Female Supremacy Articles - Page 13

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For all the influence Melina Hutchison and O'Donnell have had on girls wrestling in Alaska, however, it was Michaela Hutchison who actually turned her older sister onto the sport.

"I started before her," said Michaela, who has wrestled for seven years.

Long before that, in the early 1970s, the roots of girls wrestling in the United States were forming. In 1972, Congress passed Title IX legislation to provide equal educational and athletic opportunities for women.

Due to Title IX, many universities eliminated wrestling because it was for men only. But over time, universities that wanted to keep wrestling instead decided to create equitable women's programs.

The popularity of those programs -- and the added scholarship opportunities -- created the need for developing wrestlers at the high school level.

At the same time, high schools began allowing girls to compete alongside boys in wrestling.

The numbers have grown ever since. In Alaska, the number of girls wrestling has steadily increased. Of the 1,267 high school wrestlers during the 2004-05 school year, 74 were girls, according to the Alaska School Activities Association.

That's roughly 6 percent of wrestlers. That also represents an increase of about 50 percent from the reported 36 girls who wrestled during the 2002-03 school year.

If the numbers continue to increase, credit might go to one Alaskan, O'Donnell, who in 2004 earned a spot on Team USA for the debut of women's wrestling at the Summer Olympics.