Wrestler Marcie Van Dusen still grappling for respect
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BEIJING—When U.S. wrestler Marcie Van Dusen upset Olympic champion Saori Yoshida in the World Cup earlier this year, handing the Japanese athlete her first loss in 120 matches, it was front-page news in Toyko.
Back in the States, Van Dusen isn’t sure if the upset even made the cover of the Mountain News, the daily newspaper in her hometown of Lake Arrowhead.
“No,” she confessed to a Japanese reporter. “It wasn’t that big a deal.”
But if she repeats that performance here in Beijing, it will be. In fact, it could be one of the bigger stories of the Games.
“I heard she wants a rematch. So I’ve come back to give her one,” said Van Dusen, the only women ever to beat Yoshida at the senior level. “It helps my confidence. I know that I can beat the best in the world. And now I have to prove it.”
Japanese reporters dominated the U.S. wrestling team’s press conference Thursday, peppering Van Dusen with questions about Yoshida, who left the mat following her January loss in Beijing in tears. One journalist even asked Van Dusen if she would reveal the strategy she plans to use should she meet Yoshida again in the 121-pound competition here.
That drew a gasp, then laughter from her teammates.
“No, I can’t tell you that,” said Van Dusen, who admitted she had tremendous respect for her main opponent even if her questioners seemed unwilling to return the favor.
“I have a lot of respect for Yosida,’ she said. ‘I’ve wrestled her since I
was a cadet. I beat her when I was a cadet, just so you guys know that. You’re going to have to look it up.
“So I’ve known her a long time. She’s a really neat person. She works hard.”
But there is one longtime foe Van Dusen hasn’t beaten -- her older brother T.J. If it wasn’t for that, she might not even be competing in the second-ever women’s Olympic wrestling tournament.
“I started when I was 8 and my brother beat me up a lot,” said Van Dusen, who went on to compete on the boys wrestling team at Rim of the World High, where she also lettered in soccer and volleyball. “He would come home from wrestling practice and try out all his moves on me. The coach asked me if I wanted to wrestle, so I showed up at practice and learned how to fight back.”
Fight back, but not win apparently.
“He’s 32 now. I get home and give him a big hug and it ends up being a headlock and I wind up on the ground,” she said. “I’m 26 now so it’s embarrassing. I’m going to get him eventually. He’s going to get a little older, a little fatter.”
-- Kevin Baxter