Sunday, February 13, 2005
Rix barely falls short in bid to make wrestling history
By RACHEL LENZI Staff Writer<\/p>\n
Copyright ,\u00a9 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
AUGUSTA ” All eyes were on Deanna Rix as she hung on for dear life. But only seconds away from a shot at history, Shane Leadbetter slipped out of her grasp. With four seconds remaining in double overtime Saturday night, Leadbetter, a Sanford High School senior, recorded the decisive escape point in a 2-1 win over Rix, a Marshwood senior, for the Class A state wrestling title in the 130-pound weight class.<\/p>\n
Leadbetter thwarted Rix,\u00b4s hopes of becoming the first girl in the United States to win a state championship in a state-sanctioned wrestling tournament against boys.<\/p>\n
Leadbetter did it with all eyes on the mat, despite the fact that two other matches were going on beside them in the Augusta Civic Center. Along the mat,\u00b4s edge, Rix,\u00b4s younger brother recorded the match with a digital camera while reporters, television crews and spectators surrounded the mat.<\/p>\n
“Deanna had the cameras, the reporters, everyone around her on her side, “Leadbetter said. “I was going against the whole Civic Center. I wouldn,\u00b4t mind losing in a state title match, but going against her, it made it that much harder. She,\u00b4d be the first (girl) to win the state title, and I,\u00b4d be the loser … and that would hurt.”<\/p>\n
The pressure was equally as extreme for Rix.<\/p>\n
“I was so nervous, “Rix said. “I knew everyone was going to watch this match. I had so much pressure. I can,\u00b4t even explain the feeling.”<\/p>\n
Leadbetter took a 1-0 lead by scoring an escape point in the second period. But he was called for stalling with 28 seconds left in regulation, giving Rix the tying point and setting up a one-minute, sudden-death overtime.<\/p>\n
In overtime, it seemed no one would budge. But in the second overtime, Leadbetter elected to take the bottom position, forcing Rix to cling to him.<\/p>\n
“I just wanted to hold on, “Rix said.<\/p>\n
Leadbetter looked up at the clock and saw the 30-second second overtime winding down.<\/p>\n
“I took her arm, kicked her leg and pulled my arm up and tried slipping away from her, “Leadbetter said. “She caught the end of my foot and I jumped back.”<\/p>\n
Then, the whistle blew, ending the match. Rix fell to the mat crying, then went to her father and wrestling coach, Matt, who consoled her.<\/p>\n
“She really wanted it, “said her younger brother, also named Matt. “She worked so hard and stuck with this. I was thinking, pin, pin. I was hoping for the best. But I,\u00b4m very proud of her. So close to winning …”<\/p>\n
Rix,\u00b4s pursuit of a landmark victory was meaningful for John Bapst,\u00b4s Elizabeth Lutz, who competed at 112 in Class C but did not place.<\/p>\n
“It means we,\u00b4re getting somewhere in society, “Lutz said. “Supposedly we,\u00b4re equal, but some people still don,\u00b4t believe that.”<\/p>\n
Lisa Nowak, who wrestled at Mt. Ararat and who coaches at the Hyde School in Bath, was on hand to witness Rix,\u00b4s attempt at history. In 1996, Nowak appealed to the state,\u00b4s Human Rights Commission, facilitating the ruling that girls had the right to wrestle boys in interscholastic competition and eventually facilitating Rix,\u00b4s pursuit of a state title.<\/p>\n
“What a way to end her season, “said Nowak, the first girl to wrestle competitively against boys in Maine. “If you,\u00b4re going to go down like that, double overtime,\u00b4s a way to go. But she came out and she looked ready to work, ready to do business.”<\/p>\n
Of the six girls who qualified for the state meet in all classifications, only two advanced past the first two rounds. Wiscasset,\u00b4s Kristi Pearse finished third in Class C at 103, defeating Lisbon,\u00b4s Jeff Cossar 8-1 in the consolation final.<\/p>\n
Though Rix fell short of her ultimate goal, she still achieved plenty.<\/p>\n
“She worked her whole life for this, “Nowak said. “She definitely deserved the championship. Even bigger than that, she,\u00b4s an inspiration . . . to the other girls who could see how far she made it.<\/p>\n
“I think, secretly, everyone wanted her to win, for what it all means.”<\/p>\n
Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be contacted at 791-6415 or at:<\/p>\n
rlenzi@pressherald.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday, February 13, 2005 Rix barely falls short in bid to make wrestling history By RACHEL LENZI Staff Writer Copyright ,\u00a9 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. AUGUSTA ” All eyes were on Deanna Rix as she hung on for dear life. But only seconds away from a shot at history, Shane Leadbetter slipped out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrestling"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B7Di-9O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}