Ring. Ring.
That's the sound Michaela Hutchison has heard over and over since she became the first American high school girl to win a state wrestling championship against boys four months ago.
The phone at the 12-person Hutchison house in Kasilof has been ringing off the hook since.
Was it David Letterman? Jay Leno? MSNBC? Sports Illustrated? USA Today? The Anchorage Daily News announcing she's the 2006 Anchorage Daily News Girls Prep Athlete of the Year?
Answer: all of the above and more. Big brother Eli never even bothers asking who the calls are for anymore.
"It was always Michaela," he said. "It just feels normal now."
The historic day came Feb. 4, when the 103-pound Skyview sophomore wrestled Colony's Aaron Boss to a 1-0 win at Chugiak High. A crowd of 2,000 people witnessed the historic event that sent ripples through the wrestling world from coast to coast.
"The crowd at the state tournament gave her a standing ovation," Skyview head coach Neldon Gardner said. "I haven't seen that in 23 years of coaching"
No female wrestler has ever won Prep Athlete of the Year, an award that began in 1989. The only wrestler to win it was Wasilla's Jake Wade in 2004.
And the impact of that day, changed Michaela's life.
"I was just the wrestler on the mat," Michaela said. "Everybody's making a big deal out of this because I'm a girl."
"Everybody" is apt.
The sports nation loved the story. Mat.com, the official Web site of USA Wrestling, named her athlete of the week. She did a two-minute satellite interview with the ESPN morning show "Cold Pizza." Sports Illustrated called.
Then, add the girl-power factor: Women's Health magazine, Elle Girl, The Oprah Magazine.
Google her name and you get 193,000 hits.
"She had a notebook full of people to call back," Eli said.
It means a lot more that than just the 526 people who live in Kasilof know the name Michaela Hutchison.
"Midwest, East Coast everyone was saying that they heard Alaska on the news," Gardner said. "People were always coming up to me at the grocery store and the post office."
Publicity came with a price.
"They called me at 6 in the morning," Michaela said, her face indicating what a 16-year-old thinks about that. "After about three phone calls, I was in a bad mood."
Eli never lost a wrestling match in Alaska during his four-year career and joins only two other wrestlers in Alaska history to win state every year. But the phone calls went like this:
"They'd say 'congratulations. Can I talk to Michaela now?' "
Not that an older brother wouldn't milk that for all it's worth.
"I teased her about all the people calling," he said. "I told them 'I'm Michaela's secretary.' "
But the teasing bounced back to him.
"People would tell me, 'Hey you're famous all because of your sister,' " Eli said.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER"
She may be famous, but Hutchison really doesn't care.
She thinks her brother Eli and his undefeated career merit as much attention. She's tired of the phone calls. Tired of being recognized for "beating the boys."
"It doesn't matter to me," Hutchison said. "I would rather not have this much attention."
It's not her style. She talks on the mat.
"She didn't want to bask in the glory," Gardner said. "She'd tell people, "I did pretty good this year.
"She was so humble with it, as much as it was a big deal. She plays it down so much, didn't want to be spotlighted that much and as a coach, I've kept her wishes."
The attitude comes from Hutchison's family, a close-knit bunch that home schools their children and has turned each one into a wrestler.
"Dad (Mike) was a little protective," Gardner said. "He didn't want it to be a huge you're-out-there-beating-up-on-the-boys kind of thing."
Eli said the family was definitely happy, but with 10 kids, it's a little hard to dwell on any one person's accomplishments.
"They were happy, they cheered and were there for that weekend," Gardner said. "Then's it's back to normal at the Hutchisons and there's so many you can't focus on one thing for too long."
Normal for the Hutchisons means state championships. Three of them already have at least one and Michaela plans to get two more before she graduates.
"Obviously," said Michaela's mother, Mary. "You are going to get one good wrestler out of the bunch."
Daily News reporter Brian Singler can be reached at bsingler@adn.com.
ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
2006 Michaela Hutchison, Skyview
Justin Ore, Dimond
2005 Lillian Bullock, Service
Justin Schwartzbauer, Colony
2004 ZeeZee Young, Dimond
Jed Wade, Wasilla
2003 Kris Smith, West
Zack Bowman, Bartlett
2002 Kris Smith, West
Joe Chirhart, Dimond
2001 Kikkan Randall, East
Tui Alailefaleula, Bartlett
2000 Kikkan Randall, East
Eric Strabel, Colony
1999 Jessica Moore, Colony
Eric Strabel, Colony
1998 Laura Ingham, East
Brandon Drumm, Service
1997 Annie Berdahl, Nikiski
Wilbur Hooks, Dimond
1996 Annie Berdahl, Nikiski
Sam Hill, Nikiski
1995 Bev Krupa, West Valley
Jeremy Teela, Service
1994 Brit Jacobson, Chugiak
Trajan Langdon, East
1993 Brit Jacobson, Chugiak
Trajan Langdon, East
1992 Stacia Rustad, Kenai
Norm Rousey, Palmer
1991 Beth Ladd, Homer
Eric Toney, West Valley
1990 Beth Ladd, Homer
David Killpatrick, West
1989 Gretchen Pfisterer, Dimond
Phil Engebretsen, Homer
SELECTION PROCESS: The winners were selected by a vote of the Daily News sports staff. Selections are based solely on athletic accomplishment -- either overwhelming excellence in a single sport or superior performance in more than one sport.
