against Henry Johnson. Once a cheerleader at Overbrook, Curry, at 119 pounds, summoned up her courage as a junior and came out for the boys wrestling team over the understandable concerns of her parents, who thought for sure Stephanie would come home at the end of practice covered with bruises. Grinning, Curry paused as she loosened up and observed: "I look at myself as a feminine tomboy."
Cheers erupted from the Overbrook bench as Curry strolled to the center of the mat. Even though she worked hard in the weight room to build herself up, Curry found that the boys she has faced have been stronger. She had gone 0-9 in her two-year career at Overbrook. Less concerned with winning and losing than with just participating in the sport, Curry has thought she would be far better today had she gotten an earlier start, had she not been told, "No, you're a girl" when she asked to come out for her middle school team.

Curry held out her hand for Johnson to shake.

Now, she crouched forward -- poised -- and told herself: "Keep your eyes on his belly, not his eyes. He can fake you with his eyes."

The referee blew his whistle.

Quickly, Curry found herself on the floor, her face jammed into the mat as Johnson lay on top of her. She spun her legs out and endeavored to wiggle free, but Johnson worked her shoulders in an effort to tip her over on her back. Curry tightened her arms in close to her body, but slowly -- forcefully -- Johnson turned her on her side and then her back. She struggled to roll over, but Johnson placed her head in the crook of his arm and drove her shoulders into the mat.

The referee peered in.

Then slapped his hand on the floor.

Curry was pinned.

In 1 minute, 50 seconds.

"He was really tough," a breathless Curry said as she toweled off on the sideline. "I thought I could hang in there, but, oh well. I'm proud of myself. Going up against the boys takes guts."
Word that a female wrestler at Germantown Friends was seriously injured has left her Philadelphia-area peers concerned but undeterred. To the 14 girls in the Philadelphia Public League and dozens of others on varsity and junior-varsity squads scattered through the region, the thought of going head-to-head with the opposite gender is less alarming than it is challenging. While it is generally agreed the boys are stronger physically -- especially in the higher weight classes -- the girls take pride in offsetting that strength advantage with skill. To Curry, Overbrook teammate Shirlee Gilliam and others, the whole idea of beating a boy carries with it not just personal satisfaction but social significance.

"Women can do whatever men can do in this world," said Gilliam, a junior who has beaten three boys this year (one by decision, two by forfeit) and who is a second-degree black belt in karate. "This is not the 1950s anymore. People have to realize: Women are equals."

Others are driven by less grandiose factors.

They just have fun.

"Doing this challenges every part of me," said Alecia Zameska, a junior at Central who came out for the team this year. "I feel it called to me. I told myself, 'Oh, God, I have to do this!' "

Central teammate Hannah Phillips echoed that.

"I just love it," she said. "It takes more of me than any other sport, and I just enjoy being on the team. I have always gotten along better with the guys."

Slinging them in a "butt drag" is something else altogether. While Phillips and others say that their teammates have come to appreciate their skills as athletes, it is not uncommon for adolescent boys, their coaches and even referees to become uneasy whenever competitors of the opposite sex step out on the mat. Girls have found that some teams or individual boys will not even compete, in part because of the presence of what some deem to be inappropriate contact between the sexes. Well aware of the controversy that surrounds coed wrestling, Maren Hill, a Central sophomore, contended she has found that "nothing I have run into so far has been even remotely sexual."

Agreed Curry: "Some of the guys are uneasy with it. Some of them were afraid that they would get [ sexually ] excited or that they would hurt me, but once we got there on the mat, I have always been treated like I was a boy. This is a competition."

One that is not always lopsided in the boys' favor. Some girls across the United States have done quite well against the boys -- especially at weight classes below 112 pounds. At Montesano (Wash.) High School, 101-pound junior Arielle Bradbury has a career record of 75-25 against the boys, of whom she observed: "Usually, they come up to me afterward and say: 'Wow, you can really wrestle.' "

Drawn to the sport because she found it "physically challenging" and because she considers herself an "independent person," Bradbury works out five days a week for 15 to 17 hours total, and offsets whatever advantage in strength she surrenders to the boys with quickness, flexibility and technique. Said Bradbury: "Strength is not the only factor."

But it can be a compelling one in the higher weight classes. Physiologically, wrestling experts say females possess a far greater percentage of body fat than males, who tend to add extra weight in the form of muscle. Consequently, Kent Bailo, director of the United States Girls' Wrestling Association, contended that the "likelihood of injury [ to the girl at higher weights ] is far greater." While the girls themselves conceded they are at a strength disadvantage, few are eager to adopt the "girl-against-girl competition" Bailo advocates; nor are they convinced wrestling against males places them in potential danger.

Gilliam grinned.

"I can take care of myself," she said. "I prefer wrestling the guys. Beating them is a bigger thrill. I remember I did wrestle a girl once. I had her pinned and she bit me!"
When Diane Beres found out her daughter, Hannah Phillips, had joined Central's wrestling squad, she did not know what to think. It thrilled her that Hannah had the spirit to "go for it," but a part of her recoiled at the idea.

"Part of me was scared that something is going to happen to her," Beres said. "I wondered if it was a good idea."

Is it? Beres concluded the pros far outweighed the cons.

"I totally support Hannah on this," she said. "I had no clue that she would be drawn to a sport as physical as this, but I feel this has done wonders for her self-esteem. She is far more self-assured than she has ever been."

Her ex-husband, Dr. Alex Phillips, also has found that to be true.

"Hannah comes home now and shows me her muscles," he said. "Initially, I suppose I was bothered by [ the body contact ] , but I attended a match and saw that it was well organized and observed. That eased some of the anxiety I had."

Even in an age when it is not uncommon to see females take on the opposite sex in football, hockey, baseball and even boxing, the thought of them squaring off on a wrestling mat with boys who are perhaps far stronger than them takes getting used to for some. Ever since Carl Flaxman at Central coached the first girl who wrestled in the Public League in the 1980s, girls have trickled into the sport with varying degrees of success. Flaxman has remained somewhat uneasy with the whole issue but leaves it to be sorted out by the parents, some of whom shudder at the thought of their daughters being tossed to the ground and groped by boys. When daughter Alicia came home and announced her plans to wrestle for Central, George Zemeska remembered how he was when he was a teenage boy.

"Had someone told me in high school that I could wrestle girls, I would have thought: 'Ohhhhhhhh, that sounds like fun,' " he said. "Of course I had reservations."

Alicia chuckled.

"That is just fatherly instinct," she said. "No dad wants to see his baby daughter even go out on dates."

Beres is equally protective of Hannah, but has no problem with the close contact.

"Whatever contact occurs is just part of the sport," she said. "From what I can see -- and I believe this -- the boys are more interested in asserting themselves than trying to cop a feel."

Whatever initial concerns some parents had, they soon disappeared once they thought it through. Zemeska and his wife, Diane, decided that it was a "positive thing to do," in part because, as George Zemeska observed, "it is not inappropriate for girls to learn skills that could end up protecting them at some point."

Phillips agreed. He even recommends it. He has encouraged Hannah and her sister to learn to defend themselves.

Contrary to how their daughters tend to feel, Zemeska and other parents agree with Bailo and would prefer the girls have a league of their own in which to compete. It sent a chill through some of them when word that a girl wrestling at Germantown Friends School had been seriously injured began circulating through the wrestling community. Central wrestler Maren Hill said that it was discussed at home, but that she and her parents decided "accidents can happen to anyone." Other parents concluded the same: It just as easily could have happened to a boy. Curry has discussed the potential dangers of wrestling with her mother, Audrey, who said, "She can take care of herself."

That is not to say the athletes do not come home with injuries. They do. Curry has come home with assorted "aches and pains." Hill and Bradbury say they each have separated a shoulder. Hannah Phillips bruised her nose. Her father saw it, winced and asked: "Are sure you want to do this?" She told him yes. He worried her braces would become loosened.

He laughed and said, "Just like with any idea, you have to get used to it."
Stephanie Curry would love to continue wrestling once she leaves Overbrook. She loves the sport -- and sports in general -- but only a handful of colleges have the sport for women. She said, "I would hate to stop now."

Odds are that in years to come, girls will not have to. Bailo said that he expects women to compete in the 2004 Olympics, and that when that happens, college and high schools will form leagues for female wrestlers. He added that girls who spend years developing themselves no longer will be at an unfair disadvantage once they get bigger.

Curry just came along too soon. She laughed and said, "I could always try football."

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Groping with the issue

For boys, coed wrestling hardly stuff of dreams

by Mark Kram
Daily News Sports Writer

Henry Johnson looked across the noisy wrestling room at Central High Schoool at opponent Stephanie Curry behind the Overbrook bench and told himself: "Go right after her." He reminded himself not to take her lightly, that girls can and have beaten boys and that the consequences can be steep. Guys who lose to girls in wrestling matches are teased endlessly. Stepping out of his warmup suit behind his bench, Johnson, at 119 pounds, dried the perspiration from his face with a towel and, as he carefully gathered himself, whispered under his breath: "Pretend she is just another opponent."
Calls of "Go get her, Henry" rose from the sparse crowd as Johnson strolled to the center of the mat. In his junior year at Central, Johnson, with a 12-7 record at that point, had faced two other girls during his career and beat them both. So "scared" in his first match against a female he could not bring himself to look her in the eye, Johnson has overcome that shy awkwardness and engaged girls with the same focused forcefulness that he exhibits against opponents of his own sex. While he is of the considered opinion girls would be better off "if they had a league of their own," he has come to appreciate how hard some of them work to compete and has come to look at them as athletic equals.

Johnson held out his hand for Curry to shake.

He crouched forward -- poised -- and told himself: "Go 100 percent."

The referee blew his whistle. Quickly, Johnson clutched Curry at the waist and drove her to the floor. Though by appearances he had expected her to possess comparable strength, he soon found he had a decided advantage. He tipped Curry on her side, then her back. Grabbing her in a headlock, Johnson then leaned on top of her with his full weight and -- inch by agonizing inch -- pressed her shoulders into the mat.

The referee peered in. Then slapped his hand on the floor. Johnson won by a pin. In 1 minute, 50 seconds.

"Going up against a girl is a no-win proposition," Johnson said with a polite smile. "If you lose, people say: 'How could you lose to a girl?' But if you win, people just say: 'So what? You beat a girl. You are supposed to do that.' "
Given the choice between squaring off against a girl and sitting through a dental exam, it appears clear the latter would be far preferable to a large percentage of male wrestlers in the Philadelphia area. Even to those who look at the issue as a question of fairness -- of affording equal opportunity for both genders -- the thought of going head-to-head with the opposite sex leaves them uneasy. Well apart from the ridicule that their peers are certain to heap on them if they lose -- and that happens -- boys tend to find the experience less of a Playboy fantasy that some would think.

Guys are stronger, they say.

Girls could get hurt, they say.

"My mom taught me to respect girls," said Richard Barnum, a 189-pound sophomore at Abraham Lincoln. "I just feel funny when it comes to some of the holds we have to do. We have one called the 'cradle,' where you have to go between the legs of your opponent to get the upper hand. Or going chest to chest with them. It bothers me."

He characterized it as "awkward."

Others did the same.

"It would feel awkward to me," said Matthew Weldon, a 171-pound junior at Central. "Because I would be scared that I would injure them, I feel I would start holding back some. Whenever I had to reach across her chest, I would feel strange. Girls are just more delicate."

Observed Brian Corbett, a 215-pound sophomore at Lincoln: "Slamming girls down on the floor is just not right."

How strongly does Corbett feel?

So strongly he would rather forfeit than face a female in a match. With teammates Barnum and Brian Kelly (189 pounds), Corbett approached coach Barry Bintliff and told him they would wrestle against girls only in the event their forfeit could cost their team a win. Otherwise, the three believe girls should wrestle in their own league. Kelly remembered that he once wrestled a girl and that it just "did not feel right to me."

"How can I explain?" he said. "It feels funny."

Corbett elaborated. "I just cannot get as physical with girls," he said. "I always think, 'What if someone were doing this to my sister?' I would not like it. I would hold back."

Corbett spoke of a teammate who was beaten by a girl -- and how it bothered the boy:

"He held back and he ended up losing because of it. He would have beaten her if he had gotten physical with her."

He paused and added, "I would only wrestle one if I had to."

Others laugh when they hear that.

"Guys who say that are just afraid of losing to a girl," said Andrew Pullar, a 152-pound senior from George Washington. "I have no problem with it. I figure if a girl beats me, she has to be good. I know guys joke around with it, then the girl comes out and beats them."

Has Pullar ever faced a girl?

He grinned. "Once," he replied. "I pinned her in 20 seconds."

Central wrestler Dave Christian has learned to take girls seriously as opponents. Up against teammate Maren Hill in the finals of a junior varsity tournament, the 103-pound sophomore led, 7-0, when he began to fatigue and got sloppy. Quickly, Hill narrowed the lead to 7-5 and could well have won but for the fact the clock expired. Christian no longer "underestimates" her. He added, "I used to take her lightly, but no more. She is no joke."

Would he have found it especially upsetting to lose to a girl?

Christian pondered that, then said, "I would have had no shame in losing to Maren."

Christian has come to fully accept Hill has a teammate. While he conceded that he found it "awkward inititally," he, teammate James Evans and others in Philadelphia's Public League profess to have no qualms with the presence of the opposite sex. Generally, their feeling is: If they come to practice and work just hard as we do, why not let them on the team?

Evans just shrugged. "Whatever they feel like doing is fine with me," he said. "If they can deal with it, I can deal with it."
Central coach Carl Flaxman helped bring the sport to Philadelphia back in the early 1970s. He has been at Central for 15 years, and before that, coached at Frankford and Roxborough. He has had females on his teams dating back to the 1980s, and this year has a fine one in Maren Hill, whom he characterized as having "lots of good skills and heart." He understands times have changed in the years he has coached, but not enough that he would allow his own daughther to wrestle against boys if the issue ever came up.

"Personally, I would not want her to do it," said Flaxman, seated in a classroom at Central one day after school. "I would be against it."

Because?

There was a long pause.

He chuckled.

His face reddened.

"Because," he finally said. "I do not particularly think this is a sport where girls can excel, and I am not sure if I am prepared to see them wrestling on the mat with boys. If other parents decide this is something they would like their daughter to do, fine. Personally, I would not be in favor of it."

Opposition to coed wrestling is strident. While few would argue girls should not be allowed to wrestle among themselves, head coaches and others in Philadelphia and elsewhere tend to agree with Flaxman: Few would allow their own daughters to wrestle against boys. Contrary to what John Barbis, former Haverford College and longtime area coach, contends -- that there is "significant parity" between the sexes in the lower weight classifications -- there is concern on the part of others that it can be just too dangerous for girls to go head-to-head with boys. Upset when he heard that a girl wrestler at Germantown Friends School had been seriously injured, Flaxman observed it was inevitable someone would ask: "Is it appropriate for girls to be wrestling with boys?"

Flaxman paused and added, "I think that is a legitimate question."

How do others feel?

Roger Reina, president-elect of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and head coach at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a carefully worded statement that "it appears appropriate that -- as in other sports -- men and women compete against like-genders." He would not elaborate.

Gary Hartranft, the scholastic director of that same organization, added that while coed wrestling has become "more accepted in school environments," he is against it.

Why?

He said he is from the "old school."

"I just have a problem with the physical, hands-on contact part of it," he said. "I find it hard to believe -- and I have been a coach for a long time -- that hands are not going to go into places where they are not supposed to go."

He chuckled and added, "Or however one chooses to phrase that."

Flaxman agreed that standard holds such as the "crotch ride" would appear to be "somewhat inappropriate." He added, "I feel fairly certain that in competitions, the boys are concerned strictly with winning. However, I am not so sure that is always the case when it comes to practices."

Close physical contact is just a deal-breaker for some. Public League wrestling commissioner Lou Moyerman said he would not allow his daughter to do it because of "roving hands." Fritz McGinness, associate director of the National Federation of State High School Associations and editor of the Wrestling Rule Book, said wrestling is just "a boys sport" and asked: "Would you like your daughter to be held in a figure-four head scissors? He added, 'Literally, boys have their hands all over them.' "

Kent Bailo laughed. Founder in 1998 of the United States Girls Wrestling Association, Bailo referred to this as "The Grope Factor" and tossed it off as "silly." He added, "Do boys touch girls in inappropriate places? Yes. Do boys touch boys in inappropriate places? Yes."

But appearances or even safety are not the only concerns opponents of coed wrestling bring up. It goes deeper than that. Some are concerned that losing to a girl could open up a boy to harsh ridicule and that it could leave him psychologically scarred. When Maren Hill beat a boy from Lincoln earlier this year, she remembered her guidance counselor told her: "Whatever ego that poor boy had has probably been destroyed." Pointing out what a "delicate age" the teen years are, Diane Beres -- whose daughter, Hannah Phillips, wrestles for Central -- observed that a boy in the throes of developing his own ego system is apt to find it unsettling "to be decked by a girl."

Lincoln coach Bintliff wondered if the boy would stop showing up for practice. "But he rolled with it," said Bintliff. "It was no big deal."

Bintliff did not know why the wrestler did not reply to an interview request by the Daily News.

He shrugged and said, "Maybe he is just embarrassed."
Henry Johnson says he has been "lucky." No girl ever has beaten him. He remembered a teammate two years ago who was beaten by one and he could see how it had upset him. He did not hear the end of it from his teammates for weeks. Johnson wondered how he would feel if it happened to him.

Quietly, he sat in the locker room at Central after pinning Curry and ate a soft pretzel. He said Curry was tough, and tried hard, but he was stronger. He could feel that as he positioned her for the pin. He said, "I just treated her like another opponent."

He chewed on his pretzel as teammates came in and out of the locker room and congratulated him: "Nice going, Henry," "Good job, Henry," and so on. Johnson grinned and nodded, well aware that he only did what he was supposed to do, that beating Stephanie Curry was not cause for overly deep personal satisfaction. "It would be good if they had their own league," Johnson said. "It would even things up."