For four years at Stanford, Patricia Miranda took her lumps and kept coming back for more. The only female on the Cardinal wrestling squad, she was routinely thrashed in practice and in competition, but persevered. When she steps on the mat for her next match this fall, she will do so as a U.S. title holder and one of the best female wrestlers in the world.
In June, just one week after graduating from the Farm, Miranda defeated Hawaiian Clarissa Chun in a best-of-three match to win the 105-pound division in women’s freestyle at the U.S. world team trials and advance to the world championships in Halkida, Greece, November 2-3.
Miranda, who began wrestling as an eighth grader, has been competing in world-class women’s wrestling events since high school. Two years ago, she finished second in the world at 112 pounds. Her goal is to represent the United States in the 2004 Olympics, where women’s wrestling will be included for the first time. Accepted at Yale Law School earlier this year, she was given a two-year deferment to go for the gold.
Chris Horpel, Stanford’s director of wrestling, will coach the U.S. women’s team at the world championships.
