Big Bend women’s wrestling prospects looking up this year
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 10 months AGO
Big Bend Community College sophomore Natalie Johnson grapples with a teammate at wrestling practice. The Viking women’s program has a full roster this year, according to Head Coach Desiree Alejandro.
COURTESY PHOTO/BIG BEND COMMUNITY COLLEGE/SAVANNAH SIGNORELLI PHOTOGRAPHY
Big Bend Community College sophomore Natalie Johnson shows some of the aggressive spirit her teammate Abby Varady said the team is working to build.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | November 27, 2024 3:30 AM
MOSES LAKE — Big Bend women’s wrestling bobbled a little at the beginning but picked up quickly, according to head coach Desiree Alejandro. The Vikings lost their first dual Nov. 16 against Umpqua Community College 30-9, but got their own back the next day at the Mike Clock Tournament.
“We were ranked second in the tournament, (and) as far as (junior colleges) go, fourth overall,” Alejandro said. “We had two finalists, two fifths and a fifth, a fourth and a third. They (showed) significant improvement versus the dual … We beat some of the girls that had beat us the night before.”
Last year wasn’t nearly so rosy, Alejandro said.
“We had seven girls on the team and finished with five,” she said. “We did not do well at all. We didn't go to nationals, we didn't participate in postseason at all, and I just focused on recruiting most of the year.”
Women’s wrestling is one of the newer sports on the roster, having started at Big Bend in 2018, the same year that the men’s wrestling program was revived after a 23-year hiatus. It became a sanctioned Olympic sport in 2004. Washington became the third state in the country to offer girls wrestling in high schools in 2007, although girls had been wrestling on coed teams before that.
Alejandro was one of those, she said.
“I started when I was 4 and I’m 26,” she said. “I first started to wrestle boys, but I wrestled girls all through high school and college. It’s definitely growing. This is Big Bend’s first year in the (National Junior College Athletic Association) for both men’s and wrestling.”
Wrestler Abby Varady is optimistic about the team’s prospects.
“Just the energy in our practice room, there's a big difference going from last year to this year,” she said. “It's a lot more motivating when you have a lot of teammates in the room that all have the same goal. I think that we're going to do really well this season. We already look a lot sharper than we did coming into the year. So I think that our goals are achievable.”
It’s going to take some work to get to that point, Varady added, especially where attitude is concerned.
“The girls are all really positive, but they don't have a lot of grit,” she said. “They don't like to push through the hard stuff; they kind of let their mind get the best of them. And I think that that is a really big part of wrestling, so that is what we need to work on. Also, just a lot of shot defense and being (on the) offensive, always on the attack.”
“We have a full lineup this year, so that's also always a plus,” Alejandro said. “I'm hoping for great things out of this year. I think we have at least a top 10 team, at least that’s my goal.”
Big Bend Community College sophomore Natalie Johnson shows some of the aggressive spirit her teammate Abby Varady said the team is working to build.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”