Jennifer Heisman, assistant coach for the Missouri Valley College rodeo team, ropes a "goat" during a demonstration in the Spainhower Building gym March 7. The event was part of the Marshall Habilitation Center's Women's History Month celebration. [Click to enlarge]

What do wrestling and rodeo at Missouri Valley College have in common?

Women.

Students from both sports gave demonstrations and answered questions March 7 at the Marshall Habilitation Center as part of MHC's Women's History Month celebration.

The women's wrestling team is the newest addition to MVC's sports offerings but is the oldest program of its kind in the country, according to Coach Carl Murphree. The team formed in 1999 and has won the national tourney the past two years.

Team member Emily Rinehart explained that she got her start in wrestling because her father was a wrestling coach and she wanted to go to practices and meets with him.

"He said only wrestlers could go, so I said I wanted to wrestle," Rinehart said. "It's a great sport. It teaches you discipline, strength and mental toughness."

While team members Tabitha Ramsey, Clarissa Calibuso, Elizabeth Hernandez and Courtney Martell demonstrated moves and throws, Chaneal Meletia explained to the audience what they were doing, noting which moves receive the most points during a match.

"The more spectacular it is the more points," she said.

When audience members gasped at some of the throws, Murphree noted that although "it looks scary" the women are trained to fall properly, reducing the chance of injury.

The same principle applies to the women members of the MVC rodeo team, two of whom were present to demonstrate roping and goat tying techniques.

Rodeo Coach Ken Mason said the women train hard in order to be in the best condition they can. A member of the audience asked how dangerous the sport was.

"I've been lucky. I haven't broken anything," said Sasha Sankey, who specializes in goat tying. "If you learn to do things right it reduces the risk."

Jennifer Heisman, a Lindenwood University graduate student who serves as assistant coach, said goat tying involves tremendous skill, speed and agility.

"They step off a running horse and have to run down a goat," she said. "They are amazing athletes."

Mason agreed, noting that the rodeo team, which started with four students in 1993, has grown to 48 members this year, 26 of them women.

"Some of the best cowboys I know are cowgirls," Mason said.

Contact Eric Crump at

marshallfaith@socket.net