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LAS VEGAS - Gender stereotypes took a beating last weekend at the U.S. National Wrestling Championships.

Never mind the many guys sporting bleached-blond hair.

On the same mats, side-by-side with men's matches, women wrestled women.

They muscled for pins, wiped bloody noses and continued their arm-twisting campaign for acceptance in a combat sport.

"It's still an uphill battle for a lot of girls, but it's changing rapidly," says Tricia Saunders, three-time women's world champ, nine-time U.S. titlist and mother of two.

About 2,000 U.S. girls participate in high school wrestling, up from 200 a decade ago. Though some high schools are starting girls teams, most compete against boys.

Minnesota-Morris has the only U.S. women's college team. It schedules women's club teams and Canadian colleges with women's teams.

However, in recent years national tournaments for young women have been created by USA Wrestling, the national governing body.

U.S. senior-level national championships for women started in 1990. World championships began in the late '80s.

USA Wrestling's hopes for the big move: women's wrestling in the 2004 Olympics.

"We're very optimistic," says Mike Duroe, national freestyle developmental coach.

At the Las Vegas Convention Center, Rachel Salazar, 15, of Concord, Calif., wore a Rosie the Riveter T-shirt with the slogan, "We Can Do It!"

Salazar, one of three girls on an otherwise male high school team, placed fourth in the 101.25-pound class.

"It would be cool to have women's wrestling in the Olympics," she says.

For the 33-year-old Saunders, 2004 is likely too far away.

"I'll be 38. You can never say never, but it's not something I envision," Saunders says.

Wrestling up a weight class this year at 112.25 pounds, she won 3-0 in overtime in the final against Malissa Sherwood of Rocklin, Calif.

Saunders' grandfather was a Big Ten champ at Michigan. Her father wrestled. Her two brothers wrestled. Her husband, Townsend Saunders, was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist.

As a kid in Ann Arbor, Mich., she figured she wasn't old enough to wrestle like her older brother. When her younger brother got wrestling shoes, she said, "Hey, wait a minute."

"She said, 'Dad, why can't I do it?'" says her father, Jim McNaughton. "There really wasn't a good answer for it."

She began competing at age 8.

"She just took it to all of us," says childhood friend and wrestling foe Zeke Jones, a 1991 world champion.

"She was a year older, and in physical maturity it seemed like she was five years older. That, combined with technical skill, made for domination."

When girls wrestle boys, it often prompts debate about sexuality and safety.

Another is whether boys are stigmatized if they lose to a girl.

No problem for Jones.

"Tricia was my friend. More than that, she never lost to anybody. So if I lost all the time to Tricia, I'd still have a box full of silver medals because she won the golds," he says.

The 8-year-old Saunders won regional and district tournaments but wasn't allowed to compete in the state tournament because she was a girl.

Her family filed suit. The ruling came too late for state, but she was advanced to nationals, where as a 45-pounder she was fourth in freestyle and second in Greco-Roman (no holds below the waist).

In junior high and high school, officials wouldn't let her compete. "I don't think my parents were up for another lawsuit. At 12, I retired and went into gymnastics," she says.

She returned to the mat 10 years later in 1989 after college.

Her brother, Andy, was wrestling at Arizona State. Jones was also there, and Bobby Douglas was the coach.

"Zeke and Bobby told me they had seen women wrestling at the World Championships," she says. "I said, 'I think I want to wrestle.'"

She's the only U.S. woman to win a world title. She sat out '97 after knee surgery and the birth of a child and won her third world title last year.

Sixty women competed at Las Vegas in six weight classes.

Kristie Stenglein, 20, of Albany, N.Y., won her fourth U.S. title at 165.25 pounds, the heaviest women's class.

At the finals, Stenglein's daughter, Kayla, 1, wore a mini, red wrestling uniform.

Stenglein, three-time world silver medalist, is a student at Hudson Valley Community College. "I was in the paper. One of my teachers saw it and announced it to my class," she says. "The whole class flipped out. 'You wrestle?'"

Angela Hesener, a 101.25-pounder from Bethlehem, Pa., has encountered wisecracks when she says she wrestles.

"'In mud or pudding?' That's the kind of questions we get," she says. "But it's a lot better than it used to be."

As a high school junior in Cleveland, Tina George was keeping the stats at a wrestling match when she saw a girl wrestling for the visitors.

She tried it as a senior, went on to wrestle at Minnesota-Morris and now is a 123.5-pounder with chiseled muscles.

"I'm only 5-foot. Sometimes people say, 'You're too short to be a wrestler.' Sometimes, older people say, 'That's not ladylike, not feminine," she says.

In the finals, George lost 2-1 in overtime to Stephanie Murata of Boca Raton, Fla., a four-time U.S. champ.

"Part of the reason I enjoy wrestling is it's so difficult," Murata says. "All the time and training we spend can effect you in a positive way.

"Not having that extra piece of bread, going the extra mile. That translates directly into life."

That's what you hear from the men, but there are differences.

"The women aren't as strong in the neck and shoulder areas," says Duroe, who's coached three women's world teams.

"Sometimes you see more moves up on the shoulder area that women use to score, where a guy can fight that."

But women have an edge.

"Some techniques guys use don't work on women because of their flexibility," Duroe says. "You can have their hips turned all the way over, but their chests are still on the mat."

Female wrestlers also cut weight. "But I think there's less of it in the women's division," says Joe Corso, who coached the last U.S. team at Worlds.

One factor: fewer weight classes, six for women compared to eight for men. But Corso says: "It seems to me women are smarter about it. They taper off."

Watching the women, you see matches delayed while they pull back their hair.

By rule, they must wear it pulled back. The refs, typically men, check it before matches.

"But refs don't know anything about ponytail technology," Saunders says.

And scrunchies come loose in the heat of battle.

Only a few wear headgear. You don't see women with the noticeable cauliflower ears like many men. But a few have a touch. "They'll probably wear their hair long," Saunders says.

Women also wear higher-cut singlets (the wrestling garb).

Some, like Saunders, have that same muscular wrestler's look in the arms and shoulders. They've got guns.

"Our top women are training now similar to the guys just in terms of intensity, strength training," Duroe says.

At Minnesota-Morris, Doug Reese coaches the men's and women's teams. He started the women's team in 1995 when the school was looking to add women's programs.

His pitch: "It was a lot cheaper to start women's wrestling. The facilities, the coaches were all there."

Reese hopes adding college women's programs will help achieve gender equity, a sore point in the wrestling community, where many college men's programs have been cut.

Duroe of USA Wrestling says: "It's certainly not our primary objective to try to stop men's programs from being dropped by adding women's. But we hope that as a result of starting women's programs, we increase interest in wrestling."

At first, at Minnesota-Morris, the teams practiced in the same room at the same time. But for two years, Reese split them.

"There wasn't respect between the programs," he says. "Guys who had been in the sport for years thought it was a joke that a girl could wrestle a couple of years and make the national team."

But they're back together.

"We're at the point where there is high regard and respect because of the technical skills the women have and what they've achieved," Reese says.

Trials are in June for the World Championships on Sept.10-12 in Sweden.

The top three at the trials qualify for training stipends from USA Wrestling. It's $900 a month for the trials winner, same as for men. But women don't get free room and board at the USA Wrestling training center.

The USA has placed third in the world three years in a row. Last year, Russia won the team title. Japan won eight of nine years before that.

Townsend Saunders, who coaches his wife at Worlds, knows she probably won't get an Olympic shot.

"We're at the point where all of her hard work has come to pay off for girls in the future," he says. "It would be nice if she could participate. But that's all right. I think she's happy to make a difference in a lot of people's lives."

Their daughter Tassia, 4, and son Townsend, 21 months, wrestle each other. "The little boy is taking some lumps," Tricia says.

She favors separate wrestling programs for boys and girls.

"Mostly, girls can only compete at the lower weight classes with guys who haven't hit puberty yet," she says.

But if her children wrestle, her first hope is equal opportunity: "Hopefully, they're not going to have doors shut in their faces like I had as a kid."

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Girl wrestler tries to become one of the guys for Cougars

Jana Rapetti Cougar Connection Staff

Isabell Morello, a student at El Dorado High School, spent a portion of this season on the El Dorado High School wrestling team.

Morello began wrestling in the fifth grade. Her older brothers and cousins played football and she would often work out with them. "My friends Tawnya Rojos and Alicia Linnenbrink were the two that got me started," Morello recalled.

"Wrestling has always been my love," Morello says. However, Morello did not wrestle her freshman or sophomore years because, "there were some coaches who didn't approve of me wrestling." This year, Morello wrestled in the 170 division and was on JV. At one tournament she was bumped up to varsity, but was unable to compete because none of her opponents were in her weight division.

Morello is off the team since early January for reasons she declined to discuss but indicated that it may not be permanent. According to Morello, however, she is, "officially off (the team) right now."

"I really liked Isabell's attitude," Coach Trent Williams said, "She showed up, she worked hard, she was a pleasure to coach, (and) she was a good person to have on the team."

Her teammates seemed to agree. Eric Ciampa, who wrestled with Morello, commented that he, "didn't know how she was going to react." Teammate Robert Gutierrez said that at first "it felt weird having a girl on the team (but) later on we considered her a team mate."

"I think I've done pretty good for being the only girl on the team," stated Morello, but "the guys on varsity are gorillas compared to me!" Morello believes there are at most 3 girls on other wrestling teams but in most cases there are none. When it came to being the only girl, Morello said, "it's kind of fun! I get my own locker room."

Because of her passion to wrestle, Morello plans to compete again her senior year and hopes to join the Navy following graduation. Morello is also considering coaching in the future.

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University of Wisconsin Breaks Promise to Allow Female Wrestler to Participate Fully in Men's Wrestling Program

TLPJ and Lawton & Cates, S.C., Threaten Suit Unless School Keeps Its Word
For Immediate Release: October 7, 1999
For More Information Contact: Theresa Henige, TLPJ, 202-797-8600

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) announced today that it would sue the University of Wisconsin (Madison) next week unless the school keeps its word to a world-class female wrestler who enrolled at the University only after being promised that she would be allowed to participate in the school's previously all-male intercollegiate wrestling program. Jennifer Wong, a freshman at the University and a member of the U.S. junior women's world team, enrolled at the University based on the promise that she would be allowed to participate on the men's wrestling team. A few weeks before enrollment, and after Ms. Wong had declined offers of admission from other interested schools, the University broke its word.

First, University officials said that women would not be allowed to participate in the intercollegiate wrestling program at all. Then, when Ms. Wong threatened legal action, the school changed its position, saying that it had decided to limit the size of the wrestling team and that Ms. Wong could try out, but would not be permitted to participate if she was not selected after the try-out period. TLPJ has informed the University that it will file suit on Ms. Wong's behalf next week unless the school keeps its word and allows Ms. Wong to participate, as all interested men were allowed to do until this year.

"We are willing to go to the mat to force the University of Wisconsin to keep its promise," said TLPJ's lead attorney Victor Arellano of Madison's Lawton & Cates. "The school's word should be its bond. The University should not discriminate and should allow Jennifer Wong to participate fully in the school's wrestling program – as it previously promised she could. "

Jennifer Wong is an 18-year-old wrestler who has won two national championships in women's wrestling and has wrestled as a member of the U.S. junior women's world team for the last two years. In a recent international competition, she finished sixth in the world among junior women wrestlers in her weight class. During her senior year of high school, she had a .500 record in varsity competition against boys.

Ms. Wong chose to attend the University of Wisconsin, in part, because school officials promised her that she would be permitted to participate in the men's wrestling program. (There is no women's wrestling team at the University.) In addition to Wisconsin, Ms. Wong was considering attending Northwestern University, where she also expected to participate in the men's wrestling program. Before accepting the University of Wisconsin's offer of admission, Ms. Wong met with the University's wrestling coach, who assured her that she would be permitted to join the team. Based on his representations, Ms. Wong turned down turned down her offer of admission from Northwestern University and accepted the offer of admission from the University of Wisconsin.

In late July, less than a month before the beginning of freshman orientation at the University of Wisconsin, Ms. Wong received a letter from the University stating – contrary to its prior representations – that she would not be permitted to participate in the wrestling program. In subsequent conversations with University officials, she was informed that the University had a policy against allowing female students to participate in the program. Then, after Ms. Wong threatened suit, the school said it had adopted a new policy placing limits – for the first time ever – on the size of the wrestling team. School officials said Ms. Wong could try out for the team but that she would not be permitted to participate if she was not selected to be a member of the team after the try-out period. Adding insult to injury, University officials said they were limiting the size of the wrestling team to try to bring the proportion of male athletes closer to the proportion of female athletes, in an effort to comply with Title IX. Obviously, that reasoning cannot justify the exclusion of Ms. Wong.

"The University's attempts to exclude women from its wrestling program and its treatment of Jennifer Wong, in particular, are patently unfair and illegal," said Anne Bloom, a Staff Attorney at Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. "We hope the University will reverse its decision and allow Jennifer Wong to continue to develop her abilities as one of the nation's top female wrestlers."

Ms. Wong and her mother contacted TLPJ because of its past successes in representing other female athletes with sex discrimination claims against West Point, Brown University and other schools. Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, including the 1996 decision invalidating Virginia Military Institute's males-only admissions policy, public educational institutions can only exclude females from programs if they have an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for doing so and the exclusion is "substantially related" to the achievement of an "important governmental objective." TLPJ believes that Ms. Wong's exclusion from the University's wrestling team cannot satisfy this test and that the school's promises to Ms. Wong were legally binding.

In addition to Arellano and Bloom, TLPJ's legal team included Bruce Davey of Lawton & Cates in Madison, Wisconsin and TLPJ Staff Attorney Leslie Brueckner.

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California wrestler becomes first female national champion in a co-ed bracket

California USA Wrestling's National News

July 3, 1997
WATERLOO, Iowa

Twelve-year-old Teresa Gordon-Dick of Redwood Valley, California, won the Greco-Roman gold medal Thursday in the 100-pound class of the 11- and 12-year-old division of the USA Wrestling Kids National Tournament. This makes her the first female national champion in a co-ed bracket. This is the first year that USA Wrestling has sponsored national championships for wrestlers younger than sixteen.

Teresa pinned four of her five boy opponents at the Waterloo, Iowa, event. Pin times were 53 seconds in the first round, 2:54 in the second, 46 seconds in the quarterfinals, and 47 seconds in the championship round. She won a 13-1 technical fall in the semifinals.

Teresa is the 1997 novice freestyle California state champion at 95 pounds in a co-ed bracket. She also took first place at 100 pounds in the Western Regionals novice freestyle competition in a co-ed bracket.

``I did this for fun, and it was really fun,'' she said. ``The nationals is a little bit harder and it's a bigger achievement than the other events

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Female Wrestlers Ignore Stereotypes and Hit the Mats

by Emily Gustafson
December 17, 1998

On a red mat in Blair's wrestling room, pairs of wrestlers circle each other, hunched over, lunging when the opportunity is right. "Let's get tough, this is where the men are made," yells one of the coaches.

But what about the women?
Two of the wrestlers on the mat are sophomore Jessica Woodlock and freshman Maryn Valdez, who both first joined the JV wrestling team this winter. Senior Renata Jandova also joined the JV team recently. These girls are among an increasing number who have ignored the stereotype that wrestling is only for males. They are three of the six girls who have been on the Blair wrestling team in the school's history, and of the approximately 25 girls who have ever wrestled in the county.

Montgomery County has no all-girl wrestling teams, so female wrestlers must join a traditionally male-dominated team. As the experiences of Woodlock and Valdez suggest, this is easier said than done.

One of the guys
"Before I started, the guys were totally against me joining. But now I'm part of the team," says Woodlock.

The girls say that now everyone on the team treats each other as equals. "The second you walk in the door [of the wrestling room], you're a guy," says Woodlock.

Woodlock and Valdez have found the coaches very accepting. "The coaches donÕt act like I'm any different [from the guys]. They're really supportive but they're not extra nice to us," says Woodlock.

Coach Jeff Levine says, "The girls joining the team is fine with me. For me as a coach, [the situation is] not different."

Junior co-captain Jeff Edelstein, who was at first uncomfortable about having girls on the team, changed his view after he saw how hard Woodlock and Valdez worked. Although Valdez recently broke her leg, he says she still attends practice and participates when she can. He believes that most males would not have done the same.

Edward Masood, Director of Aesthetics, Health and Physical Education for Montgomery County and past head wrestling coach at Blair, believes that the only time having a co-ed team may present a problem is if the girls are treated differently because they are girls. "As a coach, the only problem I would have had was if there were special exceptions made because of gender," he says.

Coaches must allow females to participate, according to Facts and Dates of American Sports 1988. A 1975 ruling by the federal government requires equal opportunity for participation in school sports, so if a school sponsors only one team in a sport, it must permit both sexes to participate.

For fitness and fun
Both Woodlock and Valdez joined the team primarily to stay in shape, not to be noticed. "I'm not one of those people who are trying to get attention. It wouldn't be worthwhile if you are just doing it for a statement," says Valdez, who intended only to wrestle during pre-season to get in shape. She decided, however, to continue for the entire season after all the effort she had put in. "I didn't do this much work to give up," says Valdez.

Both girls now participate not just for fitness, but because they enjoy wrestling. "Everyone struggles at practice, but [the work-outs] pay off," says Woodlock.

Close contact
Although wrestling is a contact sport, neither Woodlock nor Valdez find this aspect to be a problem. " When you're [wrestling], you totally forget that you're with a guy," says Valdez.

Valdez is accustomed to close but non-sexual contact with the opposite sex from her experience in ballet. "You're doing a sport and that's all it is," says Valdez.

Although senior co-captain Vincent Nguyen says he has few concerns about wrestling girls, he admits he is not quite sure how far is "too far" when wrestling with them. "The most awkward thing is that you don't know where to draw the line on what you can do physically," he says.

Edelstein says he is more conscious that he is wrestling a girl in practice than during a match although even in competition gender is never a big issue. "If you grab something you shouldn't during a match, you just have to keep going," he says.

According to Masood, Montgomery County has had few problems with girls wrestling on male-dominated teams, although some parents have occasionally raised concerns when their sons have had to wrestle girls.

The difference between guys and girls
According to Wrestling U.S.A. Magazine, the average male is 20 percent stronger than the average female and reacts 25 percent faster. Males also have a cardiovascular capacity advantage of 25-50 percent. Woodlock is determined, however, not to let these factors get in her way. "If you push yourself you can do it," she says.

Masood says that females rarely win matches in Montgomery County, although he does recall a Richard Montgomery High School female who won a few JV matches. Masood also recalls instances when a girl won by forfeit when a male did not want to wrestle her.

Girls can compete effectively with males in wrestling, however. A female from Oakland Mills High School has wrestled so successfully she is now on the High School National Team.

A growing trend
Recently the number of female high school wrestlers has increased by 1234 percent in the past six years, according to Fritz McGinnes at the National Federation of High Schools.

At the collegiate level, women wrestling has become an official varsity sport at five colleges, and countless women have joined collegiate men's programs, according to the Women's Freestyle Wrestling Program at The University of Minnesota-Morris.

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