Tag: Arizona State wrestling

What’s next? As women’s wrestling grows, the landscape of opportunities changes

by Bob Young
  • Slug: Sports-ASU female wrestler, about 1900 words.
  • Photos attached below.
  • Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1rOXhYJA9A8B1K5RbL9khVQHa8smCICkg&usp=sharing
  • Medal count: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/962927/?utm_source=showcase&utm_campaign=visualisation/962927

By Sarah Farrell
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Trailblazing must be in Marlee Smith’s DNA. One day, while cheering on her dad’s football team, the squad found itself a player short and an unexpected opportunity arose for the 8-year-old.

“He looked at me and he said, ‘I’m taking Marlee,’” her mom, Christie Smith, said. “He took her off the sideline, threw pads on her and put her on the football field.”

It didn’t end there. Marlee followed her male teammates to wrestling, a popular activity in her hometown of Wantage, New Jersey. She thrived in the sport, which led to a difficult choice many female wrestlers face after high school: choose a school where she could continue to wrestle other women or try to join a men’s roster at a school that offered the major she wanted?

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Combat sports take a toll on bodies and minds

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: MMA recovery, 620 words.
  • No photo available

By Paige Shacklett
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — Broken bones, bruises, concussions, occasional loss of consciousness, even death loom over the cages in which mixed martial artists ply their craft.

Former mixed martial arts fighter Aaron Simpson said the pain inside the cage doesn’t always end when the fight does. Recovering properly after matches and during training is just as important to fighters as their boxing, wrestling or martial arts skills.

“Some guys balloon up and drink for a month straight (after fights),” said Simpson, a former Arizona State wrestling All-American.  “Some fighters, I guess they lose everything that they built up and it just doesn’t make sense for a healthy career or a healthy lifestyle.

“It was a short recovery for me, and I was back at it and training. And the most successful professional fighters in the world right now are doing that.”  

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