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Pacific SportsBlogOkinawa-based sports reporter Dave Ornauer on military-related sports in the Far East. |
History maker: Hail Osan American's Albonetti
Posted February 14th, 2008 by Dave OrnauerCongratulations, Emily Albonetti, the Osan American 108-pound senior girl wrestler who made Far East High School Tournament history on Thursday.
For the record, the moment came at 2:03 p.m. Thursday, when Albonetti stepped off the mat after pinning Champaigne Tatman of Robert D. Edgren in 2 minutes, 31 seconds. She became the first girl to sign a bout sheet as the bout's victor in the 33-year history of the tournament.
"Finally," she said as she put pencil to bout sheet.
The moment was two years in the making. She went winless in the 2006 tournament, then sat out last year with a knee injury. Albonetti won six regular-season bouts before making history on Thursday.
Aside from winning the bout:
-- This was the first Far East tournament bout featuring two girls wrestlers.
-- By winning, Albonetti assured herself of finishing no lower than sixth.
-- That means she scores at least one team point for Osan, another Far East first.
Clap it up, y'all! Albonetti represents! SportsBlog Nation recognises!
emily
everyone from osan is really proud of her.. current and alumni students
Congrats
Congrats to her, but it bothers me that it is such a spectacle when a girl wrestles. If she wants to wrestle good for her, and best of luck. But a gymnasium goes nuts when a girl gets a guy on his back, or when they win a match. Think about how the boy feels? And when the girl gets beat handidly by a boy, most people think he is being mean. Let her wrestle, but let's not make a bigger deal than we do when anyone else wins a match.
I agree
There's something that bothers me when girls wrestle boys.
Ground breaker
I guess the term I'd use for Emily is "ground breaker." She did things that no girl had ever done in Far East wrestling, and she could be a valuable recruiting tool to attract girls to a sport long viewed as a male province. Hype? Not so, at least in my view. *smile*
if she was either dan gables
if she was either dan gables prodigy or a champion i could agree with this blog but i dont see a reason to trail a mediocre wrestler just because she is a female. Dont get me wrong shes a great person but what have you learned about the sport by watching her wrestle????
Emily
quote: if she was either dan gables prodigy or a champion i could agree with this blog but i dont see a reason to trail a mediocre wrestler just because she is a female. Dont get me wrong shes a great person but what have you learned about the sport by watching her wrestle????"
What you would learn from her is not to quit. She was a cheerleader her freshman year, but decided that she wanted to try wrestling. She did not go in and give up after a week or so, but kept going through 3 seasons of some wins, but mostly defeats, and a knee injury.
What you learn about the sport from her is that it is intriguing enough to make a young lady leave another high visibility athletic (cheerleading... call it what you want, I watched my daughter go through cardio workouts that made most of the football players cringe) to participate and work hard enough to be a member of a team representing her school. She had to challenge to wrestle each week, just like any other member of the team, so nothing was handed to her. Is this good for wrestling?
I would say yes..
No Way
Cheerleading is NOT a sport. The definition of sport includes "competitive" and cheerleading is not competitive. In the states they may have competitions, but it is all subjective and based on a panel of judges. I don't think most football players would cringe at what the cheerleaders are doing, but I guess it depends on what you mean by cringe.
I give her credit for sticking with it, undoubtedly. Who did she challenge each week? Most coaches are dying to get someone at these weight classes, so challenging someone each week...?
99.9% of women in wrestling are there simply as a novelty and to try and break down what they percieve as a barrier. The bottom line is that there are some things males and females should NOT do together. What's next...co-ed boxing? It's not that men are better than women, but it's just not safe or responsible. Normally the only time you see a female finding success in wrestling against boys is at the lower weight classes. This is because it's hard to find boys to compete at these weight classes and normally a coach just tries to get a warm body on the mat. She had 3 years experience and beat a newbie. Good for her for sticking it out, but when she beats a boy with the same amount of experience than that's an accomplishment. Don't forget the only other person in that weight class with 3 years experience was Meade, the champion who beat her without much effort!