Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling Results & News — # 21

Pennsauken wrestler back on mat after life-threatening illness
PENNSAUKEN TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WPVI) — A Pennsauken High School wrestler is back on the mat after battling a life-threatening illness. “It felt like good old times,” senior Amanda Lezcano. Lezcano still can’t walk without a crutch, but she still can get in her wrestling stance without help. Last year, she couldn’t breathe without the help. “Eventually, I wasn’t able to breathe on my own, I had to be on a breathing tube,” she said. She says it was July and she had a common cold but then unexpectedly lost control of her legs. “My parents took me to the hospital and they told me I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome and that’s when your immune system attacks your body,” said Lezcano. She went from a three-sport athlete, constantly surrounded by friends, to thinking she might die at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “I couldn’t move my legs or my arms. I wasn’t able to speak. I thought I wasn’t going to make it, to be honest,” said Lezcano. But on Wednesday night, it was a happy ending with a whole school and medical team of help. Amanda got better and gets to be a high school senior again. … story at https://6abc.com/5926495/?mc_cid=a84c1748d7&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Greensboro College Becomes First College in North Carolina to Offer Women’s Wrestling as a Varsity Intercollegiate Sport
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College will offer women’s wrestling as a varsity intercollegiate sport beginning in Fall 2020. It will be the first college or university in North Carolina to do so.  The proposal was approved Feb. 12 by President Lawrence D. Czarda, Ph.D., on the recommendation of Robin Daniel, interim director of athletics. “This is a great opportunity for young women wrestlers, especially in the state of North Carolina,” said head wrestling coach Kevin Birmingham, who will coach both the men’s and the women’s teams. “The sport is really taking off at the high-school level, and where are those women going? I want them to come to Greensboro College.” Greensboro College, which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division III, began its men’s wrestling program in 2015. Costs to add a women’s team will be minimal, with space and equipment already on hand. Division III schools, typically among the smallest, do not offer athletic scholarships.  
The NCAA has designated women’s wrestling as an “emerging sport,” one that it recognizes but for which it does not yet have sanctioned championships. Women’s wrestling has been an Olympic sport since 2004.
High-school girls’ wrestling is the fastest-growing girls’ sport in the country, particularly in the southeastern U.S. Nationally, the number of high school girls participating in wrestling grew from 804 in 1994 to 21,124 in 2019, according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Currently, 20 states have sanctioned women’s state wrestling championships. … story at https://greensborocollegesports.com/news/2020/2/14/greensboro-college-becomes-first-college-in-north-carolina-to-offer-womens-wrestling-as-a-varsity-intercollegiate-sport.aspx?mc_cid=aac8a693e2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Olympic gold medallist named provincial ambassador for sport and active living
Olympic gold-medallist Erica Wiebe has been named a provincial ambassador to encourage Albertans to take part in sports and live an active lifestyle. Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women Minister Leela Aheer made the announcement during the Alberta Winter Games in Airdrie on Saturday. The year-long appointment will see Wiebe travel across the province to encourage underrepresented or marginalized populations to take up sport, and to raise awareness about the benefits of staying active “I truly believe sport has the power to change lives, has the power to unite communities, has the power to transform our economy and our people at the individual and community level,” said Wiebe. The world-class wrestler won gold at the 2018 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — the third Canadian to medal in wrestling at the Olympics and second Canadian woman to win gold after Carol Huynh in 2008. … story and video at https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/olympic-gold-medalist-named-provincial-ambassador-for-sport-and-active-living/?mc_cid=73f08c1943&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

20 Days to Adrian: Jessica Medina
Jessica Medina
Nickname: Funky Gold Medina
College: University of the Cumberlands (Williamsburg, Kentucky)
High School: Diamond Ranch High School (Pomona, California)
Age: 33
High school and college credentials: The Cumberlands star won WCWA titles in 2006 and 2008 following a second-place finish in 2005.
International credentials: Medina was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team for six years (2009-15) and was a member of U.S. Senior World Teams in 2009 and 2010. She won silver medals at the 2010 and 2011 Pan American Championships and was a 2006 Junior World bronze medalist.
Where is Medina now? The 33-year-old currently serves as the National Women’s Wrestling Developmental Coach for USA Wrestling … story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1581823941135&twSessionId=xzsbqhuluj&postId=389516135&mc_cid=73f08c1943&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Former wrestling teammates now coaching history
MCPHERSON, Kan.— More than 200 girls competed at the Girls West Regional Wrestling tournament today in McPherson. Its the first year as a high school sanctioned sport and a lot of people have been waiting a long time for this, including two former wrestlers. In a sea of male coaches and referees, there are two female coaches sitting mat side cheering on their girl wrestlers, in the first ever West Regional tournament as a high school sanctioned sport. McPherson wrestling assistant. coach, Chandra Engle said, “Beth and I had wrestled together in high school.”
Holcomb wrestling coach, Beth Johnson said. “I’ve known her since I was nine or ten years old. I’ve known her for a long time, ten years and we’ve wrestled longer than that.” Johnson and Engle were both on the 2008 Kansas USA Wrestling team. “She ended up finishing first at nationals my senior year, I got fourth that year,” said Engle. “So it was a really neat team to be on. It was the biggest team that we’d had yet for Kansas. Probably the first time we started having a team go to Fargo was me and Beth.” More than ten years later, both still find themselves in the wrestling world but in a different role. “We’re just passing the flame pretty much,” said Johnson. “Our coaches passed it to us and now we’re passing it to the kids whenever they get older. Hopefully they continue wrestling as well.” Engle said, “The first time I saw her, I was surprised, I didn’t know she was coaching. It was at another tournament and we ran into each other in the locker room, it was a big hug fest. It’s neat to see her and be like where you coaching, how many girls you got?” …. story at https://www.kwch.com/content/sports/Former-wrestling-teammates-now-coaching-history-567917631.html?mc_cid=148f5f63fc&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Girls wrestling movement growing in Berks County
When Gov. Mifflin freshman Jayleah Pletz received her sixth-place medal at Reading High, fans throughout Berks County cheered. Although Pletz said she started wrestling only to have fun, she suddenly became one of the faces in a movement to help Pennsylvania grow the sport of girls wrestling. Pletz became the first female to earn a medal in the 22-year history of the BCIAA Individual Wrestling Championships when she went 3-3 to finish sixth at 106 pounds. “It was fun,” Pletz said. “It was a new experience. It’s cool to be the first one.” A movement to grow girls wrestling in Berks County has been spearheaded by former Gov. Mifflin wrestler David Roche, founder of Venom Wrestling Academy. Twenty-five girls, ages 5-14, from 10 different schools participated in the latest girls-only clinic at Muhlenberg High School. “A lot of girls have been denied opportunities,” said Roche, a 2006 Gov. Mifflin grad. “We just want to be the ones to say everybody can wrestle no matter what. We’re going to make sure they have an opportunity to be on the mat.” Seventh-grader Katalyna Borreli, whose successful battle to overturn the Tulpehocken School District policy excluding junior high and high school girls from wrestling against boys gained countywide attention in November, attended the clinic. Borreli’s father, Frankie, was there to support his daughter and talk to parents who might be apprehensive about their daughters wrestling boys. …. story and video at at https://www.readingeagle.com/sports/high-school/girls-wrestling-movement-growing-in-berks-county/article_bc08f574-4176-11ea-aa98-a34a2032d5fc.html?mc_cid=148f5f63fc&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

March 17, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized