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Girls wrestling pioneer excels at college level
THE FORT WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM
February 25, 1999, Thursday
Amy Bennett turns 21 tomorrow. She's not celebrating
with a big
party with all of her friends or by dancing the night
away at some
nightclub.
She'll be on a ship heading to the Persian Gulf to serve
more of
her six months at-sea obligation to the Merchant Marine
Academy in
Kings Point, N.Y.
But then, the former Arlington High student never was
the kind to
follow a normal path. She's worn high-top tennis shoes
with a formal
dress and even wore her grandfather's World War II
combat boots with
her prom queen dress, which had military camouflage
netting as part
of the decoration.
And she was a pioneer when it came to girls high school
wrestling
in Texas.
In 1996, she was scheduled to face Sam Houston's Melony
Monahan
for the girls state wrestling championship. But the
Texas
Interscholastic Wrestling Association decided not to
stage a girls
championship tournament, and the two were not even going
to be
allowed to put on an exhibition match.
With the help of their mothers and several others,
Bennett and
Monahan turned the tables on the TIWA. They brought the
controversy
into the public eye and the exhibition did take place.
Bennett, now a junior in college, likes to think that
the fight
she put up in 1996 helped pave the way for girls
wrestling being
sanctioned by the University Interscholastic League.
The first UIL
state wrestling tournament starts tomorrow.
"I think it opened a lot of eyes and made people realize
we were
serious," Amy said. "It made a lot of people mad, but
it also raised
a lot of support. "
Bennett was the only girl to wrestle at Arlington High.
She's now
the only woman to wrestle on the team at the Academy.
She said
wrestling guys makes her better, and it seems to be
working. She was
fifth last season at college nationals and recently was
invited to
try out for the USA Team and train at the Olympic
Training Center in
Colorado Springs, Colo.
She cannot accept the offer now for two reasons. She is
heading
out to sea and she is letting her knee recover from an
injury.
But she hasn't ruled out coming back from the Persian
Gulf early
and trying out.
"I'm going to find out more details and if I can, I'll
call the
captain about coming back early," Bennett said. "Don't
be surprised
if I'm there. "
We won't be, Amy. We won't be.
--------------------------------------
Girl's dreams of wrestling pinned to mat
The Deseret News
(Salt Lake City, UT)
November 20,
1997, Thursday
As Michelle Chaston entered her senior year at Hunter
High School, she looked forward to earning a letter in wrestling.
On Tuesday night, plans changed.
The Granite District Board of Education voted to
prohibit girls from wrestling on high school or junior high teams, citing
concerns about
potential litigation from sexual harassment complaints.
"To allow girls and boys to wrestle one another or a
male coach to teach girls the art of wrestling, the chances for sexual
harassment are
overwhelming.
I'm not willing to put the Granite District budget or
state risk management in jeopardy for those kinds of lawsuits," said school
board
President Lynn Davidson.
Davidson said the federal law permits school boards to
prohibit girls from participating in contact sports. The federal Title IX
considers
wrestling a contact sport.
Sporting a black eye suffered in wrestling practice, the
17-year-old said Wednesday the bruise was incidental compared to her
emotional
wounds over the school board ruling.
"I'm just kind of hurt right now. I've done it for two
years. It's kind of like a second family to me, and now I can't be a part of
it all," she
said.
Her own family is assessing its options, which include
asking the school board to reconsider its action. "I want to change it if I
can. I don't
think it's going to happen this year," she said.
If something is to happen, it has to happen quickly.
High school wrestling practices are under way. Interscholastic matches begin
next
week.
Although she's never won a match, Chaston said she
enjoys the challenge of the sport, trying out as a sophomore because she
wanted to
try it.
Her father, uncles and a younger sister have wrestled
competitively.
She has lifted weights to build strength and worked out
to increase her endurance.
"It's improved my confidence in everything," she said.
Hunter High wrestling coach Craig Stauffer said
Chaston's skills had improved considerably over the past three years.
"I feel really bad for Michelle. She's roughed it
through, been beat up a bunch and she really wants to get better. It's
really unfair for her,
especially since there isn't an opportunity for her to
wrestle with other girls," Stauffer said.
Taylorsville High wrestling coach Mark Campbell,
president-elect of Utah's high school wrestling coaches association, said
women's
wrestling is a growing sport. Michigan conducts a state
tournament for girl wrestlers.
"It's a tough situation when you have a girl that
wrestles. There's obviously a lot of pressure for a guy to win; there's a
lot of peer
pressure on him.
"The way our society is, it doesn't deem a female should
be in a full-contact sport with a male. I agree it would be nice if girls
just wrestled
girls."
The school board also rejected a proposal to establish a
girls-only wrestling program in junior high because of a relatively low
level of
interest. About 13 girls had completed participation
forms, a district spokeswoman said.
The district will conduct a survey within 30 days to
determine what sport will be offered to junior high girls so they have an
equal number
of sports as boys.
"We're trying to determine what sport would reach the
most number of kids," Davidson said. Soccer and softball are two options, he
said.
Davidson said he regretted the district did not address
the issue before the start of the wrestling season.
"It was heartbreaking. We had a couple girls in tears
because they really wanted to wrestle."
Chaston said the school board decision has caused her to
second-guess a decision to question a Utah High School Activities
Association
policy. It requires female wrestlers to forfeit matches
to males who don't want to wrestle them.
"Now I feel like because I spoke up, I got a worse
punishment," she said.
She questions concerns about sexual harassment because
male wrestlers could make similar charges against male competitors.
"When you go into wrestling, that's something you
understand can happen," she said. "Some guys will do things to win. It
doesn't matter if
you're male or female. I don't understand why they'll
accept a guy doing those same things to a guy."
: April 3, 1998
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AISD equalizes wrestling opportunities
THE FORT WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM
November 3, 1997, Monday
ARLINGTON - If girls wrestling doesn't grow in
Arlington, it won't
be because the school district and coaches didn't try.
The season kicked off Saturday with a scrimmage between
Arlington
and Bowie, but unlike years past, the Arlington school
district has
set aside separate funding for girls wrestling in the
district.
Whatever funds boys wrestling receives, so will the
girls, athletic
director James Hyden said.
"We're going to pay for the same things we pay for the
boys,"
Hyden said. "We're going to fund their uniforms, their
entry fees for
tournaments, travel and referees.
"If it sounds a lot like Title IX, that's what this is.
"
The increased number of female wrestlers in the area
justify the
move. Last season there were only 15 girls wrestling in
the five
District 8-5A schools in Arlington. This season there
are at least 33
female wrestlers in Arlington.
Lamar has no female wrestlers, but Arlington coach Henry
Harmoney
said he has eight female wrestlers, Martin coach Tony
Warren said he
has seven, Sam Houston coach Nick Purler said he has 10
and Bowie
coach David Mudgett said he has eight.
Each coach said the numbers fluctuate - some girls quit
because
they find out wrestling is harder than they thought and
some don't
attend on a regular basis. But Harmoney said he has the
same problems
with males.
"It's a tough sport," Harmoney said. "When you get guys
to come
out, you get 30 to 40. You always lose five to 10 and
you don't
notice it.
"With girls, you lose one or two and you notice it. "
Warren said the numbers could increase in a few weeks.
"One thing I think might make a change is cuts on
basketball
teams," Warren said. "Wrestling is an opportunity for
girls to earn a
varsity letter. "
Arlington female wrestler Darcy Roman said she is not
surprised at
the increase. Roman, a junior, believes girls are more
interested in
wrestling now that they know they will be wrestling only
females at
meets.
The Texas Interscholastic Wrestling Association is in
its last
year of sanctioning schoolboy wrestling in Texas. The
University
Interscholastic League will begin sanctioning the sport
next season,
but TIWA already has incorporated UIL rules. Chief
among them - that
males will not wrestle females and that a separate
division for each
group be established.
All of this comes on the heels of last season's lawsuit
against
the TIWA by Sam Houston wrestler Melony Monahan and
Martin wrestler
Courtney Barnett. Both female wrestlers had a lawsuit
filed against
TIWA seeking an injunction and $ 20,000 in damages for
not allowing
high school girls to wrestle.
They lost the lawsuit, but the girls were eventually
allowed to
wrestle boys last season. This season, they will not.
"Parents approve," said Roman, who wrestled last season.
"When you
see girls wrestling girls, girls say, 'Cool. ' And
parents approve.
"I like girls wrestling girls. A lot of guys are
uncomfortable
wrestling girls. I don't want to make a guy
uncomfortable. "
Not that these girls couldn't hold their own. Mudgett
said some of
his female wrestlers are as tough as his male wrestlers.
"Four of them are the toughest girls I've ever seen,"
Mudgett
said. "We've got a good situation over here. We've got
good girls who
want to work hard and be winners.
"Anybody who wants to work as hard as my guys do, I'm
all for it.
If they're willing to do everything everybody else does,
that's fine. "
Numbers game
The number of girls participating in wrestling is up to
33
compared to last season's 15 participants. A school by
school
breakdown:
Lamar 0
Arlington 8
Martin 7
Sam Houston 10
Bowie 8
The first meet for Arlington schools is 9 a.m. Saturday
at Bowie
High School. Separate but equal AISD makes sure
female wrestlers
have same opportunities as males
November 7, 1997
------------------------------
Monahan to be hailed as pioneer
THE FORT WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM
July 6, 1997, Sunday
They played before the government put teeth into
Title IX, before
gender equity became a household phrase. Before most
people even
noticed women's college sports.
What Lucy Harris, Carol Blazejowski, Nancy Lieberman,
Ann Meyers
and Lynette Woodard did on the basketball court in the
1970s and '80s
- along with countless others who played with them -
made the United
States realize that women could play, too.
Many years later, a 17-year-old girl in Arlington has
assumed
their mantle. Melony Monahan may be just a high school
senior, but
when it comes to getting what she wants, the 130-pound
state girls
wrestling champion is tenacious. And what she wants can
be boiled
down to three simple words: Let me compete.
"Do you remember how, after he won the Masters, Tiger
Woods kept
talking about Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder, the black
golfers who
came before him and gave him the chance to play? "
University of
Oklahoma wrestling benefactor Logan Wright asked.
"Well, 20 years
from now, the Tiger Woods of women's wrestling will
refer to Melony
as the one who helped get this all started. "
As women in high school and college athletics enjoy
opportunities
never dreamed of when Title IX became law in 1972,
Monahan is proof
that there is still a long way to go.
"In some places, there has been a lot of progress,"
Monahan said.
"But it's still not enough. I've talked to girls
everywhere who tell
me they want to wrestle but there's no place to do it. "
This year, there will be a place at Sam Houston High
because
Monahan, who also plays softball for the Texans and was
named drum
major of the school's marching band, has taken it upon
herself to
organize a girls wrestling team.
"I recruited a bunch of girls," she said. "And
Arlington might
have a team, too. I don't think it'll be like last
year, when I'd
wrestle the same girls over and over. This year there
should be a
little more variety, and we'll see if we can travel to
more
tournaments. "
Just getting on the mat was a struggle last season.
Monahan
battled the Texas Interscholastic Wrestling Association
all year in
an attempt to join Sam Houston's male wrestlers,
becoming the only
girl to wrestle a boy in a sanctioned match in Texas.
U.S. District
Court Judge A. Joe Fish stopped that, ruling the TIWA
could bar her
from competing. But the pressure was enough to create a
girls state
tournament, in which Monahan won the 130-pound division.
"I don't like to be told I can't do something," she
said.
But that's not the end of her legacy. Indeed, Monahan
has bigger
dreams. She has not been recruited by colleges to
wrestle because
women's wrestling is not an NCAA-sanctioned sport. So
Monahan figures
she'll try to change that, too.
With the help of Wright, a retired Oklahoma psychology
professor
who heads a foundation that funds OU's freestyle
wrestling program,
Monahan may very well get her chance. Wright said he
will either help
Monahan join the currently all-male freestyle team,
which is not
required to operate under NCAA rules, or he will help
her start
women's wrestling as a collegiate club sport with the
intention of
eventually convincing the NCAA to add it as a varsity
sport.
"I think that's going to happen," Wright said. "There
is already
preliminary work being done to add women's wrestling to
the 2004
Olympics. America has a women's world champion in Trish
Saunders. One
of these days, the NCAA is going to get the message. "
And when it does, Melony Monahan will be a big part of
the reason.
August 28, 1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Girls wrestling? It's not a dead issue to state
education officials
THE FORT WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM
February 9, 1997, Sunday
So you thought the girls wrestling controversy was
dying?
So did I.
Well, it's not.
With the University Interscholastic League on the verge
of
sanctioning wrestling, state education officials are
taking off the
gloves and taking their shots at girls vs. boys
wrestling.
Champions for the rights of girls to wrestle boys might
still win,
but members of the state board are going to put up a
fight.
"They'd be grabbing and groping at invitational meets,"
board
member Will Davis of Austin told The Associated Press
yesterday.
Oh, no. Do we have to go through this mess again?
Please, not another man who thinks that girls and boys
are going
to be more concerned with close contact than with
winning a match.
Davis and other board members are concerned over the
possibility
of what may transpire when girls and boys wrestle
against each other.
And this is an issue they are tackling before giving the
UIL
approval to sanction wrestling - usually a formality.
Board members have focused on the wrestling issue
because of the
controversy that began in Arlington last fall when about
a dozen
girls signed up for wrestling teams.
The Texas Interscholastic Wrestling Association, which
currently
sanctions the sport, does not allow girls to wrestle
against boys.
The American Civil Liberties Union later filed suit
against TIWA and
the Texas Wrestling Officials Association on behalf of
two parents of
Arlington high school female wrestlers.
A federal district court judge refused to grant an
injunction, but
the ACLU is pursuing the case.
State education board members appear to approve of the
notion of
girls wrestling against girls and of sanctioning
wrestling as a
sport, but they will fight any attempt to allow girls to
wrestle
against boys.
Even if they know they will lose.
"I do expect probably a lawsuit for equal access, but
I'm totally
against it. I think it's dangerous," board chairman
Jack Christie of
Houston said.
"The muscle structure is very different. The bone
structure is
different. And it's not safe. Girls should be
wrestling girls and
boys should be wrestling boys. "
Said board member Donna Ballard of The Woodlands: "If
any girls
want to have wrestling be their chosen sport, I think
that's
appropriate.
"I wish them well. However, I do not at any time think
that it's
appropriate for us to sanction or to oversee or to
endorse coed
wrestling, and I will be adamantly opposed to that. "
UIL policy director Bonnie Northcutt, however, knows the
reality
of the issue. Girls will probably win in a court battle
and, besides,
the school administrators apparently don't object.
"The concern of some schools that have contacted us is
that if we
prohibit that completely, in areas of the state where
there is a very
small number of girls wrestling, they will have no
practice
opportunities, and that's what an invitational meet
basically is, to
actually get ready for their district, regional and
state UIL
competition," Northcutt.
The UIL expects to begin sanctioning wrestling for the
1998-99
season. By then, we should also expect girls to get the
opportunity
to wrestle against boys.
