Makem Can Make It: The Girl From Cameroon
Minnesota’s Nina Makem became a high school All-American in 2019.
by Derek Levendusky, AWW staff writer
SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA - She arrived from Cameroon in October of 2015. She started wrestling in the fall of 2018. By 2019, she was ranked in the top 25 of the country. Minnesota’s Nina Makem is now a rising star in women’s high school wrestling.
“Picture Jordan Burroughs as a female wrestler that has one year of experience,” says Minnesota national team coach and Augsburg assistant, Chad Shilson. (He also has a certain daughter who wrestles that you may know about.)
Wrestling didn’t exist in Makem’s homeland. In Cameroon, a Central African country of 26 million people on the Atlantic coast just north of the equator, the main sport is soccer. Makem played on the dusty fields in the hot sun like most African children do, but she also had dreams of wrestling, at least the kind she saw on TV from time to time. “I watched WWE growing up which gave me the idea that I wanted to do that when I grow up,” explained the high school junior.
When she moved to Minnesota, she eventually found out that her school offered wrestling, though it took her a while to notice. ‘I started going to West Junior High in Shakopee,” she explains. “I didn't know that they had wrestling as a sport in school until [the end of] 9th grade.”
Her oldest brother started wrestling first and encouraged his siblings, both his sister and younger brother, to try it. She joined the team the following year as a sophomore.
Working hard was not a foreign idea to Makem, as the culture in Cameroon is marked by a hard-working people. Even small tasks could be difficult for some in Africa, like getting water or basic travel to any location, which is often on foot. Her father was a farmer, spending his days in “his offices”—the fields where he grew his crops. Makem would join her father in the work and often walk long distances for daily activities like school, the market, or visiting friends.
Her family was excited about her opportunity to wrestle, as they welcomed exercise back into her life. “My family feels great about me having the opportunity to wrestle,” said Makem. “Back home [in Cameroon] I did a lot of exercise from working in my family farms and walking from one place to another, often for long distances. However, in the United States, I can’t walk everywhere because of the highways and awful snowy weather!”
Her first match was a quick orientation in how hard wrestling can be. She lost 8-0. “I needed to learn from my mistakes,” she recalls. And learn, she did, climbing a trajectory that resulted in her becoming an All-American in Oklahoma last March, where she placed 6th in the 16U division, less than six months after she started. At Fargo in July, she went 2-2 in both the 16U and Junior divisions. She remembers one moment in particular. “My opponent was winning me by two points but I didn't give up,” she said. “My coaches told me that I should shoot for a blast double within the 7 seconds left.” She took her shot and won the match. “I was fast on my feet and believed in myself…I knew from that moment, no matter how many minutes or seconds you have left to do something, do not hesitate because something good might come.”
Makem credits her coaches for her early success. “Though I haven't been wrestling for that long, I’m proud of everything that I have accomplished,” she beams. “This all thanks to my wonderful coaches who have been there with me from the start, helping me from my first day at practice up to now.” She trains at Augsburg University with coaches Chuck Jacobs and Chad Shilson, and continues to compete at Shakopee high school with coaches Jason Trelstad, Jim Jackson, and “Coach Marcus.”
Makem is also involved in track and field, where she’s competed as a sprinter and shot put thrower, and hopes to try pole vaulting this year. “I’m thinking of trying out for American football next year, which is my last year of high school,” she muses. In the meantime, she’s focused on her academics, working hard in the wrestling room, and “not to forgetting to have fun!”
“Nina is a pretty solid individual,” said Shilson. “On the mat, she is a work horse. She will do anything you ask her. Off the mat, she’s the person that sends you random text messages, thanking you for helping her and her sister, wishing you Happy Birthday or various nuances of the Babaju tribe. What’s not to love about this girl?”
And she’s only just begun.