Tela O’Donnell can’t stop smiling. She’s on fire for wrestling and she’s not bashful about it.

“I love wrestling so much,” O’Donnell said. “It has the most incredible people I know.”

The Homer, Alaska, native — by every measure — is among the amazing people the sport has produced. She made the inaugural women’s freestyle Olympic team in 2004 and currently serves as National Camps Manager for Wrestle Like A Girl.

You can read more about O'Donnell's story here, but she’s adding layers to her fascinating journey through a diplomacy exchange between the United States and Mongolia. This is a state-funded program that will be used to address gender-based violence. 

This is a joint partnership between Wrestle Like A Girl and Women Win,  an organization dedicated to advancing girls’ and women’s rights throughout the world.

“We looked at other cultures and started building cultural connections through wrestling,” O’Donnell said. “We network, we learn, we grow, we develop, we are inspired — and that’s really what this exchange is about.

“Between the Mongolian Embassy and us, we landed on the topic of empowering women through sport with a specific focus on wrestling.”

This is a two-part exchange where 8-10 participants from the United States will fly to Mongolia for 10 days in early April. A similar group from Mongolia will fly to the U.S. in October. 

O’Donnell participated in an exchange to Pakistan in 2019 that she called “life-altering.” She will attend this trip, too — along with a representative from Women Win.

There’s a quick turnaround, so anyone interested needs to act fast. The deadline for application is January 25 and the final group will likely be selected within a week afterward. 

Click here to fill out the application.

You can also email O’Donnell at tela@wrestlelikeagirl.org.

Participants are coaches, administrators, leaders, and support staff from wrestling organizations. Because this is a state-funded trip, all travel and lodging expenses are covered. 

To be clear: this isn’t an elite training program. This is a grassroots campaign that explores the everyday experiences people have with wrestling. This is about the lessons Mongolians can share and how we can we learn their culture, learn their sport, and learn about what social good through sport looks like. 

Myanganbayar Batsukh — a three-time D3 NCAA champ for St. Johns from 2009-11 — is the onsite liaison for the trip. He is responsible for connecting the group with Mongolians who are passionate about the work they do. 

“We want people to be successful in the sport of wrestling, but I want those people to be able to come out of wrestling and put that passion into their communities and to be good human beings,” O’Donnell said. “You’re going to challenge yourself in ways you’ve never challenged yourself and you’re going to come out of the sport stronger and more confident than you went in. 

“You’re going to be a good person because that’s what we value in the sport of wrestling. That’s what I want. I want us to be successful in the sport of wrestling but I want wrestlers to be successful in life and in the world. It’s about building a culture as we build ourselves as athletes.”

Tela O'Donnell called her 2019 trip to Pakistan "life-altering."