Del Norte graduate Adenne Schaad has become one of the first-ever recruits for the new College of the Redwoods women’s wrestling program, which will begin competition in the spring of 2024.The H-DNL’s only ever four-time girls wrestling champion recently committed her future to the Corsairs at a letter signing ceremony in front of friends and family.But it almost never happened for the Warriors standout.“It was a pretty tough decision,” she admitted. “Honestly, I had my heart set on (Southern Oregon University), and the week I was trying to figure out which school to go to, (CR coach) Brandon (Benvenuti) gave me a call and it just seemed so perfect, being close to home and being a part of something new. It just seemed the perfect fit.” Contributed photo Schaad began competing in the sport seven years ago as a sixth grader and says she immediately took to it.And she has her younger brother Colton Schaad to thank for the introduction.“It was all because of my brother,” she said. “I always got dragged around to tournaments (with him) and finally I tried it out and fell in love with the sport, and here I am now.”A strong family tradition in the sport also played a part.In addition to her grandfather Chuck, who wrestled in high school and coached the sport at Del Norte, her father Clinton also wrestled at Del Norte and at SOU. Contributed photo Clinton also has coached at the high school and youth level for the past two decades and is the current Warriors head coach.Adenne admits that both her father and grandfather have been big influences on her wrestling career.The Del Norte graduate also competed in tennis all four years in high school as well as one year of H-DNL golf and she says she likes the one-on-one competition of wrestling.“I like that it’s an individual sport, and it’s you against your opponent,” she said. “And it makes you a stronger person, mentally and physically.”Adenne closed out her high school career in style.One week after clinching her fourth straight league title at the H-DNL Championships in Fortuna, she placed seventh at the North Coast Section championships.But that’s not all she will remember from her time competing for Del Norte High School.“I’ll remember being a part of a great community,” she said. “And I’m really grateful to everyone in my community who helped me out. I had tons of support from my family and friends.”Benvenuti, who was hired as the head coach of the new CR men’s and women’s programs in early June, has been busy recruiting since then and says he is looking forward to working with Adenne Schaad.“I like her commitment and her passion for the sport,” he said.Adenne, who is a 4.0 student, intends on majoring in Nursing and says she would like to wrestle for a four-year college program after her time at CR. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });