Kai Olson '19 Recruiting Profile

I come from a small community on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, a small former logging community that now thrives off of various tourist businesses, known as Lake Quinault. I am the seventh generation of Olson to live in the Quinault valley, my ancestors having migrated here from Sweden. I was fortunate to grow up there until I was ten, helping my grandfathers on their farm, until we had to move so both my parents could find better jobs. I think that having been raised to respect hard work and discipline; I naturally gravitated towards wrestling as a sport I could be passionate about. I started out wrestling my freshman year of high school, and I lost a lot. I mean a lot. But I learned a ton about technique, and had the benefit of two state champions on my team, who took the opportunity to school me each and every practice. I made it to the State championship my sophomore year, but I lost two matches in the first day and didn’t get to place. I committed to myself that I would be even better the following year, and I was able to convince my dad to invest in my attending a J. Robinson camp in La Grande, Oregon last summer. I learned even more about my ability to push through physical pain, and managed to finish in the top 5% of drills during the two week camp. This year I made it to the State Championship again, and managed to snag fourth place in the 170 pound 1A bracket. Now I am facing my final year coming up and my goal is to win the state title and continue on to a college wrestling team.