Women try to pin down spot at worlds

Patricia Miranda had to convince her parents to let her enter the male-dominated world of wrestling when she was in high school.

It was just the opposite for Kristie Marano, whose wrestling family kept urging her to make the move from judo to wrestling.

"It's funny to see how much success you can have after starting from different backgrounds," Marano said.

Both are top seeds in their respective weight classes in the U.S. World Team Trials wrestling competition today and Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The meet will determine the U.S. men's and women's teams in freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines that will compete in September at the world championships in Azerbaijan.

This weekend's event divides classes for 317 contestants in freestyle, Greco-Roman and grappling for men, and freestyle and grappling for women.

Grappling, a blend of wrestling and jiujitsu, will not be contested at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Its world tournament this year is in September in Turkey.

If Miranda, who turns 28 on Monday, makes Team USA in the 112.5-pound weight class in freestyle today it will be her second major accomplishment in less than two weeks.

She received her law degree May 28 from Yale.

Throughout her career she's juggled schoolwork with wrestling. Finally she can focus on the mat.

"I've been able to test it out for about a week since graduating and it's been great," Miranda said. "I believe (law school) has helped my wrestling. Outcome is the most effectual thing to focus on. The process of pushing yourself, to learn something and to understand something that is harder than you thought you could understand."

She was on the first U.S. women's Olympic wrestling team in 2004 and became its first medal winner when she earned bronze.

Throughout her life, Miranda has raised the bar higher than what seemed attainable and then achieved her goals.

It began when she competed on the boys wrestling team at her high school in Saratoga, Calif. Then, it was on to Stanford, where she wrestled on the men's team. Since 2000 she has won six U.S. Nationals titles.

Marano, her U.S. teammate for most of the past nine years, marvels at how Miranda never seemed fazed by her workload.

"She's very composed and took her frustrations out on the mat," said Marano, a 28-year-old native of Albany, N.Y., who owns the U.S. women's record with eight world championship medals.

Unlike Miranda, who had to plead for a chance to wrestle, Marano, who competes at 158 1/2 pounds, was almost pushed into the sport by her father and wrestling brothers.

She was poised to challenge for a spot on the 1996 Olympic judo team when a knee injury ended that dream two months before team tryouts. She moved to wrestling and won her first world title the same year.

• NOTES -- The event format today and Sunday will provide first-round byes to the top-seeded wrestler in each category. Each weight class will be contested in one day.

It's a format most contestants like.

"Being ready for one day is all you need," Miranda said. "You can go harder. It doesn't matter if you're sore the next day. You have to make sure you're mentally ready for one day of battle." ...

Tickets go on sale today at the event for next June's Olympic tryouts for wrestling and judo at the Thomas & Mack Center or on the Internet at UNLVtickets.com.