WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Women’s wrestling pioneers paved way for U.S. success
By Gary Abbott
LAS VEGAS - Once upon a time, girls and women did not participate in wrestling. Then, things slowly started to change. This is a story of the courageous young women from the United States who were pioneers in women’s wrestling, and set the foundation for the thousands of girl and women wrestlers to follow. The sport has evolved so much from the 1980’s and 1990s when these proud athletes entered wrestling competitions and represented the United States in international events. There was no Olympic Games opportunity for them, no college programs in their sport, just a few girls on high school teams who were forced to compete only against boys. These young women did not want to change the world. They got involved for one reason - because they had a passion for wrestling and wanted to excel in the sport that they loved.
This story goes back in the late 1980s, when there were only a handful of high school girls who were determined enough to wrestle in high school. At that time, a girl competing in wrestling was a rare oddity. In 1989, the international wrestling federation FILA announced that it would be hosting a women’s freestyle wrestling event as part of the World Wrestling Championships in Martigny, Switzerland. This news received a limited amount of attention and was not well publicized in the media. Yet a handful of women ath- letes heard about it and decided that they wanted to be part of the American women’s wrestling program. “We just wanted to be called athletes and wrestlers,” said Tricia Saunders, an early pioneer who went on to become the greatest U.S. women’s wrestler ever with four World titles in an interview with W.I.N. Magazine. “It think we are proud of the work that we did. I think it made us stronger and stick together. We were a team like any other team.”
These early women wrestlers over- came many challenges, seeking a place in the wrestling community that was not always welcoming. They had to come up with their own funding to compete in the
32 USA Wrestler
Four-time World champion Tricia Saunders (left) paved the way for wrestlers like Olympic medalist Clarissa Chun. The two were reunited at the U.S. Open. Tony Rotundo photo.
sport, most without major club support. They had to find people to train with, often high school boys or coaches willing to give them a chance. They did not receive much publicity, nor were they well known among the wrestling community. Quietly and with great dignity, they stayed with their wrestling dream and help establish the sport in our nation. This story was celebrated at the 2013 U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas, when USA Wrestling hosted a reunion of the pioneers of women’s wrestling. Almost 20 women travelled from across the nation to be part of this celebration. Saunders helped organize the event along with some of her teammates, reaching out to old friends and inviting them to come out to Vegas to get togeth- er once again.
Joining Saunders was four-time World silver medalist Shannon Williams Yancey, World champion and three-time World medalist Sandra Bacher Fakaosi, two- time World silver medalist Marie Ziegler, two-time World medalist Afsoon
Roshanzamir Johnston, World silver medalist Stephanie Murata and World sil- ver medalist Asia DeWeese. The others were all World Team mem- bers or National Team members: Lauren Wolfe Lamb, Andrea Carstens Yamamoto, Jennifer Ottiano Ferragatta, Jimi-Dawn Hornbuckle, Kristy Schultz, Lisa Whitsett and Cheryl Meyer Bergman. These women loved wrestling before it became socially acceptable for women to participate in the sport. DeWeese won her first World silver medal and Roshanzamir won a World bronze medal in that first World Championships featuring U.S. women in Switzerland in 1989. Since that time, U.S. women have won a total of 57 World medals, including 11 golds from seven different women. Since women’s wrestling joined the Olympic Games in 2004, the USA has won four Olympic medals. In Vegas, there was a reception for the women, where they met with their former coaches and friends within wrestling, and had an opportunity to meet some of the current Women’s Team USA members. USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender addressed all of the women pio- neers before the U.S. Open finals. “On behalf of the women’s program, I want to say thank you,” said Bender. There are many women who are standing on your backs tonight and moving for- ward. Our sport would never have had anywhere near the success we have had without the women, and the men who supported those women, who are right here in this room. Our women’s program is on a great trajectory, close to being the best in the world. It is because of the hard work, effort and the perserverence that you had.” National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner also addressed the pioneers. “We want to thank you for stepping up and stepping into the sport of wrestling,” said Steiner. “You truly have made a dif- ference. It is because of your passion and persistence that we have what we enjoy today. I hope all of you know the
Continued on page 33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44