Florida Wrestler Ties Fastest-fall Record

By Cassie Krisher


Setting a national record can be as easy as one, two, three.

Three seconds was all it took for Paul Medling, a St. Petersburg (Florida) Catholic High School sophomore, to tie the national record in wrestling for fastest fall in the 189-pound weight class.

Medling tied the record set by Burt Kennedy of Pomeroy (Ohio) Meigs in 1991.

"In 22 years of coaching, I'd never seen anything like that," said Bob Damron, the Barons' head wrestling coach. "I'd seen six- and seven-second pins, but nothing that fast."

Medling tied the record at the eighth annual A-Patriot Championships at Miami Florida Christian High School.

Damron said he was awestruck when he looked up at the clock after the pin.

"It's very rare in our sport to get a three-second pin," he said. "All of the components have to match up. Medling took [his opponent] to his back, and the ref was right there on top of it. I knew that had to be a record somewhere."

Medling said he wasn't aware that he had set a record until his coach told him.

"I was excited, but I wanted to stay focused on the tournament because I wanted to place," Medling said.

Medling placed second in the tournament and set a personal goal to qualify for the Florida state championships February 14-16 in Lakeland.

"He hasn't let having a national record get to him," said Damron. "He continues to work hard to achieve his goals."

Feigen sets national record in 50-yard freestyle


Only two high school boys swimmers have posted national records under the 20-second mark in the 50-yard freestyle.

Add to that list Jimmy Feigen, a San Antonio (Texas) Winston Churchill High School senior.

Feigen posted a time of :19.65 in the event in the preliminaries of the Texas University Interscholastic League District 26 Class 5A championship meet on January 25, breaking the high school national record.

Michael Cavic of Tustin (California) High School set the previous record of :19.69 in 2002.

"He had a perfect start and didn't take any breaths during his swim," said Winston Churchill swimming coach Al Marks. "It all came together. It was the perfect swim."

Feigen is close to breaking the national record for the 100-yard freestyle. He posted a time of :43.83 at the same meet, placing him third in the National High School Sports Record Book, barely edging Olympian Gary Hall's 1993 time of :43.85. Feigen needs to drop four-tenths of a second to get the record.

Coach Marks said he expects Feigen to receive gold medals at the regional and state meets.
This season is Marks' last as head coach of the Winston Churchill swim team. Part of Feigen's and his teammates' motivation this year has been to have their coach experience a successful last year and "go out with a bang."

Although Marks has already experienced the "bang" of being coach to a national recordholder, the team has two more opportunities at regionals and state to make their coach's last year unforgettable.

Ohio hoopster scores 62 points

B.J. Mullens, a senior at Canal Winchester (Ohio) High School, scored 62 points for the Indians in a game against Centereach (New York) Our Savior New American School.
 
The Indians defeated Our Savior, 79-69, in the final game of the three-day Flyin' to the Hoop boys basketball tournament at Dayton (Ohio) Fairmont High School.

The 7-foot-1 center will play for Ohio State University next year.

Mullens scored 20 points in the first quarter and rounded out the first half with 36 of Canal Winchester's 38 points. His previous high of 46 points, which was also a school record, was broken by the third quarter, when he added 18 more points. He notched eight more points in the fourth to bring the total to 62.

Mullens made 28 of 34 field goals and six of 12 at the free-throw line. He also contributed 21 rebounds and blocked three shots.

His 62-point game is tied for 31st in Ohio's records. The state record is 120 points set by Dick Bogenrife of Sedalia (Ohio) Midway in 1953.

Galuski sinks 15 3-pointers to tie national record


Dribble, shoot, score.

Repeat 14 more times.

That's what Cohoes (New York) High School senior forward/guard Courtney Galuski did on January 8 to make her way into the National High School Sports Record Book. With 15 three-pointers, Galuski tied the girls basketball national record for most three-point field goals made in one game.

Galuski's previous career high of 20 points in a game was shattered by halftime with eight three-pointers already under her belt.

"She's a teenager with 100,000 things on her mind," said Cohoes girls basketball coach Dan Hytko. "This is just one accomplishment for her."

Maureen O'Malley of Taylor (Michigan) Light and Life set the national record of 15 in 1998. Ashley Hutchcraft of Guy-Perkins (Arkansas) tied it in 1999, and Meganlyn Mosher of Farmington (New Hampshire) tied it again in 2004.

"She was excited, but she kept things in perspective," Hytko said of Galuski. "She was reserved. I think she was more satisfied about winning the game than her performance."

The previous school record, as well as New York's Section II record, for most three-pointers in a game was eight. It was set by coach Hytko's daughter Morgan, who also had Cohoes and Section II records of 56 three-pointers in one season - until Galuski broke those records as well. On January 29, she made her 59th three-pointer of the season.

In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Galuski was recognized as a Section II Scholar-Athlete last year.

"She's academically oriented, intelligent and down-to-earth," Hytko said. "You have to meet her to get the aura around her."

Cassie Krisher is a spring semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communication Department. She is a senior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in journalism and media arts.