1st
Annual Wrestling USA / Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic Dual Meet
2005 USA Dream Team Member
119 Pounder Amnorina Porter
Standish-Sterling Central
High School, Sterling, Michigan
My name is Amnorina Janne-lina Porter; I'm the daughter of
Mike and Andrea Porter. We live in Mich-igan in the small village
of Sterling. I have four brothers and one sister, Mike being the
oldest then Mitch, Anngelina, myself, Machylle, and last of all
Manhael, the youngest. I am currently seventeen years of age and
attending Standish-Sterling Central High School.
My wrestling career started way back when I was in seventh
grade. My two older brothers only tried one sport, which was wrestling,
and they were always telling me how much they enjoyed the sport.
So as the years passed, I decided to try something new and that
new thing was wrestling thanks to my brothers.
I joined the team in tenth grade, I don't think that I have
been so scared in my whole entire life to do something different.
As the first season went on, I won half my matches, this was very
surprising since I had never done anything like this before. My
junior year was the season which I enjoyed the most. During that
wrestling season our school held a weightlifting contest for boys
and girls, I won first in lifting and first in a physique contest.
That season I placed eighth in my district, which was pretty good
for me. After the season was over, my coach, Jim Herrgot, was
sent invitations for the women wrestlers of Standish-Sterling
Central High School to go to the Girls State Wrestling Tournament
at Onaway Lake. My coach took Amanda Vargo and myself up to the
tournament. I placed first in my weight group and Amanda placed
fourth in her weight group. Since we did so well, we were invited
to go to Nationals, in which I placed second in my weight class.
After only two years of wrestling, going that far was such an
amazing event for me. My senior year has started out the best
for me so far because I was voted to be the Homecoming Queen of
Standish-Sterling Central High School.
I'm proud that I have older brothers who talked me into doing
such a sport.
April
9, 2005, will mark two firsts in the history of the Wrestling
USA/Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic Dual Meet competition. It will
be the first time that the competition will travel to TEXAS, the
Lone Star State. It will also mark the first time the competition
will feature female wrestlers. Both will contribute to showcasing
the development of the sport in the state since the UIL (University
Interscholastic League) decided to adopt wrestling as an official
high school sport and also incorporate a girl's division.
The event will be a collaborative effort between Texas USA
Wrestling and the Wrestling Association of Arlington (hosts of
the Hilton Arlington / Cliff Keen Athletic Lone Star Duals). Dream
Team members will travel to Dallas, Texas, and be housed in the
Hilton Arlington (boys) and the Hawthorn Suites (girls) in Arlington,
Texas. These hotels are next to each other and right across from
the Ballpark in Arlington and Six Flags, 10 minutes from the Dallas
Fort Worth airport. Twenty minutes west is the Stock Yard area
of Ft. Worth and twenty minutes east is the West End area of Dallas.
Team members will arrive on Friday the 8th and get an opportunity
to absorb some of the local culture. Dinner will be held to allow
the competitors to meet.
On Saturday, April 9th, two competitions will be held at the
South Grand Prairie HS Warrior Coliseum (site of the Lone Star
Duals), beginning with the first ever Girls Dream Team versus
Texas' best at 5:30 PM. Hopes are high in Texas that the Lone
Star girls will be very competitive. Since the UIL sanctioned
the sport, the number of girls participating has skyrocketed and
the enthusiastic support on the part of the coaches has resulted
in a tremendous increase in the quality of the competition. Texas
wrestlers have joined the girls teams at Neosho College, Cumberland
College, Minnesota Morris, and Missouri Valley. With Bacone College
and Pacific adding new programs, we expect to see even more.
At 7:00 PM, the best senior boys in Texas will take to the
mat against the Dream Team. While Texas has had wrestlers on the
Dream Team in the past (Buck McLamb and Danny Ruiz), there has
never been a competition between Texas and the Dream Team. Will
Rowe's matches with Mike Poeta last year, and the success of wrestlers
like Brandon Slay (2000 Olympic Champion and 2x NCAA finalist),
Ben Heizer (2x Div I NCAA All- American and Runner-up), Mohammad
Lawal (NCAA Div II National Champion and Div I Runner-up), and
JJ Holmes (NJCAA National Champ and current Eastern Michigan team
member) demonstrate the depth of talent in the Lone Star State.
Wrestlers like Matt Sansone, James Aston, and Justin Wren are
likely Texas Team members and Texas native Olympic Champion Brandon
Slay has offered to assist with coaching the Texas Team. Actual
team members will be announced at a later date. We anticipate
a great competition and a tremendous opportunity for Texas wrestlers
to meet some of the best in the country. We are also looking forward
to the opportunity to expose the Dream Team members to Texas hospitality
and culture.
Many fans may have come to the Dallas Ft. Worth Metroplex for the 2000 Olympic Trials and discovered that there are many things to do in the area. The location is terrific and the hotels will be providing great rates, so come down and enjoy the wrestling and support the greatest sport in the world. Tickets will be available on the Hilton Arlington/ Cliff Keen Athletic Lone Star Duals website (www.lonestarduals.com) and at Texas USA Wrestling website (www.txusawrestling.com).