Published Monday, May 15, 2006

'I was and still am a tomboy'


By Brent Maycock
The Capital-Journal
Don't even think pink. Occasionally wearing a dress or skirt is about all the girly-girl that Cherasa Leak can handle. And even that has taken some time.

"(Growing up) you couldn't get me to wear a dress, you couldn't get me to wear pink. And if you tried, good luck buddy, you're not getting it," Leak said. "I was and still am a tomboy."

The tomboy in Leak, a junior at Washburn Rural, has led her to an arena most girls never consider entering. Leak is a wrestler, and a budding one at that.

While most of her classmates spent the first weekend in May recovering from prom, the 17-year-old Leak was busy trading her, gulp, dress for a singlet and a week at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The invitation-only trip included a week of camp and drills capped with the Body Bar Women's National Championship Tournament at which Leak placed fourth behind three collegiate wrestlers.

"Oh my God, this place was everything I've ever dreamed of," said Leak, who was one of 17 Kansas girls to make the trip to Colorado, including four from Lawrence: Shelby and Jessica Bowman, Taylor Young and Anastasia Ramirez. "I have a work ethic in the gym where I have to push myself and I can't be slacking. This place was like walking into a workout paradise. Everybody there is working just as hard as you are. I didn't want to leave."

Colorado is a long way from the living room floor where she used to roughhouse with her younger siblings. Those early rumbles didn't immediately lead Leak to the mats, either.





Jason Hunter/The Capital-Journal
Cherasa Leak, a junior at Washburn Rural, has been first in her weight class against other girls for the past two years. Leak's mother, Cheri Brown, said, "The only thing pink she wants to see is the middle of her steak."
Click here to check for reprint availability.In fact, she didn't even take up the sport until her sophomore year at Rural, when a friend -- Junior Blues heavyweight Richard Zwaduk -- asked her to give it a try.
"She looked at me and said, 'Mom, can I?'" said Leak's mother, Cheri Brown. "I'm a social worker by profession and wherever you find your talent, if that's what you're gifted at, then do it."

Convincing Mom was easy. Dad, Wayne Leak, was another story.

"Dad didn't want his little girl wrestling," Cherasa said.

A few well-placed points later, Leak had her father's blessing and joined the Rural squad. OK, so it wasn't that easy.

When she showed up at the first meeting, Leak saw a handful of other girls there as well.

"I thought, all right," Leak said. "Turns out, they were going to be managers."

Leak made her intentions to be an active part of the team clear from the start. In return, it was made clear to her that no special treatment would be doled out. That was just fine with Leak, which comes as no surprise to her club coach, Clint Deere, who coaches the Topeka Terminators and had some of the same early concerns about having a girl in the midst.

"She's never asked for anybody to slack off on her," Deere said. "We were a little nervous with her fitting in with the guys, but for her it's never been a problem. She never demanded any exceptions and in fact, she puts a lot of pressure on the guys. She just showed a lot of determination and that's continued from the high school season to the summer season non-stop."

Leak has yet to make the same kind of high school splash that other girls have -- most notably former Santa Fe Trail wrestler Brooke Bogren and Marion's Chelsea Arnhold, who were both multi-time state qualifiers. Instead, Leak has experienced most of her success on the all-girls' circuit as a member of the Kansas Krusaders.

She captured a girls' state title last year and in April, Leak finished third at the United States Girls' Wrestling Association Junior Nationals in Michigan, a performance that led to her invitation to the Olympic camp. Later this summer, Leak will travel to a camp in Michigan and compete in the Women's Junior Dual Championships in Fargo, N.D., a tournament she narrowly missed placing at last year.

"I want to do better this year," Leak said. "I was so close last year."

The physical demands of the sport haven't really been a problem for Leak, though she missed the end of this year's high school season with a shoulder injury and lost some time at the Olympic camp with various ailments. Her continued success will depend on her progression with technique and learning the intricacies of the sport.

A session with Bogren -- Leak's idol -- certainly didn't hurt.

"She was teaching me a little bit of Greco and freestyle," Leak said. "Basically, her way of teaching me was exactly how I like to be taught, which is doing it live. Basically, beat the knowledge into me."

Like Bogren, Leak wants a career on the mats beyond high school. And those that know her have little doubt about her drive to achieve that.

"She's come a long way," Deere said. "She's bound and determined to win herself a college scholarship and she's well on her way for that."