Mykka McAllister, front, a 2018 Centralia grad, is returning to wrestling after taking a two-year break.
Mykka McAllister, top, signed with Grays Harbor men's wrestling last week.
Mykka McAllister, top, placed fourth at state wrestling both his junior and senior years at Centralia High School in 2017 and 2018.
Mykka McAllister took the unusual route to collegiate athletics. A 2018 Centralia High School grad, McAllister didn’t attend college straight out of school — even though he had plenty of options to do so.
McAllister had placed at 2A state wrestling three-consecutive years as a Tiger: eighth in the 120-pound weight class as a sophomore in 2016; fourth in the 120-pound division as a junior; and fourth in the 132-pound bracket his senior year. It garnered the interest of multiple colleges.
Wrestling had become McAllister’s life, every fiber of his being. But when he made the decision to step away from the sport in 2018 right after graduating from Centralia High School, it wasn’t as tough as he had imagined.
The Centralia native had been wrestling since he was 11 years old and year-round since he was 12 years old in the USA youth wrestling program. It was demanding work for a middle-schooler who was going to one-to-three different practices daily, and summers spent not playing with his friends but attending intensive training camps around the region.
“I would go to anything I could, anything we could find,” McAllister said.
But by the time he had put on his cap and gown at 18 years old he was burnt out. The constant practices, duals and tournaments had taken their toll on the 132-pound senior. He wanted something new in his life. He wanted out.
“I was just in a different mindset,” McAllister said. “I wanted something different. I wanted to be my own person.”
So he began the life of an adult — living in an apartment and going to work every day. It started with working at a golf course, then the city dump and finally, where he’s currently been the past year, at UNFI, a grocery distribution center in Centralia.
It was while working there, about six months ago, that he was motivated to make a change. It isn’t a bad job, McAllister said, it was just the repetitiveness of it all. The daily grind of manual labor had run its course and he was finally ready for something new. It was an easy decision at that point.
“It motivated me to get off my butt and go and get school done and do some wrestling while I still can,” McAllister said. “The time away from it definitely made me realize how much of a part it is of my life; how much I care about it.”
McAllister could sense his window of opportunity closing. There was only so long he would have until college coaches lost interest in him and shifted their focus in signing younger wrestlers.
So he began reaching out to colleges to see if there were any interested in signing a 20-year-old former high school standout. Before long he had five programs vying for him. He first planned for Highline College, which said it would sign him immediately. But he kept his options open until Grays Harbor College reached out. He went on a campus tour, met the new head coach Kevin Pine and realized it was the place to be. He signed his National Letter of Intent last week.
“I really like the place,” McAllister said. “It’s really affordable, very doable and it’s somewhat close to home so I can visit my family here. It just seemed like a better fit for me for the first year.”
Staying in shape hasn’t been a problem. He has spent the past year loading boxes of food on pallets 12-to-16 hours a day, six days a week; grueling work that has kept the former wrestler in shape. He had also been lifting and running in his spare time and has ramped up the intensity the past couple months as he inched closer to signing with a college.
McAllister weighs about 150 right now and is hoping to wrestle at Grays Harbor in the 141-pound division. That involves first gaining weight by adding muscle, and then cutting weight down to 141 about a month or two before the season starts by trimming fat. It’s a process he’s well versed in.
He’s also looking forward to traveling with the team to tournaments, as well. Grays Harbor wrestling travels to the Puerto Rico International tournament each December. The furthest McAllister has been from Centralia is Utah, so he can’t wait to experience a new place and culture.
Though he hasn’t competed in over two years, his excitement is overpowering the nervousness. Wrestling has been a part of his life so long that it’s like riding a bicycle at this point.
“I think it’ll be a pretty smooth transition,” McAllister said.
He isn’t sure yet when he plans to head to Aberdeen to embark on his new journey. The men’s wrestling team has a couple houses that they share and live in — kind of like a community college wrestling version of The Ultimate Fighter.
For the time being, he’s wrapping up all his current obligations in Lewis County and preparing mentally and physically for the road ahead.
“I’m pumped,” McAllister said. “I get to put all myself into something I genuinely enjoy and want to be a part of. That means a lot to me. I only have so much time to do the things I want to do, so I’m going to go out and do them.”
