Jackie Cataline (Corona, Calif.) works for an early fall against Christine Cunningham

(Torrey Pines) en route to winning Saturday's Cadet FILA women's national title at 60 kg.

2005 Body Bar U.S. National Women's Freestyle Championships

Men's FILA Cadet and FILA Junior Greco-Roman State Championships

By Phillip Brents

Posted April 9, 2005

Photo: Alan Canizalez, Valhalla, Cadet FILA state champion

Got championship wrestlers? For those who ventured to Grossmont High School the weekend of April 8-10, all they had to do was check out the competition in the school’s two gymnasiums to find them.

In one gym, the 2005 Body Bar Women’s U.S. National Championships held sway. In the other gym, the 2005 boys Cadet and Junior FILA California USA Wrestling championships hit the mat.

Some of the nation’s best talent – actually, some of the best international talent -- descended on the La Mesa school.

According to Richard Bailey, a long-time East County resident and president of the hosting San Diego Wrestling Association, the Body Bar national championship was the first USA Wrestling-sponsored national tournament to be held in San Diego County.

The San Diego association hosted the Cadet FILA state tournament last year at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista. The Junior FILA state championship was also a first for the region, said Bailey, who served as tournament director for the weekend mat fest.

"We're just tickled pink that the state and national office chose us to host this first-time combined national and state format in the state of California," Bailey said. "We wished we had a little more assistance from the local wrestling community but we were grateful for those who did assist us, especially the Navy SOPAC wrestlers and Valhalla mat mates and the entire staff of California USA Wrestling who stepped in and assisted. The tournament was done well and well attended." 

Bailey said the SDWA has been asked to host these same tournaments next year.

FILA tournaments are conducted using international weight classes (in kilograms).

The women’s tournament featured five age-group national freestyle tournaments: third through sixth grades, seventh through eighth grades, FILA Cadet Nationals, FILA Junior Nationals and University Nationals. The FILA Junior Nationals served as a qualifier to compete at the 2005 Junior World Championships in Lithuania this summer. 

The boys state championship featured four age-group tournaments, two each (Greco-Roman and freestyle) in the Cadet and Junior age divisions. Saturday’s competition spotlighted Greco-Roman matches. Wrestlers will finish off Sunday with freestyle competition.   

Girls, Cadet and University divisions competed on Saturday while the Junior Division will take center stage on Sunday.

The Cadet FILA tournament features wrestlers 15 to 17 in age, the Junior FILA tournament features competitors 17 to 20, while the University division includes wrestlers 18 to 24 years old.

The tournaments serve as stepping stones to future greatness.

Women's wrestling made its Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games. The USA, with two medals, finished second in the team standings after medaling in all seven weight classes at the 20043 World Championships. The sport has since grown internationally and many countries now have aspirations of winning the 2008 Olympic championship.

 Having the girls tournament run alongside the women's field helped inspire the younger wrestlers and provide them with appropriate role models, national governing body officials said. 

Saturday’s women’s field drew 167 entrants, a figure larger than last year’s national championship tournament in Minnesota. About 100 boys competed on Saturday. Sunday's boys tournament drew almost twice that number while about 80 women competed in Sunday's international qualifier.

Women's participants came from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. Missouri Valley flooded the entry list in the University Division. The women's tournament also drew competitors from as far as Canada and Iran.

Besides elite wrestlers, the tournament also drew elite staffers with top pairing officials from California USA Wrestling and its national body running both tournaments. A number of celebrities also were in attendance. Among them were Trisha Saunders, a four-time world champion, and Terry Steiner, women’s USA national coach, and Townsend Saunders, Olympic silver medalist. All three served as coaches at the Athens Olympic Games.

Both Trisha and Townsend Sauders were present at Grossmont High to coach their daughter, Tassia, at the Body Bar nationals.

Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann was present on Sunday signing autographs while SallyRoberts, 2003 world championship bronze medalist, gave a clinic on Saturday.

 The high-caliber status of the tournament attracted many local wrestlers.

Granite Hills sophomore Justin Phillips and Monte Vista juniors Eric Winchell and Aaron Eberhart were among the East County participants in Saturday's Cadet FILA boys Greco-Roman tournament. Half a dozen Valhalla wrestlers also turned out, among them Alan Canizalez, Landon Holmes, Jarriod Maguire, Dominic Shaba, Chris Wright and Charles Tonnaer. A.J. Agustin, Stephen Alvarez and Greg Huth represented Helix.

 "I always wrestle at tournaments. It's the only sport I like," said Phillips, who said he got into the sport because his father, Chester Phillips, once wrestled in high school (the elder Phillips won a San Diego Section CIF title in 1961 while wrestling at Granite Hills).

 "I'm here for the mat time and to learn Greco," said Winchell, who finished third at this year's CIF Division III championships. "I hadn't wrestled before high school, the same with Aaron. The  reason we're where we're at in high school wrestling is because of the offseason tournament we go to."

 Eberhart had competed in three prior tournaments already this spring, taking home six medals.

Both Eberhart and Winchell shared the Most Dedicated award at this year’s Monte Vista team awards banquet.

The Chula Vista Badgers brought a sizable group to Saturday's tournament, including CIF Division II champion John Sardella and high school state championship meet qualifier Sergio Santillan.

Hilltop freshman Javier Martinez, a prep league champion, said he was drawn by the lure of the prestigious golden bear trophy awarded to weight class champions. "I wanted to get first. I wanted to get the bear," said Martinez, who placed second in freestyle once and second twice in Greco-Roman in prior state championship competition.

Also competing for the Badgers were Sonny Garcia, Bryan Giffen and Jennifer Germany (who, like Santillan and Giffen, also worked the tournament as a certified referee).  

Body Bar U.S. National Championships

The San Diego Hot Beaches Wrestling Cub, which is based at Helix High School, brought 15 wrestlers to last weekend’s Body Bar Nationals. Twelve girls competed in Saturday’s tournament, including 11 in the Cadet Division. Eight earned medals.

Membership in the Hot Beaches ranges throughout San Diego and Imperial counties and beyond. Club members competing in last weekend’s tournament included Priscilla Caldera (Imperial), Raven Sanchez (Holtville), Christine Cunningham (Torrey Pines), Samantha Stych (Oxnard), Katrina Wilborn (Helix), Amanda Reif (West Hills), Sheila McCabe (Valhalla), Brandy Aust (Ramona), Mandie Fenton (Ramona), Sheri Buchanan (West Hills), Katie Hark (West Hills), Lauren Thompson (Rancho Santa Fe Middle School), Jessica Jauck (Ramona), Georgette Laman (Our Lady of Peace) and Tara Williams (formerly of Granite Hills but now at Washington State).

The club, which boasts a program-high 26 members this year, has recorded three folkstyle national champions, one Cadet national champion, half a dozen runners-up and 26 All-Americans in its five years of existence. 

Hot Beaches head coach Trevor Kiefer said the program started with “five to six girls,” in his words. He said the club’s growth can be attributed to the growing interest in girls wrestling.

“There’s more and more girls wrestling and more girls who are staying in the sport,” Kiefer said. 

The Hot Beaches hold practices four times each week at Helix. Kiefer said the participation numbers are strong for each practice.

The Body Bar Nationals served as a tune-up for this coming weekend’s California USA Wrestling girls freestyle state championships in Lemoore. That tournament serves as a qualifier for the Junior Nationals.

Among the more amazing performances at this year's Body Bar nationals was that of Corona's Jackie Cataline, a high school junior, who upset three-time national champion Na’Tasha Umemoto (Portland, Ore) by scores of 3-1 and 2-0 to capture Sunday's FILA Junior tournament after winning her 63 kg weight class in Saturday's FILA Cadet field when she also defeated a national champion.

Catraline, 16, was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the FILA Junior tournament.

Overall, four returning FILA Junior champions were able to defend their titles: Sara Fulp-Allen (Menlo College) at 48 kg, Dany Hedin (Marquette, Mich.) at 55 kg, Heather Martin (Wellington, Ohio) at 67 kg and Samantha Lang (Tualatin, Ore.) at 79.5 kg.

Hedin defeated Stefenie Shaw (Waterford, Conn.) by scores of 2-0 and 4-0 in a battle of returning champions. Hedin was the 2004 champion at 55 kg while Shaw won the 2004 title at 63 kg.

The tournament also featured world champion royalty as 2003 Junior World champion Ali Bernard (New Ulm, Minn.) pinned Tabetha Golt (Williamsburg, Ky.) in 1:30 to win the 72-kg division in Sunday's FILA Junior tournament. Bernard had the most pins in the tournament at four, totaling 4:35 in mat time.

Laura Felix (Cal-State Bakersfield) was the Outstanding Wrestler in the University national championships while Alyssa Lampe (Tomahawk, Wis.) was named Outstanding Wrestler in the FILA Cadet Division, also on Saturday.

Complete results aree posted on www.themat.com.

Hot Beaches: Sheila McCabe - portrait of a national champion

Photo: Sheila McCabe (Valhalla), Jessica Jauck (Ramona).

As an eighth grader, Sheila McCabe happened across a wrestling practice at a local high school. She went into the room to investigate, was intrigued by what she saw and, well … the rest is history, as the old saying goes.

“I said why not?” said McCabe, who is now a junior at Valhalla High School and owns a national championship in the sport of girls wrestling.

 McCabe has wrestled both freestyle and high school styles the past three seasons. She has particularly excelled in competition against girls, taking second in the state folkstyle tournament the past two years and a second-place finish at this year’s United States Girls Wrestling Association national championships held March 19-20 in Lake Orion, Mich.

 She captured last year's FILA Cadet National freestyle championship title and, moving up a weight class to 70 kg , was second at this year’s Body Bar U.S. National Championships, held April 8-10, at Grossmont High School. McCabe won her opening three matches before dropping 4-0 and 7-0 decisions to Melissa Simmons (Ridgefield, Wash.), who was moving down a weight class.

 "Melissa was very strong. I will try to get my revenge at the Fargo nationals hopefully," McCabe said in issuing a challenge.

 Whatever one may think about girls wrestling, its die-hard participants take it very seriously.

“Wrestling boys really isn’t important to me,” said McCabe, who is a member of the Helix High School-based San Diego Hot Beaches Wrestling Club. “The girls who are dedicated to wrestling, dedicated to winning, they’re out to kill you.”

 Translated: girls wrestling isn’t a glamour sport in at least one sense of the word.

 In another sense, it is. McCabe has already begun to receive recruiting interest from colleges that offer women’s wrestling. She would like to pursue women's wrestling in college. "I've still got a year yet, so I am not making a hasty decision. I will pick the college program that I like the best and suits my style the best," she said.

 The Norseman grappler said the obvious physical aspect of the sport is just part of the total package.

“Wrestling is mostly mental,” said McCabe, who opened Saturday's tournament with a pin. “You’re wrestling a girl who has struggled just as much as you have. You go out there with only one idea in mind: to beat her.”

 McCabe was among seven Hot Beaches club members who earned place-finished at last month’s USGWA folkstyle nationals and among six club members who earned All-American honors with the second-place finish in her 144-pound weight division.

 Ramona’s Jessica Jauck is the club’s reigning folkstyle national champion after capturing the 130-pound division at the Michigan tournament. The Hot Beaches’ other four All-American honor-winners include Torrey Pines’ Christine Cunningham (third place, 126 pounds), Hoover’s Anai Novoa (fourth place, 100 pounds), Valley Center’s Bethany Harris (sixth place, 134 pounds) and Helix’s Katrina Wilborn (eighth place, 144 pounds).

The Hot Beaches had 10 medalists at this year’s Body Bar nationals, including eight in the opening day of competition that featured the Cadet FILA, girls and collegiate divisions.

Cunningham pinned Honolulu's Ariella Ing to place fifth in the women's Cadet FILA 60 kg class on Saturday while Wilborn was second in the 65 kg class. Sheri Buchanan (West Hills) placed fourth in the 70 kg division while Katie Hark (West Hills) was fifth in the same weight class. Mandie Fenton (Ramona) and Brandy Aust (Ramona) were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 78 kg division. Lauren Thompson (Rancho Santa Fe Middle School) earned a medal in the girls seventh/eighth grade division.

In Sunday's FILA Junior field, the Hot Beaches had two medalists: Jauck (fifth, 59 Kg) and Georgette Laman (sixth, 72 kg).

Overall, Kiefer was pleased with the club's showing. "For their first freestyle tournament, they did awesome, better than expected, especially the Cadets," Kiefer said.

Men’s Cadet & Junior FILA Greco-Roman championships

Photo: Sergio Santillan, Junior FILA champion, 60 kg

A number of San Diego County wrestlers did well. Valhalla’s Alan Canizalez recorded four first-period pins en route to capturing his 69 kg-weight class in Saturday’s Greco-Roman Cadet competition while other county champions included Vista’s Niall Morga (Cadet 63 kg), Vista’s Alexander Trueblood (Cadet 100 kg), Chula Vista Badgers’ Sergio Santillan (Junior 60 kg), No Mercy’s Matt Gidney (Junior 84 kg). Oceanside’s Kurt Klimek (Junior 120 kg) and No Mercy’s Matt Methling (Junior 96 kg).    

Also in the Cadet Division, Greg Huth, a recent transfer from Kearny to Helix High, took second place in his 63 kg weight class with a 2-1 record. Jorge Cabrera of the Fall Guys was second at 85 kg and Vista's Greg Cohen was third at 69 kg.

Also in the Junior Division, Matt Klimek was second in the 120 kg division. The Navy team had  two medalists: Steve Welch (third, 84 kg) and Alejandro Coronado (third place, 74 kg).     

Other Cadet champions included Ruben Rios of the Warriors (39-42 kg), Dennis Rodriguez of the California Grapplers (46 kg), Paul Kellum of USA Stockton (50 kg), Anthony Frank of Hawkeye (54 kg), Aaron Nafarrete of Team Temecula (58 kg), Avo Sogomonyan of the SK Golden Boys (76 kg), Hubert Faithinger of USA Stockton (85 kg).

Other Junior champions included Christian Segarra of Team Team Temecula (46-50 kg), Fernando Rodriguez of USA Stockton (55 kg), Nexi Delgado of UC Davis (66 kg) and Jonathan Clark of Pleasant Hill (74 kg).

Canizalez pinned Laguna Creek's Zac Gomez in 1:08 in the championship bout. Among other county champions, Morga decisioned Huth 8-2; Trueblood defeated Stockton Elite's Andrew Tournville; Santillan defeated Los Gatos' Nolan Nguyen; Gidney edged Tracy's Garrett Aldrich 1-0; Kurt Klimek bested Matt Klimek 7-0; and Methling defeated John Hughes.      

Canizlaez, a junior in high school, is no stranger to elite competition. He won state titles in both freestyle and Greco-Roman as well as a western regional title in kids wrestling and took second at the Cadet state finals two years ago. However, a knee injury kept him out of action last season and he returned to the mat only just recently, winning league and CIF championships and finishing fifth at the San Diego Masters state qualifying tournament.

 "I feel a lot stronger. It feels good to be back again," he said.

Canizalez plans to compete at the upcoming senior U.S. championships in Las Vegas as well as in freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions at the Junior state finals. His end goal is the Junior Nationals championships in North Dakota later this summer.

The 2004 Cadet FILA freestyle tournament featured five San Diego County champions: Joe Boone (Poway), Mark Ibarra (Chula Vista Badgers), Elwin Warsh (Poway), Josh Dupont (No Mercy) and Matt Methling (No Mercy).

Brock Gordon (El Centro), Marlon Frausto (CV Badgers), James Van Tassel (Carlsbad) and Jose Leon (Vista) all captured Cadet FILA Greco-Roman titles in 2004.

Brandon Halsey (No Mercy) won his weight in the Junior FILA Greco-Roman competition.

Photo: Stephen Alvarez, Helix High School

Men’s Cadet & Junior FILA Freesytle championships

Bonita Vista High junior Gabe Ruz made his belated season debut in Sunday's freestyle tournament after nearly a year of rehabilitation from a knee injury.

Upcoming SDWA tournaments

The SDWA will hold an open freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments April 16 at Vista High School, April 23 at West Hills High School and April 30 at Helix High School before concluding its 2005 spring season with a championship tournament in the Cadet, Junior and Senior divisions May 7 at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista.