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Thousand Oaks girls breaking ground
Wrestling: Team has 20 members now, going strong and ready to compete.

By Molly R. Okeon
Staff writer
Published November 04, 1999

Staff photo by Juan Carlo Intensity: Thousand Oaks High wrestler Mollie Craven grimaces as she struggles against her opponent during a recent practive session. Shake hands. Forehead to forehead. Arms around arms. Wrestle.

You've never seen girls fight like this before.

Cool, calm, calculated. Civilized. Imagine it: a sport that lets girls do hand-to-hand combat just like the guys do it.

But in Thousand Oaks girls' wrestling coach Shannon Yancey's ideal future, it might be thought of as a girl's sport as much as it is a guy's.

Yancey, a four-time world silver medalist and four-time national champion for USA Wrestling for women's freestyle, has even coached the well-known Channel Islands High alum Olivia Ocampo on the women's national wrestling team this past summer. Ocampo won a league wrestling title against males at the 1998 Marmonte Championships and has won two women's national championships since.

And when coaching the 20 young women who are now part of the first female wrestling team in the Marmonte League, Yancey is, to say the least, a source of positive energy.

During practice on Thursday, Yancey, who also coaches the cheerleading squad, commanded quite a presence. All 16 girls watched her intently during instruction, as though she were reciting holy scripture to them.

"You're looking her in the eye saying, 'Come on, let's go,' " said the 5-foot-1-inch Yancey, who uses her maiden name "Williams" when wrestling professionally, as she explained the latest drill.

Her enthusiasm for the sport has apparently rubbed off on the team in a big way.

"Wrestling is my life," said 15-year-old sophomore Mollie Craven, who wrestled last year along with the four other girls who showed interest. "I go to sleep thinking about it. Idream about it. Sometimes, at night, Ican feel myself clinching up because I'm thinking about certain moves in my sleep."

Craven said she believes wrestling is not only a physical sport, but a mental sport. She said it's not about who is stronger, it's about who knows the moves best.

"Anyone, any size, any color, any race -- anyone can wrestle," she said. "It crosses all boundaries."

Yancey explained that while the girls wrestle both each other and members of the boys' wrestling team during practice, they invite girls from other schools to wrestle in matches.

But some of the girls want to wrestle guys in competition. Sophomore Justine Chiou, who Yancey said has serious potential as a wrestler, is one of those young women.

Chiou studied the martial art Tang Soo Do, which she describes as being 60 percent kicking and 40 percent punching. Though this is her first year wrestling, she said she enjoys competing against males.

"They actually see you as part of the team after a while," she said. "They don't see you as a girl, and 'Oh, I can't touch her there.' "

Chiou said wrestling epitomizes the idea of a sport because the weight classes make it fair.

"You're not wrestling someone who's much bigger or much smaller than you," said the 15-year-old. "I really enjoy working with different people and developing my own style."

While Craven and Chiou said they didn't take flack for being girl wrestlers, 15-year-old sophomore Brianna Rooney said she did. After playing soccer for 10 years, Rooney gave up the sport to be on Yancey's team.

"Not too many girls are doing it," she said. "(My friends said), 'What are you doing wrestling for, you don't belong.' "

Now Rooney's friends think her new sport is fascinating. At a recent slumber party, Rooney got her friends in wrestling clothes and taught not them, along with some of the adults, wrestling moves.

Rooney added that she also hopes to wrestle guys in competitions because she thinks some girls "tend to be frail."

Yancey said she is proud of her girls, who she believes are brave for "pioneering" girls' wrestling. She added that wrestling is a great form of self-defense.

"I hope that in a few years, it's a league sport," she said. "Ithink they are going to get a fantastic experience, and most of all, I think it's empowering that you can protect yourself."

The Thousand Oaks girls' wrestling team will host the "Williams Cup" Girls' Wrestling Tournament Sat., Jan. 8, 2000.

The tournament will include a clinic taught by Yancey prior to the weigh-ins and competition. Fees before Dec. 1 are $15 per wrestler and $175 per team. After Jan. 1, they are $20 per wrestler and $200 per team. If not enough wrestlers register before Dec.1, the tournament might be cancelled.

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