ONE RETURNS, ONE DONE?
Women pioneers faced different directions at Trials
They weren’t exactly pioneers of women’s wrestling, but Stephanie Murata and Kristie Marano were there for many of the first international awards earned by the American women.
Following the recent World Team Trials, Murata showed that she was not ready to retire while Marano’s days on the mat may be numbered.
“I’m one of the last ones who’s still around when things started getting rolling,” said the 34-year-old Murata, who defeated Mary Kelly in two consecutive matches for the 112.25-pound championship, earning the native of San Mateo, Calif., her seve
nth trip to the World Championships. “I think there were about four other girls who were wrestling about five years prior to me starting.”Murata, who won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships, was talking about the likes of Tricia Saunders, whose five world medals (including four gold) are topped only by Marano’s seven.
And based on the results of the recent Trials, where Marano, 26, lost for a rare time to Katie Downing, 25, in two matches for the 147.5-pound championship, the most decorated woman wrestler in American history may have a hard time returning. Marano has had her way with Downing before, defeating her in the 2003 and 2004 Trials.
At first it appeared that Marano had regained the touch that led to two gold medals — the latest coming in 2003 — when she jumped on top 3-2 in the first period of her first match in the Championship Series.
Instead, Downing was able to pull down Marano’s head and eventually stack her back to the mat where Downing pinned her rival in 30 seconds.
“It kind broke the seal that I’ve been trying to break for the last couple years,” said Downing, a native of Indianapolis. “I was ready to go. Usually when she gets a takedown my mind would be saying, ‘Oh no, I messed up. Now how do I score?’ ”
A few hours later, Downing completed her sweep of Marano with a headlock and takedown to win the second match, 4-0, 1-0.
Murata, meanwhile, completed her victory with a cradle and two-point gut-wrench to defeat Kelly, who is 13 years younger than her victor, who has seen a lot of changes in women’s wrestling over the past ten years.“I think it’s changed drastically,” said Murata, adding that she sees both technical and physical improvements among her foes.
“I think you have to be more technical than you used to be. The gap between everyone is slowly closing. Because of that you have to work on your technique instead of just being stronger and faster.”
The only women who had a bigger break between World Championships was 158.5-pound Iris Smith, 25, who earned her first trip to the Worlds since 2001 with a victory over 19-year-old Ali Bernard.
“It’s great to see more girls out there coming up,” said Smith, a sergeant in the U.S. Army and a member of the World Class Athlete Program. “I remember when I came up; there wasn’t as much.”
McMann also returns
When Sara McMann defeated Alaina Berube in two straight matches for the 138.75-pound world team spot, it marked the sixth straight year she will compete on the world stage. But the 24-year-old’s return to the Worlds was secondary to the fact that the native of Tacoma Park, Md., was even competing at all.
For this was the first time McMann competed on the mat since she won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens last August and the first time since the death of her boyfriend — former Arizona State wrestler Steven Blackford — on Sept. 3, 2004, when they were traveling together on Interstate 76 about 14 miles east of Brush, Colo.
McMann, who was training in Iowa City before the Trials, declined any interviews but was focused enough to first win the Challenge Tournament and then sweep a pair of matches from U.S. Nationals champion Berube, who forced each match to go three periods.
But in the end, McMann won the final period, 4-2, as she scored a one-point reversal, two-point exposure and one more for a hold to build a 4-1 lead with one minute left.
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