1st
Annual Wrestling USA / Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic Dual Meet
2005 USA Dream Team Member
148 Pounder Elena Pirozhkov
Greenfield High School
Greenfield, Massachusetts
GPA: 3.0
Senior Year Record: 8-4
My name is Elena Pirozhkov. I was born in Novokuznetzk, Russia.
I moved to America in 1990, and have lived in Massachusetts most
of my life. I am the third oldest out of nine kids in my family.
My older brother, Viktor, who is currently serving in Iraq, joined
the wrestling team when I was in the seventh grade. He suggested
that I should join too. I did, and I have been wrestling ever
since.
My current coach, Dernik Vartanyan, is a returning high school
wrestler. He has been very supportive, along with other coaches
I've had in the past, saving me all the drama girl wrestlers go
through with their coaches. My younger brother Alex and I are
captains of our team, and I am wrestling with a record of 8-4,
so far. I'm not sure what my overall high school record is, though.
The greatest accomplishments in my wrestling career are taking
third at Folkstyle Nationals (twice) and taking fourth at Freestyle
Nationals (twice) .
My current overall grade point average is 3.0. Although I haven't
yet chosen a college to go to, I do plan on going and wrestling
at the college level. I'd like to tell you what I want as a college
major, but I haven't decided that myself.
Lastly, I'd like to thank all of my high school coaches, my
family, Dan, and everybody else who has helped me, because without
you I would have never gotten this far.
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).