News Page

10/13/99

Kristen Jewett ``Made History''
Aaron C. Miller

Shattering Maine state Class C wrestling records has proved to be a reoccurring event for Wiscasset High School's only female wrestler, Kristen Jewett.

After winning the Western Maine Championship in her weight class in Wiscasset last week - and the first female to ever win a regional title - Jewett grabbed fourth place at the Class C State wrestling tournament on Saturday.

By winning fourth at the tournament, Jewett is the first female wrestler to place in the states, according to her coach, Shawn Guest.

``She was one point from going to the state finals. For a sophomore girl that isn't bad,'' he said. ``She earned it. She made history.''

At the regional tournament last week Jewett defeated Josh Bissell, of Dirigo to win her first time title. Ironically, she wrestled against Bissell again at the states, whom she defeated.

``He didn't say anything all day. He wouldn't even look at me or stand near me. I think he was pretty angry at me,'' she said. ``I never saw him and the kid from Calais I wrestled the rest of the day. The other three guys in my weight class were there all day.''

Kristen's mother, Carol, said her daughter displayed ``a lot of determination'' at the competition. Carol witnessed her daughter defeat Bissell at the states and said, ``If she could beat him once she could beat him again. I felt bad for him, but not that bad.''

Now that the season is over Jewett plans to work with her high school's drama department in the upcoming production of The Italian Straw Hat.

She is also looking for a job to help pay for her potential trip to the Netherlands - where she will study her junior year.

Jewett will continue to wrestle if she moves to the area.

``It will be interesting to see how different things are done in different countries,'' she said. ``I hope there aren't different rules because it could get so confusing.''

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Kansas City Star, January 30, 1998 ,
Role reversal Pleasant Hill senior aims for a female first in Missouri

Topics:
high schools
wrestling
girls
Tucker, Julie

Suffocating warmth takes over the little room. It drips from the ceiling and
settles into the thick purple and yellow mats that line the room.

And still the wrestler practices. Grapples with teammates, works on
technique, does push-ups and jackknives when the coach gets mad, tries to
improve, plots victory, dreams of qualifying for state. The wrestler also
thinks about the end of the season and eating anything in sight.

French fries. One of those double-decker ice cream things from Winstead's.
Pizza. Cereal.

It was a cereal binge - three bowls - that almost did in the wrestler last
week.

Yes, this wrestler is no different from any other wrestler.

Except that this wrestler is a girl. Julie Tucker, a Pleasant Hill High
School senior, wrestles in the 103-pound weight class. She is trying to
become the first girl to qualify for the Missouri wrestling state meet in
its 66-year history.

``She's legitimate,'' Belton coach Jeff Davis said. ``She's not a gimmick.
She's really, really good. We'd really like to see her become the first girl
to qualify for state. '' Tucker, 21-12, would like to see that, too.

``My main goal is just to compete at state,'' she said. ``I think I can
definitely make it. '' Tucker has wrestled only since her freshman year, but
she is no stranger to the sport. Her two older brothers, Shez and Ben, were
successful high school wrestlers. Shez won the 1992 Missouri 1A-2A
championship at 130 pounds, and Ben finished sixth at 119 two years ago.

Tucker grew up around wrestling, but her parents, Leonard and Betty, weren't
exactly sure how much she paid attention or soaked up.

``It wasn't that apparent to us,'' Leonard Tucker said. ``We weren't aware
that she was that interested until she approached us. '' That was during her
eighth-grade year. Tucker knew she was a good athlete - a good athlete who
just wasn't cut out to be a basketball player. There had to be something
else she could do during the winter. Wrestling seemed to be the natural
choice.

After her parents gave their support, Tucker approached Pleasant Hill coach
Steve Leslie.

``At first he thought I was kidding,'' Tucker recalled.

She wasn't.

It's not as if girls haven't wrestled before. The National Federation of
State High School Associations reports that 1,629 girls competed on high
school boys wrestling teams in the United States last year. Tucker has known
several girl high school wrestlers in the Kansas City area, including one at
Odessa this season.

But for every girl who wrestled last year, there were 139.7 boys.

You'll rarely look at the mat and see a girl.

``I used to get really nervous when I was a freshman because I thought
everyone was looking at me,'' Tucker said. ``And they were.

``Now people stare at me, and I forget I'm the only girl out there. ''
Tucker doesn't see herself as a girl wrestler. She sees herself as a
wrestler.

That's also the way her teammates and most people in the wrestling community
see her.

``We all treat her just like one of the guys,'' junior Justin Bass said.
``We all think it is pretty neat. '' Bass, who wrestles at 112 pounds, may
have gotten to know Tucker best. The two have been partners in practice for
the last three years. At first their partnership was a little odd, Bass
said, but he has wrestled against girls before, so the awkwardness was
short-lived.

Some of Tucker's opponents, however, never get over it. A few have
forfeited. A few have quit after losing to her, Tucker said.

``It was kind of a shock to me,'' said Belton's Aaron Kirkland, a
seventh-year wrestler who had never competed against a girl until wrestling
Tucker this season. ``It is a mental thing. You have to just take it as
another wrestler. '' Once her competitors do that, most are impressed by
Tucker's talent.

``She has improved this year,'' said Kirkland, who has defeated Tucker three
times. ``She learns from her mistakes well. I've seen her beat or nearly
beat some people I was close with. '' Tucker's style is different from most.
She uses her legs more than her male counterparts. That's to be expected
because girls tend to have most of their strength in their hips and legs;
boys have stronger upper bodies.

Because she wrestles in the lightest weight class, Tucker hasn't felt it
necessary to increase her upper body strength. Few boys come that small, and
even fewer can develop their upper body and still make that weight.

As it is, the physiology sometimes works to Tucker's advantage.

Then again, sometimes it doesn't.

``When we're neutral and standing up, that's really hard for me to get
position and hit my shots,'' Tucker said. ``I just hope technically I can
take care of that. '' Tucker is not perfect. She's been pinned, gotten
roughed up, seen her feet flying above her as she was thrown to the mat.
Most wrestlers can say as much. Just as most wrestlers say they want to win.
That's what Tucker wants.

But isn't there a larger issue here? Doesn't Tucker believe she's doing this
for girls everywhere?

``I'm pretty selfish,'' Tucker said. ``I want to do if for myself.

``If I make it to state, though, people are going to turn their heads. ''

Julie Tucker has grown accustomed to being watched closely at
tournaments, and at 21-12 she has grown accustomed to winning.
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ABC 20/20
February 28, 1999
GIRLS ON THE TEAM

BARBARA WALTERS, DIANE SAWYER

SOME GIRLS PROVE TABOOS MEANT TO BE BROKEN

BARBARA WALTERS: Here's a story that will stretch your definition of sexual
equality. We're used to girls competing with boys in school sports, or are
we? Soccer and softball are one thing, but how do you feel about teenagers
in skin-tight clothes grappling and tugging, rolling around on top of each
other, huh?

DIANE SAWYER: Well, however we feel about it, it's happening. Inside school
gyms everywhere, more and more girls are joining the wrestling team. And
some people say that it breaks a kind of taboo. John Stossel is back from
the high school front lines, where he found some particularly tough girls
who've set out to prove that some taboos are meant to be broken.

JOHN STOSSEL, ABC News: (voice-over) This is real wrestling, not the phony
staged stuff you usually see on T.V. The aggressive, competitive nature of
the sport is something that's attracted men and boys since ancient times.
But now there's a new twist to the sport. Remember when coaches used to say
"Win one for the Gipper"? Now George Bosse (ph) of Lowell High in
Massachusetts has a more '90s kind of pep talk.

GEORGE BOSSE: All right, lookit. One of you guys are going to wrestle a
female athlete. You know what I'm talking about, a girl, all right, on the
other side? Wrestle 'em like a guy. Be tough. Be aggressive. Pin 'em.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) That's right, girls are wrestling now, about
2,000 girls in 26 states, which brings up the question ...

(on camera) Why do you want to wrestle, with all those other sports?

GIRL WRESTLER: Because this is, like, the most aggressive you can get of all
the sports there is.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Jamie Chipman (ph) wanted something more physical
after getting a reputation on the basketball court.

JAMIE CHIPMAN: I was kind of, you know, the enforcer. All my coaches used to
call me -- and I love contact sports.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) The girl Coach Bosse had warned his team about is
freshman Megan Alt (ph), one of four girls on the wrestling team at a
Massachusetts high school.

(on camera) Why not wrestle girls if you want to wrestle?

MEGAN ALT: Because it's not that much of a challenge.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Most of the girls said other girls wouldn't be
good enough competition.

JAMIE CHIPMAN: It wouldn't be as tough and as strenuous as it is with the
guys.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) There are some tournaments where girls compete
against girls, but in most schools there just aren't enough girls who want
to wrestle to make up a team. Since a Civil Rights law, Title IX, forbids
gender discrimination, schools usually just put the girls on the boys' team.
It started a few years ago, and every year more girls sign up. The boys
often resist. They did at their school.

GIRL WRESTLER: They wanted to push us so hard that we'd quit, but we didn't.

JOHN STOSSEL: (on camera) Why do you think they wanted to make it tough on
you?

GIRL WRESTLER: Because we were invading their territory, I feel.

JOHN STOSSEL: This is boy territory.

GIRL WRESTLER: That's what they felt.

JOHN STOSSEL: Well, you are invading boy territory.

GIRL WRESTLER: This is true.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Now boys wrestling girls may seem unfair to the
girls. Opponents are paired by weight, but by puberty boys' extra
testosterone gives them more muscle per pound. Girls have a little more body
fat. Since most of the boys are stronger, girls usually lose coed matches.

(on camera) You don't expect to beat the boys very often.

GIRL WRESTLER: No, but it's great when you do.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) We didn't see a lot of that. Megan was pinned in
this match. And most girls we saw lost. Some have been injured.

GIRL WRESTLER: I separated my A.C. (ph) joint two years ago.

GIRL WRESTLER: I cracked a rib and tore muscle tissue in my back.

GIRL WRESTLER: Last year I got two black eyes. You know, it comes with the
territory. If you're not willing to mess up your face, then don't wrestle.

JOHN STOSSEL: (on camera) What'd your parents say when you said, "I want to
wrestle"?

GIRL WRESTLER: They hated it. They absolutely hated it.

GIRL WRESTLER: Yeah, my mother thought I was going to get hurt because my
brother had cracked his rib.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) She did get hurt in this match. She recovered.
And boys get hurt, too. Still, many wrestling officials say it's just not
safe for girls to wrestle boys.

DAVE BREEN, Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Assoc.: Your top athlete has one
speed. He's not going to back off for a girl. A lot of boys pick it up when
they wrestle a girl. They're so worried about losing that they work themself
almost into a frenzy, and they just attack the girl.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) South Dakota has banned co-ed wrestling and all
co-ed sports because it fears girls would be hurt.

WALT SERGEANT (ph), School Athletic Director: If you want to give a quality
athletic experience, it's got to be separate, boys with boys and girls with
girls.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Athletic director Walt Sergeant won't allow co-ed
wrestling at his school, but he managed to recruit enough girls to have
separate squads, girls and boys. And his wrestlers agree that they shouldn't
be wrestling the opposite sex.

BOY WRESTLER: I wouldn't feel right doing, you know, half the moves I
normally do on a girl.

BOY WRESTLER: I mean, to be honest, when you're wrestling a girl, you --
your hands do go into uncomfortable places.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Yes, what about that? When they wrestle, hands
and other body parts do go into all kinds of places.

GIRL WRESTLER: I don't want to wrestle a guy and have that happen. I don't
want that to happen to me.

GIRL WRESTLER: My dad's completely against it. He's, like, "You can't
wrestle. They'll be touching you and" ...

JOHN STOSSEL: (on camera) I'm hearing that the dads object more than the
moms.

GIRLS: Yeah. Yeah.

JAMIE CHIPMAN: It's sort of like a "Daddy's little girl" thing. He doesn't
want to sit there and watch guys put their hands all over their daughters.

JOHN STOSSEL: So what about that? These are guys, and they are putting their
hands all over you.

GIRL WRESTLER: When you're on the mat, you're not thinking about whether
your opponent's a boy or a girl. What you think about is that they're the
opponent.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) But wrestling, unlike other sports, includes some
intimately close maneuvers. Some even have sexual names.

GIRL WRESTLER: Like the "Saturday night ride."

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) The "Saturday night ride" is a pin similar to
what you're seeing here. He presses down on top while trying to spread his
opponent's legs. We didn't see this done to a girl, but in matches with
girls, like these, you see plenty of contact that -- well, normally schools
are not encouraging boys and girls to touch each other this way.

Still, it's not sexual, say the wrestlers.

GIRL WRESTLER: Did you see any guys trying to cop a feel on the mat tonight?
No.

JOHN STOSSEL: (on camera) I can see that during a match, you're going all
out. This is not a sexual event. But what about during practice? I mean, for
an hour, you and the boys are fooling around on the mats physically. It's
not sexual?

BOY WRESTLER: No. You don't think about, "Oh, this girl has boobs. I
shouldn't do that move" or "I shouldn't be pinning her like this."

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) The boys on her team agree.

BOY WRESTLER: If you see a girl, her hair's all sweaty and her shirt's all
sweaty and she smells bad as you do, it's not the same as seeing a girl
walking down the hallway wearing a skirt.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Finally, some of the stronger objections to co-ed
wrestling come from people who fear that the boys will be hurt emotionally.

BOY WRESTLER: If a boy loses to a girl, it's pretty much the end of his
wrestling, social, anything. It's end of everything. They'd say, like,
"You're a bitch." You know, "You're a sucker. You shouldn't even be allowed
to wrestle." You know, "You're a disgrace to this high school. How could you
get beat by a girl?"

BOB SERRANO, Wrestling Coach, New Fairfield, CT: I've seen kids quit, boys
quit who've lost to girls. They've walked off the mat, and they've never
wrestled again.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Dave Camposano (ph) lost to a girl.

DAVE CAMPOSANO: You're supposed to win because you're a boy. But if you
lose, then it's, like, "You lost to a girl? That's horrible."

BOB BROWN: (voice-over) He didn't quit, despite the embarrassment of having
his family pictured in the newspaper with the description, "A shocked crowd
looked on in disbelief."

(on camera) Here in Massachusetts, schools that have girls wrestling have to
warn the other team three days in advance.

(voice-over) That way, if a boy doesn't want to wrestle a girl, the team can
forfeit that match. On this night, Pete Cole (ph) was about to face Danielle
Herter (ph). He didn't want to forfeit, but he was very nervous.

PETE COLE: I just want to beat this girl.

JOHN STOSSEL: The boy you're wrestling is very nervous. He's never wrestled
a girl before.

DANIELLE HERTER: There's a first. There's a first for everything.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) Once the match begins, Pete gets lots of
encouragement from his bench. Danielle's mom and grandmother are rooting and
cringing in the stands.

TEAMMATE: Don't let her do that to you. Don't let her do that to you! No!
No! No! Oh!

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) It was a close match, but toward the end Pete
took charge. Afterward, Danielle said matches like that are fun.

(on camera) You think that's fun?

DANIELLE HERTER: Yeah! It's great!

JOHN STOSSEL: Didn't look like fun.

DANIELLE HERTER: When you lose, it's still fun.

JOHN STOSSEL: Does it feel as good as ...

PETE COLE: Feels a lot better.

JOHN STOSSEL: Better than pinning a guy?

PETE COLE: Yeah.

JOHN STOSSEL: Why?

Some boys say this is unfair, that they can't win. If they beat you, they're
beating a girl. If they lose, they're humiliated.

MEGAN ALT: They should toughen up.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) The girls had little sympathy for boys whose
feelings are hurt.

(on camera) Some boys have forfeited rather than wrestle you.

GIRL WRESTLER: I think they're wimps.

JOHN STOSSEL: You've beaten one guy.

GIRL WRESTLER: Yeah.

JOHN STOSSEL: How have the guys reacted?

GIRL WRESTLER: Like, their teammates make fun of him.

JOHN STOSSEL: You sympathetic to that?

GIRL WRESTLER: No.

JOHN STOSSEL: You didn't feel bad for him?

GIRL WRESTLER: No. He has to get over it.

JOHN STOSSEL: (voice-over) The girls who are wrestling say they simply
deserve to do what the boys do, and they've made sacrifices, practicing hard
for hours, taking the long bus trips to away meets. And from what we could
see, watching two teams for several days, the girls have won the respect and
friendship of their teammates. These wrestlers are no longer singled out as
girls. Mainly, they're just part of the team.

GIRL WRESTLER: We just love to wrestle. It doesn't have to do with the boys
or, like, guys. It's the wrestling. It's the sport.

GIRL WRESTLER: We don't care who it is.

GIRL WRESTLER: It's a burning feeling that you get when your arms are on
fire when you're out there! You know, it's when you get them in that hold,
and you get them in that lock-in, and then you win because you pinned him!
And it doesn't matter if they're a boy or a girl. It's the sport.

BARBARA WALTERS: Ah, femininity. Well, they tell us that these girls won't
be wrestling boys by the time they get to college because they just won't be
strong enough to go up against a full-grown man, because even if he weighs
the same, he will have more muscle mass.

DIANE SAWYER: Yeah, but I still wouldn't be surprised to see them try it in
a few years.

BARBARA WALTERS: Well, maybe.

DIANE SAWYER: Wouldn't surprise me.

BARBARA WALTERS: Maybe.

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October 10, 1999

LENGTH: 332 words

MADISON, Wis.

Woman threatens to sue college if not given place on wrestling team

A female wrestler has threatened file a lawsuit against the University of Wisconsin-Madison this week unless she is allowed to join the men's team.

Jennifer Wong, 18, of Stillwater, Minn., said she chose to attend UW-Madison
because the school's
wrestling coach, Barry Davis, promised her a place on the wrestling team.
But university officials later
told Wong that she would not be allowed on the team, said Victor Arellano,
Wong's attorney.

When Wong threatened legal action, the university decided to limit the
team's size and said Wong could
try out but refused to guarantee she would make the team, Arellano said.
Wong learned Friday that she
could try out for the team.

Wong turned down a chance to attend Northwestern University based on
assurances from UW-Madison
that she could wrestle on the men's team, Arellano said.

"That is in violation of the promise that was made to her," Arellano said.
"She came to Wisconsin and
now she's stranded in this particular predicament."

Arellano said he will file suit this week unless Wong is guaranteed a spot
on the team. The university does
not have a women's wrestling team.

Gender discrimination laws allow an exception for contact sports, but Wong's
claim is under the
constitutional equal protection clause, the attorney said.

"She is participating as a member of the team," Associate Athletic Director
Mike Moss said. "If she is not
successful, then we'll evaluate what will happen after that."

The team will be selected before the first match next month, Moss said.

During four weeks of tryouts, Wong will participate in a "wrestle off" to
determine which wrestlers make
the team.

The wrestling program welcomes Wong "as an outstanding student-athlete and
we wish her the best,"
Athletic Director Pat Richter said.

Wong won two national championships in women's wrestling and was a member of
the U.S. women's
world team for two years. She wrestled boys in high school and had a .500
record in senior year matches.

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October 9, 1999

LENGTH: 432 words

FEMALE WRESTLER TRYING OUT FOR A SPOT ON THE UW TEAM

Jennifer Wong, an 18-year-old woman trying out for the UW men's wrestling
team, said although she
does not expect to make the team in a traditional tryout, the program should
not put her down for the
count.

After working out for four weeks, prospective team members participate in a
wrestle-off with others in
their weight class. Those who perform well in the wrestle-off make the team.

Wong, a two-time national champion in women's wrestling, has been working
out with the team since
Monday. She said Friday evening that although she was sore, workouts with
the team were going well.

But due to the strength and skill of other team members, she said she did
not believe she could make the
team in a wrestle-off.

''The guys always seem to be stronger,'' she said.

Wong has retained attorneys Victor Arellano and Anne Bloom to aid her in her
quest to make the team.
Arellano said UW wrestling coach Barry Davis told Wong she would have a spot
on the team. But since
then, Wong has faced difficulties even getting a tryout.

But she said that her performance in the wrestle-off should not put her out
of contention for a spot on the
team.

''I feel like there are things I could contribute to the team,'' she said.

She said her flexibility would help her win matches when UW faced a school
with an exceptionally flexible
wrestler.

''I can slide out of a lot of holds and stuff,'' she said.

Wong also said her presence may help UW fulfill NCAA Title 9 gender equity
requirements. Even so,
Wong may face an uphill battle to get a spot on the team if she does not get
one in the wrestle-off.

''We anticipate that she will continue to be an active participant in the
workouts as well as the team's
tryout and selection process,'' said Athletic Director Pat Richter in a
statement Friday. ''If she is not
successful in the tryout and selection process, we will review her options
with her at that time.''

Wong said she was surprised that she did not have a spot on the team.

''I didn't know anything about tryouts,'' she said.

After her attorneys contacted UW, she began working out with the team. She
would not say whether she
would sue to gain a spot on the team if she is cut, but Arellano told The
Capital Times in an interview
Thursday that he would ''go to the mat to force the University of Wisconsin
to keep its promise.''

Wong said the spot she thought she was guaranteed on the team was the main
factor behind her coming
to UW, and she turned down offers from other schools.

''I chose it because I thought I would be able to wrestle,'' she said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

October 8, 1999

LENGTH: 258 words

FEMALE WRESTLER, SNUBBED BY UW, SUES

Attorneys for a female national-champion high school wrestler are
threatening to sue the UW-Madison if
she is not allowed to compete on the men's team.

The wrestler, 18-year-old Jennifer Wong of Stillwater, Minn., turned down
overtures from other colleges
based on assurances from University of Wisconsin-Madison wrestling coach
Barry Davis that she would
be allowed to join his team, Madison attorney Victor Arellano said Thursday.

But in late July -- less than a month before UW-Madison's freshmen
orientation -- the university told her
in a letter that she would not be allowed to wrestle here, he added.

Instead, she was told that the university had a policy prohibiting female
wrestlers, Arellano said, and when
Wong threatened legal action, officials cited a new policy placing limits on
the size of the wrestling team.

Arellano and Anne Bloom, an attorney with Trial Lawyers for Public Justice,
noted that during her senior
year of high school, Wong had a .500 record in varsity competition against
boys.

Wong also has won two national championships in women's wrestling and has
been a member of the U.S.
women's world wrestling team for the last two years.

''We are willing to go to the mat to force the University of Wisconsin to
keep its promise,'' Arellano said.

Davis could not be reached for comment early this morning. But UW-Madison
Sports Information
Director Steve Malchow said that as a non-scholarship wrestler, Wong would
not have been promised a
spot on the team.

The wrestling season begins Nov. 15.