Journal Reporter

Niles has a girls wrestling national champion.

She is Dallas Monreal-Berner, who joins her Team West Wolves kid wrestling club teammates in its first 2002-2003 sign-up day on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Niles West High School in Skokie.

Monreal-Berner pinned Caitlin Damman of Iowa for the middle school girls national championship in Detroit, Mich. last March.

"It was a great way to end our first season as a team, to have a national champion, right out of the box," said West Wolves coach Joe Ravena. "We also had two state qualifiers in the boys division, considering how young our team was, we did a great job."

The team is open to any boy or girl from first to eighth grade who is interested wrestling, Ravena said. The season runs from November to March, culminating in the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation state championships.

Team West practices at Niles West on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and competitive meets are held on Sundays at various sites in the Chicago area. The Wolves will host a tournament in January or February of 2003.

For more information on this team, contact Ravena or Paul Berner at 847-583-0876.