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King sisters proving their wrestling dominance at St. Charles
The King siblings, Sabrina, second from left, Alyssa, center, and Colton, second from right, have continued to dominate the Missouri high school wrestling scene this winter. (Courtesy: King Family)

King sisters proving their wrestling dominance at St. Charles

SAINT CHARLES, Mo. (BVM) — The King family has always been a wrestling family. And for Sabrina King, wrestling has always been her top sport. For Alyssa King, she needed a little persuasion to compete.

However, both are now excelling on the mat for St. Charles High School, and they, along with older brother Colton, have their eyes set on state championships.

Seeing Colton wrestle since he was young, Sabrina was inspired to do the same, and began competing around age 8. However, Alyssa never found much interest in the sport. In fact, it wasn’t until Sabrina persuaded her sophomore sister over a year ago that she took up wrestling.

“I started wrestling last year in November, but I’ve been around wrestling my whole life since my brother has always wrestled and my dad is a coach,” Alyssa said. “Honestly, I wasn’t interested in wrestling until I started competing. I only started wrestling because my sister told me the team needed me. I thought it would be cool to be on a team with my sister, so I decided to do it. I’m so happy she convinced me because of the success I’ve had and the relationships I’ve made.”

Growing up, Alyssa competed in cheer, volleyball and softball, while Sabrina also joined her sister on the diamond. But at St. Charles High School, the pair has traded in the cleats for the wrestling mat, and so far it has been a great decision. 

Alyssa believes her calmness and speed are her best skills on the mat, while Sabrina’s strength, scrambling and mental preparation are her key traits. Both have been able to learn a lot of the ins and outs of the sport from their dad, Ryan, who is a coach and runs King Select Wrestling Academy in Illinois.

Sabrina King was able to convince her younger sister Alyssa to try out wrestling, and the two have seen nothing but success since. (Courtesy: King Family)

“My dad is an amazing coach and taught me and my siblings pretty much everything we know,” Alyssa said. “Sabrina was the main reason I decided to wrestle, but my dad and Colton have always pushed me to be my best.”

In addition to her dad, Sabrina believes Colton — a state champion last year — has also helped her develop in the sport.

“My dad has been a huge factor to my success as a wrestler,” Sabrina added. “My brother has always been supportive of me and has helped me a lot with my success as well as my father and his wrestling academy. I have learned a lot about wrestling from both.”

Of course, wrestling has always been seen as a male-dominant sport. But for these two sisters, continuing to grow the game on the female side is very important.

“Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest emerging sports in the United States,” Sabrina said. “When I was younger, I would always wrestle with the boys and that is what has made me the wrestler I am today.”

“I’m excited to see girls wrestling growing across not only Missouri but also the country, because it gives the sport more recognition and creates more opportunities for girls that compete in the sport,” Alyssa added.

Since beginning with wrestling last season, Alyssa has demonstrated her talent. Although she suffered a concussion during her freshman year that led her to have to sit out nearly a month, Alyssa still earned a trip to state in her first year of wrestling.

“I was so excited when I qualified for state last year because I was so new to the sport and it was one of my biggest goals as a freshman,” Alyssa said.

The 16-year-old has continued that success into her sophomore season. Although she admits it has had a much different feel due to Covid — and her team did have to quarantine at one point — Alyssa has still shined, going undefeated and once again making it to state. She is also currently the top girls wrestler in the state in the 107-pound weight class, and is ranked No. 2 at 102 pounds.

Alyssa continues to follow in the footsteps of Sabrina, who has had a tremendous wrestling career of her own. As a freshman and sophomore, Sabrina competed at Belleville West High School in Illinois. In her first year, she made an instant splash by winning a state title.

“I just practiced all year and went to nationals for competition to prepare myself for state,” Sabrina said. “Winning a state title my freshman year was a very exciting experience and accomplishment.”

Sabrina followed up the championship with a third-place state finish as a sophomore. In her junior year, the 17-year-old began wrestling at St. Charles and continued her success in Missouri with a 31-6 record and fourth-place finish at state.

Like Alyssa, this year Sabrina is also ranked No. 1 in her weight class. Coming into the season, she had lofty goals, and has achieved everything she has wanted to up to this point.

“My goals coming into my senior season were to be a state champ, beat the pin record at St. Charles and to remain undefeated all of my senior year,” Sabrina said. “This season, I am 29-0 with all pins and I hope to be the first state champ at St. Charles High School in 22 years.”

In the past week, Sabrina racked up three more wins to improve to 32-0, and indeed brought home St. Charles’ first individual state wrestling championship since 1999.

Now a two-time state champion, Sabrina King has continued to cheer on and support her sister Alyssa as she continues to develop in her wrestling career. (Courtesy: King Family)

With the success of the two sisters and brother Colton, it is likely that all three King siblings will place at state this year in Missouri, which would be a truly special and historical feat.

“If we all placed at, or won state this year, I’d be elated,” Alyssa said. “Personally, I want to make up for my performance at state last year, and I think it’d be really cool to be the first group of siblings to all place at or win state in the same year.”

“The plan is for all of us to have a state title under all of our belts once we graduate,” Sabrina added.

Both sisters have bright futures ahead of them, inside and out of the sport. Next year, Sabrina will begin her time at Central Methodist University (CMU) where she will continue her wrestling career.

“I plan to wrestle at CMU throughout my college journey and I plan to be an All-American all four years,” Sabrina said.

Sabrina also hopes to continue teaching the game to the younger generation once her days of wrestling are done, as does Alyssa whether it is back at St. Charles or at their dad’s academy. 

No matter what the future holds, both sisters have cherished these last two years of competing alongside each other, and will continue to support each other on and off the mat.

“I’d say Sabrina is one of my biggest motivators,” Alyssa said. “Knowing that my sister is a skilled wrestler and also a student-athlete helps me push myself to keep improving, both on the mat and in school.”

“I am very glad that my sister joined wrestling and it has helped us become a lot closer,” Sabrina concluded. “I trained with her over the summer and I always make sure I’m mat-side when she is wrestling to help her with motivation and with what to do. I am very proud of her and everything that she has accomplished and I know she is going to do great things these next couple years of her high school career.”