WRESTLING: Shanna Young shines in debut of King’s women’s team

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Shanna Young spent months preparing for her first major college exam. She lifted weights, ran sprints and trained for hours.

Young earned her reward Saturday morning in dramatic fashion. The freshman from Franklin County, Va., earned the first pin in the history of the King Tornado women’s wrestling program against Missouri Baptist.

“That came from a lot of hard work and practice,” Young said.

Saturday marked the first female collegiate wrestling matches ever held in the state of Tennessee, and King faced the ultimate challenge.

The Tornado opened the day with a 39-3 loss to defending Women’s College Wrestling Association national champions Oklahoma City University, then dropped a 30-15 decision to powerful Missouri Baptist.

Freshman Anna Cummings emerged as the other hero for King, winning her 48 kilogram match by decision against Oklahoma City.

Cummings, Young and most collegiate female wrestlers are forced to hone their skills by competing against males in high school. Cummings, a pre-engineering major from Marcellus, N.Y., was not intimidated by the challenging nature of her college debut.

“I definitely think it’s good to come out and face some of the top teams. This way we know what we’re going to face against later on, and it will help calm down our nerves,” said Cummings, who compiled over 100 wins during five years of high school wrestling.

Young displayed aggression, quickness and technical skills in the 67 kilogram weight class. Young led after the first period in her first match against 2008 WCWA All-American
Tessa Plan from Oklahoma City before losing by decision.

In her second match against Courtney Kinimaka of Missouri Baptist, Young appeared to be in trouble when she suddenly reversed holds on her opponent and scored a pin.

“[Kinimaka] put me on my back, but her positioning was off and I felt that I had an opportunity,” Young said.

Even Young seemed surprised by her compelling victory.

“I don’t know how I did that, but it feels good,” Young said.

In addition to winning two state titles in the female class in Virginia, Young finished second in the Kentucky-Tennessee state tournament as a senior.

“I was the only girl on the boys team most of the time in high school,” Young said. “I also used to do karate and weightlifting. It definitely helps with flexibility.”

Young considered wrestling at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., but she’s happy that she took the route down Interstate 81 to King.

“The program here is wonderful, and we’re definitely going to keep working to get better,” said Young, who was supported by five family members Saturday. 

King coach Jason Moorman hopes the trial-by-fire approach will pay dividends for his freshman-dominated squad.

“It’s tough anytime you compete two of the top teams in the country like this, but it’s important to let these women know what they need to do to be the best,” Moorman said. “A lot
of these girls have Olympic aspirations and dreams of competing on the world level, and they’re gonna have to beat wrestlers like this to reach that level.”

For King, the preparation for Saturday’s match was rigorous. Moorman led his athletes through twice-weekly weightlifting sessions at 6:30 a.m. along with sprints up infamous Mockingbird Hill near campus, seven-mile runs and daily practices which often lasted over two hours. 

“Our athletes have been working really hard to get to this match,” Moorman said. “We’ve just got to focus on not making as many mistakes in the future.”

Oklahoma City assistant coach Link Davis was impressed with the commitment and fundamentals of the King wrestlers.

“I see good things with King’s program,” said Davis, who wrestled on the men’s team at the University of Central Oklahoma. “King’s wrestlers stay in good position and their coach is doing a solid job with the team.”

Davis admitted women’s wrestling coaches must be resourceful in the recruiting process. The Oklahoma City roster includes just one competitor from Oklahoma.

“We’ve got wrestlers from just about everywhere, including California and Alaska,” Davis said. “Female wrestlers work hard and are eager to improve. It just takes a while to build a program.”

Oklahoma City has fielded a women’s wrestling team for three years.

The next match for King is Nov. 12 at the University of the Cumberlands.

“Cumberland won three national [WCWA] championships before finishing second in the nation last year,” Moorman said. “We might as well see these teams now rather than later in the season.”

Despite the losses Saturday, Moorman was pleased with the desire and excited about the potential.

“Nerves got to us a little bit and that’s to be expected,” Moorman said. “We know that we’ve got work to do, but I saw improvement in the second match and we’re going to leave here on a positive note.”

And Young earned a lifelong memory with her historic pin, which earned an ovation from King fans.

“It was a nerve-wracking day against tough teams, but we will all remember this,” Young said.

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