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Rix becomes first three-time Junior champion
Woody, Chase, Umemoto and Russell repeat
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com
Fargo, N.D. – People noticed Deanna Rix all week in at the USA Wrestling Cadet & Junior Nationals at the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University.
Women's Freestyle |
It’s wasn’t the flowing blonde hair or sly smile, it was her complete dominance of two wrestlers during the Junior Greco-Roman competition.
So it should come as no surprise that the Maine native and Asics high school girls Wrestler of the Year had little trouble in capturing her third Junior Women’s Freestyle National championship with a 10-0 victory over Bethany Harris of California
Rix wasn’t even aware that she’s the first.
“I didn’t know that,” she said laughing.
But after wrestling the guys, some fans expected her to just blow through the field at 128 pounds.
“Wrestling guys is a lot different from wrestling girls,” Rix said. “The shooting is different because of the hips.”
While she didn’t exactly have too much resistance, Rix went 5-0 with three falls and two tech falls.
Rix was also named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
Also repeating as national champions were Oregon’s Na’Tasha Umemoto at 138 pounds, Nicole Woody of Maryland at 95 and Juanita Russell at 195.
Umemoto won her second Junior championship with a 13-4 victory over Stefenie Shaw of Connecticut.
“Yes! Alright!” Umemoto yelled as she pumped her fist afterwards.
The win gave Umemoto a 2-1 lead in her series between two rising stars of the women’s senior level circuit.
“I lost to her last year at U.S. Nationals,” Umemoto said. “We’re real close, but were so different.”
Umemoto is the first four-time Women’s Junior All-American.
Woody won her second championship at 95 pounds and yes, the Maryland rubber chicken makes its appearance at the women’s tournament too.
Woody, who like Rix, wrestled in the men’s competition, wasn’t too nervous.
“I’m usually pretty calm and I just tried to wrestle my match,” Woody said.
Oklahoma’s Joey Miller won her first title at 102 pounds, beating Camie Yeik of Washington 9-6 in a bout that featured solid counters, low lifts and belly tilts.
Caitlyn Chase of Illinois repeated as champion, beating Alaska’s Michaela Hutchison 10-0 at 110 pounds.
“I expected her to be tough,” Chase said. “I wanted to come in there and not go all out, I just stuck with what I know and with what works.”
Tatiana Padilla of California won the championship at 119 pounds, using a controlling front-headlock and go-behind to defeat New York’s Nicole Darrow.
Vanessa Oswalt won her first championship in her third tournament in a tight 3-2 victory over Wisconsin’s Amberlee Ebert.
Oswalt, who said goodbye to her mother a week ago as she left overseas, was crying tears of joy – complete with eyeliner running down her cheeks.
“I’m just so happy. I won this for my mom and my grandap who has been real sick for the last few years.” Oswalt said. “To finally win, it feels great,” said Oswalt, last year’s runner-up.
Her opponent was a bit of a surprise.
“I’d never wrestled her, never seen her, never heard of her,” Oswalt said “She’s real defensive, but a great wrestler.”
After Melissa Simmons of Washington pinned California’s Amy Havens at 160 pounds, Desiree Memea of Hawaii battled New York’s Toni Copeland to an 8-7 victory at 175.
In the last minute of the match, each wrestler had an opportunity to score the fall, but Memea had enough of a lead to hold off Copeland at the end.
Russell won her second title so fast, photographers only had 12 seconds to get a shot as the New Yorker pinned South Carolina’s Brittany Delgado.
“A few of my other teammates lost in the tournament, so I had to makeup for them,” Russell said.
Russell won her second title in three finals appearances.
But with a record 178 entries from 30 states, the women’s junior division is rapidly improving.
“Every weight had 2-3 good people in every weight class, except 95 because they don’t have the mat time,” Umemoto said of the competition.
Gone are the days of just showing up to wrestle and coming home with a medal. Eight of the 11 weights had full two-pool brackets.
“I cut to 110 to wrestle Malina Ripley and Mary Kelly (in 2002),” Umemoto said. “It was the competition we wanted to get.”
That competition is growing and with the first generation of junior women’s veterans now graduated from high school – the next generation of junior wrestlers can benefit from the groundwork laid for them by wrestlers like Dix, Umemoto, Russell, Stefenie Shaw and Cheylenne Pringle.
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