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Girls and boys together on the mat?
Sutera wrestles against all-male tradition
By RICHARD A. D'ERRICO

Eight years ago, Tracy Sutera's daughter asked him if she could be a wrestler.
Her request didn't faze him a bit. Because of her father's role as a wrestling coach with the Minisink Valley Youth Club, Gillian Sutera had been around the sport all her life.
"I never felt I could tell her she could not wrestle. I didn't ever want to tell her she couldn't do something because she's a girl."
Gillian began wrestling at 5 and continued until she was 12, when it became too difficult to balance gymnastics and wrestling practices, as well as volleyball and track.
But looking back, the 13-year-old sees nothing unusual about her request – or the fact that she won 80 percent of her matches, almost all against boys.
"It was normal to me," she said, adding that she used to pin her younger brother in family matches.
She had to wrestle boys in most cases because there were not enough girls to compete against. But that is changing.
Alberto Nieves, Ellenville High School's wrestling coach and former Olympian alternate in 1992, coached the first girl wrestler to beat a boy in Section 9 high school competition.
Last year, Cassie Crisano beat a male member of the John Jay High School team when she was a junior, he said.
But Nieves is not thrilled with the idea of boys and girls together on the mat. He talks about the psychological problems a boy faces when losing to a girl.
"I try to put myself in the guy's shoes," Nieves said. "He had to not only deal with his teammates, but the rest of the school and getting teased. But I guess that's part of growing up."
Nieves said Crisano, who didn't wrestle as a senior, didn't get any special treatment from him or her teammates.
"You could see guys who went against her at one time were a little tentative at first," he said, "but after a while they realized they're out there, they snap out of it. ... They want to get the match over with."
Crisano didn't wrestle boys exclusively. She faced girls from Liberty and Rondout Valley, Nieves said. She placed second in the national girls championship in 1997.
Nieves said women's wrestling will be added to an upcoming Olympics, and eventually it will "trickle down" to colleges and high schools. He said there are few colleges that have women's teams.
Sutera said there's no reason men and women athletes should be divided by gender.
"If it were up to me, every single sport would be anybody against anybody," he said. "There wouldn't be any lines drawn. Football, tennis, it would all be one pool. That's where you'd find who the best athletes are."

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KHS girl wrestler isn't afraid to mix it up with the boys

Former gymnast Sage Okamoto, now a member of the Kennebunk High School wrestling team, practices with team member Nate Jones.

KENNEBUNK - Gymnastics combines grace, concentration, and athleticism. Wrestling requires strength, determination, and guts. Rarely does someone compete successfully in both sports and even more rare is for that someone to be a girl.
Throw away your preconceived notions and your sexual stereotypes. Former gymnast Sage Okamoto is currently the only female member on the Kennebunk High wrestling team.
Okamoto began her athletic career seven years ago as she trained and competed in gymnastics. Those rewarding and also grueling years found Okamoto excelling at a sport that had become a tremendous part of her life. She cut her gymnastics teeth at Kennebunk Gymnastics and competed at Unites States Gymnastics Federation meets. She also competed on the Kennebunk team during her freshman and sophomore years in high school.
In May of 1998, Okamoto won the state (level 7) title and then decided to end her relationship with the sport.
"I realized that I wasn't willing to sacrifice my life for a sport," admitted Okamoto. "During my last three years with gymnastics I had a stress fracture in my hip, a stress fracture in my foot, and a few nagging knee and back problems."
Her absence from this year's Rams team is particularly costly because the Rams are trying to defend their state championship.
"The girls tried to talk me into coming back," Okamoto continued. "But I think they all understand now just how I feel."
"She's very talented and we would have loved her back on the team," said Kennebunk High coach Bob Akers. "But I understand her decision."
Okamoto also became a member of the Rams' cheerleading squad this fall.
"I was looking for something to do," admitted Okamoto. "I found that I suddenly had a lot of free time. I enjoyed being with the team and I even did some tumbling."
With a boyfriend on the wrestling team, Okamoto decided to help out by becoming the team's manager. Her interest in the sport became evident.
"She had wanted to try it but I knew she was a little nervous," said Kennebunk wrestling coach Daric Buttrick. "Having a girl wrestling has not been a problem for this team."
"The whole team's been very supportive," Okamoto said. "Everybody wanted me to try it."
Her decision to wrestle was encouraged by the coach and team but it needed to be approved by the school.
"The Maine Principals' Association says it's OK for her to wrestle," said Kennebunk athletic director Darla Castelli. "We just had to make sure she had medical clearance and that it was all right with her parents."
"My parents have been very supportive of my sports decisions," Okamoto said.
Okamoto currently wrestles at the 112-pound weight class and has yet to suffer the kinds of injuries that plagued her during her last few years in gymnastics.
"My gymnastics injuries were from impact and too much repetition," Okamoto continued. "The problem was the overuse of the same muscles and joints.
"With every sport you know there are some risks," said Okamoto about the possibility of getting hurt while wrestling.
In years past, girls on some wrestling teams have seen their opponents forfeit rather than wrestle against someone they considered inferior.
"There's been a lot of changes in the MPA rules and in the sport of wrestling," said Buttrick.
Her first experience as a wrestler was a positive one, as she defeated her opponent from Dirigo at the Atlantic Invitational in Wells.
"She's got a lot of potential," admitted Buttrick. "We've been working on her being more aggressive in her matches."
"I get real nervous and wrestle a lot different in matches than I do in practice," Okamoto offered.
At the Kennebunk Duals meet held on Saturday, Okamoto had a chance to go head-to-head with another girl wrestler from Sanford.
The match was close and although Okamoto lost an 8-5 decision she continues to improve while learning her new sport.