Mullin is a two-time U Sports national silver medallist on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies who are hosting a dual meet Friday and annual Huskie Open on Saturday at Education gym on campus.
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She wears makeup, does her hair and likes to be fashionable.
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Her nails are done. Even her toe-nails are painted.
Yet Sierra Mullin is far from a girly-girl on the wrestling mat.
“Girly-girl maybe outside of wrestling,” says Mullin, a two-time U Sports national silver medallist on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies who are hosting a dual meet Friday and the annual Huskie Open on Saturday at Education gym on campus.
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“But, when I step into the wrestling ring, it’s completely different. Wrestling is my alter ego, really.”
Mullin, who wrestles in the women’s 53-kilo weight category, has been wrestling since she was in Grade 6. Prior to that, starting around age six or seven, she began with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kick-boxing and other martial arts.
“I did that for six years before I started wrestling,” recalls Mullin, a graduate of Tommy Douglas Collegiate, where she wrestled for coach Leo Grosjean.
“Then my dad signed me up for the (Huskie) pups program, so I’ve been wrestling for about nine years.”
Why wrestling?
“There’s so many girls (in wrestling compared to martial arts). I have so many more girls in competition. There’s a lot more travelling. We go down to the States quite a bit and there’s, like, girls-only tournaments down there. That’s how big wrestling is compared to MMA where I was training with boys all the time, so it’s a bit different.”
She tried soccer as well.
“But nothing stuck like wrestling ‘cause it’s just completely different than anything else,” she says. “The combative element is really nice and it’s just that you go out there and it’s a team sport, for the most part, but it’s also an individual sport where you’re out there in competition, and I like that aspect because it’s nice that it’s all on you — but it’s also there’s more pressure because it’s all on you.”
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Mullin counts her dad, Curtis, as a major influence. He too did jiu-jitsu for a long time and he still boxes.
“My whole family is into martial arts,” she points out.
Her mom, Cristina, also boxes. Her brother Grady, is 17 and he also wrestles.
But it was her dad who steered her into wrestling.
“He actually worked with a guy who ran the pups program at the time who had two kids in wrestling,” she recalls. “They were on the Huskies and Jr. Huskies. He mentioned it to my dad and my dad was like, ‘Sure, I’ll sign my kid up.’ I didn’t really like it at first. I didn’t like how physical it was, I guess; then I won my first tournament and I thought it’s not so bad.”
Turns out, Mullin is more than not so bad.
She’s really good.
“Her pursuit of excellence, her desire to not give up, her pursuit of just staying on the attack, that’s what making her successful,” says Daniel Olver, head coach of the U of S wrestling squad.
“We can work with that as coaches. We can help make those tweaks and be able to finish and position (on the mat). It just comes down to the desire to take that shot, to be able to take it on the chin if you get hit coming in. You’re still just running through things, trying to find that take-down. It’s a great thing to see in a wrestler, so we can build on it as coaches.”
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OLYMPIC ASPIRATIONS
Mullis is still building to what she hopes will lead her to the Olympic Games.
“I don’t know what the plan is after my varsity career,” she admits. “I’m thinking of training for going to the Olympics, because that’s four years from now. But I might also give MMA (mixed martial arts) a chance after this.”
The sky’s the limit, potential-wise.
“In terms of us as coaches, when we see those traits of coachability, that resilience of being able to work through positioning and be able to stay aggressive, it really comes down to her desire,” Olver says.
“So, as coaches, we’re definitely supportive of fuelling those dreams and that potential in her and those characteristics that can lead to that kind of success.”
In the meantime, Mullin looks to capitalize on home-mat advantage this weekend.
“It’s a really big meet because it’s at home,” she says. “I feel like our team always wants to put on a really good event and showcase what our wrestling club can do. I feel like there’s always more pressure at home because everyone we know is watching us, but at the same time, it’s really exciting.”
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She won this tournament a year ago and won the dual segment in both of her first two years with the Dogs.
She’s into her third season of eligibility with high hopes.
“I think it’s going to go pretty well this weekend and I think the season will also go really good,” she says. “In Canada West, I usually do pretty good and then we get to U Sport (Nationals) and I do fairly well for myself as well. But OUA (Ontario University Athletics) definitely has some pretty tough competitors. It’ll be pretty interesting.”
Of course, Mullin hopes to nail it along the way.
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