Pacific University is one of the few schools in the country that offers a women’s wrestling program for those that want to wrestle at the college level. Head Coach Severin Walsh entered his fourth season for both the men’s and woman’s wrestling programs. In the previous seasons, Walsh has had a difficult time recruiting female wrestlers, but this year is a different story entirely.
Walsh said that the woman’s team is looking much better with a strong squad of seven women on the team for this season.
“We were fortunate to have such a good freshman class, not only number-wise, but great young women as well,” said Walsh. “We were able to score recruits from Hawaii, California and Washington by reaching out to as many people as possible.”
According to Walsh, the program is always looking for women who have a tough mindset that allow them to be great students and hard-nose athletes.
Another positive for the women’s team this year was the return of two wrestlers, Junior Andrina Ramos and Sophomore Jodi Ozaki. Both ladies are sophomore wrestlers for Pacific, which helps add to the experience factor midst the six freshmen who are new to the team.
“I expect big things from our returning girls Andrina and Jodi,” said Walsh. “They have been tremendous with their leadership.”
Ramos, having sophomore eligibility but a junior academically, is the eldest on the team.
She said, “our coaches did a great job recruiting these girls.
women’s wrestling is slowly gaining popularity in the U.S. In Hawaii, women’s wrestling is a much more popular. I think that explains why five of the seven girls on our team are from Hawaii. Our coaches did a great job recruiting serious, dedicated and committed female wrestlers who will work hard all season.”
As a co-caption with Ozaki, Ramos does her best trying to pick up the girls’ spirits by sending out encouraging text messages to her teammates to ensure them that if they need someone, she is there for support and to keep up the great work. She said that she knows how hard it was her first year competing and wrestling and she wants to be there for her team.
According to Walsh, “all the girls are very gifted in the classroom, but some chose Pacific over other schools with wrestling for it academics reputation.” Walsh hopes to continue each year with as strong of a class as he has received for this season for seasons to come.
Currently the women’s wrestling team is starting off the 2011 season this month, they next play at home against the University of Puget Sound Jan. 13.
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