Hard work, dedication pays off for Agoura wrestler
Rebecca Polich wins CIF Southern Regional title
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers WINNER- Rebecca Polich works on her moves during practice.

It seems as if Peyton Manning wasn't the only one to step out of the runner-up shadow this past weekend.

Rebecca Polich, a senior wrestler in the 122-pound weight class at Agoura High, one-upped her second-place finish from last year when she won the Southern California Regional Individual Championship last Saturday at Channel Islands High.

Polich was one of 191 girls that competed in the two-day event, with girls coming from as far south as San Diego.

"It felt good to win," Polich said. "I started out the year kind of slow, so to do that good at the tournament felt really great."

One reason Polich was able to improve upon her second-place finish from last season was the increased time she spent this year with assistant coach Crystal Karr, who wrestled for Agoura before she graduated in 2001.

Karr previously had only been able to help part time because she was working on getting her teaching credential. When she landed a job teaching art classes at Agoura, Karr was able to spend more time this season helping Polich on the mat, and the extra help paid off.

"I told her that she needed to win the first 10 seconds of her matches," Karr said. "She did, and that helped her win. I was so excited for her when she won. They didn't have a regional tournament when I wrestled, so a part of me feels like I won with her that day."

Polich admitted a lot of her success came from Karr.

"It was better this year because I warmed up before my matches with her this season. Last year I wasn't able to wrestle with a girl before my matches," Polich said. "She gave me a lot of good technique advice and told me to get my opponent scared right away by being more aggressive early."

Polich first decided she wanted to wrestle when she was in junior high.

"The high school came by one night and I got these cards asking me if I wanted to participate in any sports," Polich said. "There had been a segment in P.E. about wrestling, and I kind of liked it. I thought I would check the box on the card for wrestling and give it a try."

Although Polich would learn a lot about the sport during her first year, it wasn't enough to help Polich in the standings as she struggled in her inaugural season as a Charger.

"That first year I wasn't very good and hardly won any matches," Polich said. "After that season I took a trip to Arizona for a summer camp on wrestling. I was the only one from Agoura at the camp, and I was shy, but things really started clicking for me at that camp. I won 12 matches there and basically learned to always try my hardest and always finish my moves."

Agoura head coach Dennis Ritterbush has been impressed with how much Polich has improved since her first year.

"She is a very good technical wrestler now," Ritterbush said. "She's not hurling and flailing around looking for moves anymore. She does a good job of taking what her opponent gives her."

Although Polich is one of only two girls on Agoura's wrestling team this season, Ritterbush says there have been no problems whatsoever with coaching Polich because of her gender.

"I like to look at them as wrestlers- not male wrestlers or female wrestlers, just wrestlers," he said. "We've been fortunate to have many coaches to help her, like Coach Karr.

"I do think she gets better when she wrestles and watches the guys as well. They are a little more aggressive and muscular. That way when she wrestles a female that's a little bigger than she is at a match, she's ready for her. There haven't been any problems from the guys on the team either. She pops them pretty good now," Ritterbush said.

When Polich isn't wrestling, she likes to spend time learning about art.

"I'm not sure what kind of art I want to do in college yet, but I know I want to study it," Polich said. "I'm pretty good at drawing, so I may do that."

Polich is still unsure whether she'll continue to wrestle in college, but she hopes that more girls will continue in her path of wrestling at Agoura.

"I just want to encourage more girls to wrestle because I have had a great time doing it over the past four years," Polich said.

"I love working on the moves in practice, and I like the companionship and camaraderie of competing as a team. I think there are special bonds that athletics gives you, and maybe you can get it in other sports, but you definitely get it in wrestling."