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Published July 25 2010

USA Wrestling: Sister act: Split title, Hawaiian siblings share top 124 honors

Given a choice, sisters Mindy and Chrissy Chow would have stood toe-to-toe in the center of the mat and wrestled for the 124-pound title of the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals Women’s Freestyle title.

It’s not like they shy away from competition against each other. Both are accomplished high school wrestlers in Hawaii with equally impressive resumes in Judo.

But 14-year-old Mindy and

17-year-old Chrissy each graciously accepted a share of the championship without breaking a sweat in the finals Saturday at the Fargodome.

“We thought we were going to wrestle,” Chrissy said. “Our coaches didn’t tell us until last night. It’s a tournament deal.”

Many national tournaments hand out dual championships when relatives are scheduled to wrestle in the finals, USA Wrestling Assistant Coordinator of National Events Scott Tischer said.

But a match between Mindy and Chrissy would likely have been a good one.

Chrissy, who is heading into her senior year at Punahou High School, has won a pair of Hawaii high school state girls titles. She was fourth at last year’s Junior Nationals.

Mindy earned her first high school state title last year at Punahou High. Chrissy and Mindy compete in different weight classes during the high school season.

However, both said things get competitive in the practice room.

Each has the ability to beat the other.

“It depends on who is angrier,” Chrissy said.

Chrissy and Mindy said they are contemplating whether or not they want to continue their wrestling careers in college.

Both qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008.

Mindy was named an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Judo team at 52 kilograms at 13.

The United States did not qualify for the Beijing Olympics in Chow’s weight class. However, the matches were completed at the Trials on a contingency basis.

The siblings’ mother, Robin, was a two-time national Judo champion.

Chrissy, who finished fourth at last year’s wrestling tournament at the Fargodome, said she was pleased to be able to take home the title.

For Mindy, it was a great first experience in Fargo.

“It was really intimidating at first,” Mindy said. “When we were watching the boys wrestle on 23 mats … it was scary. But it was fun.”


1st: Webster, Missouri, pinned Somera, Hawaii, 0:43. 3rd: Pfau, Colorado, pinned Ferrell, Pennsylvania, 1:52. 5th: Rahall, Virginia, dec. Handlon, Washington, 3-0, 5-0. 7th: Smith, Texas, tech. fall Miley, 6-0, 6-0.


1st: Augello, Illinois, tech fall Nagatani, Hawaii, 7-0, 7-0. 3rd: Taniguchi, Hawaii, fall Kemp, Texas, 1:47. 5th: Richardson, Washington, fall Nobile, Missouri, 0:32. 7th: Urzola, Florida, dec. Martin, Michigan, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0.


1st: Yamaguchi, Hawaii, dec. Rutt, Minnesota, 6-2, 1-0. 3rd: Nemec, Ohio, dec. Vega, Arizona, 5-0, 1-2, 2-0. 5th: Gomez, California, fall Yanez, California, 0:56. 7th: Klingel, Pennsylvania, dec. Black, Iowa, 1-2, 1-0, 6-1.


1st: Brendlinger, Pennsylvania, dec. Hildebrandt, Indiana, 3-2, 2-1. 3rd: Martin, Oklahoma, fall Rapoza, Hawaii, 0:31. 5th: McFarland, Michigan, dec. Marquez, California, 0-2, 5-1, 1-1. 7th: Howell, Pennsylvania, dec. Tillman, California, 4-0, 2-0.


1st: Mindy Chow, Hawaii, and Chrissy Chow, Hawaii, named co-champs. 3rd: Tanya Kusse, New York, fall Perez, California, 0:44. 5th: Faust, Pennsylvania, dec. Goodale, Iowa, 3-0, 2-0. 7th: Camous, California, dec. Moreno, California, 3-1, 4-0.


1st: Delgado, South Carolina, dec. Burkert, New York, 1-0, 2-0. 3rd: Ragan, Illinois, dec. Harmon, 2-0, 3-0. 5th: McAleavey, Texas, dec. Brenton, Wyoming, 1-1, 5-0. 7th: Schnell, Wisconsin, fall Luna, California, 1:33.


1st: Revelle, Kansas, dec. Mensah, Texas, 2-0, 2-0. 3rd: Flores, California, dec. Hendey, California, 4-1, 1-0. 5th: Childs, Florida, dec. Klein, Wisconsin, 4-0, 1-0. 7th: Kruczek, Pennsylvania, fall Samano, Oregon, 0:52.


1st: Salata, Michigan, dec. Strub, Indiana, 1-1, 1-4, 1-0. 3rd: David, California, dec. Carr, Washington, 6-0, 2-1. 5th: Gelman, Oregon, forfeit. 7th: Walker, Texas, dec. Gessler, Tennessee, 3-1, 3-4, 3-2.


1st: Spiegel, Pennsylvania, dec. Keegan, Pennsylvania, 0-1, 1-0, 3-0. 3rd: Ramos, Florida, fall Orozco, Arizona, 0:26. 5th: Williams, California, fall Mendoza, Texas, 0:21. 7th: Spafford, California, fall Harvey, Michigan, 0:29.


1st: DeAragon, Idaho, fall Gudzyuk, Washington, 1:03. 3rd: Ramirez, Michigan, fall Wasmund, Washington, 1:56. 7th: Bailey, Washington, dec. Holt, California, 2-3, 6-0, 6-4.


1st: Moreno, Texas, fall Perez, Texas, 1:13.


1st: Elor, California. 2nd: Scott, Illinois. 3rd: Abshire, Texas. 4th: Culcleasure, Washington.

Round robin

Scott, Illinois, fall Abshire, Texas, 1:39. Elor, California, fall Abshire, Texas, 1:29. Elor, California, fall Scott, Illinois, 0:28.


Hotzler’s blogs can be found at www.areavoices.com