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| My name is Kamila Montenegro, and I am a College Junior at Chadron State College. I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. I was first introduced to wrestling at a early age. All my brothers had wrestled for Bonanza high school, and I had been to countless tournaments. My close family friends, the Talbots, had heard that there was a women’s program that was going to be started up for older girls. They invited me to a meeting at my high school, and I was introduced to Kevin Pine. He was really the one who pushed me to go to outside tournaments and really got me into wrestling. |
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My Sophomore year I joined the wrestling team with my brother and his best friend’s sister, and we were the only two girls on my high school team. I competed in a lot of tournaments, and Kevin Pine put on a few girls-only tournaments, which I also attended. After high school season was over, he invited me to train for the summer and be a part of Team Nevada’s Girl’s program. I trained that summer for Western Regionals which was in Pocatello, Idaho. I wrestled lots of matches in Folkstyle, Freestyle, and Greco-Roman. I placed Third in Greco and Folkstyle, but I placed Second in Freestyle. Soon after that tournament, we got ready to train for Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. |
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I went to a camp out in Utah, and we stayed at the YMCA over-night and trained all day with many different coaches who taught us many things. At Fargo I went 1-2 as a first-year wrestler, who had never really known how to do Freestyle. After that first year of both Freestyle and Folkstyle, I finally got the hang of the whole wrestling thing. I wrestled a lot of boys during high school season, but whenever I wrestled Freestyle, I only wrestled girls. After my Junior year, going into Senior year, I went to Pocatello and Fargo again. In Pocatello I placed Third in Folkstyle and Second in Freestyle and Greco. Then I wrestled at Fargo. At Fargo, my second-time around was a lot better. I went 2-2. Although, it was a little heartbreaking because the girl I had won against managed to wrestle her way back up to 8th place, and I missed the podium. Situations like that, where the person I beat manages to place higher than me, changes my mentality; it shows me that I have the potential to be one of the better girls. |
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| Senior year, I wrestled at Folkstyle Nationals in Oklahoma. I placed 6th. I also went to Kelso in Washington. It is considered one of the bigger tournaments for girls, and I placed third. I also got the opportunity to wrestle at Body bar–also known as Women’s Nationals. I went 0-2 after my first match because a girl had ripped my AC Band in my shoulder, so I had to wear a sling but managed to wrestle my second match, which was a mistake. This disappointed me, because I thought that it would make my chances of going to college on a wrestling scholarship become very slim. I let it rest for a few months, but I knew Pocatello would be coming up soon, so I got back into training and wrestled all three styles placing 2nd in Freestyle, as well as Greco. I placed third in Folkstyle. |
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| I did not go to Fargo my Senior year because after graduation, Kevin Pine got the Head Women’s Coaching position at Grays Harbor college in Aberdeen, Washington, and I wrestled for him. I did pretty well over the college season going through the end of my Freshman year. I went to NCWA Nationals in Dallas, Texas and placed First in the 191 weight-class. We were not able to go as a team to Women’s Nationals, due to COVID. My second year of college, and wrestling season 2020-2021, I traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to the U.S Open. I wrestled in both divisions of Junior and U23. I became an All-American. Our season was pretty short, and still limited due to the pandemic. We wrestled small schools in the Pacific Northwest. We also had the opportunity to wrestle at the Last Chance Qualifier for the Olympic Trials. |
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I had made my way up to the Semi-Finals, but I ended up losing to the girl who got First. Not long after the Last Chance Qualifier we traveled back to Texas for Women’s Nationals. I wrestled in both the Jr division and U 23 again. I went 2-2 both days. After Women’s Nationals, we had the first ever Community College Nationals at Umpqua Community College. I placed third, in the 170 weight-class. |
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After I graduated, I was recruited by Alijah Jeffery to wrestle for a brand new team at Chadron State College. We are the First-Ever Women’s Program at Chadron state. Our First tournament was at Colorado Mesa University, where I placed third. The Second tournament which was hosted at Lindenwood University, I placed Second. The season is still going on with Nationals in March. I am looking forward to this season and showing those at Chadron what women’s wrestling is all about, especially since it is a newer sport at the college. I am hoping to finish my last two years of school and get my Bachelors Degree in Psychology, and eventually my Masters Degree. |
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