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Beauty with a Beastly side
Riverdale's Daugherty top
girls wrestler in the nation
By Doug Malan
In a crudely converted school bus garage, Jennifer Daugherty is trying to complete her photo shoot.
The room serves as the wrestling practice area at Riverdale High School, not to mention a driver's education classroom. But on this day, Riverdale's football team shares the cramped facilities for agility drills and sneaks glimpses of Daugherty in various whimsical poses.
Such are the defining moments for the senior wrestler.
As a female grappler, guys often gaze at her in wonderment but hesitate to give her equal space.
"It used to be really bad," Daugherty says of the backlash endured by competing in a male-dominated sport. "Some parents and guys would be like, 'The only reason she's out there is because she wants to be with the guys.' Why would I bust my butt everyday in practice just to be with guys?"
In only her third year of wrestling, Daugherty's precocious rise in wrestling stature commands respect.
Last spring, Daugherty competed in the inaugural National High School Girls Wrestling Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., and finished second in the 100-pound class while wrestling with a broken finger.
On the basis of that performance, Daugherty is the top-ranked female wrestler in the 100-pound class as judged by Wrestling USA magazine. She will be the top seed for this year's tournament scheduled for March 27-28 in Lake Orion, Mich.
"When I did that rating, I took the results of my first national championship last year, culled out the seniors and moved everybody else up," says Kent Bailo, the Michigan editor for Wrestling USA and founder/director of the United States Girls Wrestling Association.
Daugherty is the only girl from the Southeast represented in the rankings.
Alaina Berube of Escanaba, Mich., defeated Daugherty 6-0 in last year's finals and finds herself the top-ranked wrestler at 104.
Although female wrestlers have competed for several years, their existence invites criticism that the traditional feminine code has been breached.
Girls can play softball and basketball, but wrestling? Against guys?
Emily Post has been turned on her ear.
"Some people think I'm just the biggest tomboy because I'm out here wrestling," says Daugherty, whose background as a black belt in karate led her to wrestling. "Others think it's really cool because I'm a girl putting up with all the boys' crap."
And she has put up with it quite well.
When she began wrestling as a sophomore, it was understood that no charity would be given based on gender.
"I didn't expect them to take it easier on me," she says. "I knew I wasn't going to come out here, start it and then quit. That's not the way I am. I enjoy it."
During her junior year, she wrestled at the 112 class and pinned four opponents while winning three other matches on points against guys 12 pounds heavier.
Mike Hinote outwrestled her for the 103 slot, and Daugherty was given the chance to advance one class.
Then came the Michigan tournament and everyone began taking notice.
Her teammates, of course, have long respected her.
"A lot of people misjudge her because she's a girl," Hinote says. "That kind of intimidates some people. She's by far the best girl wrestler I've ever seen."
Hinote doubles as the promoter who tries to convince opposing wrestlers that Riverdale's wonder woman is for real. Some just don't take the hint, though.
"Mike likes to talk me up. When guys ask how I am, he likes to play with their minds," Daugherty says. "One guy said, 'This ought to be easy. It's a girl.' That was all I needed to get out there and get after him.
"We went to the third period before I pinned him, but it was in front of the student body. And I was like, 'How do you like them apples?' I didn't say it, but I was thinking it."
That competitive streak and toughness immediately bonds the wrestlers, and Daugherty enjoys being one of the guys on and off the mats.
This year, she dropped home economics to enroll in a weightlifting class. How can you disrespect a girl who chooses benchpresses over brownies?
And there's a certain enjoyable irony watching Daugherty and her girl-next-door good looks drop a guy with precision.
"Amazement is what it is," says mother Cherie Daugherty. "It's a shock when people see her or see pictures of her."
It's a combination that can be disturbing to guys, but not Daugherty's teammate and younger brother Ben.
"It's fine with me," says Ben, a sophomore. "She's a good wrestler. I know she's my sister and everything...I've never really seen a girl go as hard at her sport as she has."
And, she'll have you know, that does not make her a tomboy.
"No, no, no," she says with a laugh designed to dispel such thoughts. "I've just grown up with boys. I don't have alot of female friends. I'm not real, I don't know, gooshy."
Sometimes, though, the sentimentality seeps through at the wrong time, and that's something Daugherty wants to change. When she wrestles guys that under other circumstances would be interested in exchanging phone numbers rather than points, there's not much room for delicacy.
"In practice, I'm like constantly, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry,' and you don't do that in this sport," Daugherty says. "Sometimes, I feel really bad if I beat somebody. In front of our student body last year, I felt so bad because our students gave this guy such a hard time.
"I feel bad for things like that, but those are the chances you have to take."
She doesn't always get those chances.
Some coaches refuse to pit a wrestler against her, and it's in those situations where perceived female social roles are again revealed.
"I won't let my guy wrestle because wrestling a girl is a no-win situation," says one coach who requested anonymity. "If you lose, you lose to a girl. If you win, everyone says, 'Ooh, you beat a girl.
"There's no place for females in wrestling."
The coach, however, says he would be in favor of all-female wrestling divisions.
"If he's gonna give up a weight class for something like that and give our team six points, that's great," Daugherty says. "At some time or another, they're going to go through challenges, and if he's not going to let them do it right now, that's his problem."
A recurring neck injury currently keeps Daugherty's matches at a premium, but she hopes to return in time to make a run at the state tournament.
Daugherty and her teammates insist the championships aren't a longshot, and one story involving Tullahoma sophomore Matt Sweeton offers support.
"I wrestled him in practice one time, and he did something stupid and I put him on his back," Daugherty says of the defending state champion at 103. "I didn't say anything the whole practice, and then after practice I yelled, 'I pinned him! I pinned him!'
"Nobody believed me. But I know I pinned him, and he knows I pinned him. That's all that matters."
Sweeton was in the midst of exams on Friday and unavailable for comment.
Daugherty says wrestling past high school is out of the question ( "To me, college wrestlers are crazy") and her focus remains finishing her prep career.
"I really want to go to state, even if I just wrestle one match," she says. "My biggest goal is to go back to Michigan and win first. That's alot of pressure. With that seeding, I have more to lose."
Riverdale coach Steve Britton says Daugherty's main concern will be making up for lost practice time once she becomes completely healthy. Right now, she is unable to touch her chin to her chest after suffering the injury in December, although she frequently wrestles through pain.
Whatever her successes on the mat, Daugherty owes alot to her Riverdale teammates with whom she shares equal footing.
"They've been really supportive and watching out for me more than I have really, as far as injury goes," she says. "We're just like a big family."
Despite all of the dissidents and hardline traditionalists, Jennifer Daugherty found her niche.
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Fulton wrestler eyes international success
By FRANK DIRENNA
Sports Editor
FULTON - Danielle Bennett has toured the globe as she attempts to conquer the wrestling world.
Bennett, a key contributor for coach Mike Conners' varsity wrestling team last winter, continues to enjoy success during the summer wrestling season.
Bennett was recently named to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships Aug. 4-6 in Oslo, Norway.
Bennett placed second at the United States Junior Freestyle Nationals at 119 pounds in New Orleans, but was given the nod over champion Katrina Betts because of her international wrestling experience.
Bennett, 16, prepared for the Junior Nationals by winning a national tournament in Michigan recently.
Approximately 150 girls competed in New Orleans, with Bennett settling for second in a nine-person weight class. She won six matches by pinfall, earning the Garriaran Trophy for most falls in the least amount of time. Included were pins of 28 and 36 seconds.
The upcoming junior had little time to prepare once she arrived in New Orleans as she took a final exam the previous day at G. Ray Bodley High School and didn't arrive in New Orleans until 4 a.m. the following day. Wrestlers had to be at the competition by 7 a.m.
Bennett's international experience includes a dual meet in Germany and a tournament in the Netherlands during Easter vacation this year.
Bennett defeated German and European champions during her visit to Germany. She placed third at 110 pounds in the Netherlands.
Bennett is preparing for Norway by begininng a rigorous training schedule.
"I'm starting to train now and it's not until August," Bennett said.
Bennett is running 6-7 miles four days a week and is working out at the Fulton YMCA.
She is hoping that the training and summer competition will prepare her for the upcoming winter scholastic season at Fulton.
"I've been training now to get ready for scholastic wrestling," Bennett said. "If I continue training when I come back from Norway I should be able to go right into the guys season."
Bennett's biggest fans have proven to be her parents, Randy and Lori, but because of limited funds, they won't be able to accompany their daughter to Norway.
"Mentally, it doesn't help that they won't be there, but I have coaches there who know what kind of mental preparation my father puts me through," Bennett said.
While Bennett is eager to visit Norway, she understands funding continues to be a major obstacle. She has to raise $2,000 or she will have to cancel her trip.
The Bennett family is seeking donations from area businesses and individuals to help fund the excursion.
"If I don't raise the money, there's no way I can do it," Bennett said. "We're just hoping something happens. We're hoping we can find someone who wants to chip in something."
Those interested can contact Bennett at 592-5986.
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February 25, 1998
Monte girl first female wrestler to compete at state
By Rick Anderson
contributing editor
Arielle Bradbury is far more comfortable executing a takedown than in her newfound role as a female sporting icon.
But when the Montesano sophomore stepped on the mat shortly after 11 o'clock Saturday, most eyes in the Tacoma Dome will be focused in her direction.
That's a natural reaction. By virtue of her third place finish in the 101-pound weight class in last Saturday's 2A regional tournament, she became the first Washington girl ever to qualify for the state wrestling tournament.
She proved Saturday that she belonged there. She had a rough opening bout, but recovered for a 13-4 win against Austin Cliff of Eatonville in the second round. She was later pinned by Kris Matthews of Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls in her third match and was eliminated.
³Some of the attention is kind of neat,² the friendly 16-year-old said. ³But sometimes I get a little embarrassed when I get a lot of attention on myself.²
She's even more uneasy when well-meaning fans refer to her as a role model for women, since the congratulations often assume feminist beliefs she doesn't share.
³I'm not into that feminist stuff,² she asserted. ³To me, I'm just representing myself and showing the gift that God has given me in that particular area.
³It doesn't have anything to do with showing girls are as good as guys,² she continued. ³It's just something that I love to do.²
The possessor of numerous age group titles, including a national girls' championship last year, the 5-foot-2, 99-pound Bradbury has never experienced difficulty in getting her close-knit family to accept her favorite sport.
Her father Clayton, a former standout wrestler at Grays Harbor College who also won the Junior World Trieste championship, is also her coach at Montesano. Younger brothers Jordan, age 14, and Orrin, 11, are also active in age group wrestling.
Clayton Bradbury, in fact, credits impromptu wrestling matches at home with her brothers with fostering Arielle's competitive development.
³Sometimes it's like the World Series of wrestling right there on the living room rug,² he said.
Acceptance has come easier for Arielle than for female wrestlers in other states, many of whom were treated as outcasts by teammates and opponents alike.
Although, as a home-school student, she doesn't actually attend Montesano High School, she relates well to her teammates. Her father notes that Mike Russell, the Bulldogs' 115-pound regional champion, has been particularly helpful in workouts.
³It's kind of like a big family,² said Arielle. ³We joke with each other. They still wrestle me hard. I couldn't learn if they were always careful with me. And they kind of look after me when we go to other places.²
Pockets of resistance still exist elsewhere, but Arielle professes not to care.
³Lots of people don't like girls wrestling,² she said. ³The only reason I'm out there wrestling is because I love the sport. What other people think doesn't bother me or affect me, I guess.²
In fact, a growing number of opposing coaches and wrestlers respect Arielle for her ability, without reference to gender.
Her state qualification performance at the regional tournament at Elma received near-universal approval from coaches and fans alike.
When Hoquiam's J.R. Turpin handed Bradbury one of her seven season losses last month, Grizzly coach Russ Skolrood was particularly pleased because, as he said, ³Arielle's a tough wrestler and (J.R.) wrestled really well.²
While Clayton Bradbury remains disappointed that a handful of coaches will forfeit to his daughter rather than risk embarrassment to their male wrestlers, such incidents have been fewer than in Arielle's freshman season.
He attributes the greater acceptance to wrestling primarily against freshmen, many of whom have wrestled with and against girls in age group freestyle meets.
³A lot of the kids at that grade are used to seeing girls out there competing with them,² said the Montesano coach.
Although Arielle attributes some of her improvement this season to greater upper body strength, she readily admits being unable to match her male counterparts in that area.
She tends to be something of a counterpuncher, more likely to score off a reversal than a takedown. Not surprisingly for the daughter of a coach, she puts a heavy emphasis on developing superior technique.
³When you get your moves working, a lot of your strength doesn't matter at all,² she said.
³I'm a firm believer that technique will beat muscle any day of the week,² her father affirms.
But Clayton Bradbury said that theory may work only to a point with his daughter. He hints that Arielle's high school career may end if she outgrows the 101-pound class.
³When you get into the bigger weight classes, there's too much of a discrepancy from a physical standpoint,² he said.
Before Saturday's tournament, her eyes sparkled with anticipation, acknowledging that her pioneer status might make it harder.
³None of the guys want to lose to a girl,² Bradbury added, ³and at this level, even more so.²
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When Sissy Lyle joined the varsity wrestling team, a few veteran observers
wondered if a girl would have the stamina to take command of a match in the
third
period. Lyle, now a junior at Quigley Catholic, has answered the question
emphatically.
Lyle was trailing 11-10 Tuesday in the final 10 seconds of her 135-pound
bout with Ray Roccon of Seneca Valley. Lyle produced a two-point reversal
then earned
three back points to claim a 15-10 victory that brought the crowd to its
feet in the Quigley gymnasium.
Lyle pushed her record to 3-1. Quigley, with the loss to Seneca Valley, slid
to 3-1 overall, 1-1 in the section.
Jess Brinson of Quigley earned a 15-11 decision to move his record to 4-0.
Heavyweight Justin Villella earned a fall to move to 3-0, while freshman
Chris Smith prodouced a fall in the 103-pound bout to move his record to
2-1.