Kanata Richardson

Kanata Richardson made Bloomfield Hills High School history by becoming the first female wrestler to not only complete in Michigan High School Athletic Association’s (MHSAA) finals, but doing so two years in a row, earning first prize in her weight class last year.

The champion wrestler aspires to repeat the same success this season at MHSAA’s state finals on March 6-7 at Detroit’s Ford Field. Her 18th birthday is on the first day of the competition, so she hopes that it will bring her extra luck in achieving her goal.

The dedicated and determined senior has overcome the challenges of surgeries on both knees as well as the interruption of in-person sports during the recent global pandemic.

“I set the goal in ninth grade that I was going to make the state championship. At the time, I was on crutches from blowing out my right knee which made my credibility a little shaky, but I worked really hard. I know that I am the maker of my own outcome – and I ended up making it to states my sophomore year.”

Besides the friendships, coaches, and connections, Richardson is drawn to wrestling for the accountability: “You can’t hide. What happens on the mat is based on your decisions and performance…You’re competing against yourself and your opponent.”

She initially became interested in the sport when she was living in Grosse Pointe and participating in martial arts. Once she entered middle school, she was able to join the school’s girls wrestling team. “When I was in sixth grade, I could practice with the team but not compete. I became captain of the team and fell in love with the sport.”

In seventh grade, Richardson and her family moved to Bloomfield Hills, but due to the pandemic, she was unable to start her first wrestling season with practices and competitions until the following year. She also played lacrosse until her knee injuries prohibited her from participating in field sports.

To keep up her training, Richardson belongs to Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club which allows her to travel and compete nationally. She also enjoys bodybuilding, weightlifting, and nutrition as well as a part-time job at Life Time. When she has time, she loves to crochet.

Richardson finds inspiration and support through her family – her mom, Jelane Richardson Oginsky, her stepdad, John Oginsky, and her younger sister, Madiba, who, despite health challenges caused by epilepsy, is also on the wrestling team.

Although Richardson wasn’t sure she would be going to college because of the challenges she faced during her high school years with two extensive surgeries and recoveries, she recently committed to attend Northern Michigan University in Marquette, where she is excited to be on the women’s wrestling team and plans to major in psychiatry with a focus on pediatrics and a minor in the school’s Deaf Studies/ASL program.

“At a tournament, I saw a coach signing to a deaf wrestler and it was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen. I want to be able to help other wrestlers in their journey no matter their circumstances.”

While wrestling is still considered a male-dominated sport, Richardson wants to encourage other girls to try the sport that is now the nation’s fastest-growing sport for girls and women at the scholastic and collegiate levels.

“There are wrestlers of all weights, shapes and sizes. There are wrestlers who are blind, deaf and have no legs. In this community there is a lot of love and a spot for everyone.

“Wrestling is a tough sport but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m glad I pushed forward and stayed in it.”

Story: Tracy Donohue

Photo: Laurie Tennent