USGWA National Championships Results
Adeline Gray (Colorado) wins 4th USGWA title
Nichole Jackson wins national girls' wrestling title
Sisters from Hawaii earn USGWA wrestling titles
Wrindy Shann (Michigan) captures national wrestling championship
Local briefs (Ventura California)
Prep roundup (Marin California)
Terra Nova (California) places 3 in the Top Ten
Hawaii's Alo sisters capture national titles
Two area girls (Michigan) capture national wrestling titles
DeAragon wins national championship
WRESTLING: Oak Grove sophomore Michelle Jimenez and Half Moon Bay senior Katherine Fulp-Allen traveled to Michigan for the United States Girls Wrestling Association National championships and walked away as All-Americans on Sunday. Jimenez beat Tiffany Sluik of Iowa 5-4 to win a bronze medal at 100 pounds and Fulp-Allen beat Samantha Lopez of West Covina 13-4 to take third at 110 pounds.
ESCANABA — When Jenna Larson was very young she saw Alaina Berube wrestle and wanted to try it. Now Larson and Berube have something in common.
They’ve both won national wrestling championships.
Larson, of Escanaba, won the 61-pound title at the 2006 United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships Sunday in Lake Orion, Mich.
Larson wasn’t the only area girl to place at the ninth annual event. Berube’s cousins Sasha (4th), Alexis (6th) and Sherri Berube (8th) and Taylor and Marlie Gillis of Gladstone each finished 6th at the tournament.
Larson, 9, said she wasn’t overly nervous headed into the final match. “No. It was pretty much same as the other ones,” she said.
Larson pinned her final opponent in 2:27 to finish 5-0 in the round-robin format.
Larson said she was very excited after winning the last match. “I was just smiling the whole time,” she said.
Paulette Larson, Jenna’s mother, said she believes Jenna is the first elementary school girl from the area to win a national title. There were over 650 girls, age 5 to college, from all 50 states at the tournament, Paulette said.
Alexis Berube, 11, said she does get butterflies before tournaments. “I get nervous,” she said. Despite being placed in the wrong weight class, Alexis said she tried not to worry about it. “I still did my best,” she said.
Her younger sister Sasha, 8, agreed. “She still got sixth and that was good,” she said. “She tried her hardest.”
Sasha said she also did her best but made one mistake which cost her a place. “I pinned myself. Otherwise I would have had third,” she said. “I try my hardest so I can get first place like Jenna.”
Sherri Berube, 13, said tournaments are a lot different than practice. “I wrestle a lot harder,” she said. “Especially against the boys.”
The USGWA tourney is one of a handful in the region which is girls only. “I like to wrestle the boys better,” Sherri said. “I made three boys cry,” Jenna said. Alexis said she doesn’t mind wrestling boys but prefers the girls tourneys.
Sasha and Alexis’ mother Samantha and Paulette served as coaches at the tournament. “All moms are really coaches,” Paulette said. Jim Berube also helped the girls at the tourney.
Jenna said it can be difficult to hear mom’s instructions because of her protective headgear. However, Paulette’s words usually still find their way to her daughter’s ears. “I can still hear her because of how loud she screams,” Jenna said with a laugh.
All the girls said they enjoy wrestling. “It’s fun,” Alexis said. Samantha said you can’t really force wrestling on a child. “They have to like it,” she said. “It’s way too physical.”
Alexis said wrestlers have to be committed. “You have to wrestle 100 percent,” she said. “Whenever you go for a move, gotta finish it.”
Besides wrestling the girls are involved in softball, soccer, bowling, basketball, track, volleyball, band and 4-H.
“They’re pretty active,” Samantha said.
The girls travel to tournaments around Michigan and Wisconsin each weekend during the season. Jenna only cares about one thing when traveling to a tournament. “I ask if there’s a pool at the hotel,” she said.
The girls get a week off from traveling as the Escanaba Youth Wrestling Club hosts a tournament Saturday.
Pictures from USGWA Nationals Finals (Joey Miller)
2006 USGWA Finals (Amateur Wrestling Photos)