Chesapeake's grappling groupie

GRASSFIELD

Singlets. Sweat. Great Bridge. Grassfield.

Anna Baker.

They're all fixtures of wrestling in Chesapeake.

Baker, 67, hasn't missed a Southeastern District tournament for 25 years. She skipped one Eastern Region event due to the flu. She has been to every state tournament since '85. Same goes for the Virginia Duals.

"These are my kids," says the diminutive woman, bracket in hand, sitting at her personal perch, the corner of the scorer's table at the district tournament at Grassfield High.

She makes no secret of bleeding green and gold - Great Bridge colors - but when a Wildcat isn't on the mat, she's cheering on kids she has followed since elementary school.

"I love Mrs. Baker," says senior Johnny McClanahan, who wrestles at 135 pounds for Great Bridge. "She has been at every single one of my matches."

McClanahan gives her a warm hug. Baker beams.

"That's what it's all about," she says.

There were those who thought Baker's passion for wrestling would have ended when her husband, Colon, died in 2006 of a heart attack. Colon was captain of Great Bridge's first wrestling team and graduated in 1959.

Anna, his wife of 42 years, was a cheerleader at the school. Anna worked for Chesapeake Public Schools for 24 years as a bookkeeper, and along with Colon, was a regular at various school-sponsored events. Their passion for wrestling was rekindled when their daughter, Sandi, began dating a Wildcats wrestler in 1983.

After that, they rarely missed a match, even braving a wicked snowstorm en route to the state tournament in Richmond, where "we literally followed two red taillights," she recalls. "We weren't going to miss the wrestling."

In 2007, Great Bridge started the Colon E. Baker Memorial Tournament.

Baker never considered abandoning the sport despite her husband's death. If anything, she has become more active, postponing knee-replacement and rotator-cuff surgeries because of conflicts with wrestling.

" When they succeed, you're thrilled to death for them," she says of her rooting interest. "When they don't succeed, you ache for them."

In addition to middle and high school wrestling, Baker is an avid follower of Old Dominion University, where Great Bridge legend Steve Martin is now coach. Martin coached the Wildcats to 15 state titles in 16 years from 1991 until 2006, and during that span, they were considered among the best teams in the nation.

"They worked hard," Baker says. "Getting themselves into shape, staying in shape. They were just a very hardworking team."

She refuses to single out specific Wildcats wrestlers, though she did sit through the entire careers of four-time state champs Patrick Bond, Michael Martin and Daniel Frishkorn.

The 1987 state championship team holds a special place, too.

"We carried only five kids to states," she said. Four were winners for Great Bridge and one was runner-up.

She remembers a top-notch high school baseball player who she describes as "a good little wrestler, too."

That would be Michael Cuddyer of the Minnesota Twins.

These days, Great Bridge is still among the top teams in the district but not the team.

Baker is unfazed. "If you're going to be a fan, be a fan," she said. "You can't always be king of the hill."

Her friends don't always get what she describes as her outlet. Steve Martin understands.

"Wrestling is not a mainstream sport," he said. "But if you have personal contact with the kids and the coaches and other fans, it's like any hobby. She's our No. 1 fan."

Baker is also a knowledgeable fan who meticulously keeps the bracket during district, region and state competition. She can recite records off the top of her head, and for years has been the media liaison during wrestling's postseason.

She's more vocal in the bleachers than when she sits at the official table, though there's no doubt who she's pulling for.

"Get your back up, son!" she urged a Wildcats wrestler during districts

"Get your pin!" she said to another.

Everybody knows Baker. She buys wintergreen LifeSavers in bulk and sprinkles them on the scoring table as treats for the competitors.

They are a staple - as is Baker.

It's not Great Bridge wrestling without her.

Vicki L. Friedman, (757) 222-5218, vicki.friedman@pilotonline.com