Taekwondo star stomachs tough test
MANSFIELD – If Natalie Hershberger ever tires of being a martial arts star, she could always turn to the competitive hot dog-eating circuit.
Her latest trip to the big stage was both a physical and gastronomical challenge. In a whirlwind three days earlier this month, the 12-year-old taekwondo dynamo from Mansfield won her third straight AAU national title, jumped on a plane from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Richmond, Virginia, and took the bronze medal in a heavier weight class at the USAT nationals.
She wasn’t able to duplicate last year’s title sweep, but actually took more impressive strides toward her goal of competing at 16 in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
How?
Well, for starters she packed on five-and-a-half pounds in 75 minutes to move up from middleweight at AAU nationals to light heavyweight at the USAT nationals.
“We had to do something extraordinary,” said Chris Hershberger, her dad and coach. “Most people are sweating and busting their butt to lose weight and here we got to Virginia and she’s five-and-a-half pounds under. Our plane landed at 1 p.m. and we had to weigh in by 5 p.m.”
The Hershbergers stopped at the first restaurant they came to and ordered one of everything on the menu for Natalie. Not really, but close.
“She had enough bread to kill someone,” Chris Hershberger said, laughing. “I made sure she had a pasta dish; I think it was gourmet mac and cheese, and then she had a ham sandwich.”
The waitress looked at the Hershbergers like they were from a different planet.
“It’s the water that was crazy,” Chris Hershberger said. “The waitress said, ‘I’m just going to leave a pitcher.’”
Natalie made weight, with a quarter pound to spare.
“It was actually pretty nice because I got to eat whatever I wanted, and I love to eat food,” Natalie said. “That’s probably one of my favorite things to do.
“The worst part was that I drank all that water and couldn’t go to the bathroom until after I weighed in, so that was terrible. But I’m always hungry; I’m never full. So once we got back from weigh-ins, I was like ‘What’s for dinner?’ We worked out a little bit and then we had dinner … and I’m pretty sure some dessert.”
Why did Natalie and her dad go to such extreme measures for the back end of this two-meet gauntlet? Her only other option for the USAT tournament was to stay at middleweight, where she destroyed the competition at AAU nationals.
She went 4-0 with three point-gap victories — or mercy rule wins — where she had leads of 12 or more points after two of the scheduled three rounds. The opponent bowed out in the other.
It would have been more of the same in the 12-14 age group at the USAT nationals had Natalie stayed at middleweight. In fact, the girl who took third behind her at the AAU meet won the USAT gold medal in that class.
“I asked her if she wanted to take the easy win or potentially lose,” Chris Hershberger said. “I was proud of her for taking the high road. She said wanted to move up in weight to challenge herself.”
Natalie met Alena Viana in the semifinals. They have been teammates for two years on the AAU national team. Alena is two years older and 15-20 pounds heavier and ended up handing Natalie only her second loss ever at the national level.
It was a close decision, with Natalie mounting a late rally, scoring seven points in a 15-second span.
“She fought tentative the first two rounds and was behind a little bit, but then she came back in spectacular fashion,” Chris Hershberger said. “I told her if she had fought the whole match the way she did at the end she could have easily beaten Alena. It was a big learning session.”
The move up to a heavier division was a little daunting, even for someone as match-tested as Natalie.
“I was really nervous to fight her because I know how good she is and how many accomplishments she has,” Natalie said. “The nerves just took over and it was hard to fight.”
Facing the taller Alena made it awkward for Natalie.
“She has legs that are really long, so she could kick from a far distance,” Natalie said. “It was hard to get in and kick. I know I could have tried harder, which is a terrible way to walk away from a match.”
She still came away from the trip with one gold medal, giving her six national titles in her career.
Natalie now sets her sights on the AAU Team Trials in Fort Lauderdale in September. If she wins her division, she’ll represent the USA team on an all-expenses-paid trip to Germany in February. It will also be he third straight year as a member of the AAU national team.
Natalie automatically qualified for the national team the past two years by winning the 10-11 gold medal at nationals. Next year she’ll gun for a spot on the USAT national team, which would qualify her for the World Championships for the first time.
In the meantime, her profile continues to grow.
MSNBC has expressed interest in Natalie appearing on its documentary-style show called “Super Kids.” The plan is for a crew to show up in Mansfield in September to film her at home and competing in a meet in Michigan. “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” has also been in contact about having her appear in New York City for a segment on “Kid Prodigies.”
“It’s all fine and dandy, but now Natalie is on a streamlined path to the Olympic Games,” Chris Hershberger said. “My biggest thing isn’t the winning and losing. At this point with Natalie, it’s completely about development. What she does right now isn’t going to get her a gold medal in the Olympics. This is developing her game.”
jspencer@nncogannett.com
419-521-7239
Twitter, Instagram: @jspencermnj
If