Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News # 46

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Leading of this posting of 10 articles about women in wrestling and women’s wrestling news we share the attention and accolades for the long time and productive communications director Gary Abbottat USA Wrestling. Gary is an excellant hard working writer who has been a positive wrestling fan for decades. In the late 1980s we attended one of the first national women’s championships which was held during the World Cup in Toledo, Ohio. While watching the athletes in competition one could see the discipline, ethusiasm and competitive spirit in each of the wrestlers. It was agreed that this new division in the sport would grow and it would be a worthwhile effort in expanding the sport in general. In just over 30 years women’s wrestling grew by the efforts in USA Wrestling, U.S.G.W.A. and other athletic organization to the point that it has become sanctioned by scholastic athletic associations in at least 25 states. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 } – Gary Abbott was the lone media voice for women’s wrestling
Rich Bender was an intern at USA Wrestling in 1988 when he was asked to make a presentation to the board of directors about sending a women’s team to the 1989 World Championships. The presentation must have worked since the first U.S. women’s World team competed the following year. Five female wrestlers from the United States made history by competing at the Women’s Freestyle World Championships in Martigny, Switzerland. Afsoon Johnston (third), Asia DeWeese (second), and Leia Kawaii (second) were the first U.S. women to medal at the Worlds, which laid the groundwork for future generations of female wrestlers.
This was still a primitive time for women’s wrestling. Kitchen appliances were given as prizes in addition to medals. While an ‘Outstanding Wrestler’ Award was selected for the men, the ‘Most Beautiful Wrestler’ Award was selected for the women. Similar to a beauty pageant, a tiara was placed on the head of the most beautiful wrestler. 
Today, Bender is the executive director of USA Wrestling and he credits one person helping him with his presentation to the board and he credits one person for laying the groundwork for women’s wrestling media coverage: Gary Abbott. 
“Few, if anyone, has had a bigger impact on the promotion of women’s wrestling than Gary Abbott,” Bender said. “He’s long been a bulldog on the idea of women having the same opportunity as men. Gary doesn’t jump to the front for credit and he doesn’t worry about his name in print anywhere. He’s more worried about doing everything in his power to illuminate women and their participation in our sport.  “It’s his innate desire to do a good job for wrestling. Gary has long subscribed to the idea that the involvement of women’s wrestling does nothing but make the sport better. He’s long been the hardest working guy in wrestling. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/PortalPost.jsp?postId=788534135&mc_cid=fca2dfc53b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – Emma Bruntil (McKendree University) vs Dalia Garibay (Colorado Mesa University) and other video clips … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/VideoPlayer.jsp?matchId=22014873132&TIM=1596297260477&twSessionId=thjstxpaju

3 } – Victoria Anthony: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Victoria Anthony. The eight-time women’s freestyle National Team member shares her thoughts on her wrestling heroes: Carol Huynh and Clarissa Chun. 
These are Anthony’s words on her wrestling heroes:
“My wrestling hero would be Carol Huynh and Clarissa Chun because I look up to them so much. First and foremost, they are such kind and honorable people and that’s what I value the most. Clarissa’s style is amazing. It’s so fun and exciting and her background is judo, which is the same as mine — so I loved watching her wrestling style.
“Carol, I get to wrestle with every day since I live in Calgary now. Just getting to know Carol during this time — I look over at her during practice and I’m like, ‘I’m so lucky because she is such a good person.’ She is still so strong and so fast and motivated. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1596228020560&twSessionId=yefscikkhd&postId=787827135&mc_cid=18dff864d7&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Blades V Elor At Who’s #1
FloWrestling announced during their Dake V Chamizo event that high school wrestlers Kennedy & Amit Elor would face-off at Who’s #1 this October. Both Elor & Blades are entering their junior years at No. 1 in their weights. Amit is No. 1 at 152 pounds and Blades No. 1 at 164 pounds. Both girls have accolades on the state, national, and international levels. This big match-up comes after some major disappointment from the July 25th card. Not only where there were no women featured on the card, but also it came out that top female wrestlers were offered significantly lower pay than their male counterparts. There is a lot of pressure on FloWrestling to provide more coverage of women’s & Greco-Roman wrestling. … rest of story at _{https://www.wreaperwrestling.com/blades-v-elor-at-whos-1/?mc_cid=c6e5782be1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – Julia Salata: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Julia Salata. The four-time women’s freestyle National Team member and King assistant coach shares her thoughts on her wrestling hero: Jacque Davis. 
These are Salata’s words on her wrestling hero:
“I’m going to go with Jacque Davis. I worked with Jacque on a number of different things. I first met her in Fargo in 2014 when she first got the job as Beat the Streets New York women’s coordinator. I didn’t really know Jacque. She was never a high profile senior-level athlete. She was unknown to me. It was like, ‘Who’s this person coaching with me on Team New York? I don’t really know her.’ After being around her for 10 days it was like, ‘Holy crap, she’s incredible.’
“From that point we started collaborating on several things and a couple different projects. Everything she does, she puts 100 percent into everything. … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1596678206992&twSessionId=vsretnndpf&postId=788178135&mc_cid=dabfe2c4a0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – Emily Shilson: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Emily Shilson. The 2018 Cadet World champion and 2020 national champion for Augsburg University shares her thoughts on her wrestling heroes: Her father, Chad, and brother, Tyler. 
These are Shilson’s words on her wrestling heroes: 
“I’d probably say my dad since he has been my coach my entire life. He and my brother are the reason why I started wrestling and they both wrestled. They’ve been a huge part of my wrestling career. 
“My dad has always been a huge advocate for me and girls wrestling in Minnesota. Right now we’re working on getting it sanctioned at the high school level here and he’s always been supportive of me. When I asked if I could start wrestling at five … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1596921505679&twSessionId=mbkbtjjhhn&postId=788210135&mc_cid=040ae84fd3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – TOM’s Quarant-Interview with Dominique Parrish
TOM recently had the opportunity to speak with three-time U23 World Team member and 2019 Patricia Miranda Medal winner Dominique Parrish. Dom talks about her start in the sport and how she ended up wrestling at Simon Fraser. Parrish continues to train at Simon Fraser and she was a participant in Final X in 2019 at 55 kg. She talks about her takeaways from that series with the eventual world champion, Jacarra Winchester, and then Jacarra’s success in Kazakhstan. … rest of story at _{https://news.theopenmat.com/womens-wrestling/toms-quarant-interview-with-dominique-parrish/78685?mc_cid=adab565cde&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – Alara Boyd: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Alara Boyd. The two-time Cadet World medalist shares her thoughts on her wrestling hero: his father, Jimmy.  These are Boyd’s words on her wrestling hero:
“My wrestling hero would be my dad (Jimmy). My dad wrestled in high school and he’s really the one who got me into wrestling and pushed me all the years I was wrestling. He took me to countless camps, countless tournaments. When I was younger I lived in Indiana, but I’d wrestle in Ohio because it was closer and there was more competition there so he took me all over the country. Not only that, but I have three other siblings and they do three sports, too. He and my mom found a way to come to my overseas tournaments. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1597266293777&twSessionId=tgmfgcuzar&postId=788477135&mc_cid=adab565cde&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – Wrestling was a refreshing taste of consistency and structure for Jacque Davis
Jacque Davis is on the front lines for advancing women’s wrestling. She reflects on her upbringing, her work with Beat the Streets New York, and coaching the sport she loves. … rest of story and video at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1597266293777&twSessionId=tgmfgcuzar&videoId=788258135&mc_cid=adab565cde&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – What is the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Festival?
Wrestle Like A Girl has come up with an innovative solution and engagement opportunity to close the gap between high school athletes and college coaches this year.
The Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Festival, scheduled for August 17-21, will focus on creating coach-athlete connections and educating athletes, parents and coaches about wrestling in college. I.e., things like navigating the recruiting process, scholarships, freestyle wrestling, balancing academics … rest of story at _{https://www.transitionwrestling.com/what-is-the-womens-collegiate-wrestling-festival/?mc_cid=18ec0c1b30&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

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