By KEVIN HARRIS
Becky Cissell had her work cut out entering the Cadet and Junior National Championships last week in Fargo, N.D.
Competing in the 124-pound women’s division, eight All-American wrestlers and two former national champions stood in the way of Cissell becoming an All-American herself.
But the formidable competition did not intimidate the Jeffersonville High School senior-to-be one bit.
Cissell finished sixth in her class, earning All-American honors for the first time in her career. The top eight received All-American status.
Becoming an All-American tells Cissell that she has come a long way in a short amount of time in her wrestling career.
“It has showed me how much I’ve changed since my freshman year,” said Cissell, who represented the Team Jeff Wrestling Club at the meet.
Cissell’s performance at nationals definitely got the attention of a few women’s collegiate wrestling programs. At least three colleges contacted her shortly after her sixth-place finish, including the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., which has won the last three Women’s College Wrestling Association Freestyle national titles.
Jeff High wrestling coach Danny Struck says Cissell’s nationals effort greatly enhanced her chances of wrestling in the collegiate ranks.
“I don’t think she’ll understand how big it is until she chooses her college because it’s going to make a major impact,” said Struck, who did not make the trip to Fargo, but followed Cissell’s progress on the Internet. “Her grades are good enough, so she’s going to get into college. This lets her choose what college she wants to get in to.”
It was Cissell’s third trip to nationals, and Struck says Cissell’s previous two appearances helped her this time around. Cissell, who has won five women’s state championships in her career, came one spot short of collecting All-American honors at the 2007 nationals.
“I think it helped her more than the state championships,” Struck said about the prior nationals experience. “She is the best girl in Indiana — hands down. She never had much competition until nationals, so the prior two experiences were to me the two most valuable for her.”
Cissell is expected to return to nationals next summer and improve on her sixth-place finish. If she finishes in the top four, the United States Olympic Training Center would pay all of her training expenses for the 2012 Olympics if she elects to try to get a spot on the Olympic team.
“If she can win one more match, she will have 100 percent funding to train for the Olympics,” Struck said. “But I think her goal is to be a national champion next year.”
Cissell has several goals heading into the 2008-09 high school season. Her main ambition is to become the first-ever female wrestler in Indiana to make the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Academic All-State team.
One of the requirements in making the squad is to qualify for the Jeff Regional, which has never had a female participant. She must finish in the top four in her weight class at the Jeff Sectional to advance to regional. Cissell finished sixth in the 119-pound division at sectional last year.
Along with making academic all-state, Cissell has a few other goals she wants to achieve. She will become the first four-year female wrestler at Jeff High when the season starts this winter.
“I want to finish with a winning record,” Cissell said about one of her goals. “I know records don’t mean everything, but I do want to finish with a winning record.”
Cissell started wrestling in the eighth grade and has always been attracted to the aggressive nature of the sport.
“It’s fun and aggressive and there is a lot of hands-on stuff you can do,” Cissell said.
OTHER TEAM JEFF STANDOUTS
Becky Cissell is not the only member of the Team Jeff Wrestling Club to have a productive summer on the mats.
Here are a few other Team Jeff standouts:
• Devon Miller and Curtis Smith: Both made the trip with Cissell to the Cadet and Junior National Championships along with Jeffersonville High School assistant wrestling coach Robbie Rhinehart.
• Jon Clark: Competed for the Greco/Freestyle Junior Nationals Duals team.
• Caleb Browner: Wrestled for the Cadet Greco National Team.
• Shelby Griffin: Posted a 16-2 record in the Schoolboy National Duals.
• Alonzo Shepherd: Competed for the Schoolboy National Duals team in Greco-Roman wrestling.
JAPANESE WRESTLERS TO VISIT JEFF
Sixteen Japanese wrestlers and three of their coaches will visit Jeffersonville Sunday through Tuesday as guests of the Team Jeff Wrestling Club. It is a part of an ongoing exchange program by Jeffersonville High School wrestling coach Danny Struck, who has participated in the program the past five years.
At 3 p.m. on Sunday, the Japanese wrestlers and Team Jeff members will have a meet at Parkview Middle School in Jeff. A cookout for the participants and their families will follow.
The Japanese wrestlers will visit several area sightseeing venues on Monday and Tuesday. Those venues include Jeff City Hall, the Hard Rock Cafe in Louisville, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and Kentucky Kingdom.
The trip to Jeff is part of a 12-day excursion to Indiana by the Japanese wrestlers and coaches.
