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Spotlight: Tricia Saunders, Wrestling
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Posted: Tuesday April 27, 1999 10:06 AM
For Saunders, success is within grasp. |
Born: February 21, 1966, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Residence: Phoenix, Ariz.
Upcoming Event: 1999 U.S. National Wrestling Championships, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 30-May 1
Worth Watching Because: Saunders, the grand dame of women's wrestling, has made an impressive return to her sport after a one-year absence following the birth of her second child. Fully recovered from knee surgery, the 101.25-pound Saunders won the 1998 World Championships in Poznan, Poland last October by defeating three-time world champion Miyu Yamamoto of Japan. The win marked Saunders' third world championship--she also won titles in 1992 and 1996. She now has her sights set on the national championships, an event she has won a record eight times.
Saunders grew up in a wrestling family -- her grandfather, father and older brother all wrestled --so it was only a matter of time before she found her way to the mat. Saunders entered her first tournament at the age of nine, and, competing only against boys, won seven of nine matches. In 1976, in the 50-pound class, Saunders became the first female to win a Michigan state title and the first female regional national champion. Due to her sex, Saunders attracted a crowd of onlookers every time she wrestled, and also met some resistance. After being barred from the 1975 Amateur Athetic Union Eastern National Age Group tournament -- in which she was the only female qualifer -- her parents sued the event's organizers. A federal judge ruled in Saunders' favor but the decision came too late for her to compete in the tournament. At age 12, having established a 181-23 match record against boys, Saunders retired, temporarily.
Ten years later, after receiving her degree from the University of Wisconsin, Saunders made her return to the mat. She began competing internationally -- this time against other women -- and rocketed back to the top of her sport. She became U.S. national champion in 1990 and two years later won the first of three world championship titles. In 1997, she was named the first recipient of the USA Wrestling Woman of the Year award. Saunders is looking forward to competing in the Olympics some day. It's possible that the 2004 Games will feature women's wrestling as a medal event.
Greatest Success: Saunders is the only female U.S. wrestler to win a gold medal at the World Championships (1992, 1996, 1998) and holds the record for most U.S. women's national titles (8).
Quote/Unquote: "I had a bunch of gold medals at home, I knew girls could wrestle".
Cool Fact: Tricia is married to Townsend Saunders, the 1996 Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist. They have two children, a daughter, Tassia and a son, Townsend.
Come back soon for a new women's sports Spotlight.
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