Just a proud Dad

[Avallone]

Well to some this may be no big deal but here in Oklahoma where we are in the stone ages as far as womens wrestling is concerned and especially in our town where there has never been a female wrestler.
Karissa has caused some controversy since at the age of 5 she decided she wanted to wrestle like her brother of the same age (they are 12 now).
We have experienced good and bad as far as comments and even some actions toward her since she started wrestling and through all of this she has never faltered, she has been called some pretty harsh names by kids and adults but never by any of the boys from our youth club.
The Middle school coach (who is also the HS coach) thinks it is great to have a girl wrestler and all the guys from the HS and the MS treat her like a sister (they are very protective of her).
Well Monday she attained one of her goals, they had ranking matches and she beat 2 of the guys to earn a Varsity MS spot.
She is our 86lb starter, our first dual is next Tuesday.
We encourage our kids to set goals and Karissa has a poster board on her wall with 4 goals on it
#1 wrestle MS Varsity
#2 wrestle HS Varsity
#3 wrestle college Varsity
#4 wrestle in the Olympics
She has marked #1 off her list and I could not be prouder of her right now. ;D ;D ;D ;D

[sgallan]

Congratualations Karissa (and family!)!! ;D

One down and three to go! ;D ;D

[mojo]

Congratulations Brother Avallone, thats a lot to be proud of! Way to go Dad!
Congratulations Sister Karissa! As Brother Scott said, one down, three to go. The first one is usually the hardest, so you're well on your way!

[Mike]

Today I smile, real big for Karissa and Dad. ;D Meeting the two of you was certainly a huge blessing for me. I wish the yound lady all the best and I know how big a deal this is in Oklahoma. I also know of the struggles.

Look forward to seeing how she does on the year.