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Lakeview girl living dream as wrestler

By DAMON J. VOGT
Telegram Sports Writer
COLUMBUS -- When Lakeview High School sophomore Elaine Blessen was 4 years old, she watched her older brother, Mike, wrestle for the first time.
The day is permanently etched in her memory. It was the day that the energy of competition overwhelmed her and the day she made up her mind she was going to be a wrestler.
"I've never felt like that about any other sport. It was my brother's first meet and all I wanted to do was get out there and wrestle, too," Blessen said.
With the support of her mother and father, Kathy and Todd, and the growing support of a vocal Lakeview student body, Blessen has bucked the odds and earned a spot on this season's Lakeview varsity wrestling team at 103 pounds.
"I don't have a problem with her being a part of this wrestling team. As long as she comes out and works hard, we'll accept her as one of us," Lakeview coach Dave Prokesh said.
"She's serious about what she's doing, and she works very hard. There's a good possibility that she might win a few matches this season. She has good mat sense and good technique. She's a very sound wrestler."
On Dec. 3, one of Blessen's dreams came true as she, adorned in Lakeview blue and white, competed at the varsity level for the first time in the Lakeview Invitational.
Although she was pinned in both the matches she wrestled, she was pleased with her effort. It took East Butler wrestler Trent Coufal 4 minutes and 29 seconds to end the semifinal match. Then Blessen battled Kody Knopik of Fullerton for 3 minutes before Knopik subdued her for third place in the tournament.
Blessen has joined a growing number of female athletes in the state who are stepping over the gender barrier and competing in athletics previously dominated by high school boys.
Nebraska School Activities Association Associate Director Rex Jones said it hasn't been easy for females to find their places in predominately male sports, but he said his office has no qualms about female participation.
"In 1986, the Board (of Control) approved the first competition in the state for a girl. She played football on the Winnebago football team," Jones said.
"Our regulations do not restrict female participation in male sports unless the same sport is offered separately for girls."
In February 1988, Stephanie Saint, a student at Omaha St. Joseph's, filed a suit in federal court against the NSAA for barring her from competing in high school wrestling.
She alleged that if she was not allowed to wrestle, she would experience irreconcilable harm. The judge agreed, issuing a temporary restraining order against the NSAA and allowing Saint to wrestle.
After the restraining order was served, the NSAA board then voted to allow Saint to wrestle.
Blessen may not be the first female to wrestle her way to the varsity mat, but should she accomplish her personal goals, she would permanently etch her mark in high school wrestling in the state.
"I want to be the first girl wrestler to make it to state. If I get fourth at districts, I'm in," Blessen said. "I think I can do that."
If Blessen's success is measured by the amount of excitement she has stirred among her teammates and within the student body, she is already a hit.
"If she wants to be out, that's more power to her," 171-pound senior wrestler Bryan Goedeken said. "She is breaking new ground here at Lakeview, and most of the kids are behind her."
James Heibel, a 189-pounder who qualified for state last season, echoed Goedeken's sentiment.
"Nobody has a problem with her being out there," Heibel said. "In fact, it's kind of amusing to watch her."
"Everybody supports her. Most of the kids came to the school to see her wrestle last week," Goedeken said.
Lakeview freshmen Shana Chamberlain, Eric Aerni and Haley Hilger and sophomore Kendra Fittje all voiced support for Blessen.
"I think it says a lot for her," Chamberlain said. "She doesn't care what other people think and does what she wants to do.Ó
They agreed that Blessen has a competitive nature, which will serve her well when competing against the boys.
Blessen's father said wrestling has been in his daughter's blood since she was a little girl. He said Elaine didn't go out for the team as a freshman so the family could focus on Mike during his senior year. Mike wrestled his way in the state tournament to a fourth-place medal in Class B at 119 pounds last season.
The elder Blessen said his daughter hasn't had an easy road, but her work ethic has carried her through.
"Some of the guys really picked on her at first, but they changed their attitude when they saw her wrestle," Todd Blessen said. "They go at her 100 percent in the wrestling room. She's just one of the guys on the mat."
Todd Blessen said no matter what happens through the course of the season and the rest of her high school career, he will always be proud of his daughter.
"There were a couple of people that were negative until the first meet, then they saw me wrestle and realized how serious I was," Elaine Blessen said.

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

YORK SUBURBAN HOPES TO PIN DOWN GENDER ISSUE WHEN
SEVERAL GIRLS ASKED TO JOIN A BOYS WRESTLING TEAM, IT
SPARKED A DEBATE ON THE SCHOOL BOARD. (PREP
WRESTLING) -PHID- -

12/08/99, YORK DAILY RECORD

Where is the line drawn between sexual discrimination and equal opportunity
in sports?

That question was debated during Monday night's York Suburban School Board
meeting. The board
is looking to revise its current policy that excludes boys from joining
girls sports teams.

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

York Suburban hopes to pin down gender issue When several girls asked to
join aBoys wrestling team, it sparked a debate on the school board. (Prep wrestling)
York Daily Record; York; Dec 8, 1999;

That question was debated during Monday night's York Suburban School Board
meeting. The
board is looking to revise its current policy that excludes boys from
joining girls sports teams.

But after several girls approached Greg Jean, Suburban's junior high
wrestling coach, and
asked about joining the team, the school administration directed solicitor
William Neff to draft
a proposal changing the existing policy to also ex clude girls from joining
boys wrestling and
football teams.

Jean, who teaches sixth-grade language arts and social studies at Suburban
Middle School,
said he taught many of the girls last year. Probably only two of the girls
had talked to their
parents and were serious about wrestling, he said.

Full Text:
Copyright York Daily Record Dec 8, 1999

Where is the line drawn between sexual discrimination and equal opportunity
in sports?

That question was debated during Monday night's York Suburban School Board
meeting. The board is
looking to revise its current policy that excludes boys from joining girls
sports teams.

But after several girls approached Greg Jean, Suburban's junior high
wrestling coach, and asked about
joining the team, the school administration directed solicitor William Neff
to draft a proposal changing the
existing policy to also ex clude girls from joining boys wrestling and
football teams.

After a lengthy discussion, the board agreed to vote on a policy change
during its meeting at 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 20.

Jean, who teaches sixth-grade language arts and social studies at Suburban
Middle School, said he taught
many of the girls last year. Probably only two of the girls had talked to
their parents and were serious
about wrestling, he said.

"I told them I would have to find out whether or not girls were allowed to
do it," Jean said. "Basically, I
told them to leave."

Jean said the administration advised him not to give out names of the
students involved.

Afterward, Jean said the girls went to the school's guidance counselors to
discuss the matter.

The counselors explained how uncomfortable it may be for a girl to be put
into the physical positions and
maneuvers used in wrestling, Jean said. Ultimately, the girls decided not to
pursue joining the team.

The junior high team includes boys from seventh through ninth grades who
weigh between 75 and 250
pounds. If girls participated, it would be possible for a 75-pound
ninth-grade boy with experience in the
sport to wrestle an inexperienced 75-pound seventh-grade girl.

"When our kids are at practice, they're not friends for two hours until
practice is over," Jean said. "I just
think somebody would get hurt."

Additionally, boys wear, at a minimum, boxer shorts when trying to make
their weight class for
competition.

"A lot of kids will strip down," he said.

Supt. William Hartman asked the board, "Should we really allow those kinds
of things to take place?"

For district officials to think that boys and girls could compete in
wrestling without any other impact "is
naive," Hartman said.

"I am a total supporter of girls wrestling," Hartman said. But he added that
the sport should be made
available to each sex separately.

Board member Frannie Burke-Johnson said that because wrestlers are
classified and matched according
to their weight, girls should indeed be allowed to compete with the boys.

Solicitor Neff said there hasn't been much litigation on the subject.
Federal courts, however, have held that
women may be barred from men's contact sports.

"It's a discretionary decision for the board," he said.

Neff also suggested the term "contact sports" covers a gray area. A court
could rule that volleyball and
baseball are contact sports, he said.

Board member Lynne Leopold-Sharp said there are dozens of girls playing
football and wrestling in other
schools around the state. And board member Cathy Shaffer said girls often
compete in boys diving
because there aren't enough male divers.

But allowing boys on girls teams might displace female players, board
members said.

"Nothing we do," Leopold-Sharp said, "is going to guarantee that someone is
not going to take us to
court, anyway."