Alaska Wrestler Is First Female State Champion

Tuesday, February 7, 2006; E02


Michaela Hutchison became the first girl in the nation to win a state high school wrestling title while competing against boys.

Hutchison won the final of the 103-pound weight class during Alaska's large-school wrestling championships. The Skyview High sophomore entered the state tournament ranked No. 1 in her weight class.

Amid chants of "C'mon Michaela" and "Girl Power," Hutchison earned a 1-0 victory Saturday over Colony High School's Aaron Boss .

She scored an escape with 15 seconds left to beat Boss for the second time in as many weeks. Family and friends mobbed Hutchison as she walked away from the mat with a bloody nose, while the crowd rose in a standing ovation.

"They were helping me," Hutchison told the Anchorage Daily News.

She finished the season with a 41-4 record that included 33 pins, one shy of the state single-season record. Hutchison is the third in her family of 10 children to win a state title, joining brothers Zeb and Eli .


-- From News Services