The Eagle Eye

Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Sports

Rachel Groft, seen above, wrestles her opponent. Groft competed in two recent tournaments where she faced some of the top competitors in the world.

The women's wrestling program has arrived.
This past weekend the women's wrestling team sent Rachel Groft as well as two other women to compete in a competition at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Groft placed fifth in the tournament.
In the first match of the tournament Groft faced the second ranked woman's wrestler in the world from University of Cumberland. Groft would lose the match but she came back to win her final two matches by pin fall in route to her fifth place finish.
This wasn't the first tournament that Groft has competed in. Early in the year she competed at the Sunkist International Tournament at Phoenix, Arizona. This is considered the biggest women's wrestling event of the year.
With this years tournament falling on an Olympic year, the try out latter for the women's Olympic team were there competing. Also, top ranked women's collegiate wrestlers from all over the country were there. Other countries besides the United States had competitors there such as, Russia, Canada, and some South American countries.
"Rachel has the ability to compete at that level. We felt she would respond positively and she did," said Head Coach Terry Fike.
It was a double elimination tournament and Groft found herself match up against two hard opponents. In her first match she had to face the No. 2 ranked woman again. After losing to her, Groft had to face the No. 7 ranked woman. The result of the match was the same, but it was a huge first step in women's wrestling at Lock Haven University.
"Rachel returned from a three year layoff and we wanted her to compete on that level," said Coach Fike.
This is the first year for the women's wrestling team, but LHU has a past history of women's wrestlers. Three past women from the Haven have competed on the national level. Coach Fike wants to continue this tradition.
"We are committed to providing great training and competitive opportunities," said Coach Fike. "If someone has the talent we will take them to the best competitions to get them where they want to go."
The team will be holding a meeting on Thursday, tomorrow, at 8:00 p.m. at the Thomas Fieldhouse classroom.
"The meeting will provide information on training and competition. We will show the present state of women's collegiate wrestling, including video of competitions, highlights, as well as an opportunity to observe practice," said Coach Fike.

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