- April 23, 2024
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Dessiea Kaler was the little girl who ripped off a doll’s head and requested G.I. Joe men or a football instead. This Lady Sandcrab is far from the girly-girl personality.
Kaler’s background consists of mixed martial arts, such as Judo, Taekwondo, which she is a black belt, and Jujitsu, and a lot of football and other “guy” activities. So, as a manager for the wrestling team last year, when her coach jokingly said to her, “We need a 106 (wrestler in that division),” it was only natural for her to join the team.
“I could get 16 points by taking forfeits or going out there and wrestling,” she said. “And, with my background, I wasn’t out of my element.”
Although Kaler didn’t win any of her matches, due to a four-man district in her weight class, she automatically advanced to the 2A Regional meet with a fourth-place finish.
“My last bout in that tournament was my best fight, because I almost won that match,” she said. “But, regionals was a pretty cool experience.”
When she first entered the gym at regionals, Kaler said all eyes were fixed on her and another girl. “Everyone was looking, like, ‘What! A girl made it to regionals?’” she laughed. She also mentioned the many instances where some of the wrestlers refused to wrestle her, claiming an injury or blaming their fathers for not allowing them to wrestle a girl.
“It never bothers me,” Kaler said. “I get to move on in the tournaments.”
Now, in her final year as a Sandcrab, she has taken up weightlifting. Kaler won two of her first three meets, which even surprised her.
“I was in disbelief myself,” she said. “I didn’t think, going into it, I would get first place, especially in my first few meets.”
Kaler hopes she can maintain some of her early success throughout the season with her fellow Lady Sandcrabs.
