Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Hudson grappler makes all the right moves

Amanda Feagley, the squad's lone female, qualifies for a regional competition.

By MIKE TOMPKINS
Published February 9, 2006

HUDSON - Amanda Feagley is a rarity. The Hudson junior is the lone female wrestler on her team. In addition, she is one of only a few participants in Pasco County, and one of only a couple hundred in the state.

Even more awe-inspiring is the fact that after last weekend's third-place finish in the 112-pound class at the Class 1A, District 6 meet at Pasco, Feagley qualified for the Region 2 meet this weekend at South Florida Community College in Avon Park.

Sebring High School is the host.

From a confidence standpoint, the qualification couldn't have come at a better time. Despite the accolade, Feagley is in arguably her toughest season as she missed the first two months to a back injury suffered late last year.

She is a 112-pounder, but due to a plethora of wrestlers in that class, Feagley has spent much of her mat time at 119. She also hurt her neck during a Naples dual-meet tournament when she had a move used on her that was so illegal, she was awarded victory.

And just two weeks ago, prior to the girls state meet in Osceola, she was diagnosed with vertigo, where one experiences dizziness due to a disturbance in balance. Despite all of that, Feagley has battled to a 7-11 record since coming back from the injuries just after Christmas.

She skipped the conference meet, as she does every year, to participate in the girls state meet, where she went 5-2 and finished fifth in 112. All of her wins were via pin, and it was her third consecutive top-five finish at that meet.

"I just do my best against the guys," said Feagley. "When I beat them, they cry. It's no big deal. One of the big things that gets me is when a coach yells "You're going to lose to a girl.' It really upsets me.

"That's one of the biggest things that gets to me when they say that, but I'm getting better. I actually lost a match at the Naples tournament because of it. I was beating a guy in points, and there was, like, seconds left, and he pinned me after his coach started yelling that."

Feagley's work hasn't gone unnoticed.

"She's come a long way," said Dana Bentley, the Cobras coach since 1997. "She was hurt, but now she's to the point where we can take her to matches and expect her to win. I really didn't expect (the third-place district performance). But she works well with the guys, and at the class that she's at, she has a lot of practice partners. She works hard and the boys respect that."

Feagley, who ran track for the Cobras as an underclassman, recently resumed modeling. She has modeled periodically since 12, appearing as a runway model and in advertising. She said she just got a job for a lighting company, and that she's at a crossroads.

"While I'm on the mat," she said. "I just think about winning. But when I'm away, I realize that I could get hurt doing it. And the modeling is starting to pick up, where I'm getting paid jobs now.

"If I had to choose, I don't know what I'd pick. I'd like to say wrestling, because that's what I think about before I go to bed at night."

[Last modified February 9, 2006, 01:31:10]