DesotoExplorer.com

There’s one fact that makes wrestling a struggle for Kristy Self and it has nothing to do with a pronoun.

Self, the only female wrestler on this year’s De Soto team, stands out. She’s the one with the longest hair. She’s also easily the shortest one, and it’s that which makes her presence on the Wildcats’ varsity wrestling squad remarkable.

“I’ve always loved wrestling, but getting back into it after four years has been difficult considering I’m so small,” she said.

The De Soto junior stands 5-foot tall and weighs in at 90 pounds — 93 if she’s holding something heavy or her coach is secretly depressing the back of the scale. In either case, it doesn’t help her when she’s out on the mat.

Self has been serving as the team’s varsity 103-pound wrestler for much of the season. Actually one of the more experienced Cats to show up for the first day of practice, she quickly earned her way on to the squad thanks to a catalog of moves and techniques she still had stored in her head from years wrestling in middle school.

She dipped down to junior varsity for a few weeks, but returned to the show when the Cats’ other 103-pounder, freshman Alex Heffner, couldn’t make several meets due to illness.

Self first picked up the sport from her brothers, but struggled to stick with it as her family moved. She’s already attended five high schools — De Soto twice and three on Maui in Hawaii.

Success was never the problem. Self joined a team in Basehor when her family last lived in De Soto and cruised through her weight class.

“I went to sub-district and won first, when to district and won second and went to state,” she said. “This was against guys at the time. There wasn’t a girls association like there is now. I wrestled for two years with that club before we moved away.”

Self’s ability to continue wrestling was in doubt even before the family moved, however.

A thyroid problem slowed her growth so much that she couldn’t even dream of trying out for the high school team during her first stop in De Soto. She tipped the scales at 65 pounds when she was a freshman before transferring to a Maui school.

The miracles of modern medicine have helped her overcome the most severe problems. In addition to the 25 pounds she’s put on in the last three years, Self said she’s grown a foot.

When she finally returned to De Soto to start her junior year, wrestling at the high school was finally realistic.

“Her biggest issue is she is little,” De Soto coach Shannon Sawner said. “She’s beat some people and has some wins. She pinned a kid last week from Osawatomie.

“It isn’t any different dealing with her. She works at least as hard as all the guys, and harder than some.”

Still, Self said she has to do things better. That’s partly because she’s the only girl, and partly because it’s the only way she can win.

She is almost always matched up against someone bigger than she is, someone most likely stronger as well. She counters those advantages by playing to what strengths she does have.

Self rarely voluntarily takes the action to the mat, instead locking her opponent upright with her hands, circling and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

When she does, her movements are precise. She gives slack in her arms and drops to a knee, her quick right arm darting for an opponents’ leg.

It’s fast and it’s as fundamentally sound and precise as anyone else on the team.

“It’s extremely difficult being so low in a weight class because you can usually pick someone else in your class up,” Self said. “Wrestling people 10 pounds heavier means you have to work on technique and speed a lot more.

“I try to stay locked longer because it’s hard for them to lift me. If you stay locked, it helps wear them out.”

Even following every textbook to the letter can only do so much. Strength and size give any opponent an opportunity to correct a mistake, and the lack thereof disallows Self any similar second chance.

She knows she can get better, faster and more precise. She said she needs to learn her moves better, rehearse the right way in and out of wrestling’s many pretzel situations.

Her size will always make her a unique athlete — it all but rules out the most popular female sports like volleyball and basketball. She still has dreams, however.

She plans to continue refining her moves, grips, holds and strength to the point where she can tackle a college scholarship.

“I just got back into it, so I’m still improving,” Self said. “I believe I can do it if I keep with it.

“I’ve been looking into women’s program’s at colleges. A lot of those scholarships aren’t being utilized and I’d like to try and make it.”

The best part — women’s college wrestling comes with a 98 pound weight class.

Post a comment

DesotoExplorer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

Requires free DesotoExplorer.com registration.