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Tweentyman
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When the Sanoms get together, the furniture gets pushed aside and the mats hit the floor. That includes Nicole Sanom, 23, the only female high school wrestling referee in Michigan. "I grew up wrestling," Sanom said. "This is a big wrestling family. Every Easter and Christmas, we move the furniture and go at it. My cousin Zack wrestled at Berkley and finished second in the state, so we have some pretty good wrestlers in our family. I can hold my own, though." Being a women never stopped Sanom in her love of the sport. She wrestled four years at Warren Mott High School before becoming a referee. She recently became the first woman to officiate a match at the Macomb County Wrestling Tournament."I just wanted to stay involved in the wrestling community," she said. "There was a shortage of referees at the time (2003) and it was a chance for me to make a little extra cash, too." Sanom is a member of the All-American Athletic Association, which is an independent officials association comprised of 75 wrestling refs. "When she came in, I told her that she was going to have to fight through many obstacles being a female in a male-dominated sport," said Ron Nagy, president of the association. "It wasn't like she came in not knowing about the sport. She has great mat knowledge, and having wrestled in high school, I think she started with an advantage. "She came in and asked a lot of questions. She took her lumps like every new ref does, but she has never stopped learning. She is a great ref."
Rough-and-tumble start Sanom remembers the first match she officiated, six years ago in Garden City. "I was really nervous and just didn't want to make any mistakes," she said. "It was definitely a nerve-racking experience, but it got better as the season went on." Wrestling is a male-dominated sport and being a woman referee had its challenges. She dealt with ridicule from some players and coaches who couldn't accept a women referee on the mat. "Coaches know how to work refs, it's in their blood. They just know how to harass us," Sanom said. "I think they maybe did that a little more to me than normal at the beginning. "You just have to earn their respect and stand your ground, and that's what I did. All the coaches know me now and it's like night and day with them." On dangerous ground Last year, Sanom realized it's not just the coaches and wrestlers with whom she has to deal. Sanom was the head official at a tournament in Garden City when a disgruntled father assaulted her after arguing a call from one of her officials. "He didn't like the call and I happened to be there, and when I stepped between him and the official he shoved me out of the way," Sanom said. "He was escorted out of the gym and suspended from all MHSAA events. "I was a little shaken when I got home. He later wrote me a long apology letter that said, 'I don't treat women like that.' " Nagy said Sanom has become one of his top officials. In March, Sanom hopes to become the first woman to officiate a match in the state tournament. State tournament officials are selected on a point scale awarded by high-school coaches. Sanom also wants to officiate at the college ranks. "That is really the next step for me," Sanom said of the state tournament and the NCAA. "But I don't want it to take away from the high school stuff. I love officiating at the high school level and there is a shortage of referees there."
You can reach Tim Twentyman at ttwentyman@detnews.com
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