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By Todd Hveem
March 17, 2000
Katy High (Katy, Texas) wrestler Krista Hartman was so disappointed after losing the state championship her sophomore year, she lost 10 pounds and vowed to never let it happen again.
Hartman, who picked up the sport after talking with her geography teacher, recently pinned Hereford High's
Rachel Adams to win the 138-pound state wrestling title and complete a perfect 18-0 junior season. Hartman, who was 15-3 as a sophomore, pinned all 18 of her opponents.
"It was quite a thrill for me,'' says Hartman of winning the state title. "I was second last year. I was told to wrestle up (in weight) last year for competition. This year, the amount of teams doubled so I had the competition (at 138).''
As a sophomore, Hartman finished second at 148 pounds to four-time state champion and reigning national champion Toni Adams of Amarillo Caprock. Hartman said that played a big part in her decision to wrestle at
138.
"She (Adams) had at least 12 pounds over me, plus she had the technique and experience,'' says Hartman. "That played into my mind. I knew she would be tough to beat.''
Hartman, who played volleyball and softball when she was growing up, says she found the sport of wrestling very intriguing.
"I thought it sounded interesting,'' says Hartman. "I didn't even know that girls’ wrestling really existed. When my geography teacher said he wished he could get some girls out for the sport, I jumped at the chance.''
Hartman's geography teacher also happened to be Katy head wrestling coach Tim Ripperger. This year, Ripperger had two state champions in boys’ winner Seth Bergman (160 pounds) and Hartman. He also watched Linse Meadows finish third at 128, Adam Wilson finish third at 189 and Arash Naghavi wind up sixth at 215.
"Our boys and girls train at the same time, but our girls only wrestle against each other,'' says Ripperger. "The girls do the exact same workout the boys do. It never changes.''
"I try as hard as I can to keep myself going at the pace the coach wants to go,'' says Hartman. "It is hard and challenging, but that is what I like about athletics.''
Hartman, who makes A's and B's, says she wants to attend Sam Houston State and major in forensic psychology.
"I have an uncle who is a police officer,'' says Hartman. "Throughout my life, he has always helped people in the community. I would like to follow in those same footsteps.''
Ripperger doesn’t have any doubt that Hartman will succeed in whatever endeavor she chooses.
"She is a very hard worker and she is very determined,'' says the coach. "She fulfilled her goal of becoming a state champion this year. But I am sure she has many more crowning achievements ahead of her.
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Girl wrestler wants school district's financial help
Associated Press 3/19/2000
KENOSHA, WIS. -- Mess with Marisa Banas, and she'll take you to the mat, slap a "three-quarter" on you, and pin you so fast you won't have time to cry "uncle."
The Bradford High School senior used the half-nelson-forced-somersault-like move on male opponents this past wrestling season -- her rookie debut as one of four girls on the otherwise all-male team.
Wrestling "gives me confidence, strength and it has taught me respect and discipline," she said. "I guess I just learned to work really, really hard at something -- not just the pins, but working hard to overcome obstacles."
On Tuesday, she and her coach, Jerril Grover, who also teaches art at Bradford and Columbus Elementary School, urged the Kenosha Unified School Board to pick up the tab for Banas to wrestle in the girls nationals March 24-26 in Lake Orion, Mich. The problem is that Unified officials say the district has never funded athletes competing outside Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association events. Unified Athletic Director Scott Lindgren said the funding decision has nothing to do with gender bias or the worthiness of the effort. But paying for athletes to compete in non-WIAA events "is completely out of the realm of what we do," he said.
Banas qualified for the nationals after taking the No. 1 spot in the 135-pound division March 11 in Middleton at the Wisconsin Girls State Wrestling Championships, the first such tournament in the state. Lindgren didn't know that Banas competed in the tournament or that it even existed until he read about her victory. Like the nationals, it was sponsored by the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association. Just under 100 wrestlers in the weight divisions competed at Middleton, according to Banas, who was voted co-captain of the co-ed Bradford team during the regular season. At Middleton, she won two of three matches, pinning opponents from Dodgeville, Wis., and Milwaukee before losing 7 to 2 to a competitor from St. Paul.
Wrestling only against male competition in the 130-pound division during the regular season, Banas posted an overall 8-10 record, including two pins. Now, Grover has Unified grappling with the question of whether to pay for transportation, food and lodging for the Orion Lake nationals. Some school board members appeared to be at least sympathetic, if not receptive to the idea. Cheryl Banas, Marisa's mother, says the family would pay the estimated $600 for Marisa, Grover wrestling teammate Tim Nelson. That would cover room, meals and entry fees, but not transportation.
"We're willing to pocket the whole expense for nationals, but coach Grover and Tim are doing it on their own time," Banas said.
Grover said money isn't the point. He said it would be all right for a private donor to come forward, but he thinks the district should find a way to cover the bills.
"Because, if something good happens, the district will get credit for it," he said. "When she brings back a victory, it will be for Unified."
He added: "I know they say money is tight. But they find money for negative things with students, like hiring detention supervisors. And she's doing something positive. If [Unified] wants something bad enough, they get it."
Said Nelson: "She started from scratch, and now she's in the nationals. Most people don't do that in a career. She was determined. She worked harder on the team than anybody else in the offseason. When she'd lose, she'd come up to me and ask, " 'What did I do wrong?' I'd tell her in practice, and she wouldn't do it again. Once she had something in her mind, she did it."
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Girls wrestle in national meet at Milan
Sunday, March 19, 2000
By BILL CZAJA
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER
MILAN - The shock stage of seeing a girl on a wrestling mat has passed, according to Mike Betts. Female wrestling is in a transitional stage, evolving into an independent sport.
Betts, the coach of both Milan and the Wolverine wrestling club, and the host coach at Saturday's Amateur Athletic Union girls' national meet, said a breakthrough may be coming by the Athens Olympics.
"(Wrestling coaches have) heard the year 2004 for an Olympic event. I'm not sure if it's going to be an actual Olympic event or an exhibition. ... European women have been wrestling for years."
Currently, three American colleges, Minnesota-Morris, Cumberland (Kent.) College and Missouri Valley College sponsor varsity programs, Betts said. Women's wrestling is a scholarship sport at Missouri Valley.
Betts added, since equipment is already in place at high schools for a boys' season, it would be simple for athletic directors to start girls' teams to play in the fall or spring.
Betts, one of the prime forces behind girls' wrestling in the state, hosted the AAU LaFemme Nationale at Milan High School. His event itself was a groundbreaker, the first time Greco-Roman wrestling has been performed at an all-female event, in addition to freestyle and folkstyle.
Folkstyle competition will be held when the meet resumes at 10 a.m. today .
Three of Betts' Wolverine wrestlers won titles Saturday, competing in age-based divisions and weight-based blocks. His daughter, Katrina Betts, won at Division 1, Block 4 in freestyle by using a reversal with 20 seconds left to beat Jessi Shirley of Gallon, Ohio, 5-4. Rebekka DeCola of Huron split two matches and tied for first at the division's second block. In Greco-Roman, Taylor Cooley of Milan pinned Sabrina Hargroves of Swartz Creek in 15 seconds.
Cooley, at 5 years old and 35 pounds, is Betts' youngest and smallest wrestler, but is a two-year Wolverine veteran. Her opponent is 3.
Betts' daughters, 17-year-old Katrina and 15-year-old Leanna, have been wrestling 11 and six years, respectively.
"I started at 6, and there were no other girls," Katrina Betts said. Due to the fairly limited number of athletes in the sport, Betts said, they maintain a tight fraternity.
Katrina Betts is the 112-pound starter at Milan and recorded the Big Reds' fastest pin this season. Leanna wrestles for the middle school.
"Most of the kids (Katrina's) wrestled, she's grown up with all them kids coming up through AAU," Mike Betts said. "She's had to use more technique. Her experience is responsible for the success she's had."
Leanna Betts finished second in a three-girl field at the Greco-Roman Division 4 Block 2 class. DeCola also finished second in her Greco-Roman class.
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For eight Sam Houston girls, getting to this weekend's national wrestling competition might be more than half the battle.
By Jesse Sanchez
Star-Telegram Staff Writer 3/20/2000
ARLINGTON -- Sam Houston wrestler Brandy Killingsworth said she's not taking a chance on missing the plane to the United States Girls Wrestling Association tournament in Michigan this year.
As the final passenger to board the plane to the Michigan tournament last year, Killingsworth said she has learned that she would rather ride in her grandparents' new car than be tormented by thoughts of running late to the airport again.
So Thursday morning, Killingsworth and her family take to the highway headed for Lake Orion, Mich., site of this weekend's competition. It's a year later and they are a year wiser -- they'll be prompt this time around.
Seven of Killingworth's Sam Houston teammates are flying to the tournament. They said they are aware of the obstacles they will face when they land. It's a knowledge they said they didn't have last year.
"The girls were way more aggressive in Michigan," said Killingsworth, who wrestles at 148 pounds. "I was surprised how physical they were. I'm better prepared and know what to expect now."
Brenda Malott, who finished 10th at 136 pounds at last year's tournament, agreed.
"It was definitely a wakeup call," Malott said. "We went up there thinking we were tough stuff and got pounded.
"This time, we'll wrestle smarter because we know we're going against girls who know their stuff."
The Texans have reason to be optimistic. The Sam Houston girls were state champions in 1999 and runners-up this year. Malott won her second consecutive state championship at 128 pounds and the girls had second-place finishes from Cathy Cotter at 110, Maria Garza at 165 and LaTosha Gillon at 215 at the state meet.
Joining Killingsworth in Michigan are Cotter, Malott, Glory Dalton (138 pounds), Racquel Reyes (145 pounds), Ember Brettmann (148 pounds), Garza and Gillon.
Last year, Killingsworth and Cotter posted sixth-place finishes at the national tournament while Brettmann finished 10th. Garza, Dalton and Gillon are making their first appearances at a national competition.
However, for first-time flyers Gillon and Dalton, the prospect of sailing across the clouds is far more frightening than any opponent staring across the mat.
"I'm not nervous about Michigan; it don't help to be nervous," Gillon said. "But flying? I'm scared of it plummeting to the ground. What if the engine stalls or something?"
Dalton said she's not quite as paranoid as Gillon, but terrified, nonetheless.
"I'm scared, but it's going to be exciting," Dalton said. "Competing will be more exciting than flying, though."
Texans coach Roy Shultz is also making the trip. Although he is not allowed to coach the team because the girls are not representing Sam Houston High School, he feels his presence in the stands will give them confidence. He also said the Texans don't need as much coaching at this point of the season.
"They've seen it all," Shultz said of his wrestlers. "If we go up there and get spanked, then obviously we're not doing something right.
"But I don't think that will happen."
