BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Teeanager Marissa Brown will never be accused of not being a warrior.
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Marissa Brown has all the tools to become a national champion, says Sudbury Golden Eagles Wrestling Club head coach Claude Lacelle. |
The 16-year-old wrestling phenomenon has wowed people across the country with her wrestling prowess and heart. Along the way she has become one of the top young female wrestlers in the country.
Ever since she first broke into wrestling in Grade 6, Brown has nearly destroyed all her competition with little or no remorse and racked up a pile of medals.
?I?ve won about 50 medals since I?ve been wrestling,? said Brown. ?They?re all nice accomplishments.?
Brown was born in southern Ontario and started wrestling in Brantford. In Grade 8 her family moved to Noelville and Brown joined the Sudbury Golden Eagles Wrestling Club. In Grade 9 she enrolled at Sudbury Secondary School and continued to wrestle at the high school and club level.
The difference between Northern Ontario and southern Ontario competition was great, says Brown.
?In the south there are a lot more clubs,? said Brown. ?In the North you have to train twice as hard to keep up with the southern competition.?
Brown has enjoyed incredible success in wrestling and regularly does it against competitors two to three years older than her.
?In wrestling, Marissa fights in the open category and kills 18 and 19 year old wrestlers,? said Claude Lacelle, head coach of the Sudbury Golden Eagles Wrestling Club. ?She?s only 16 and already dominating the sport so just imagine how great she will be when she is 18 and 19.?
Brown is a three-time city champion, three time Northern Ontario Secondary Schools? Association (NOSSA) champion and has had high showings at All-Ontario high school championships, despite crucial injuries.
Brown has captured four silver medals at the provincial level in Grade 7, 8, 9, and 10 and captured a provincial gold in 2002. Brown has also won two national silver medals, one in 2002 and another at this year?s tournament in Calgary.
Brown faced the 2003 All-Ontario high school champion in her first match and soundly defeated her. In her second match she hammered the 2003 British Columbia provincial champion before bowing to the Alberta champ in the finals.
?I was proud of myself and knew I did good because the wrestlers there were all top notch.?
Besides facing the adversity of fighting older opponents, Brown has sacrificed her body to excel.
?Last year at nationals I dislocated my shoulder,? said Brown. ?My coach popped it back in and I continued
wrestling right away.?
With this elite level of mental and physical toughness, Brown has become a feared opponent across the country.
At provincials this year she shot for an opponents leg and it got caught in the mat and Brown broke the girl?s ankle and knee and with a quick follow up move she crushed the girl?s ribs.
?I don?t feel any remorse at all because it wasn?t my fault,? said Brown. ?That?s just the nature of the sport.?
Brown was a wrecking ball this year, breaking the noses of three girls while handing them solid beatings in Sturgeon Falls, Sault Ste. Marie and at city championships.
?The girl in Sturgeon Falls was the worst,? said Brown. ?Her modeling career is over.?
Brown enjoys more than slamming opponents to the mat. She enjoys water skiing and all kinds of water sports.
Brown is also an accomplished dancer. She is a dance major at Sudbury Secondary.
?We do ballet, modern and put on shows.?
Lacelle has been involved in wrestling since 1984 and has seen a lot of people step onto the mat thinking they?re good, but Brown has left a lasting impression.
?Marissa is the top female wrestler in Northern Ontario no doubt about it,? said Lacelle. ?She has all the tools including balance, speed, smarts and strength.?
Lacelle believes with a little more training Brown can be a national champion.
?She has the talent and desire to go a long way in wrestling.?
