|
|
News Page
By STEVE GREEN -- London Free Press
4/16/2000
The first thing Tara Rutherford did when she got home around 4 a.m. last Monday morning was wolf down a plate of cookies.
Having just returned from the Canadian juvenile (17-18) wrestling championships in Abbotsford, B.C., with a gold medal in the girls' 44-kilogram division, she'd earned them.
As well as anything else, the cookies symbolized the determination the 17-year-old Grade 11 student at Lucas demonstrated in dropping the three kilograms needed to get down to the division. A month earlier, she finished fifth in the 48.5-kilogram class at the Ontario high school championships in Woodstock.
"It's so hard to lose weight," she said. "Everyone was like, 'Want a chip? Have a chip.' But I had to cut out all junk food from my diet. And I ran so-o-o much."
It's been a long run for her all season, actually. She was originally ruled ineligible for high school competition after transferring from Montcalm for biology co-op courses, but she persevered. The possibility of not being able to compete in high school may have been a benefit, said the London Amateur Wrestling and Athletic Club member.
"I had a really long talk with my (club) coach (Mitch Dodd) and he said that if I couldn't wrestle high school, then I should try to be really well-prepared for nationals. So I set my expectations high. My goal was to win."
Mentally, Rutherford said, it was easier said than done.
"Last week I was thinking my placings at tournaments have been going downhill all year from where they were last year and I was afraid that was going to happen at nationals," said Rutherford, third at 46 kilograms last year in the cadet (15-16) division.
Rutherford pinned Laura Stellato of Brampton in the final after beating Vicki Sullivan of Guelph, OFSAA silver medallist at 42 kilograms, 2-0 in a semifinal that went three minutes longer than the normal six.
"The rules said you have to have three points on the board to win, so they made us wrestle another round and when neither one of us scored a point, they said to me, 'You win.'
"I just kept thinking, 'Don't tie up or she'll throw you.' "
In the final, Rutherford trailed Stellato 4-0 midway through the second round after Stellato scored on a pair of two-point fireman's carries. She went for a third but Rutherford was able to turn the tables.
"I knew it was coming because I heard her coach say, 'Try it again.' I knew I just had to wrestle like crazy," Rutherford said. "I had never wrestled 44 (kilograms) before and I knew Vicki and Laura were going to be tough to beat. But I wrestled at a tournament in Hagersville a couple of weeks ago and I tried some new moves and they worked, so that gave me some confidence."
Next season, Rutherford knows the bar will be raised, "especially at nationals. You have to keep your placing; you don't want anyone to steal it.
"But medalling at OFSAA is also a major goal."
Also at Abbotsford, Katie Patroch of the Amateur Wrestlers of London won silver in juvenile girls' 65 kilograms, Waleed Chehadi of LAWAC won silver in juvenile boys' 90 kilograms and Amin Chehadi of LAWAC was sixth in cadet boys' 95 kilograms.
The Sarnia Wrestling Club had four medallists. Stephanie Szmiett won gold in cadet girls' 43 kilograms, Adam Harada won silver in cadet boys' 52 kilograms, Ryan Huckle won silver in juvenile boys' 46 kilograms and Leslie Woolfinden won bronze in juvenile girls' 70 kilograms.
-----------------------------------------------------
CNN transscipt
CNN 3/9/00 1:52:17 AM
The face of high school wrestling is changing. The sport had been a
showcase of a male's strength and agility, a test of his manliness, but now,
females are competing against them. When i started here at lakewood back in
'82, there was no thought of female wrestlers coming in or females playing
any other sport. Six years ago, only 219 female wrestlers participated in
high school wrestling meets nationwide. During this last school year, this
number had grown to 1900. While many students support this integration,
tensions still surface. I wanted to be up for a new challenge, but my
parents aren't happy about me wrestling at all because they're still living
in the olden days where they don't think that it's appropriate for girls to
wrestle. They think it's unladylike for me to be wrestling guys, but i chose
to come out here and wrestle anyway. I was a little bit skeptic about going.
I thought about it a lot. I wanted to. I thought it would be really cool,
but i was pretty much afraid of going since it is male-dominated, and there
was going to be a lot of guys. Not only were the girls apprehensive, the
guys had to adjust as well. The male wrestlers, the boys... They have that
little ego in them that they can't lose to a girl. Despite these feelings,
most of the guys accept the girls as part of the team.
-----------------------------------
Gators find rahs in weight room Series: WEIGHTLIFTING
St. Petersburg Times; Mar 22, 2000
STEVE LEE;
Land O'Lakes cheerleaders discover that hoisting barbells helps their
appearance and routines.
Next fall, the Land O'Lakes cheerleading pyramid is sure to be sturdier than
ever. And the girls forming the human triangle likely will be stronger than
their predecessors.
A dozen cheerleaders are working on their muscles and toning their physiques
as part of the Land O'Lakes girls weightlifting team, which numbers a
school-record 24 members in its third season. In the sport's first two
seasons, the team rosters numbered 12 and 15 with only two cheerleaders.
This season, the cheerleaders have helped the Gators to two second- place
finishes in tri-meets and a victory over Wesley Chapel.
"They're real enthused about it," Land O'Lakes coach Vicky King said.
"They're young and they want to get better."
Cheerleading coach Kim Saavedra recommended weightlifting to the Land
O'Lakes cheerleaders, who agree that lifting weights can be beneficial for
their routines.
"She said it would be good for us. I have fun," said junior varsity
cheerleader Lauren Chaves, a freshman who has one victory in the 108-pound
class.
Chaves also is pleased with how weightlifting has affected her appearance.
"I feel buff. I feel strong," she said. "Everyone thinks I'm a little puny
and I get up (on the mat to clean-and-jerk) and people are like, 'Whoa!' "
It also helps to get some encouragement from schoolmates. Walking into the
weight room to pump iron after school Monday, Land O'Lakes running back
Godfrey Pestana chose to boost Katelyn Wojciek's confidence level.
"She's going to dominate Pasco County," Pestana blurted out as Wojciek
blushed.
A freshman on the varsity cheerleading squad, Wojciek has increased her
bench press by 20 pounds to 105 since the first day of practice in February.
"I couldn't lift anything. I lifted the bar," Wojciek said.
Freshman Brittany Austin, who at 5-foot-8 is the Gators' biggest lifter, has
a first- and second-place finish this season. Austin, who is not involved in
any other sport, said she joined the team "to keep in shape. I wanted to
build strength. I'm big, I'm just not strong."
One of the strongest Land O'Lakes lifters is Dana Kearney, who has played
football in the Pasco Police Athletic League and posted a 14- 13 record as a
freshman wrestler for Land O'Lakes' boys team.
"(Her teammates on the wrestling team) always say I don't have upper body
strength and this is building upper body strength," Kearney said.
Kearney and freshman Casie Poyssick, the second-leading scorer for the Land
O'Lakes girls soccer team, are the first ones at practice and the last ones
to leave, King said.
Mandy Stephens, who finished third in the 152 class at last year's SAC meet,
is in her third season, which makes her the most experienced Gator.
Stephens, who relishes the spotlight as a goalkeeper for the Land O'Lakes
soccer team, is attracted to weightlifting for the same reason.
"It's something you can do as an individual, but it's a team sport,"
Stephens said.
