Photograph by Robert Scheer
Miranda stretches to limber up during practice.
By Tim Persyn
On the wrestling mat, she's strong, tough and aggressive, handling male opponents as she dispels notions of what women are capable of. Off the mat, she's articulate, nice, and even soft-spoken, intelligently discussing her point-of-view as she dispels stereotypes of the "typical jock."
This remarkable young woman is Patricia Miranda, a 16-year-old Saratoga High School student who recently wrestled her way to third place in the women's United States National Wrestling Championships freestyle tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. She competed in the 110-pound category against opponents in their 20s.
Miranda will next try out for the U.S. women's world wrestling team June 20-22 in Las Vegas, N.M.
But Miranda doesn't just wrestle women. She is captain of the Saratoga High varsity wrestling team, which, the last anyone checked, was all male with one exception: Miranda.
Her 5-foot-tall physique packs some legitimate wrestling power: This past high school season, Miranda wrestled her way to about an even number of wins and losses against men in her 103-pound weight class. In addition, she has placed in her league's junior varsity finals.
However, female competition remains rare: She said she has only wrestled about five or six women in her high school career.
Her favorite move is to lift people.
"If you take them off the ground, it helps you in your mind. You can somewhat dominate," she said.
Miranda, a junior, began wrestling when she was in eighth grade, but didn't get completely into the sport until high school, under the direction of one of her coaches, Lloyd Asato.
Asato explained the obstacles faced by any female who wants to participate in the male-dominated sport of high school wrestling. He said Miranda, as a female, had to struggle, especially her first two years in high school.
"You have opposition all the way through. You're not really accepted," Asato said. He added, "But she was always able to hold her own."
Ryan Bocks, a Saratoga High wrestling coach, said there are special challenges for a female wrestler. "To be a girl out there, you've got to be tough. When you're a guy, you don't want to lose to a female--they gun for her. She deserves every win she gets."
After much experience wrestling men, Miranda has developed her own perspective regarding strength differences between men and women. "Guys tend to be stronger. When I was younger, I thought girls were as strong as guys."
She dropped her belief in that form of equality while wrestling in high school. She said she currently relies on technique and speed to overcome strength differences.
However, she explained that competing against men doesn't concern her. "I never felt like I had to prove much. I was there to do my thing."
As one might expect, Miranda had to fight sexist preconceptions about her ability on the mat. But to her credit, she accepted responsibility for her decision to wrestle and set about changing people's minds rather than giving up or making excuses.
"That [the stereotypes] comes with the choice to be in the sport," she said. "Sometimes the reaction is: 'Oh, she's just a female.' Sometimes there are derogatory sexual comments. But that bounces off."
Perhaps the stereotypes bounce off after Miranda bounces some of her opponents off the floor.
The fact that wrestling is traditionally male-dominated did not deter her. "I thought, 'I'd like to wrestle and there's no reason why I shouldn't.'"
To complicate matters, Miranda said she received mixed reactions from her family regarding her chosen sport. While one of her three siblings has given her emotional support, she said her father gave no support when she started.
"My father had a hard time with it. My freshman year I got no support." Although he relaxed some as she persisted in the sport, she said her father still doesn't watch her wrestle.
Jose Miranda said the physical risks involved in his daughter's wrestling concern him.
"It worries me a lot," he said. But he added, "I'm very proud of her."
Any parent would be concerned after one of their children collapsed a disc and dislocated a knee, as Patricia did her freshman year. At one point, she said her dad wrote a letter telling the school not to let her wrestle.
Only recently, Patricia tore ligaments in her ankle. Despite the injury, she said she's still planning to try out for the world team. "You don't know how stubborn I am," she said.
To overcome all of these obstacles takes a strong will. Bocks, the coach, described Miranda as tenacious.
"My high school coach says tenacity makes a good wrestler," Miranda said. "I'm very stubborn."
After this year's high school season, Miranda decided to take up freestyle wrestling, a difficult competition that moves at a quick pace and relies significantly on technique. Unlike high school wrestling, competitors can throw and slam each other.
Miranda explained, "A lot of people don't want to wrestle freestyle. They hear they will get hurt."
She has progressed quickly. After a few months of freestyle, in which she wrestled both men and women, she went to the women's national tournament and did great.
"Ninety percent of her success at the tournament was due to what was in her head," commented Asato. "She had confidence."
Miranda explained,"Wrestling takes mental and physical ability."
If Miranda makes the world team, she'll be traveling the world representing the United States. But as she sits cross-legged on a bench outside Saratoga High School, smiling and personable, with hair dyed as part of a pact she made with her coach for finishing in the top three in nationals, it's hard to imagine her mercilessly pinning an opponent.
She explained the transformation she undergoes when she steps on the mat. "My mindset changes. It becomes: 'You gotta taste the blood; you gotta want it; you gotta hate to lose; you gotta be self-assured!"
Once on the mat with an opponent, Miranda is all business. She efficiently attacks the situation, confidently taking control until she achieves her goal.
She attacks life similarly. During the regular high school wrestling season, she practices three or four hours a day. During the freestyle-wrestling season, which runs during the high school off-season, she practices two or three times a day, getting home at night. Her regular workout regimen includes lifting weights and running.
On top of all this, she's currently an honor student.
Despite all her accomplishments, Miranda says she has no natural ability in athletics or in school. "I'm naturally a nerd," she said with a self-deprecating smile.
However, when one tallies all that she has accomplished at 16, it becomes obvious that she is a young woman of inner strength and maturity.
She said she derives some of her strength from her mother, who has passed away, and from the experiences she went through in dealing with losing a close relative. She said that the loss of her mother caused her to focus on her priorities.
She learned some important lessons from her mother.
"My mom thought that whatever you do, do it well," she said. "I want to look back and have no regrets. If I try and fail, I can live with that."
Looking ahead, Miranda hopes that female wrestling will become an Olympic sport in the year 2000. But for that to happen, more women need to get involved in the sport at a grassroots level.
"There needs to be a lot more women participating at the local level to build a base for the Olympics," Miranda said.
Women's wrestling seems to be growing, at least in this country. USA Wrestling says women's wrestling is currently its fastest-growing division. Roye Oliver, national development coach for USA Wrestling, said the process of growth for women's wrestling involves educating the public about change.
"It's here to stay," he commented. "The women sacrifice just as much as the men."
Hopefully, the year 2000 will bring a date with the Olympics for Miranda. "I'll be in my prime that year," she explained.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 29, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved