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SW Florida Female Wrestlers Bring Home Gold after wrestling the boys
by jgharcourt (Subscribe)
Posted on: Jan 28, 2008 at 9:52 PM EDT
Channel: Local Sports
Three SW Florida high school girls carpooled to Vero Beach on Saturday and competed in the Florida State Girls Wrestling Championships, two Brought home Gold! Kathy Harcourt 16, of Barron Collier High swept the competition in the 105 lbs weight class, Carolyn Beneli, 15, of Palmetto Ridge High hammered the competition in the 130 lbs weight class for a first place medal, and Erica Cruz 16, of Immokalee High, aggressively competed in the 114 Ibs weight class. All three girls wrestle on their High School boys’ teams during regular season to train for the Girls State Championships. They are often misunderstood and chastised by their classmates and families who have trouble understanding why they choose to compete against boys. Female wrestling is now an Olympic Sport and the girls hope that their victory at State will win them some hard earned respect from their detractors and some high dollar scholarships from top division 1 Universities who are now eager to build winning female wrestling teams of their own.
