Tela O'Donnell (born July 16, 1982 in

Homer, Alaska Homer ( Dena'ina: ''Tuggeght'') is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is southwest of Anchorage. According to the 2020 Census, the population is 5,522, up from 5,003 in 2010. Long known as the " Halibut Fishing ...

) is a retired amateur American freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's lightweight category. She picked up the 2003 U.S. national runner-up trophy in her respective division, and later represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, finishing sixth in the process. Throughout her sporting career, O'Donnell served full-time as a member of Dave Schultz Wrestling Club, and also became a resident athlete for the development program at the

United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Sprin ...

in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Career

Early years

O'Donnell began her sporting career at Homer High School in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, where she lettered in football and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. In her junior season, she officially joined the high school wrestling team under her coach Pat Daigle (Maine state champ) and assistant coach Jesse Caraway went on to set her own record as the second female wrestler to place in the state wrestling tournament. After graduating from high school in 2001, O'Donnell enrolled at

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Wo ...

Forest Grove, Oregon Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorpor ...

, where she competed on the women's wrestling team for an annual season. In 2003, O'Donnell was selected to enter the

in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she had turned her sights to the women's wrestling squad under head coach Terry Steiner. Additionally, she attended classes part-time at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, taking up a bachelor of science degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

Freestyle wrestling

O'Donnell blossomed her sporting career with a 121-pound title at the Women's University Championships in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

. She sought her sights to compete for the U.S. world wrestling squad, but missed a chance to grab a spot after her startling defeat from Tina George at the national trials. O'Donnell entered the 2004 Summer Olympics in

on her major international debut in the women's 55 kg class. Earlier in the process, she grappled her way to pin and upset her longtime nemesis and two-time World silver medalist Tina George from the Olympic Trials, which guaranteed her a spot on the first ever U.S. women's wrestling squad. In the prelim pool, O'Donnell opened her match by pinning Russia's Olga Smirnova with less than two minutes left, but fell short behind Canada's

Tonya Verbeek Tonya Lynn Verbeek (born 14 August 1977) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler. Verbeek was the first woman to win a wrestling medal for Canada when she took silver in 2004, she added to that with a bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a second si ...

by a ten-point superiority limit (1–11). Despite missing a spot on the semifinals, O'Donnell seized her opportunity to compete against Puerto Rico's

Mabel Fonseca Mabel Fonseca Ramírez (born May 8, 1972 in Guantánamo, Cuba) is a retired amateur Puerto Rican freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's lightweight category. She produced a remarkable tally of four career medals; three of them were bron ...

in the classification round, but could not score enough points to grapple her opponent off the mat with a 7–10 decision. O'Donnell initially placed seventh in the final standings, but later upgraded to sixth, as Fonseca was disqualified from the tournament after being tested positive for

stanozolol Stanozolol ( abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceutical company W ...

References

External links

Profile – International Wrestling Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Tela 1982 births Living people American female sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the United States Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics People from Homer, Alaska Sportspeople from Alaska Pacific University alumni 21st-century American sportswomen