SF
State Wrestler Tries for World Team
Julie Gonzales,
SF State wrestler
Story by:
Steve Cooper
Another San Francisco State wrestler is among
the top in the nation, although you won't see her wearing a purple
and gold singlet, at least any time soon.
At 4'11'' Julie
Julie Gonzales takes control of her match over
Clarissa Chun of Missouri Valley College in her semi-final
match
All photos are courtesy of Rick Horner of westcoastathletic.com
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Gonzales, the 22-year-old junior at San Francisco
State is recognized as one of the best female wrestlers in the country.
Gonzales competes in the 46kg or 101.25 lbs.
weight class and recently placed second in the nation, losing her
only match 9-0 to Tricia Saunders, an 11-time national champion
and four-time world champion.
Gonzales is a Vallejo High grad, now majoring
in kinesiology at SF State and has been wrestling for seven years.
Gonzales said she got into wrestling because she wanted to do a
full contact sport.
"I thought I was going to quit the second day," Gonzales
said referring to the beginning of her career.
Now, Gonzales is a five time national placer
and looking for a spot on the world team. Lee
Allen, the former head Greco-Roman Olympic coach and three time
Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling, coaches
Gonzales. "She has a lot of perseverance,"
Allen said. "She's very competitive and
she has high goals."
Gonzales overcame one of her goals in the national
tournament when she defeated the No. 2 seeded wrestler Clarissa
Chun of Missouri Valley College in overtime 9-8.
"I lost the last five tournaments this year against
Chun," Gonzales said.
Gonzales said this was a big match for her because
she overcame her "mental blocks."
Chun went ahead early in the match 4-0, but by the
end of regulation Gonzales had tied the score 8-8 with a couple of headlocks.
Gonzales won the match in overtime with a crotch lift, placing her in the
finals against Saunders.
"I still have the metal blocks," Gonzales said referring
to Saunders. "It's hard not to when you hear four world titles and 10 national
titles over the loud speaker before you wrestle."
Gonzales reveres Saunders as the pioneer of women's
wrestling and hopes to mimic her career. When she wrestles Saunders, Gonzales
tries to keep her goals realistic.
"I go out there and try not to get teched [a 10 point
mercy] or pinned," Gonzales said. "I just try to wrestle smart."
Gonzales and Allen both said they are pushing to
see women's wrestling grow as a sport.
The first college in the nation to sponsor women's varsity
wrestling was Minnesota-Morris back in 1993. Now, colleges across
the nation are building women's programs. The Bay Area's own Menlo
College is currently in the
National Finishes
- 1997--------6th
- 1998--------2nd
- 1999--------2nd
- 2000--------3rd
- 2001--------2nd
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process of building a men's and women's wrestling
program. The men and women will face NAIA competition scheduled
to begin in the 2001-2002 season. Former SF State wrestler and Skyline
Community College head coach Keith Spataro will head the men's team,
while Allen, also a former Skyline head coach, will lead the women's
team.
Gonzales said she has no intention to wrestle in a collegiate
atmosphere, but really enjoys wrestling in clubs. Gonzales wrestled
under Allen on the Peninsula Grapplers club where they won a team
national title in 1999 and currently she wrestles for the Dave Schultz
club.
Gonzales favors club wrestling over collegiate wrestling
because she said it gives women more opportunity to wrestle. Gonzales,
who wrestled at Vallejo High, said women can compete against the men at
that level, but by the time they reach college, the men are just too strong,
taking away some opportunity for women to compete.
"I wish high school girls would be more interested,"
Gonzales said about club wrestling. "I think they should do both."
Unlike club wrestling, which competes in the two
international forms, freestyle and Greco-Roman, once your collegiate career
is finished, your wrestling career is finished, Gonzales said, you can't
go onto the Olympics or wrestle internationally.
Currently more than 50 nations officially sanction
international competition for women's wrestling and there have been women's
world wrestling championships for 15 years. In July of this year the Olympic
committee will take a vote deciding whether or not women's wrestling will
be included as a demonstration sport in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
For now, Gonzales is focused on the Women's World
Team Trials in Cincinnati held from June 21-24 in hopes of competing in
the World Championships in New York on September 26-29.
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