Sara Slays the Giant

Sara Ruggiero was having a bad day. Heck, lets be honest, a very rough season. It was the 2006/07 season, and Sara was a junior wrestling in the 135 pound weight class. Very few girls at that weight can be truly successful wrestling boys, and if they are, they need to make wrestling their life. And Sara didn't do that. “I have always been a well rounded person so I never I guess fully "dove" into just one outlet,: Sarah says. “I wrestled, played soccer, and softball. I was big into choir and singing, but spent alot of my focus on academics which was probably my greatest passion.”

But while wrestling may not have been her greatest passion, she took it quite seriously. Her father was a Hall of Fame wrestling coach from New York, and one of her best friends was Toni Copleland. Toni is a name you learn quickly when talking about women's wrestling. She was a superstar in the making, and almost every girl that came in contact with her has talked glowingly of her. Unfortunately, she died tragically in a swimming accident. Sara says she thought about “throwing in the towel” and quitting wrestling after Toni died, but decided that would be dishonoring Toni's memory. So she stuck with it.

But it was days like these that made wrestling so hard. Sara was wrestling at the Onondoga dual meet. She says, “I liked the dual meet style because all my teammates and coaches got to be at my match.” But Sara wishes her teammates and coaches skipped her first match. “The boy was cranking on my arm so badly, that the ref actually had to stop the match twice because it looked like my arm was about to pop off of it's socket.” Even though her opponent had a point taken away from him, he was still able to beat Sara on points. She says, “It was pretty discouraging for me, yet sadly typical.”

Anna Cummings was a wrestler from Onondoga. Anna would later become a very accomplished wrestler, winning more than 100 varsity matches at her school. But on this day, she too was having a rough go. It made for a very depressing afternoon. Sara says, “It was a rough day all around. I remember in the waiting period before my second match talking to Anna and my sister about how discouraging that first match was and how this season had been going so rough. I felt like I just sucked at wrestling & I was just fighting a losing battle.”

It went from bad, skipped worse and went to unthinkable. Sara was now facing a boy from Cazenovia High School. Sara is 5'1. Her opponent was approximately 6'2-6'3 inches tall and very muscular. Sara says, “I could tell he was one of those kids who really weighs about 160 and had sucked down to 135. I figured with that height difference I was screwed, he would just sprawl on me and that would be the end of it.”

Sara knew she needed a miracle, so she decided to use a football term and, “throw a hail mary.” Sara admits it wasn't a smart move, “In wrestling, I would have to say it's the worst thing you can do, but I just kept thinking "oh what the hell, I'm going to set it up and throw a lateral drop & probably end up flopped right onto my own back, but at least it would be over quick.”

It gets worse. “As soon as I got out there I figured oh great here we go. He was one of those head slappers, cocky, smiling. That smile that says "she's just a girl, this is entertaining, let me see what I can do to embarrass her."

Unfortunately, her read was exactly right. “He took me down and let me up really quickly. I could tell he was trying to tech fall me-- humiliating.”

As she got up, she had dread in her head, "I assumed I didn't stand a chance. I got a lump in my throat and felt like I was going to cry. I really was not in the mood to be embarrassed."

So Sara took matters into her own hands, “I figured that if I was probably going to lose anyways, I might as well do something risky even though I didn't think it would work. The lateral drop was the coolest move, but pretty risky to try in a match. I didn't feel like I had much to lose, so if I landed on my own back & ended up pinning myself, it would at least be better than being teched.”

Sara tied up with him and then did something she doesn't normally do. Not listen to her coach. Her coach was telling her not to tie up but she wasn't listening. “ I pushed really hard into him and he pushed hard back-- the fatal mistake on his part. I was surprised he fell for it actually. I thought it was obvious I was setting that move up, but I was waiting for that exact moment-- a good hard push into me. I used his momentum and tripped him with my left foot and brought him down to his back.”

As it was happening, Sara finally was gaining the confidence she would need to win this match. “I remember thinking as I was tripping him, "Oh my god. I am actually doing it. This isn't practice and he isn't letting me." That was the turning point because I really saw myself maybe, possibly beating this kid who was at least a whole foot taller than me. I was in shock and I felt adrenaline coursing through me. I HAD to win this!”

But the match wasn't close to being won. Her opponent was a giant compared to Sara, and he did not want to lose to a girl. “He was fighting like hell and I was so nervous because I couldn't hold him tight enough with the hooks when my coach yelled to headlock him. I was afraid that he would be able to bridge out easily since he was so much taller than me, but I just squeezed as tightly as I could. It felt like the longest 15-20 seconds of my life. I was just waiting for the ref to slap the mat and I was running so high on adrenaline that I felt like I was going to pop his head off if I had to.”

While Sara was fighting for her life, she feels her opponent still didn't realize what was happening. “I think he was in shock and he still thought that he was going to beat me.” And Sara didn't necessarily disagree, “Even with him flat on his back I didn't feel like I had him because anything can happen in a match. I have come off my back plenty of times and I had come close to pinning guys before and they had gotten away.”

But she also knew her cocky opponent was desperate. He couldn't lose to this 5'1 girl. “I knew that's why he was fighting so hard. He was terrified of what everyone would think. He was probably panicking realizing that a short little girl was pinning him down to the ground and there wasn't much he could do about it.”

And then SLAP! The ref slaps the mat, and the match is over. Sara pinned him. “At first I felt shock. I was like, "I won? But then it was , I won!! haha. I sprung up so quick to my feet and offered my opponent a hand, he accepted. I looked at our little section and smiled.”

Many times after a girl beats a boy the boy cries, but this time, it was Sara. “My eyes were welled up with tears of joy and I was shaking. I am not sure what came over me, but I threw up a number 1 with my hand to the crowd. I ran to the center and the ref raised my arm after I shook my opponent's hand. I never felt so proud of myself.”

Her opponent who tried to humiliate Sara had the opposite reaction. “He just sat there with his head down and he kept his head down. I was surprised he accepted me helping him up. He was mopey and sulked off to his team's bench as quickly as possible and his team shielded around him. I was so caught up in my own victory, but I remember looking over and seeing that he was crying. I was surprised he didn't leave, but he just sulked after his brief cry on his bench.”

While Sara is typicially a great sport, she didn't mind the boys reaction. “I am a compassionate person and my gut reaction was that I felt bad for making someone cry, but then I was kind of satisfied. I felt like I had taught him some humility. Maybe he would go on being an arrogant person, but for at least that whole day he would be thinking about how he was cocky and then ended up pinned by a girl. I knew it didn't change the way guys would think of girl wrestlers, but I had a good feeling I may have changed one guy's opinion and that felt bigger than me. It felt like more than a match. It felt societal.”

Sara also says the immense size and weight difference made her feel proud, “It just goes to show that it's not always about the size of the dog in the fight, but about the size of the fight in the dog. It was mind boggling to me to know that I beat someone so much bigger than me.”

Though Sara is no longer wrestling, that match is never far from her mind, “It does still mean alot years later. When I think about my wrestling career, I always think of that match. It has given me confidence in myself that I know effects me in what I am doing today.”

And she feels somewhere in heaven, her friend Toni was watching the match. “I do. I felt a hint of sadness because I would have loved to tell her about that match, but I felt her presence I suppose you could say in my win. Sometimes I wonder if she was wishing me well and that could have had something to do with it. She would have been proud and happy for me I think.”

Kari Krushes

When Junior Kari Sickles arrived at the Call Out Tournament (COT) at, Ft. Lauderdale High School she wasn't happy, "I was kind of frustrated. It's hard to get a match at call-out tournaments when you're a girl." The COT is where you ask an opponent if he will wrestle you. Its not an important school tournament, and even the periods are shorter than normal.

In order for Kari to get a match, her coach was going to have to do some hard work, “"My coach ended up having to talk to the other school's coaches in order to get me a match.” Her first match was against a boy from University High. Kari says the boys parents were very happy that their son would face her, "They were sitting between my mom and another rival team. When the coach told them who he was wrestling, they said 'Oh, an easy win to begin the season.' " However their son didn't seem to happy to be facing Kari, “He looked pretty nervous to be wrestling me haha.”

It turns out, he had reason to as Kari cruised, "Almost immediately after the whistle blew I snapped him down and got 2 points. I kept trying to pin him, but he was really squirmy and I couldn't quite get it, hahaha. He ended up getting one point for an escape in the second period because when he stood up he elbowed me in the nose and I let go out of pain. It wasn't too hard to take him back down though, so I kinda dominated him the entire match." Kari ended up winning the match, 11-1. “I felt pretty good afterwords because I'd wrestled well and won.”

Kari then wrestled another boy and lost by one point. “I just made a stupid mistake and underestimated him, and that's what happens."

While Kari was successful in getting the first two boys to say yes, the third boy proved to be more tricky. The boy she wanted to face didn't seem to want to face her. But luckily for Kari, his teammates started riding him. Kari says, “They said the usual taunts, things like "Are you really that scared of a girl? Is she really that much better than you? How much of a chicken can you be?"

But it was the boy's response that upset Kari. "One of my teammates was warming up for a match right next to them. My teammate told me the boy tried to act tough and say, “Of course I'm not afraid, she's just a girl, winning will be easy.” Kari did not fully believe her teammate.

“When he told me I thought he was exaggerating, but when I walked by them to get to the mat they were still talking about it. Also, we were on the mat right next to them - so I could see them talking and laughing and looking at me.

Kari was not pleased, “I was pretty mad - he was actually one of the first boys to really talk crap about me.” It wasn't just going to be a match now, now it was personal. “Winning became really important to me. I didn't want to lose to someone like that.”

But while Kari was confident based on her 11-1 route in her first match, she didn't really know how this match would go, “"I wasn't 100% sure I could crush him, because I hadn't really seen him wrestle, and didn't really know anything about him. All I initially thought of was winning."

Kari stepped on the mat and another thought came to her, “I'm not gonna lie, I wanted him to be embarrassed.” They shook hands and Kari gave him a firm hand shake, “I wanted him to be a bit intimidated.” Kari was met with a wet noodle, “That's when I thought 'I can definitely crush this kid.' "

While many times the girl is at a strength disadvantage, this time she felt her gender gave her an edge, "I think he was intimidated before we even shook hands. He was psyching himself out over the probability that he could lose to a girl haha."


The match started and Kari felt his disrespect grew. “The only time I've ever seen a wrestler just stand there at the start, it's been out of disrespect. And that's what he did. When the whistle blew, he kinda stood up a bit - like he was expecting me to just stand there and not know what to do while he took me down.”

That isn't what happened. “Well, I've never been very good at taking shots, so I lunged at him and attacked his head, trying to snap him down while showing him that I knew exactly what I was doing. Her opponent put a lot of effort into trying to get her down. But he was unsuccessful, "He wasn't really in a good position to get the take down, it was really easy for me to flatten him out.” But Kari still had work to do to get the two points, “It wasn't so easy getting his arms off and spinning behind. I put all of my effort into spinning behind him, but my team does a lot of conditioning and I didn't exhaust myself. After I sprawled, I had to get all the way behind him to get the two points."

It was extremely early in the match, and it was only 2-0, but Kari could feel her opponent had nothing left. “Once I had him down I knew I had him. He gave up on trying to base up after about 10 seconds. His coach was yelling at him but I just kept tilting him for back points.

"I was pretty excited that I'd gotten the 2 points, and when he kinda gave up it made me feel pretty confident that I would be winning the match - especially since he gave up so early in the match."

Then her opponent's coach started getting frustrated, "At that point, his coach started getting really mad at him. No coach wants to see their wrestler give up a minute into the match."
The first period ended and it was a romp, 10-0. While Kari was unsuccessful in getting the pin, she wasn't upset. “Where I live I actually never got too much disrespect from guys, so usually I'm not going into a match with the goal to embarrass someone lol, I just want to win.”
But this was a different case, Kari had been disrespected, and now she was going to return the favor, “At the end of the first, I was just thinking of a way to embarrass him - as mean as that may sound haha - so being in the lead by 10 points was fine by me, even if didn't have the pin."

Kari was not worried about her opponent making a comeback, “"When we stood back up he took his time and kept looking at the ground instead of at his coach or me. He did try harder for a take down in the second period, but it went a lot like the first period and he gave up a bit quicker. I knew he couldn't beat me at that point because he was mentally broken."
It was now 12-0, and it was getting dire for her opponent, “I was trying to turn him over, but since it was a call out tournament the 2nd period was shortened to a minute and I didn't really have a lot of time left. I got another near-fall for 2 points, and then with 10 seconds left I turned him again." Kari was having the time of her life, "I was enjoying myself, and I was enjoying beating him so badly hahaha. I was in my own world."

But there were still 10 seconds left in the 2nd period, and the score was 14-0. One more point for Kari, and it would be a tech fall. "When I turned him over, I knew that I would be getting the win because he wasn't really even trying to bridge off his back at that point. Unfortunately, I had lost track of the time towards the end so I didn't realize that there was almost none left. When the ref slapped the mat at the same time as the end of period buzzer, I just thought 'man, now I have to go into the third period because that probably didn't count.' But it turned out that it didn't matter, because I got enough points from the near-fall to give me a technical fall. The ref wanted to give me the pin, but wasn't really sure if he could give it to me, so he asked my opponents coach what he thought. The coach looked at the score and then looked at me and said 'I don't care, ask her what she wants.' " "So I chose the tech because that would be a more embarrassing way to lose, in my opinion.”

Kari had accomplished her goal, "I was smiling, because I was pretty happy with the outcome of the match. He just kinda stood there though - I'm sure he was embarrassed, because he'd talked crap and then lost 16 - 0."
It was time for the winners arm to be raised, and Kari couldn't wait. "It felt as good as it did the first time I ever got my hand raised. I don't really remember if I said anything to him, but I don't think I did, he just walked off to go sit with his teammates."

They would see each other again, but this time, her opponent had nothing to say, "I didn't see him again until counties, and when I walked by him his teammates said 'Hey, isn't that the girl that destroyed you?' and whenever he saw me after that he would turn and walk away from me. I guess his teammates made fun of him for losing."

Kari to this day doesn't understand the big deal about why it was such a big deal to lose to her, "It just seemed kind of stupid to me, honestly, because counties was a month later and he was still embarrassed about losing." She also thinks if they meet again, the goal will be different, “I've proven my point the first time , so if we ever wrestle each other again my goal won't be to embarrass him, just win."

Asked if she ever sees him again what would she want him to think, Kari says, "I guess I'd want him (and his team) to know that, just because I'm a girl, it doesn't mean I'm going to be a bad wrestler. Being a girl has nothing to do with my ability as a wrestler."

Does she think he knows that now? “I think he does.”

Molly Helsel Win Match, and Respect

While this is a book about girls who wrestle in high school, there is a match that has to be told, about a woman going against a man, in a grappling tournament. If you type Molly Helsel in Youtube, you will surely find the match. It lasts 3:19 and it shows that heart, brains, and determination sometimes can slay brawn.

Molly Helsel was just looking for a sword. Had the organizers of the NAGA Hawaii grappling tournament just awarded a samurai sword to the winners of the Woman's division, perhaps this story would never have happened.

Molly had entered the tournament the previous two years. But she was left unsatisfied as she only participated in one match. Molly won the second year and while she was happy with her victory, she was upset that the winner of each Mens division was awarded a samurai sword. Molly paid the same price the men paid, and felt the women winners should be awarded a sword. “After watching all the men get on the podium and the champions received their sword I was excited because I thought I would receive one too. When I found out there was none it did make me upset because I felt like the powers that be viewed a woman's accomplishments as less than a mans.”

Not one to just complain to her friends, Molly wrote a letter to the tournament directors. Molly did not get the response she was expecting, “They told me they weren't going to award the woman's winner a sword. So they said if I wanted that prize, I could enter the mens division and try to win one.”

However it wasn't going to be that easy. The tournament director also told Molly that she couldn't enter the novice division, but had to enter the beginners division. So not only was Molly now forced to grapple a man, she had to grappled experienced men. Molly was satisfied with the decision. “I thought it was more than fair and I was just grateful for the opportunity to compete in the mens division. Not for one second would I have expected any special treatment whatsoever. My experience level fell into the bracket I was placed in and it was not the organizers fault that the smallest weight division was 15 pounds heavier than my walking weight. I did this for the challenge, not for an easy win so I thought the organizers were fair, especially because they didn't have to let me enter the mens.”

However there was one more obstacle Molly was going to have to face, an obstacle many girls in high school wrestling face. She could grapple the guys, as long as no man had a problem with grappling a woman.

Many girls have to do nothing but walk to the center of the mat and get their arms raised when they are scheduled to wrestle a boy. That's because many boys would rather forfeit to the girl, rather than risk losing to her in a real match. Luckily for Molly, she had friends in the beginners division, and no one said they had an issue with grappling with her, “there were a few of them that I had trained with before that had seemed supportive.”

But before Molly could grapple the guys, she had to go against the one other girl in the woman's division. This proved no problem, as she quickly disposed of her opposition, and won the title. Molly was excited that she won the match because the girl was ranked higher than her and much heavier. But she still had her mind somewhere else. “My eye was really on the men's division, that's what I had really been training for because I did not expect any women to enter that year.”

Now it was time to go against the boys. Perhaps the two words that best described Molly's feelings heading into the match would be, “Uh-oh.” To put it bluntly, Molly was up against it.

Not only was Molly going against a man, but she was giving away at least 15 pounds. “the lowest weight class they had in that division was 145. I weighed about 130 pounds at the time.” And though this was the beginners division, Molly had heard her opponent was not new to grappling. “I knew he would be stronger than me. I had also heard beforehand that he had some wrestling experience so I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to take him down.”

There is a saying in sports that many times isn't accurately used. A team full of underdogs will say “Nobody thought we can do it.” But in reality, many times the underdog team will have faith that they can win. So technically, its inaccurate because the players thought they could win.

But for this match, not even Molly thought she could do it. “When I first stepped on the mat and in mentally preparing myself for the match beforehand, I really did not expect to win. I just wanted to test myself and make a point to the organizers.”

While most wrestlers will try to psyche themselves up before a match, Molly's opponent seemed to be cursing his misfortune, of having to grapple a girl. “ I could tell the guy was not exactly excited about going against me, but I didn’t really care because he had an opportunity to speak up if he had any objections.”

While her opponent seemed less than enthused, Molly didn't have many pre-match jitters, “I wasn’t too nervous because I didn’t really have very high expectations from myself.”

The match started and Molly realized she had to be aggressive, “I immediately tried to pull guard. He passed to side control, but I recovered guard again.” However her opponent was just too strong for her. He put Molly in a Ezekiel choke.

A choke in grappling is normally the death nail. This match could have been over before it started, but Molly's opponent's technique didn't match his strength. “He didn't have the choke in the right place. It was across my jaw and was very painful, but not choking.”

However it appeared Molly wasn't very much competition either. The whole match Molly was on her back, and while she wasn't ready to tap, she knew she was in trouble. “He was very strong and I just couldn’t improve my position.”

Many girl wrestlers will say strength doesn't matter, its all about technique. But that's simply not true. Strength does matter, and Molly was finding out the hard way. If you look at the video, Molly was in pain. But though she wasn't as strong as her opponent, what she lacked in muscles, she made up in heart. “I was frustrated because I knew he wasn't trying to improve his position and that he really didn't know the finer details of the submission he was trying to put on. I knew he wasn't taking me seriously and if I could just be patient, let him wear himself out with his bull(expletive) submission maneuver I could find a way to win.”

Molly felt she was being disrespected. She felt the man wasn't taking her serious, and that made her more competitive. “Going into the division I didn't really think I would actually win, but there was a small part of me that did believe it was possible. So I just wanted to have fun and test myself out. But his attitude during the match not taking me seriously did make me angry though. What particularly got me mad was that he didn't have the choke, and he knew he didn't have it. So he grinded his forearm into my jaw instead. That mad me mad! You can ask any of my training partners - I have a switch. it's very hard to push but when it is FTW!”

Unfortunately, talent can usurp heart, and after approximately 2 minutes into the match, Molly's opponent was finally about to get the choke that would undoubtedly lead to a submission. Molly needed to act fast, and at the 2:16 mark of the video, Molly finally started creating some space between her neck and his arms, “I stretched my legs out to relieve the pressure. That allowed me to create just enough space to start slipping out the back.”

But her opponent never lost control. He readjusted and seemed to be back where they started...however that wasn't exactly true. Molly's opponent didn't realize the girl had some wiggle in her, “ I’m not sure if he just didn’t know what I was doing or probably just wasn’t thinking I was a threat as there was a short time left in the match.”

Slowly but surely, Molly was escaping, and when she finally escaped his hold, she had a surprise for him, “It took me awhile to work my way out, but as soon as I had position on him, I slapped on the choke!”

But time was running out and Molly knew this was it. “I knew this was my last chance to win - there was no way I would win on points by that time - and just had to put everything I had into it. I didn't have it locked in perfectly, but no matter how tired I was, I just stretched the (expletive) out of him and hoped he would tap or go out.”

So would her opponent tap?? Much like her opponent, Molly's technique was not flawless. He did not have to tap. It turned into who wanted it more. Molly spent approximately 2:30 seconds on her back, and she didn't come close to tapping. “I am an extremely stubborn person. As a child it used to get me in lots of trouble, but as a fighter it helps me preserver. In competition in my mind - even if I am being dominated - I always think in my head "I'm fine, I've been here before, he / she can't hurt me, I can still win this. I never give up until the bell has rung. Some people fight not to lose, me - I fight to win, always.”

But while her opponent couldn't put her away, the clock could. “Knowing I was almost out of time I just used every ounce of my body in putting pressure on the choke.” And at the 3:09 mark, her opponent tapped!! Molly had won! Molly was euphoric.

She immediately let go of the choke and raised her arm with the widest smile a person can have. She jumped in the air and started celebrating like a champion. “When he tapped I think I was more shocked than the crowd was. I was so ecstatic that I actually won I just jumped up and celebrated.”

Her opponent, seemed crushed. He stayed on one knee as Molly came over to him and performed the most awkward hug in the history of hugs. She slapped his back twice and then jumped up again and did another yelp.

In sports there is no bigger contrast than the winner and loser, and certainly this was the case here. Molly was jumping for joy, while her opponent looked like he was distraught.

“While I was receiving congratulations, he immediately walked off the mat, packed his bag and left the gym – even though he still had more matches left.”

Molly may have had some sympathy for her opponent, but that quickly vanished when she found out who she beat. “While I was waiting for my second match, many people came up to me and said how happy they were that it was him that had been defeated. Apparently he had been making his way through all the local gyms, and was just a jerk and a know-it-all in training. They said it was karma.”

Molly went on to lose her next match, but that didn't matter to her. She performed well and lost on points and once again, refused to tap.

But in the end, only one match mattered. Molly says, “I will never forget how I felt that day. I just had a constant adrenaline buzz for hours afterward and could not remove the smile from my face. I wore my medal from that match for weeks after.”

It was a great day for Molly, as there was more good news, “Oh and another thing... they did have samurai swords for the female division that year... I still have mine :)”

But the sword she still has is no match for the memory and youtube clip of Molly's triumph. She calls it the proudest moment of her life. While Molly believes her opponent had a slight physical advantage, she knows mentally, it wasn't even close. “I think that was the difference between us that day. I do believe there was also a technical difference. Men become so dependent on their strength, women are forced to work smarter and not necessarily harder. We are patient and more flexible generally and I think my patience and great training partners that refuse to take it easy on me won that match for me that day.”

Molly says, she wanted to prove a point. “I believe I was stronger mentally than my opponent. I wanted it more. I was very very hungry and wanted to prove a point, that a women of basically equal strength / technique / weight (give or take some) CAN beat a man. I wanted to prove it to the guy, the organizers, my peers and training partners in Hawaii, but mostly myself.”

Editors note: The video can be found here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRPD7bOoSpc

Brianna Gedeon- Dedication at its Finest

In a country that is infested with political correctness, its nice to talk to a girl like Brianna Gedeon . Many kids get medals for participating to show that its not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game. And while there is honor in defeat if you truly give your all, Brianna set out to show, if you give your all, you should start winning.

Brianna started her wrestling career very late. She was curious about the sport, considered it for awhile but finally in her junior year of high school, she decided to go out for the team at Division 1 school Charles F. Brush in northeast Ohio. “Our high school isn't very good at many sports to be quite honest, but one thing we do have is a solid wrestling team. Its by far one of the toughest wrestling areas in the nation.”

So despite being a girl, and being late to the sport, Brianna decided to give it a go. “My first day of practice I was a 98 pound scrawny little girl, not knowing what to expect.” 2 ½ hours later, she found out. “By the end of practice I was puking in the trash can all bruised and bloodied up. This was the most intense 2 ½ hours imaginable.” Many thought, maybe the scrawny little girl should find another sport. And that's exactly why she didn't. “I came back because everyone expected me to quit. I am no quitter, I was not about to prove people right.”

So she came back. But the practices didn't get easier. “Over time the entire football team that joined quit and our team lost about half its members.” Which is exactly what the coach at Brush High School wanted. Brianna says, “Coach weeded out the ones that couldn't cut it, that didn't have what it takes to be a wrestler.” While many boys were dropping like flies, Brianna stayed. “To everone's surprise, I was still there, coming back everyday.”

But despite the dedication, she was Brianna was still scrawny, and still new. The losses were piling up faster than the sweat. “Despite sticking out practices I was still honestly a completely terrible wrestler. That season I didn't win a single match on JV. I went 0-11. I was the only person on the team to get defeated every time I wrestled.”

It was a very difficult season. “I wanted to quit but I couldn't let myself quit without knowing what it felt like to win once. I used to go to the bathroom after losing all these matches and I'd cry because I felt like such a failure. But that gave me motivation to work even harder.”

Though she didn't win a match, her teammates had her back. “My team has always been very supportive of me. They always have tried to help me get better because they saw how hard I work. Even when I would lose they would always be there to help me, and show me what I did wrong.”

It was a nice consolation prize for Brianna. But still she hated losing. And so did her coach. “At the end of the season the coach pulled me aside and had a talk with me. He told me that he admired how I didn't quit, but honestly if I don't get beat out for varsity next year by some freshman, he doubted I would win more then 5 matches if that. In his words I would just be filling a spot.”

And that wouldn't be any spot. It would be the spot of Brian Hauser. Who is Hauser? “Hauser is our stud 103 pounder who placed placed second in both Ohio Division I states and senior nationals.”

Coach's words resonated with her. In other words, it is whether you win or lose. And Brianna was going for a win. “That conversation stuck with me. Something in me changed that day. I decided to push myself and prove everyone wrong. I was sick of being a loser. I made a promise to myself that no one would outwork me. No longer would I just go through practices but I'd push myself the entire time.”
That summer while some girls went to the beach and tanned, Brianna trained. “I got much bigger from all the serious lifting I was doing, and for 5 days a week 2 hours a day I was practicing.”

She went to weekly tournaments and something happened. Brianna actually won a few matches. Finally, Brianna had won! “It was the greatest feeling finally getting my hand raised. It was the first time that I felt like my hard work was paying off. Once I knew what it felt like to get my hand raised I started working even harder because I wanted to keep on winning.”

So she continued to work. “People knew I was working hard, but I don't think they realized just how much of an effort I was putting in.” After all that work, finally the wrestling season started. Gone was the 98 pound scrawny little girl. “I got much bigger and was much stronger than last season. I was still nothing compared to my stronger male competitors, but I was a lot stronger than I used to be.”

Her first test would be what is called the previews. The previews don't count in the standings, and aren't official matches, but a lot of people would be watching, “Its a way for our coaches to get an idea of how their team would do this season. A lot of people were watching. We had several area teams come to our Brush preview and the stands were packed with students, teachers, parents and coaches.”

So while the matches had no significance in the standings, they couldn't be more important to Brianna. “Although the matches didn't really count for anything, they meant a lot to me. Every coach who helped me in the off season was there watching and everyone who remembered me losing was there watching. I was finally able to show everyone how hard I had been working.”

It was time for Brianna to step on the match. And though she had the jitters, there was a different feeling to her first match. “It was the weirdest feeling because it felt natural to me.”

The match started and the boy shot on her right off the whistle. Instinctively, Brianna hit a hard sprawl, smashing him with her hips and got “two easy points.”

After a season of losing, Brianna knew that things were going to be drastically different this season. “At that point I started getting confident, and I knew I was going to win it. I turned him to his back several times throughout the match and I saw him just giving up after a while.” Brianna couldn't buy a win last season, and in her first match at previews, she was dominating. “He was just frustrated. Every shot he tried to shoot I scored off of. I did not shoot once the entire match.”

Brianna was having the time of her life. “I just had such an adrenaline rush the entire match. I could hear everyone cheering me on in the stands and all my teammates were watching me for the first time win a match.”

And when she finally got her arm raised in front of everyone, Brianna felt amazing. “It just felt good to for once be the superior wrestler and have everyone know it. Not only was it a great feeling that I won, but I surprised so many people. I proved everyone wrong.”

Brianna now had to prepare for her 2nd match that day. And she wasn't satisfied with just winning once. “I felt confident going into the second match. It just gave me an opportunity to surprise people even more, I don't think they expected me to win again.”

But anyone that doubted Brianna now were going to be proved wrong. Again. “My second match was just like my first. He shot on me once again I sprawled and scored 2. I kept turning him the rest of the match to get back points. It was much like the first match, I worked my same stuff on top and it was working.” And once again, she knew the match was over while it was still going on. “Yep, I knew I had it. He couldn't score on me in neutral position and he couldn't escape when I was on top and I could tell he was giving up.” Brianna ended up winning the match 9-0. “ Winning the second match felt even better because I was 2-0!”

But her day wasn't over yet. Even though she had a combined 20 points to her opponent's 0, her toughest competitor was waiting for her. He was a varsity 112 pounder. Brianna was giving away 9 pounds. This was not going to be as easy as the first two matches.

“This match I got a little nervous. I wasn't as confident. He was way bigger, but I was determined to go 3-0 that day.”

But she wasn't the only one nervous. Her opponent didn't want to face her. “He was super nervous to wrestle me. His teammates told me he didn't want to wrestle a girl, and he tried to get out of the match. Even though I was slightly intimidated by his size, I knew I had a shot at winning. I was determined to go undefeated.”

But Brianna wouldn't let him get out of it. “Yea, I wanted to get my third match! I already beat their 103, I wanted to challenge myself and wrestle their varsity 112.”


The match was intense. Her opponent had noticed Brianna scored on her opponent's shots, so he stalled the entire match. He also kept backing up so she couldn't get a shot in. At the end of two periods, the score was 0-0. Brianna was getting frustrated, but confident. “I knew I could beat him. But I didn't think I could beat him on my feet because he was stalling so bad and the ref would not call him for it. But I was pretty confident I could get the escape.”

Brianna was right, she got the escape, the she knew it was over. “There was only like 30 seconds left, he is not shooting, I'm going to win this.” The ref awarded her another point for an illegal hold, and when the match was over, it was Brianna's whose arm was going to be raised!

“I was very happy. I felt extremely accomplished because there was only a select few of us on the team who went undefeated that day. And I was the only one who didn't give up a single point. It was such a turn around from losing every match last season. It felt even better saying I beat a varsity 112.”

After three matches, none of the boys could muster a point on her. “Haha, I was so proud of that! Everyone was so suprised and a lot of people came up to me to tell me how great I did. It was a great way to start off the season, and thats when I knew I would be getting some wins this season.”

Brianna gave what she thought was her all her junior season. But it wasn't. She gave a lot, but not her all. When she gave a lot, she never won a match. When she gave her all, she found out she can not only hang with the competition, but beat them. And sometimes easily. Brianna went on to have 15 varsity wins. From 0 to 15.

And while none of her preview wins count as any of the 15, they counted for her. “For the first time I felt like I could call myself a wrestler.”

C C Wins Championship for Goodrich

The Biggest Match of My Career

The girl is undoubtedly cute. She weighs 103 pounds and has long blond hair. She's 5' ¾, but she says, “Actually you should just say I'm 5'1 because it's close enough (laughs). But its your call.”

Her Facebook and Myspace pictures are filled with pictures of her posing very girly. If you saw her in a dress, wrestling is the last sport you'd think she participated in.

But then you see some pictures exposing her lean and very fit body. There is not an ounce of fat on her. But still, I've seen the pictures where she's wearing a dress. This girl can't possibly be a wrestler can she?

She's not only a wrestler. She's one of the most successful high school wrestlers in the history of girl wrestling. She's CC Weber of Goodrich high school in Michigan. One of the toughest wrestling states there is in the country.

While most girls high school lives would be ruined if they were called a “Beast,” that's one of the biggest compliments you can give a wrestler. And make no mistake about it, this lil' blond beauty is a beast.

CC has won numerous tournaments, both against girls and boys. She has won a National Championship during her junior season against girls at the 105 weight class. But perhaps her biggest individual accomplishment is finishing 4^th in the state against boys in Michigan her senior year at the 103 weight class. Or maybe it's the fact she made it to states her sophomore, and junior years as well.

So which of these accomplishments is her personal favorite? None of the above.

During her junior year, the team accomplished a long awaited goal when it won the team state championship. CC and fellow girl teammate Kristi Garr were featured on ESPN's Outside The Lines. The story showed how much the team championship meant to not only CC, but the rest of the wrestlers as well.

CC's senior season was downright amazing. As a captain, CC compiled approximately 50 wins while only suffering 5 losses (3 to the same boy) her senior year. But there's one match in particular, that CC will never forget. It's the match her teammates asked her to defend the state championship.

It was the semi-finals and Goodrich was taking on Swan Valley High School. CC says, “When we started that dual everyone knew it was gonna be a battle. But we also knew that we were the tougher team, and if we all wrestled tough we'd beat them.”

After all her accomplishments, confidence is not something that CC is lacking. But even CC gave a little gulp, when she found out her match at 103, was going to be the last match of the dual. “When they pulled 112 as the starting weight, let me tell you my stomach dropped!!! I knew that no matter what, it was going to come down to me, because our teams were so evenly matched.”

But that stomach has done countless amount of crunches. You can see everyone of CC's abdomen muscles in that stomach. All of her training, prepared her physically for this match. But what about mentally? CC says, “Honestly I couldn't watch any of my teammates because I was too busy pacing the whole time.” The Goodrich captain was nervous. Nervous, but confident. She says, “I was convincing myself that losing was absolutely not an option. I didn't care if God was gonna come out and wrestle me. I was not about to let my team down especially being a captain.”

But God sat this match out. Her opponent, was a boy named Jared Flores.

Flores was no slouch himself. But he was a freshman. He didn't have the experience that CC had. If CC wanted to search her soul for confidence, all she had to do was think back to last season when she beat Shane Dutton in the regionals 5-3, to advance to individual states.

But pressure is a weird element, and you never know how you're going to respond. When CC beat Dutton, it was a big match for her, but not the team. This was different. And her teammates let her know it. She said, “Once we knew it was for sure gonna come down to me, all my teammates were like CC, you have to win. CC it's coming down to you.” But if that's not pressure enough, her coach made sure she knew the magnitude of the match. CC says, “But the moment that really hit me is when my coach said CC its coming down to you, and I wouldn't want it any other way.”

How did CC take all of this pressure? “That fired me up,” she said. If CC was feeling all this pressure, imagine how Flores felt. Before the match, CC knew she was in for a battle, “He only had two losses the whole year, so he was no pud. (wimp)”

But once they walked on the mat, the confident CC knew the match was over. “Right when I stepped out on the mat, I knew I was going to win when I saw the kids face. He was mentally broke before the match even started.”

Had this match occurred during the regular season, perhaps Flores would have stood a chance. But not this match, not today. CC says, “First I see his scared expression on his face, and then right after the whistle blew I got that first takedown so quick, and I wasn't nervous after that.” She may not have been nervous, but there was a long way to go until her hand was raised.

This is where all the training, all the experience, all the confidence comes in. CC was up 2-0. Most wrestlers wouldn't want to give away a point, but CC knew she took Flores down once, she can take him down again. So she let him up, and literally gave him a point. She knew what she was doing, as she took Flores down again, and ended the period up 4-1.

The second period started and Flores chose down. Once again CC let Flores up to make the score 4-2. CC took him down again and made the score 6-2. In the third period, CC chose down and got a point for escaping. She says before the final whistle she took him down again, but the referee never gave her credit for the points.

But CC didn't need the points. The whistle blew to signify the end of the match. CC Weber 7, Jared Flores 2. More importantly, Goodrich H.S. 30, Saginaw Swan Valley 26.

Normally in victory, CC is gracious and mindful of the losing wrestler, but she couldn't hide her emotions this time, “There's a sweet picture of me smiling with my hand raised, and I never smile after I wrestle.” After the match, CC had enough energy to celebrate with her team, “After I won I ran to my coach and he lifted me up, and then everyone on the team pretty much tackled me. (Laughing) It was great!”

Goodrich went on to win their second straight title by defeating Dundee High School 33-25. The second championship felt even nicer than the first one for CC. She says, “It was soooo important to me. This was our teams goal right after we won our first state title, to get a second one. It was more important then the first one because this year our team for sure didn't have as much talent as it did the year before, but we were just so tough and worked so hard. A lot of people doubted us. But we were just so tough and winning on toughness is the best feeling ever.”

As for her semi-final win over Flores, CC says she is extremely proud that when her teammates needed her most, she responded. “I went out there and in my opinion had the best match of my season. I almost majored the kid. Call it the will to win I guess.”

When asked what she meant by the will to win, and didn't she think her opponent also had that same will, she responded, “The only way I can explain it is, basically just believing in your ability to do what you have trained to do...win. And knowing that there is no other option. Flores may have had it, but I know I wanted that match more than he did.”

During the match, CC says she's very proud that she never put her team in danger of losing. While this next quote may seem cocky, it wasn't intended that way. It was more to show how proud she is that during the biggest moment of her high school career, the girl who is oh so close to 5'1, wrestled like a 7' giant, “I was in control the whole match. He didn't even come close to scoring on me. I dominated every period. I dominated the match. I was the better wrestler.”

She proved she was the better wrestler again when the two met up again in individual states. This match was much closer, but CC still came out on top with a 3-1 win. “Well I knew it was going to be a good match because he knew how I wrestled. I still knew I was going to win though.”

Unfortunately for CC, she didn't accomplish her final high school goal, of winning the state individual championship. She had to settle for 4^th place.

And though you maybe reading this and saying, “Settle?!?!?!?” CC has the attitude of a winner, and 4^th is settling, “Yeah, I was really pissed I didn't win individual states. Everyone else thought getting fourth was good (laughs). That annoyed me but whatever.”

Would she trade one of her team championships for a state championship? No way she says, “I'd rather win the team title. Hands down.”

Thanks to her semi-final victory, she did.

C C Wins Championship....Again

The Biggest Match of My Career

The girl is undoubtedly cute. She weighs 103 pounds and has long blond hair. She's 5' ¾, but she says, “Actually you should just say I'm 5'1 because it's close enough (laughs). But its your call.”

Her Facebook and Myspace pictures are filled with pictures of her posing very girly. If you saw her in a dress, wrestling is the last sport you'd think she participated in.

But then you see some pictures exposing her lean and very fit body. There is not an ounce of fat on her. But still, I've seen the pictures where she's wearing a dress. This girl can't possibly be a wrestler can she?

She's not only a wrestler. She's one of the most successful high school wrestlers in the history of girl wrestling. She's CC Weber of Goodrich high school in Michigan. One of the toughest wrestling states there is in the country.

While most girls high school lives would be ruined if they were called a “Beast,” that's one of the biggest compliments you can give a wrestler. And make no mistake about it, this lil' blond beauty is a beast.

CC has won numerous tournaments, both against girls and boys. She has won a National Championship during her junior season against girls at the 105 weight class. But perhaps her biggest individual accomplishment is finishing 4th in the state against boys in Michigan her senior year at the 103 weight class. Or maybe it's the fact she made it to states her sophomore, and junior years as well.

So which of these accomplishments is her personal favorite? None of the above.

During her junior year, the team accomplished a long awaited goal when it won the team state championship. CC and fellow girl teammate Kristi Garr were featured on ESPN's Outside The Lines. The story showed how much the team championship meant to not only CC, but the rest of the wrestlers as well.

CC's senior season was downright amazing. As a captain, CC compiled approximately 50 wins while only suffering 5 losses (3 to the same boy) her senior year. But there's one match in particular, that CC will never forget. It's the match her teammates asked her to defend the state championship.

It was the semi-finals and Goodrich was taking on Swan Valley High School. CC says, “When we started that dual everyone knew it was gonna be a battle. But we also knew that we were the tougher team, and if we all wrestled tough we'd beat them.”

After all her accomplishments, confidence is not something that CC is lacking. But even CC gave a little gulp, when she found out her match at 103, was going to be the last match of the dual. “When they pulled 112 as the starting weight, let me tell you my stomach dropped!!! I knew that no matter what, it was going to come down to me, because our teams were so evenly matched.”

But that stomach has done countless amount of crunches. You can see everyone of CC's abdomen muscles in that stomach. All of her training, prepared her physically for this match. But what about mentally? CC says, “Honestly I couldn't watch any of my teammates because I was too busy pacing the whole time.” The Goodrich captain was nervous. Nervous, but confident. She says, “I was convincing myself that losing was absolutely not an option. I didn't care if God was gonna come out and wrestle me. I was not about to let my team down especially being a captain.”

But God sat this match out. Her opponent, was a boy named Jared Flores.

Flores was no slouch himself. But he was a freshman. He didn't have the experience that CC had. If CC wanted to search her soul for confidence, all she had to do was think back to last season when she beat Shane Dutton in the regionals 5-3, to advance to individual states.

But pressure is a weird element, and you never know how you're going to respond. When CC beat Dutton, it was a big match for her, but not the team. This was different. And her teammates let her know it. She said, “Once we knew it was for sure gonna come down to me, all my teammates were like CC, you have to win. CC it's coming down to you.” But if that's not pressure enough, her coach made sure she knew the magnitude of the match. CC says, “But the moment that really hit me is when my coach said CC its coming down to you, and I wouldn't want it any other way.”

How did CC take all of this pressure? “That fired me up,” she said. If CC was feeling all this pressure, imagine how Flores felt. Before the match, CC knew she was in for a battle, “He only had two losses the whole year, so he was no pud. (wimp)”

But once they walked on the mat, the confident CC knew the match was over. “Right when I stepped out on the mat, I knew I was going to win when I saw the kids face. He was mentally broke before the match even started.”

Had this match occurred during the regular season, perhaps Flores would have stood a chance. But not this match, not today. CC says, “First I see his scared expression on his face, and then right after the whistle blew I got that first takedown so quick, and I wasn't nervous after that.” She may not have been nervous, but there was a long way to go until her hand was raised.

This is where all the training, all the experience, all the confidence comes in. CC was up 2-0. Most wrestlers wouldn't want to give away a point, but CC knew she took Flores down once, she can take him down again. So she let him up, and literally gave him a point. She knew what she was doing, as she took Flores down again, and ended the period up 4-1.

The second period started and Flores chose down. Once again CC let Flores up to make the score 4-2. CC took him down again and made the score 6-2. In the third period, CC chose down and got a point for escaping. She says before the final whistle she took him down again, but the referee never gave her credit for the points.

But CC didn't need the points. The whistle blew to signify the end of the match. CC Weber 7, Jared Flores 2. More importantly, Goodrich H.S. 30, Saginaw Swan Valley 26.

Normally in victory, CC is gracious and mindful of the losing wrestler, but she couldn't hide her emotions this time, “There's a sweet picture of me smiling with my hand raised, and I never smile after I wrestle.” After the match, CC had enough energy to celebrate with her team, “After I won I ran to my coach and he lifted me up, and then everyone on the team pretty much tackled me. (Laughing) It was great!”

Goodrich went on to win their second straight title by defeating Dundee High School 33-25. The second championship felt even nicer than the first one for CC. She says, “It was soooo important to me. This was our teams goal right after we won our first state title, to get a second one. It was more important then the first one because this year our team for sure didn't have as much talent as it did the year before, but we were just so tough and worked so hard. A lot of people doubted us. But we were just so tough and winning on toughness is the best feeling ever.”

As for her semi-final win over Flores, CC says she is extremely proud that when her teammates needed her most, she responded. “I went out there and in my opinion had the best match of my season. I almost majored the kid. Call it the will to win I guess.”

When asked what she meant by the will to win, and didn't she think her opponent also had that same will, she responded, “The only way I can explain it is, basically just believing in your ability to do what you have trained to do...win. And knowing that there is no other option. Flores may have had it, but I know I wanted that match more than he did.”

During the match, CC says she's very proud that she never put her team in danger of losing. While this next quote may seem cocky, it wasn't intended that way. It was more to show how proud she is that during the biggest moment of her high school career, the girl who is oh so close to 5'1, wrestled like a 7' giant, “I was in control the whole match. He didn't even come close to scoring on me. I dominated every period. I dominated the match. I was the better wrestler.”

She proved she was the better wrestler again when the two met up again in individual states. This match was much closer, but CC still came out on top with a 3-1 win. “Well I knew it was going to be a good match because he knew how I wrestled. I still knew I was going to win though.”

Unfortunately for CC, she didn't accomplish her final high school goal, of winning the state individual championship. She had to settle for 4th place.

And though you maybe reading this and saying, “Settle?!?!?!?” CC has the attitude of a winner, and 4th is settling, “Yeah, I was really pissed I didn't win individual states. Everyone else thought getting fourth was good (laughs). That annoyed me but whatever.”

Would she trade one of her team championships for a state championship? No way she says, “I'd rather win the team title. Hands down.”

Thanks to her semi-final victory, she did.

Alexis Lodge

Alexis Lodge is not a big girl. If a high school boy that didn't know her walked by her, they may think she was a cheerleader or played soccer.

According to Alexis, Josh Silva was a big guy. He looked strong and muscular.

They both were at John Baptist High School for a wrestling meet. If you didn't know any better, you may think Alexis came to the match to cheer Josh on. But she didn't. She came to beat him.

There were two problems though.
1)Josh's size.
2)Alexis was intimidated.

Alexis says, “I remember seeing him and I was really worried because I didn't think I was going to win because he looked really buff.” Her coach didn't want to hear anything of it. Alexis says, “Coach kept telling me not to worry about how big he is and just keep my head in the match, and to be thinking about what moves I was gonna try.”

But her positive thinking didn't last long. “So I go on the mat and before you wrestle you have to shake hands and he had a strong shake. Usually I can tell how strong a person is going to be by their handshake.” How strong was Josh's handshake? “I got a little worried,” Alexis says.

This is actually quite common among girl wrestlers who have to wrestle boys. And though Alexis says Josh was bigger than most boys, she wasn't about to lose before the match started. She had a plan. She says, “I was gonna try to use my speed and technique, because he looked like he could definitely out muscle me.”

The ref blew the whistle, and that's when the intimidation ended. She says, “Once the ref blew his whistle, Josh just stood there in his stance. I think he was waiting for me to do something. So I did.”

Alexis quickly fire-manned Josh and got a quick take down. If Josh was surprised, Alexis was shocked, “I was thinking, holy cow, I cannot believe I just took him down!"

After the takedown, her brain went into overload. “I didn't really have a plan. My brain was going crazy because I was so excited I was winning!” But without a plan, she wouldn't be winning much longer.

Alexis quickly regained her inward composure, and went to work. “While we were on the ground I was trying to get wrist control so that he wouldn't flip me.” Josh tried to base up but that was a mistake, as Alexis snagged one of his arms and got him in a single chicken wing. She says, “I was thinking it was awesome but I probably wasn't going to be able to do anything with it, because he was so much stronger then me he was just going to muscle his way out of it.”

But then Josh made a mistake he would not be able to recover from. And Alexis knew it. Josh put his other arm up, trying to retrieve the arm Alexis had control of. Alexis says, “Wow did he really just give that to me?” He did, and Alexis knew the match was over.

She says, “After he gave me the arm I said, hmmmm OK I'll take it. Then with big smile on my face... I took it.”

The single-chicken wing was now a double-chicken wing. And Alexis knew there was no way out. “Well with a chicken wing you get both arms behind their back and you have to walk over their head and sit on your butt, that way their back is on the mat.”

At this point Alexis was in cruise control. “I wasn't really thinking I was more like laughing on the inside because he was so much more stronger then me and I beat him. I'm pretty sure we both knew it was over.”


And it was. “That's when I heard the ref slap the mat and call the pin. My mom was there too, and I looked up at her and gave her the biggest smile I think I've ever smiled before!”

But Josh wasn't smiling. Alexis wanted to be a good sport. She says, “After I won I jumped right up and tried to help him up, but he didn't want any help, so I just went back to the middle of the circle and had the ref raise my hand. Then I went and shook the other coaches hand with a smile on my face and you could definitely tell, Josh was angry.”

Alexis could understand why he was so upset, “I think he was pretty mad because, well, if you see me in person I'm not very big. I'm not muscular and I'm really tiny.”

And at 5'2 117 pounds, she was pretty happy he was angry, “I felt wonderful. I kinda wanted to laugh but i knew it wouldn't be very sportsmen like. I enjoy it very much when I win against boys because it shows that girls can do anything that boys can.”

Alexis is very glad she was able to face Josh, “This was a big meet to because all the seniors who wrestled last year were there to watch. Alexis was glad they saw her victory, “I felt a little show-offey, kinda like yeaaa!!!! That's how a girl does it!”


But could she do it again? Josh didn't think so, and he would get the chance. They had a another match at Hermon High School, at the Winter Tournament.

This time, the intimidation was gone, “I wasn't really as scared seeing him the second time as much as I was the first time because I knew I had beat him before and if I went out and just kept my head in the match then I could beat him again.” But Alexis knew she wasn't guaranteed a victory, “ I didn't want to start getting cocky because I didn't want to end up losing.”

She also knew that the match wasn't going to be as easy as the first time, “ I figured that since he knew what he did wrong last match I would have to think of something different to do, because he would never fall for the double chicken wing again.”

But as Alexis was planning for the rematch, she overheard a conversation. “I was talking to my mom and she was sitting right behind all of the MDI team. We heard Josh's coach tell him that with all the stuff he was saying about me that he better go out and beat me.” That didn't sit well with Alexis. She says, “I was thinking I was gonna go out and pummel him again just to make him look like a fool, because I don't really like when boy wrestlers talk crap about girl wrestlers specially when a girl has already beaten them.”

Because Alexis is tiny, she has to rely on her wits more than her muscles, and even though she wanted to prove her win was no fluke, she realized she was in Josh's head. “Well if he was talking about me on the bus, I must have made a good fist impression because he wouldn't be talking about me if not. And I think people only talk smack about someone else when they know that the other person is better then them.”

And though she was facing pressure, she realized Josh had it far worse. I asked if she felt the tables had turned and now Josh was intimidated, and she replied, “Oh yeah for sure. He was scared I was going to beat him again, in front of all his "boys." And he was probably scared because if I was a guy wrestler I would definitely be embarrassed if I was beat by a girl.”


It was time for Josh to prove the first match was a fluke, and Alexis could tell, Josh was more prepared this match. However, so was Alexis. Gone was the intimidation of a much larger opponent. Alexis said, I kind of figured it was going to be easier to wrestle him because last time I beat him so fast. I knew I was gonna beat him, but I dont go into any match cocky because that messes with your mind. You have to be confident, not cocky.”

The match started and Alexis immediately took a 2-0 lead. Josh tried tried shooting a double leg takedown, but Alexis sprawled on him, and took him down instead. Alexis says “I wasn't really surprised I took him down. I was happy that he went down so easy like last time.”

From there, Alexis had control of the match, “After I took him down, we went back and fourth here and there, but mostly I was on top. I tried to throw in a power half, and he tried countering by attempting to base. But he left one of his arms open so I grabbed it and threw in a single chicken wing. he went to lift up his other arm and ended up hitting me in the eye with his elbow. I was irritated at him because my eye was blurry the rest of the match.”

But even with a blurred eye, Alexis was able to catch the wayward arm and put him in a double chicken wing. However unlike last time, Josh was able to escape. “Somehow he got out, which surprised me a lot.” But even though he escaped Alexis' finishing maneuver, Josh was still in trouble. Alexis says, “He was still on the bottom, so I just kept working at getting that double chicken wing back. I was trying a lot of different maneuvers to get him on his back, but he was pretty rugged so it was hard trying moves on him. I was getting very frustrated. But right as I was going to let him up so I can take him down again and get more points, he lifted up his arm and I snagged it for another single chicken wing. I smiled because he falls for it every time. I knew he was going to try and base up from his position and leave his other arm wide open for a double chicken wing. And that's exactly what he did.”

After I caught him again, I hung on really tight to both arms so no matter what, he couldn't get out. Once he was secure, I just had to walk over his head and sit on my but so that I could pin him. When the ref slapped the mat, I was wicked happy. I usually am right after I beat a boy. It makes me laugh when a girl wins a match against a guy.”

But Alexis is a good sport and after she got up, she tried to help Josh up. However Josh didn't want her help. Alexis says, “Whatever. I walked back to the center of the mat so the ref could raise my hand and not Josh's. That made me wicked happy. A big smile broke out on my face!”

After the match, Alexis watched Josh sit in his chair and sulk. She says, “It was funny. I got a chuckle out of it. I enjoy when boys throw hissy fits after I beat them, I just laughed and high-fived Airen (her twin sister who is also on the wrestling team). I was really happy, we were both cracking jokes about it and I went over and talked to my Mom and she was laughing. She's really into the whole wrestling thing.”


Airen was thrilled with her sisters triumph. “When I was watching this match, I thought Alexis was so bad ass. She's a spectacular wrestler.”

Brittany Patrick: Getting Respect the Hard Way

Most girl wrestlers want boy wrestlers to think of them in one regard. A wrestler. But they know, they are a girl stepping into a mans sport. And most of the girl wrestlers aren't automatically accepted or respected...until they earn it.

Brittany Patrick earned it, the hard way. She was in 8th grade and wrestling in her first freestyle match. She had only been wrestling for four months, so to say she was inexperienced would be an understatement.

But her inexperience wasn't her only disadvantage. She weighed in at 115 pounds. There was no one in her weight class, so she moved up to 120 pounds. “I was thinking, oh no!! (laughs) I was really nervous, and of course I wanted to impress my teammates.”

The boy she was facing was appropriately named Tyler Kill. Brittany says, “I only remember his name because my mom jokes about how he “killed” me.”

Freestyle is the best two out of three rounds, or pin. Though Brittany was lighter than Kill, she immediately took him down at the opening whistle. She let him roll to his belly and then completed three bull dogs for a first round tech.

Brittany's coach was very pleased with her and told her to keep her aggression. Brittany says, “I remember my mom told me that my coach and her kept looking at me, and then at each other kind of in shock that I was actually wrestling, because when I first started out I was very timid on the mat.”

After the first round tech Brittany was extremely confident. At the start of the second round she went to take Kill down, but he dodged out of the way. Brittany stood up from her shot and pushed him out of bounds, scoring her first point of the round. The whistle blew again and this time Kill became the aggressor. He charged forward as if to shove Brittany out of bounds, but she hit a duck under and then circled to the front and hit an alligator roll on the way out of bounds. Three more points for Brittany. It was 4-0 and this was turning into a romp. Brittany says, “Tyler was pretty frustrated at the way the match was going. And stupidly I was getting a little bit cocky so my stance was a little sloppy.”

An animal is most dangerous when their injured, and Kill was angry. Brittany knowing the match was all but over, was standing up more with her head raised, instead of the usual wrestling position. Kill noticed, and lunged at her head for the head and arm. Brittany was ready for this however, and locked around his body, so she could throw him over. It was going to be a defining moment for Brittany. She was going to toss this boy to the mat and win the match.

But that never happened. “I realized I was too weak to lift him up, so I let go and slipped my arm out. He started to hip me over with just my head, but I was trying to step around out front.” But as often is the case with boys and girls wrestling, the strength favors the boy. Brittany says, “Unfortunately, he was stronger than me and flipped me up and over. I landed on the upper side of my shoulder with a very loud crack.”

Brittany's plan of flipping Kill over and winning the match was long gone now. Brittany was injured, lying on the mat. The move Kill hit was legal, so even though he was losing, he was now going to be the winner.

Not so fast. Kill jumped off Brittany with concern on his face. Though the gesture was chivalrous, Brittany would have none of it. She says, “With my adrenaline pumping, I didn't hear the crack, though I did feel the pain. But my dad always told me to suck it up. You're weaker than the boys so you need to get used to being tossed around a hurt a little bit.”

So instead of giving up, she spoke up. Brittany says, “I distinctly remember rolling over and saying, “Uhhhh, what are you doing? We're still wrestling!” Brittany says she taunted Kill until he started wrestling again, and he jumped on her and tried to run a half. “That's when I first really felt the pain,” Brittany says. “I kinda gasped because due to my fall, I had dislocated my shoulder slightly, and he popped it out of place.” The score was now 4-2, and time was running out. Brittany couldn't score any more points, so she had to make sure Kill didn't. Her coach yelled time was running out and she gritted out the final seconds, securing her 4-2 win.

She says, “After the final whistle I rolled onto my back, but when I tried to sit up, the room was spinning. That's when I yelled for my coach.”

The throw was so violent, an adult had already called for an ambulance. Ten minutes after winning her match, she was on a stretcher with an IV in her arm. Brittany says, “I pride myself that I didn't cry. I know it sounds dumb, but I didn't.”

Brittany's grit, determination, and toughness did not go unnoticed by her teammates. “After the match it was kinda cool because my teammates actually stuck up for me and gave Tyler some crap about beating up a girl. All of the sudden I was cool with the guys and they respected me more.”

Brittany realizes Tyler didn't intentionally try to hurt her, but her compassion for Tyler lasted only for a little while. She says, “Yes I felt bad for Tyler. I knew he didn't mean to hurt me. But when he took my gold medal when I was in the hospital, the feeling bad for him went away.”

Though she was tough on the outside, inside the injury took its toll on Brittany. She says, “The first time I got on the mat after I was injured, I was incredibly nervous. I was timid and not nearly as aggressive and successful. Every little throw I flinched.”

But those nerves, with help from her family eventually went away. “My Dad made me do some trust drills and I was back to wrestling confidently.”

Now when things are going tough, Brittany sometimes looks back on that match and realizes she can overcome the obstacle standing before her. “It made me realize I could keep doing what I need to do when I get hurt. I think yeah it hurts now, but I've done it before and I can do it again.”

And while some people would think they were a badass for winning the match, Brittany says that's not what was important. “Honestly, I'm more proud that I stuck it out and finished the match, even though it hurt. Even if i did somehow lose that match I don't think it would have mattered to me.”

Morgan Belanger, The Rivalry

Wrestlers will often face off against certain wrestlers more than once. They build a certain rivalry with each other. Some rivalries are friendly, some are intense, some are even. However some are one-sided. One such rivalry pitted Morgan Belanger vs. a boy named James. If Morgan Belanger were a hockey player, fans would be littering the ice with their hats. It was a rivalry, that Morgan says helped make her senior season so much fun. The story of Morgan Belanger, vs. James.


Morgan Belanger, was a senior. But more than that, she was entrusted as the captain of her wrestling team. She knew, being a captain has a lot of responsibilities, but being a captain that's also a girl? She can't screw this up. Did she really deserve to be captain?

She was nervous before her first match. Nothing new there, Morgan is always nervous. But this was different, “First, I didn't want to let my team down, especially on the first match of my captaincy! Second, it's a little problem I have in having total confidence in myself.” But while she was nervous, she was also confident. She saw her opponent, a boy named James. “ He was my height, and my weight. He was also my build, lanky with not a lot of muscle. I figured I could take this guy,” she said.

As it turned out, Morgan had no reason to be nervous. She explains, “I stepped on the mat, shook his hand, and decided I'd give him the lead. I'm not an aggressive person by any means, I'm more the defensive type. Well, he instantly went to tie up with me, but did it horribly. Both his hands were on my biceps, mine on his. I could feel his balance going everywhere.”

While Morgan often will have the skill advantage, she often gives up some strength to her opponent. But not this time. Morgan says, “His strength was no match for mine. In an instant as I processed this, he suddenly ducked to shoot in on my legs. Luckily, he was slow and sloppy. I countered by shooting my legs behind me and laying all my weight on him. Then I spun around him, and immediately secured my legs. By legging in (intertwining my left leg with his while I'm on top) I felt instant comfort/ease. I had been practicing riding legs all practices because that was the only part of my body I could depend on. My leg strength and ability to stay hooked was my only real advantage against bigger guys.”

But James wasn't a bigger guy. And he wasn't very hard competition. Morgan now switched from wrestler, to captain. “I realized I needed to end this match quick, as I wanted to save my strength for the other match I would have after (it was a double meet, meaning she went against two teams). I dug my left elbow into his right side, lifted his right arm above my head and placed it in the crook of my neck. I then slowly worked my way down, and when he was more or less on his back, I locked my hands around his head, and squeezed like I never have before, while stretching his leg, still locked with mine, down. After about 30 seconds, the ref slapped the mat and I was brought to the center to shake hands and get my arm raised. I felt great!”

The match ended at 1:39 of the first period. Morgan says, “This was one of my favorite matches because it was the first match I won as a varsity captain, so I felt as if I proved to the team (and myself) that I could do this.” She adds, “It was definitely one of my easiest matches, but also most gratifying. I love riding legs, and this was the quickest match where I won while using them. It really helped to develop my wrestling style throughout the season.”

The next match was not as easy for Morgan, but she did beat her opponent 10-1. All in all a great day for her.

She would go on to face James two more times that season. “I felt a lot more confident. I knew that I've beat him before, so there's no reason why i shouldn't beat him again.”

Morgan had reason for her confidence, as she pinned James all three times she faced him. She says of beating the same opponent three times, “I felt awesome. I can say I'm very proud of them. I really didn't use to have a lot of confidence in myself as a wrestler, until i wrestled James. He was the one wrestler I could count on in my varsity days to build my strength back up, and help me realize that I was just as good a wrestler as the others out there.”

And even though she was already the captain, it made her feel more part of the team than she already was. “Iwas super excited about that (beating someone three times to zero). I'm not the strongest wrestler out there, and most of my other teammates had somebody they beat a lot, so I was able to be included in their conversations,” she said.

Her victories also gave her a missing ingredient in her wrestling game. A strut or swagger that she doesn't have in her everyday life, but wanted on the wrestling mats, “James will always be the person who took the best and worst of me at the same time I guess. He portrayed me to be greater then him, to my team, and thus created me in a greater light. Like I was the greater wrestler, always, when compared against him,” she said. Morgan adds she's not normally aggressive, but the thought of James brings that and other feelings out in her.

Morgan says, “If he and I were in the same sentence together about wrestling, its automatically assumed I was the better one because he has never beaten me. And he also stirred that deep, intense feeling in me of my need to completely demolish him on the mat, so to speak. Seeing him always made me get the urge to be cocky and someone I'm not (off the mat).”

Her rivalry and 3-0 record against James, helped her earn the nickname that her team gave her. “Captain Morgan.”

Morgan Belanger, The Rivalry

Wrestlers will often face off against certain wrestlers more than once. They build a certain rivalry with each other. Some rivalries are friendly, some are intense, some are even. However some are one-sided. One such rivalry pitted Morgan Belanger vs. a boy named James. If Morgan Belanger were a hockey player, fans would be littering the ice with their hats. It was a rivalry, that Morgan says helped make her senior season so much fun. The story of Morgan Belanger, vs. James.


Morgan Belanger, was a senior. But more than that, she was entrusted as the captain of her wrestling team. She knew, being a captain has a lot of responsibilities, but being a captain that's also a girl? She can't screw this up. Did she really deserve to be captain?

She was nervous before her first match. Nothing new there, Morgan is always nervous. But this was different, “First, I didn't want to let my team down, especially on the first match of my captaincy! Second, it's a little problem I have in having total confidence in myself.” But while she was nervous, she was also confident. She saw her opponent, a boy named James. “ He was my height, and my weight. He was also my build, lanky with not a lot of muscle. I figured I could take this guy,” she said.

As it turned out, Morgan had no reason to be nervous. She explains, “I stepped on the mat, shook his hand, and decided I'd give him the lead. I'm not an aggressive person by any means, I'm more the defensive type. Well, he instantly went to tie up with me, but did it horribly. Both his hands were on my biceps, mine on his. I could feel his balance going everywhere.”

While Morgan often will have the skill advantage, she often gives up some strength to her opponent. But not this time. Morgan says, “His strength was no match for mine. In an instant as I processed this, he suddenly ducked to shoot in on my legs. Luckily, he was slow and sloppy. I countered by shooting my legs behind me and laying all my weight on him. Then I spun around him, and immediately secured my legs. By legging in (intertwining my left leg with his while I'm on top) I felt instant comfort/ease. I had been practicing riding legs all practices because that was the only part of my body I could depend on. My leg strength and ability to stay hooked was my only real advantage against bigger guys.”

But James wasn't a bigger guy. And he wasn't very hard competition. Morgan now switched from wrestler, to captain. “I realized I needed to end this match quick, as I wanted to save my strength for the other match I would have after (it was a double meet, meaning she went against two teams). I dug my left elbow into his right side, lifted his right arm above my head and placed it in the crook of my neck. I then slowly worked my way down, and when he was more or less on his back, I locked my hands around his head, and squeezed like I never have before, while stretching his leg, still locked with mine, down. After about 30 seconds, the ref slapped the mat and I was brought to the center to shake hands and get my arm raised. I felt great!”

The match ended at 1:39 of the first period. Morgan says, “This was one of my favorite matches because it was the first match I won as a varsity captain, so I felt as if I proved to the team (and myself) that I could do this.” She adds, “It was definitely one of my easiest matches, but also most gratifying. I love riding legs, and this was the quickest match where I won while using them. It really helped to develop my wrestling style throughout the season.”

The next match was not as easy for Morgan, but she did beat her opponent 10-1. All in all a great day for her.

She would go on to face James two more times that season. “I felt a lot more confident. I knew that I've beat him before, so there's no reason why i shouldn't beat him again.”

Morgan had reason for her confidence, as she pinned James all three times she faced him. She says of beating the same opponent three times, “I felt awesome. I can say I'm very proud of them. I really didn't use to have a lot of confidence in myself as a wrestler, until i wrestled James. He was the one wrestler I could count on in my varsity days to build my strength back up, and help me realize that I was just as good a wrestler as the others out there.”

And even though she was already the captain, it made her feel more part of the team than she already was. “Iwas super excited about that (beating someone three times to zero). I'm not the strongest wrestler out there, and most of my other teammates had somebody they beat a lot, so I was able to be included in their conversations,” she said.

Her victories also gave her a missing ingredient in her wrestling game. A strut or swagger that she doesn't have in her everyday life, but wanted on the wrestling mats, “James will always be the person who took the best and worst of me at the same time I guess. He portrayed me to be greater then him, to my team, and thus created me in a greater light. Like I was the greater wrestler, always, when compared against him,” she said. Morgan adds she's not normally aggressive, but the thought of James brings that and other feelings out in her.

Morgan says, “If he and I were in the same sentence together about wrestling, its automatically assumed I was the better one because he has never beaten me. And he also stirred that deep, intense feeling in me of my need to completely demolish him on the mat, so to speak. Seeing him always made me get the urge to be cocky and someone I'm not (off the mat).”

Her rivalry and 3-0 record against James, helped her earn the nickname that her team gave her. “Captain Morgan.”