Ruth Minturn, 14, has won 23 national and one international titles. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Ruth Minturn and the big boys of WWE are worlds apart - but like those monster grapplers, wrestling is her thing.
A real Judy-cum-lately into the sport, Minturn, 14, a Year 10 student at Avondale College, has shown she might have a future on the mat.
Bored with netball - a sport she found to be "too easy" - Minturn was looking for a challenge when teacher Craig Miller suggested wrestling might be worth a go.
Joining Miller's group as the only girl "in a bunch of boys" - most of whom thought she was crazy - it did not take long for her to find her feet in a sport she knew nothing about.
She had to diet to get down to the 65kg category she competes in.
Success, with plenty of hard work and rigorous training, came quickly. In January she returned from Sydney with silver and bronze medals from the Oceania championships.
Since being introduced to the sport last June, she has won 23 national and one international titles - lightweight beach wrestler - in her age and weight group for both wrestling and grappling after being selected to represent her country just four months after taking up the sport.
Her long-term goal is the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia's Gold Coast and beyond that the Olympics.
AWARDS
Lydia Ko and Josh Hawkins, the overall sportswoman and sportsman of the year at the 2011 ASB College Sports, have followed a well-worn path in being recognised as the New Zealand Herald's Future Stars.
In the past many of the overall winners at College Sport level have gone on to win a Future Stars award or its predecessor, the NZ Herald Junior Sports Awards.
Since the inaugural college awards in 1991 - a year in which Beatrice Faumuina took the sportswoman award and went on to win a Herald award - many winners have then been recognised by the Herald.
Among those to win on both stages are Sarah Ulmer, Sarah Macky, Daniel Slater, Ryan Archibald, Valerie Adams, Terenzo Bozzone, Simon Child, Michael Bullot, Rebecca Spence, Jacko Gill and Cecilia Cho.
CRICKET
AUCKLAND: Outright wins to Kings and AGS gave an all-too-familiar look to the first round of the premier two-day championship.
While Kings were always in control of their game against Macleans, AGS had to battle back from a first innings deficit to take the points at Sacred Heart.
Resuming at 125/8 in reply to Sacred Heart's first innings of 82, Kings, led by an unbeaten 46 from Ben Turner, reached 180 - a lead of 98, with Dylan McGill the best of the Macleans attack with 5-56.
In their second innings, Macleans built a number of small partnerships, but clever captaincy and good bowling changes meant Kings were always picking up wickets as they battled to 143, leaving Kings 46 to win.
But Kings quickly lost four wickets and it needed a sensible stand between Harrison Nash and Turner to get their team home.
Resuming at 22/0 in their second innings after taking a first innings lead on the first day, Sacred Heart struggled and were dismissed for 149, leaving AGS 171 to win from 34 overs.
While they struggled against Jacob O'Callaghan (4/44), the other bowlers were not as effective. Led by 30-plus innings Shikar Chaturvedi, Shawn Hicks and Cam Armstrong, AGS eventually got home with four wickets and two overs in hand.
MAGS resumed at 44/4 in pursuit of the 105 scored by WBHS on the first day but never posed a serious challenge as Mania Harris bagged 3-12 from nine overs and allrounder Mitchell Atkins 3-10. The MAGS innings ended at 82 to hand WBHS first innings points.
St Peters picked up the only outright in the premier plate, thrashing Rangitoto by an innings and 14 runs. Already ahead at 71/6 in their first innings, St Peters added only 45 runs to finish at 116.
That lead of 49 proved to be more than enough as Rangitoto folded to be all out for a dismal 36. The win took St Peters to the top of the Premier A plate with one round to play this term.
In other games St Kentigern beat Rosmini and KBHS beat Avondale on the first innings to leave St Peters as clear leaders after the opening round.
WAIKATO: The coveted Dave Hoskin Trophy is on the move again, as Holders Hillcrest High were comprehensively outplayed by visiting Matamata College.
Batting first after winning the toss, Matamata hardly set the world on fire but reached the drinks break with 49 runs and all wickets intact in the face of steady bowling from Elliott Law and brothers Sean and Neil Rudman.
Led by free-scoring Joe Freeman (63), the runs flowed after the break, and while wickets did fall, the visitors were able to maintain the momentum with Ciaran O'Malley scoring a run-a-ball 22 before Nick Perring took over.
He finished unbeaten on 66, and with Hayden Waugh (15 not out) lending a hand, they piled on 50 from the last five overs as Matamata reached an imposing 229/6.
In reply Hillcrest's innings never gained any momentum, with wickets falling at regular intervals. They were eventually bowled out for 93 in the 21st over. Hayden Bell (5-39) and Taylor Green (3-19) were the chief destroyers and major benefactors of some outstanding fielding.
In a low-scoring match, initial tight bowling from St Peter's Jason Thomasen and Huss Mahal made runs difficult to come by for the visiting Cambridge High batsmen.
That good early bowling was marred in giving up 20 wides and allowed Cambridge to reach 108 with the only two innings of note the 25 scored by Nick Bateman at No 7 and 15 from Mitch Kirkbride. Spinners Josh Oakley (3-30) and Jono Whitley (2-30) were the chief wicket-takers.
St Peter's lost early wickets but opener Sam Pulis held the innings together with a patient 19 while a cameo of 40 runs off 19 balls from Ben Schilt helped St Peter's get close to their target. Matt Joubert and Brandon Weal closed out the match in the 22nd over, with St Peter's 110 for 5.
The Hamilton BHS Development XI batted steadily throughout their 50 overs to post 207/7 with seven players scoring between 16 and 40 runs. Matt Lowe batted well for 40 before running himself out, while St Pauls fielded poorly with a number of mis-fields and dropped catches.
In reply the St Pauls top order was knocked off by Jack Clark with 3-22. Chris Swanson (20) and James Chenery (40) provided brief resistance before Danyon Stewart with 3-28 mopped up the middle order to bowl St Pauls out for 114.
Morrinsville had a trip to forget against St John's College. Batting first, the visitors were out for 52 as Joe Tourelle and Sam Watson bagged four wickets each. Led by an unbeaten 35 from Jayden Purcell, St Johns cruised home without losing a wicket.
TOURNAMENT WEEK
It is billed as summer sports tournament week, but thousands of secondary school pupils taking part might be excused for thinking it is winter.
Crews from Auckland schools head to Lake Ruataniwha for the popular Maadi Cup rowing regatta. The tennis will be played over five days at Albany Tennis Park. Zones one and two of the touch regionals will be at Avondale Racecourse on Saturday and the North Island SS horse trials will be held at Woodhill on Saturday and Sunday.
Croquet, cricket and volleyball will be in Palmerston North, Waka Ama at Rotorua's Blue Lake, triathlon and open water swimming at Karapiro and wrestling in Hamilton.
ON THE WEB
www.asbcollegesport.co.nz
Auckland City have been a symbol of excellence in New Zealand for nearly two decades.