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41 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 17, 2004 Karlean Johnson rests with other members of the South Medford wrestling team during practice on Wednesday. Johnson competes at 119 pounds. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Wrestling in a boy’s world South Medford’s Karlean Johnson has found her place on the South Medford wrestling team By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Karlean Lawson fully understands the ramifications and implications that go with being a female wrestler in a domain full of males and almost devoid of females. She makes a lot of people uncomfortable, from her male opponents, who cringe at the embarrassment and ridicule they’re likely to face should she beat them; from certain opposing coaches, who view her as something of a nuisance at best and a joke at worst; from certain fans, who believe that mixing the sexes on the mats is just plain wrong. And from her mother, who doesn’t like her daughter "wrestling around with guys in singlets." So why does the South Medford High School junior grapple? Advertisement "More than anything, I just like the one-on-one aspect that wrestling provides," Lawson, 16, explains. "It’s what you and you alone do that affects the outcome of a match." The sport has also taught Lawson self-discipline and the value of hard work, and it has created opportunities for travel and a college scholarship. South Medford coach Ken Thompson, who admits he "was scared to death" the first time he wrestled a girl in high school, has come full circle on his views of a girl competing in a predominantly boys’ world. "In my heart I would really like to see Karlean compete exclusively against girls, but that’s not realistic and so I have to go against the convictions I once held and give her a fair shot," says Thompson, who helped Lawson get to the cadet national freestyle tournament in Fargo, N.D., last spring. "I’m a wrestling advocate. I know what it can do in terms of maturing a kid well beyond what they can get in the classroom. "If I believe in wrestling as much as I do, why would I turn her away?" Female wrestling has grown in popularity the past few years. It became an Olympic sport for the first time last summer and women are now competing at many colleges across the United States. Thompson says 14 girls are currently on scholarship at Pacific University in Forest Grove. "I don’t know if it’s going to catch on like the WNBA but there are a lot of opportunities for women to wrestle at the college and international levels," says Thompson, noting that female wrestling is hugely popular in Europe and catching on in Canada. "And right now the talent pool is so small that there are more opportunities for women than men." Lawson hopes to land a scholarship next year and knock heads exclusively with members of her own sex. But for now, she’s the lone female in the South Medford program and one of a half-dozen or so in the Southern Oregon Conference. Lawson wrestled at North Medford the past two years but moved over to South this fall, where she feels more accepted and respected. "I get more one-on-one time at South with the coaches — they give me help whenever I need it," says Lawson, who launched her wrestling career in the sixth grade at Mountain View Elementary in White City. "And the guys at South are great. They treat me like anyone else." Lawson, who competes at 119 pounds, has lost all three of her matches this season, two to boys along with a 9-8 setback to a Grants Pass girl. "She was bigger than me but I got penalized four points for locking hands," says Lawson, who will get a chance to compete in an all-female format at the Oregon Wrestling Classic in Redmond on Jan. 7. "I should have won that one." It’s been 20 years since Thompson wrestled a girl while competing for Pendleton High, but time hasn’t diminished the memory. He was a sophomore competing at 98 pounds at the Coeur d’Alene (Idaho) Tri State Invitational. "I had won my first match and then I watched her eke out a one-point win over a boy," Thompson says. "The crowd went nuts. I was scared to death." Thompson clamped a head-and-arm move on the girl and pinned her in 20 seconds. "I made sure she didn’t score a point and I wasn’t very nice about it," Thompson admits. "The last thing I wanted to do was go in the stands and listen to my redneck dad tell me how a girl almost took me down." Lawson encounters that same mentality now. Some of the boys she’s scheduled to compete against forfeit to her rather than risk the ignominy of losing to a girl. "I beat two novice guys from Grants Pass last year and I felt bad for them," Lawson says. "But I’m out there for the same reasons they are — I just want to compete and get a good workout." Lawson has yet to be seriously injured, although she did suffer a black eye and a big knot on her head while competing in a tournament in Eugene last year. "My first battle wounds," she says. Despite the touching, clutching, grabbing and gripping that occurs on the mat, Lawson scoffs at people who think it’s inappropriate for a boy and girl to wrestle each other. "I think people are so clueless about this," she says. "The last thing I have on my mind when I’m out there is anything sexual, and I would seriously doubt the guy I’m wrestling against is thinking that way, either. "All I want is an opportunity to wrestle and to be treated equally." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers