It was a match made in heaven.

Since Kayla Husti-Luca began wrestling at 11 years old, it’s all she’s ever wanted to do.

She often had to wrestle boys, who weren’t always very welcoming.

Still, all she wanted to do was wrestle.

Last year, she suffered a major injury on the mat, and still, she just wanted to wrestle.

And, even as she grappled with a serious medical crisis, she just wanted to wrestle.

This week, Husti-Luca was one of 206 girls to wrestle in the first-ever PIAA Girls Wrestling Championships.

This time, she wanted to do more than just wrestle. She wanted to win.

Finding her passion

At 11 years old, Husti-Luca had tried, and ultimately rejected, numerous sports before settling on jiu-jitsu. As she progressed in the martial arts discipline, her jiujitsu suggested she try wrestling to hone her skills. Her coach may have regretted that decision.

Husti-Luca immediately knew that she had found her sport.

“Wrestling is my true passion,” said Husti-Luca. “It was just so exciting from the start, and that’s never changed.”

Through middle school and her first year of high school at Souderton, Husti-Luca wrestled on the boys varsity teams, where she was highly successful. Her success presented its own challenges though.

“It was often a negative environment at the boys tournaments,” Husti-Luca said. “They weren’t happy to wrestle me, so I liked being able to put them in their place.”

Last year, Husti-Luca was in Indiana for a tournament when she felt a pop in her shoulder during a match. She wasn’t too concerned at first, as she had experienced something similar before.

But that changed later that night.

“My coach (Chris Atkinson, Souderton's head coach who has coached Kayla since she was 11) saw me and said, 'Kayla, I’ve never seen a look like that on your face,’” Husti-Luca recalled. “I was completely unable to move my arm.”

After a visit to an Indiana ER, where she was told there was nothing wrong with her shoulder, Husti-Luca returned home and was diagnosed with a torn labrum at CHOP.

She had surgery to repair what turned out to be two tears, had three plastic anchors implanted, and began the strenuous road to rehab.

Back at CHOP, a new and bigger, challenge

But then came headaches. And those headaches became migraines, and they quickly grew in frequency and intensity. Husti-Luca found herself back at CHOP, but this time, there were no answers.

She had MRIs, CAT scans and bloodwork, saw neurologists and even a psychiatrist, and received IV therapy.

“The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me,” Husti-Luca said. “They suggested sitting in a dark room. Nothing worked.”

Sixty days. That’s how many days in a row Husti-Luca suffered from a migraine. During that time, she was hospitalized three times, at one point spending five days in the hospital after a bad reaction to medication.

Eventually, the migraines were attributed to her shoulder surgery, and she was treated with nerve-blocking injections.

Husti-Luca missed over 40 days of school during her ordeal and switched to online classes, which she has continued this year.

Despite the treatment, Husti-Luca still suffers from migraines at times. One of the most common occurrences is in the days following a wrestling tournament.

“It’s not fun, but I’d wrestle through anything if I could,” Husti-Luca said. “Everyone has their own things to deal with.”

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A strong comeback capped by District One, SE regional titles

Husti-Luca wound up missing her entire sophomore wrestling season and the start of her junior season. During that time, she was grateful for the close friendships she had developed with her fellow female wrestlers.

“My teammates are always my most important friends,” said Husti-Luca. “I loved them before online schooling and after. It’s such a positive environment.”

And while she didn’t need any additional motivation to return to the mat, the news that the PIAA had sanctioned girls wrestling in July left Husti-Luca even more excited for her eventual return.

She made her first appearance in over 15 months in late December, going 4-0 at the Governor Mifflin Tournament.

“I was so hungry to come back that I wasn't even nervous,” said Husti-Luca, who went 20-2 in the regular season. “It was just muscle memory; when you wrestle, you don’t have time to be scared.”

This season has been a whirlwind of excitement for Husti-Luca, who won titles at the first-ever District One and the Southeast Regional girls wrestling championships. Qualifying for the PIAA state championships in Hershey was the icing on the cake.

“We went to watch the boys tournament last year and I saw how full the stands were for them while half full at girls tournaments,” said Husti-Luca, who was a finalist in the MyHouse State Championships as a freshman. “I wondered why we didn’t get that kind of support.

“This year, we have so many more people from the community supporting us, and so much more interest in girls wrestling.”

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Wrestling for history in Hershey

Husti-Luca was one of four Souderton wrestlers to qualify for the inaugural PIAA Girls Wrestling Championships. While she’s happy to have her best friends by her side, she’s likely to leave Hershey with a few more.

“One thing I love about girls wrestling is that you’re guaranteed to make at least one friend at a tournament,” Husti-Luca said. “Girls wrestling is really nothing like boys wrestling. It’s such a positive environment. I think more girls would try it if they knew that.’

Experiencing the fanfare surrounding the state championships for the first time, Husti-Luca says she feels like a celebrity. But this time, she wasn’t just happy to be there.

“It means so much to be a part of this,” Husti-Luca said. “You don’t get handed this on a silver platter. I want to show how hard I’ve worked and be one of the first girls on the podium at Hershey.”

Souderton girls successful in first two days of PIAA tournament

Husti-Luca fulfilled her dream of making it to the podium Saturday. After winning her first-round match, she fell in the 130-pound quarterfinals but won her second-round consolation match. On Saturday she secured eighth-place, a medal and a place in PIAA history.

Souderton freshman MacKenna Atkinson won silver after wrestling in the 235-pound championship, falling to undefeated Panther Valley senior Brenda Banks. Atkinson had two pins and a 6-2 decision in the semifinals. Sophomore Emily Sarr also medaled, taking eighth-place at 106 pounds. Senior Gisele Ramirez won her first-round match, but was eliminated in the 118-pound consolations.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PIAA Girls Wrestling: Souderton's Kayla Husti-Luca wins medal