Montero takes chance to compete in college
Gridley senior joins team for Division III University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
GRIDLEY » Faced with an opportunity to become one of the few female wrestlers of a college program, Malia Montero couldn’t turn it down.
The senior at Gridley High jumped at the opportunity.
Montero will become one of three women on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh wrestling team, a Division III program. She earned the Titan National scholarship, which is awarded to high-achieving students who will be freshmen or are transfer students. The scholarship lowers the cost of tuition for out- ofstate students to in-state tuition.
“I was just very happy to get that and continue my education,” Montero said.
Montero has been wrestling since she was in second grade. She describes her family as full of athletes so taking on the mat at a young age felt natural.
“I love what (wrestling) brings to you mentally,” Montero said.
Throughout elementary school she had to wrestle the boys since there were very few girls in the sport. Now, girls wrestling has continued to climb in participation numbers. In August, the California Interscholastic Federation recorded a 7.18 percent increase in participants for girls wrestling.
“When I was a kid there wasn’t many girls,” Montero said. “Now it’s literally one of the fastest-growing sports. It’s so big in California.”
Montero also played for the Gridley football team as a sophomore. She was a lineman and played special teams.
“It was very fun. I was the only girl,” Montero said.
Montero said she’s stuck with wrestling because it’s led to many friendships across the state and it’s challenged her when it comes to problem-solving.
“In real life, if you don’t know what to do you have to think of other ways to get out of a problem,” Montero said. “I love being on the mat. It makes you a lot tougher.”
She’ll also be joining her older brother, Raiden, at the school and on the wrestling team.
Once the pandemic hit, she made the decision to pursue wrestling in college.
“During quarantine, I realized I didn’t want to be stuck in
a small town,” Montero said. “I wanted to get out and explore life some more.”
Montero said she’s doubtful that she’ll have a senior wrestling season because of COVID-19. But instead, she’s continuing to work out and stay in
shape to prepare for college.
Much like how she was one of the few girls to wrestle growing up, Montero takes pride in the fact she’ll be one of the few women on a college team. She’s hoping more women will join after her.
“We are going to be the starting base of it which I think is really cool. We can recruit new girls and create a big team,” Montero said. “I think it’s very cool.”