Girls national events added to Body Bar Women’s Nationals in San Diego, Calif., April 8-10

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
01/03/2005


In addition to the three age-group national championships previously announced, there will be a major girls wrestling tournament for young athletes contested as part of the Body Bar Women's National Championships, set for San Diego, Calif., April 8-10.    During the first two years of this event when it was held in Minnesota, there was an additional freestyle championship event for girls. The organizers of the Body Bar Nationals this year have agreed to add on the girls freestyle event this season, as well.    Competition will be held in freestyle in two age divisions: Grades 3-6 and Grades 7-8. Weight classes will be determined after weigh-ins using a blocked weight system, pairing wrestlers within 12% body weight of their competitors.    In addition this competition provides USA Wrestling national championships for female wrestlers at three different age levels, the University division, the FILA Junior division and the FILA Cadet division.    University athletes are ages 18-24, including many of the best college wrestlers in the nation. FILA Junior athletes are ages 17-20. FILA Cadet athletes are ages 15-17.    This will allow competition for female wrestlers of a wide variety of ages, from young girls in third grade all the way up to young women who are 24-years old.    The Body Bar FILA Junior Women's National Championships is the qualifying event for the FILA Junior World Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 5-10.    The venue for the competition has also been determined. Competition will be held at Grossmont High School in the city of El Cajon, which is in the San Diego community. The local organizing committee is California USA Wrestling, the state association in California.    There will be a team competition on the University level only, with awards for the top two teams entered in the tournament.     "A few years ago, USA Wrestling decided to move all the women's age-group tournaments to one location," said National Women's Coach Terry Steiner. "This is the best way to showcase women's wrestling now. It allows the younger girls to see what their future holds, and to witness the stars of women's wrestling. Any time you can place heroes in front of young people, it is great for the sport."    "Moving the tournament to San Diego is a strong plus, because of the large number of female wrestlers in the Western United States," said Steiner. "This will provide a high quality competition for girls and young women from all across the nation. Every eligible female wrestler should plan now on going to San Diego for a great National Championships."    For information, contact event director Richard Bailey at 619-303-6886 or the California USA Wrestling office at 559-275-9478.    For more information on The Body Bar go to:  www.bodybars.com