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The Virginian-Pilot
April 28, 1998,

With all due respect to the eight boys she competed against last season, the
toughest wrestling Stephanie Looney has done lately was with the decision of
over where she should spend the next four years. Should the Churchland senior take her
3.5 grade-point average to Old Dominion University? Or should she pack up her
headgear - not to mention a parka and ski gloves - and journey off to the
University of Minnesota-Norris, home of the only women's collegiate varsity wrestling
program in the country?

Given that all she knew about Minnesota was that it got cold up there, such
a choice might seem a no-brainer. But not for Looney, who grew up a
self-described tomboy and has spent two seasons as one of approximately 7,000 girls
nationally who wrestle for high school boys teams. Last season Looney went
2-0 against girls and 1-7 vs. boys in the 125- and 130-pound weight classes. And
according to Truckers coach Darin Bracy, she can fling headgear and mash
faces into the mat during practice with the best of them. Add to that the fact that Looney
dreams of developing her skills to where she can compete in the Olympics in 2004, when
women's wrestling will become a medal sport. Little wonder, then, that her
new motto is, ''Have singlet, will travel.'' ''I know I can get a great education at ODU,''
Looney said. ''And I know that the only reason I'm going to Minnesota is
because they have wrestling. But this is something I really want to do.'' She wants to do it
so badly that she agreed to join the Cougars without ever visiting the
school, or even Minnesota, for that matter. And without any scholarship
money, although she expects to receive financial aid that could cover up to half of the nearly $
14,000 yearly for out-of-state tuition. And without ever meeting coach Doug
Reese. And to think, this is a girl who gave up wrestling after experiencing the sobering
reality of getting worked over every day of her sophomore season. ''A real
slap in the face,'' she said. Now, however, she talks as if she were born to the sport. ''When
you're out there, it's just you, one-on-one,'' Looney said. ''Every match,
you have a chance to show just how much you've learned, a chance to show exactly what
you can do. That's why I want to keep doing it.'' Unfortunately for Looney, there
aren't a lot of places where she can keep doing it. According to USA
Wrestling, only about 15 universities offer women's wrestling as a club
sport. But only at Minnesota-Morris does it receive university funding andservices just like a
men's wrestling team. ''I guess you can say we've got the market cornered,''
said Reese, whose 4-year-old team competes against international squads and in USA
Wrestling events. ''But the sport's really growing among women. They seem to
be really falling in love with the sport.'' Looney discovered Minnesota-Morris in
typical '90s fashion - through the Internet. Assistant coach/Web surfer Mike
Carroll made the discovery and passed the information on to Looney, who promptly e-mailed
word of her interest to Reese. The Cougars' coach, who had never landed a
wrestler from Virginia, promptly put on the hard sell. He intensified his recruiting
pitch even more after Looney split four matches in the USA Wrestling Women's
National Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. A Cougars wrestler watched Looney and
returned to Minnesota with a glowing report. ''His interest and enthusiasm
was really a big thing,'' Looney said of Reese. ''He was showing a lot of interest to
someone he'd never seen wrestle.'' Before long, Looney was hooked on the
idea of heading north. In early April, she signed a letter-of-intent. ''I think she's really
going to enjoy it, although it's not exactly easy,'' Reese said. ''We train
as hard as any men's program. We'll have two-a-day practices. Compared to high school, this is a
whole different world.'' Looney's indoctrination into this world begins
Sept. 23. The following day, she turns 18. ''It's kind of scary,'' she said. ''I don't
know what the practices are like, and we travel a lot. . . . There are a lot
of adjustments. I'm curious about how I'll handle the whole thing.''

_________________________________________
Churchland's Stephanie Looney wrestled with her college choice until an
assistant coach found an equal-opportunity program at Minnesota-Morris on
the Internet.
Her goal: the 2004 Olympics.