CORVALLIS, Ore. -- One of the biggest events in the sport of wrestling is happening in less than a month, and a local wrestler is on track to go.
The United World Wrestling Championships in Serbia start on September 10 and go until September 18. It’s the biggest wrestling tournament of the year, and also plays a huge role in deciding who gets to represent their country at the Olympic Games.
One wrestler who trains in Corvallis will be making the trip to Serbia to represent the United States in her weight category. Mallory Velte trains at The Dam RTC in Corvallis, which is the Beavers' official World & Olympic Training Center for the wrestling team.
Velte trains daily with OSU wrestlers who have been helping her prepare for the tournament, and she says the training has paid off.
“Training at Oregon state has been pivotal, I think, in my training especially as I'm getting older and I need a little more attention and focus when I haven't practiced," Velte said. "I was doing a lot of things rogue on my own before, and so now to have a great facility, great coaches, organization, funding, all of those things -- it's just been kind of life changing. It's been cool to see more opportunities like this for women, and it's still kind of a rare opportunity… So I'm really grateful to be at Oregon State, and it's been so important for my growth as an athlete.”
The road to the championships has been tough so far. Velte had to compete in three different wrestling competitions just to qualify. And the road to the Olympics will be even harder since there are less weight categories to compete in. Velte says making it to the Olympics would be an exclamation point on her career.
Her wrestling career started 14 years ago in high school. She says the sport changed her future because she wasn’t on a good path.
"I wasn't on a super good path before I found wrestling in high school. I had a lot of struggles and family problems and things like that, and so I think that I wouldn't have even considered going to university if it hadn't been, you know… I want to wrestle in college. I'll apply to these colleges that have wrestling teams and look for scholarships and things like that, so it's put me down a really productive path and helped me find who I am," Velte said.
Mallory competed in wrestling at a university in Canada, and then moved down to Corvallis with her coach Nate Engel during the COVID-19 pandemic to train at the Dam RTC. On top of being the training center for the Beavers, The Dam also employs 4 women wrestlers as well. They recently hosted their first wrestling camp for young girls where dozens showed up to improve their skills, and Mallory hopes young girls can look up to her as an athlete and take up the sport of wrestling.
"I love seeing girls in wrestling, and having even better opportunities than I had and more welcoming atmosphere," Velte said. "I know that the special experiences that I had growing up were seeing senior level athletes like myself train, compete, show moves. Even in this small community in Oregon, you know in Corvallis, Oregon, there's that many girls interested. I think It's really promising for the future of the sport, and I'm hoping that more women get involved in coaching too so that it does change it's environment so that it is a bit more welcoming for girls.”
Velte hopes she can continue inspiring young women and reach her goals of representing the U.S. in 2024 at the Olympic games in Paris. She also wants to see hometown support for Corvallis athletes, and promises big things coming from the city in the future.
“Really cool things are happening here in Corvallis. We're really fortunate to have the sport we do from The Dam RTC to keep women in sport longer and there's definitely going to be some Olympians coming out of Corvallis in 2024," Velte said. "Please support us as we chase our dreams.”
The United World Wrestling Championships will be broadcast on FloWrestling, and the medal matches will be broadcast on the Olympics Channel.
