Historic signing

PALMER — Four years ago, as a freshman girl on the Palmer High school wrestling team, Kayla Volin broke into a boys’ club.

Now as Volin prepares to break away from Palmer High, she’ll be making history.

On Tuesday, Volin signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on the Jamestown College women’s wrestling squad and became the first girl in the history of the Palmer wrestling program to earn the chance to wrestle at the college level.

“I didn’t even known that until (Palmer head coach Dale Ewart) said it today, so it probably hasn’t sunk in yet,” Volin said of her historic achievement. “If you think about it, though, it’s pretty amazing.”

Volin will join just two other Alaskans known to be wrestling in college, according to George Shell, the women’s director for USA Wrestling in Alaska. And Volin is the first Mat-Su Valley girl ever to sign a college wrestling letter of intent, Shell said.

Volin followed her two older brothers to the mat and started wrestling freestyle in the second grade.

“I wanted to try it out and ended up liking it,” Volin said. “I fell in love with the sport.”

Volin’s love of wrestling blossomed and led her to several achievements at Palmer High. Not only will she be the school’s first female graduate to hit the college mat, but she’s also the program’s first wrestler to win a title at the Alaska girls state championships. She accomplished that feat in January.

Volin is also the first girl to wrestle for four years during Ewart’s nine-year stay with the PHS wrestling program.

“She’s worked hard for it,” Ewart said. “You can definitely tell that she loves the sport of wrestling, and that’s something you can’t teach.”

Ewart said Volin has always shown a determination to succeed in a sport dominated by boys, and proved that this season with her desire to wrestle with the state’s best.

“She decided she was going to wrestle all the varsity tournaments no matter what,” Ewart said. “She hasn’t had the opportunity to go to some of the bigger tournaments, but she decided she wanted to wrestle in them all. She took on the best in the state wherever she went and she battled tough.”

While the idea of wrestling the boys might keep many girls off the mat, it drove Volin.

“When you go out there and wrestle a guy, there’s an attitude that they’re going to beat you just because you’re a girl,” Volin said. “Then you beat them and it makes it even better.”

Ewart said the chance to wrestle in the boys’ tournaments has certainly made Volin a better wrestler. That can be seen when she hits the mat for the girls’ events.

“She’s always had the technical skills, but it’s usually just the strength,” Ewart said. “She’s run up against some pretty strong boys, so when you get to see her wrestle against the girls, you realize how much she actually knows and how good she actually is.”

Volin pinned her way through four matches in the girls’ state championships in late January. As a freshman, she placed second in the girls’ state tourney.

Volin follows in the path of a few other notable Alaska female grapplers. In 2006, former Skyview standout Micaela Hutchison became the first girl in the country to win a boys’ state title when she edged Colony’s Aaron Boss 1-0 in the 103-pound final of the 4A event.

Earlier this year, Hutchison — who is now at Oklahoma City University — made history once again, becoming the first female to ever compete in a men’s collegiate wrestling dual.

Hutchison also won a national women’s title for OCU this season.

The other is Kodiak graduate Michelle Canete, who is a freshman at Jamestown.

Volin said Canete played a big role in her decision to attend the North Dakota school and compete for the Jimmies wrestling program.

Volin initially learned of Jamestown through the Web site, berecruited.com, and the program’s head coach called her on New Year’s Day.

Since she has kept in contact with the coach and Canete.

“I just basically went off what she said,” Volin said of the Kodiak graduate.

Volin spoke with a Jamestown coach last week, and said she could be competing for a spot in the 147-pound or 158-pound weight class.

A handful of Alaska women have found wrestling success beyond the prep and club level. Former Homer standout Tela O’Donnell spent at year at Pacific University before moving on to train at the Colorado Springs Training Center. O’Donnell later became a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling team.

Hutchison’s older sister, Melina, earned a scholarship to wrestle at Menlo College in California, and also trained at the Olympic Center in Colorado Springs.

Shell said Melissa Apodoca, a Chugiak High School graduate, is currently training at a U.S. Olympic Center in Michigan.

Shell, who hopes to see the day when Alaska can boast sanctioned all-girls wrestling programs at the high school level, said the popularity of girls’ wrestling in Alaska is on the rise, as is the success of Alaska female wrestlers.

“We’ve had phenomenal success with females,” said Shell, who takes a group of girls to the USA Wrestling national tournament each year.

As far as Volin, her goals go beyond the college mat.

“I kind of want to try for the Olympics,” Volin said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.