Wrestling with success
July 4, 2001 - Christine Nordhagen-Vierling owes a lot to good timing and natural ability. But while these attributes were enough to get her wrestling career started, hard work and determination are responsible for the University of Alberta graduate's ('94 BEd) five world championship titles.
The good timing was evident in 1991 when she decided to take a wrestling course as part of her education degree at the U of A. At that time, Nordhagen-Vierling's wrestling experience was limited to the usual sibling rivalries one experiences growing up. However, the girl from Valhalla Centre, a small community near Grande Prairie, Alta., proved to be a fast learner.
"I was the only girl in the class, and when it ended, the varsity coach asked me if I wanted to join the team. I had done well and it was the first year they were including a women's division at the national championships," she said.
She won at those first championships in 1992 but said the victory "doesn't really count" because she was the only competitor in her weight class.
That has all changed with the growing popularity and status of women's wrestling. "Now it's wrestling, whereas that first year we didn't know what we were doing. It's like any sport, it takes time to become an expert at it," Nordhagen-Vierling said. "As the years went on, more and more girls started competing so it has become a lot more competitive."
In those early years, the women were also forced to grapple with some established attitudes in the male-dominated sport. Nordhagen-Vierling recalls attending meetings with coaches who were reluctant to include women on their teams. Although she says those attitudes are largely a thing of the past, Nordhagen-Vierling is disappointed that women's wrestling has yet to be included in major international competitions like the Olympics and Pan American Games.
She attended the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg in 1999 where her husband, Leigh, wrestled for Canada. The experience made Nordhagen-Vierling realize how much she and other women wrestlers were missing. "I remember watching the [opening] ceremonies and I cried," she recalls. "It was so wonderful. It was an amazing feeling to be there, and I just wish I could have been a part of it."
With women's wrestling being considered for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the 29-year-old Nordhagen-Vierling may get her chance, but she has a few more immediate challenges. She recently placed first in her 68-kg weight category at the Canada Cup tournament in Calgary and is now preparing for the world championships in September.
Her training schedule includes strength and cardiovascular conditioning, as well as two hours of wrestling, five days a week. For the past five years, Nordhagen-Vierling has juggled her training with her duties as a math and dance teacher at Calgary's Ernest Manning High School. She also helps coach the school's wrestling team, which provides her with a steady supply of wrestling partners.
"An ideal training partner for a high-level female wrestler is a good high-school boy," Nordhagen-Vierling explained. "That's a good match for me because they're stronger, but I know more technique than they do, so I can still take them down."
Nordhagen-Vierling says she is just another one of the athletes at the practices, and she has no problem leaving the gym behind when she is in the classroom. "In school, I'm a teacher. It's not like I can put a choke hold on someone if they're not doing their work," she said with a laugh.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2001 edition of New Trail, the University of Alberta alumni magazine.
Related link – internal
The U of A Faculty of Education Web site: http://www.education.ualberta.ca/
Related link – external
The Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association Web site: http://www.isport.ca/wrestling/cawa/docs/AA/1/wrestling.html
