WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Ziegler part of many firsts by Gary Abbott
There was a small group of five women who were on the first U.S. team to com- pete at the World Wrestling Champion- ships back in 1989 in Martigny, Switzerland. Marie Ziegler represented the USA at 97 pounds at that first World Championships, an event which hooked her on the sport of wrestling for a lifetime. Ziegler became a pioneer again this summer, when she was one of two U.S. women who entered the first women’s wrestling division at the Veterans World Championships, held in Athens, Greece. She had the rare opportunity to be part of history for women’s wrestling two different times, separated by 26 years and a whole lot of growth for women in the sport. It all started for Ziegler back in California at age 18. She was a high school cheerleader, and didn’t consider herself much of an athlete. Her wrestler boyfriend heard about a women’s wrestling event in the San Francisco area and encouraged her give it a try. “I dated the star high school wrestler. He was my high school sweetheart and my first husband. He heard of a tourna- ment run by the late Lee Allen. He said it would be cute if I wrestled in the tourna- ment. He had no idea it was this big inter- national tournament. I went to San Francisco State, showed up and got my butt kicked,” she said. She was the only American at 44 kg, and because it was being used as the qualifier for the first U.S. Women’s World Team, she was invited to be on the American team going to Switzerland. “My boyfriend said ‘no, we are in over our head, she can’t do this.’ He came out with this, without even conferring with me. I said ‘whoa, whoa, whoa. I’ll do it.’ It was out of defiance. I don’t know if it was the right inspiration, but look what it did for me. Sometimes, somebody tells you that you can’t do something, and it is the best inspiration ever,” said Ziegler. The fact that she even considered going to the Worlds was not consistent with how she pictured herself at that time in her life.
“I was a fan of the sport. I idolized those guys and thought what they did was great. I didn’t think I could partici- pate. I wasn’t something that was avail- able to us. I was 90 pounds, five-foot-two.
18 USA Wrestler
Marie Ziegler (left) poses with Clarissa Chun and Afsoon Johnston at the 2013 Women’s Pioneers Reunion in Las Vegas. Tony Rotundo photo.
I didn’t think I could do a sport, really. That’s the big thing I tell the girls now. Wrestling is something for everyone. I didn’t give myself enough credit. I actually have a lot of athletic ability. Sometimes, if you are a little girl at 14, and you think you are too short for basketball. You think of what you are not, rather than what you are. Wrestling is wonderful, and is some- thing I always preach for everybody,” said Ziegler.
She met another young Bay Area wrestler, Afsoon Roshanzamir, who also qualified for that first World Team. She also was encouraged by coaches Rusty Davidson and Bill Martell, giving her the support to get ready for her first World meet.
Because of passport and travel issues, Ziegler did not compete in Martigny, showing up too late for weigh-in. She was there to support her teammates, and the USA team included silver medalists Asia DeWeese and Leia Kawaii and bronze medalist Afsoon Roshanzamir. “Meeting the girls and being part of the team was wonderful. It hooked me. The men were very encouraging. We instantly felt like we were a community. Wrestling is tight-knit. There is a certain mentality to
be a wrestler. When you are in a tourna- ment with hundreds of people with the same wiring, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” she said.
When she returned to the USA, Ziegler dedicated herself to the sport, and com- peted for seven years on the Senior level. She won a pair of World silver medals, in 1990 and 1991, and was a member of five Senior World Teams. Ziegler quickly learned that it took extra effort to get the training and coaching she needed. “I realized this was something I want to do and wanted to excel at. I trained at my high school, I trained with all the local high school teams, I trained at Diablo Valley College. Back in the day, there weren’t a lot of women. You would have to drive or fly to have workout partners. I trained with Afsoon at UC-Davis. We would go out to train at Arizona State for a week at a time. It was definitely a chal- lenge. Now, I showed up at a wrestling camp in Washington recently and there were over 100 girls there. You think back to the day when you had to get on an air- plane just to find one other person to spar with,” said Ziegler.
Ziegler has a special memory from the Continued on page 20
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