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Taking on their male counterparts is only half the battle for these Klinger Middle School athletes. Breaking down the stereotypes is as important as pinning their opponents.
By DANIELLE DELFIN
Friday, February 4, 2000
Courier Times
Stepping onto the mat, the two wrestlers stare each other down, sizing up the competition.
For Keri Wells, 14, today's opponent is like all the rest - a boy she has to defeat. For her opponent, this is a new game - he's never wrestled a girl before.
In this match, Wells is up against Jeremy Konyves, a lean but scrappy wrestler. At first he seems to hang back, not knowing what to make of Wells, a 115-pound ball of energy.
Once they get into it, Konyves and Wells are all fight. Both athletes want to win. After a hard-fought match, Konyves prevails.
For Wells, being a girl in the male-dominated sport of wrestling has its own rewards.
She is one of three girls on the Klinger Middle School wrestling team. She and teammates Valerie Bunswick, 13, and Joanna Janiszewski, 15, took their passion for wrestling to the mats this season. They are among a handful of local girls who wrestle in the middle schools. All are eighth-graders.
Log College, Centennial's other middle school, has a girl wrestler on its team, and Bristol Township's Neil Armstrong Middle School also has a girl on the team, local coaches said.
"It's an awesome sport for girls," said Janiszewski, a 123-pound dynamo from Upper Southampton. "I'd like to see an all-girls team one day."
For now, she and her female teammates continue to take on their male opponents, breaking down stereotypes with each match they compete in.
Even though they work hard at practice, the girls have won just a few matches. They say they just want be treated like any other athlete, but they're reminded by their adversaries that they're different each time they wrestle.
"Whenever it's our turn to wrestle, the guys all make a weird face and look at us like 'I have to wrestle a girl,' " Janiszewski said, rolling her eyes. She said they also get the stares and giggles when they weigh in before a match.
"It's like they never saw a girl before," said Wells, of Warminster.
However, it doesn't take long for the boys to realize that these aren't just any girls - they're worthy opponents.
As Wells steps onto the mat for her match, the looks and the questions begin. In the stands a curious, and somewhat shocked, little boy points and asks his mom, "Is that a girl? She wrestles?"
"Yes, it's a girl," the mother says. And the other team, Bensalem's Shafer Middle School, also notices.
After the match, Konyves said he knew his pride was on the line.
"She wasn't as strong as some of the males, but she was hard to pin," he said. "I knew if I lost, my teammates would give me a hard time."
Despite that, he said wrestling has a place for girls.
"If they take it serious, then they should be allowed to play," he said, while taking some ribbing from his teammates about his match against Wells.
The Klinger girls take the sport seriously. Along with daily practices, they run, exercise and strength train. All are involved in other sports.
Wells, who won the first match she wrestled, said it was the "best feeling when you win." Her record this year is 4-4.
Janiszewski wasn't sure of her record but said she has won some of her matches. Bunswick, who wrestles at 100 pounds, won one match this year.
The girls said being one of the few in the league was exciting but challenging as well.
"It's tough, but it's all worth it when you've proven yourself to everyone," Wells said.
The first people who had to be convinced of the girls' athletic prowess were the Klinger wrestling coaches, Mike Dooley and Matt Mosser. They had one girl on their team last year and started this season with four, but one moved away.
"I was a little apprehensive at first, but from the first practice they made it clear that they wanted to work hard and be treated equal to the boys," Dooley said this week after his team wrapped up its season.
He said the girls excelled at the sport.
"They did phenomenal," Dooley said. "This core of girls goes out every time and fights hard every match. They were leaders on this team."
In fact, Wells is a co-captain and starter for the team. Their teammates have all been pulling for them, the girls said.
"All the guys have been really supportive and helped us learn a lot," Janiszewski said. "They even defend us sometimes when the guys on the other teams start up on us."
Team member Matt Mulherin, of Southampton, said the girls were a good addition.
"It doesn't bother me that they wrestle as long as they act like one of us," Mulherin said. "I'm kind of surprised that none of them quit."
Wells and Janiszewski said quitting was not in their plans. They both said they plan to try out for the wrestling team next year at William Tennent High School in Warminster. But Bunswick said she'll probably hang up her uniform.
"It was just something I wanted to try," she said. "You know, it hurts sometimes."
