Sarah Tolin of Casper, who broke Wyoming's gender barrier for female athletes competing in male high school sports, died Monday at her apartment on the Oklahoma University campus in Norman, Okla.

Police were still investigating Tolin's death Tuesday. Sgt. Gary Robinson of the OU Department of Public Safety told the Oklahoma Daily, an independent student newspaper, that the cause of death had not yet been determined and more information would not be released until the medical examiner's investigation is complete.

Tolin was an arts and sciences senior at OU. She graduated from Kelly Walsh High School in 2000 and attended Casper College for a year before transferring to Neosho Community College in Kansas.

In 1998 Tolin successfully challenged a Wyoming High School Activities Association rule that prohibited mixed gender teams. It took a two-year fight with the WHSAA, but the decision opened the door to girls in grades 9 through 12 to participate in boys football and wrestling.

"Wrestling is awesome … you use every single muscle in the body, it has got to be the best conditioning sport out there," Tolin enthusiastically wrote on a Web site she maintained as a high school student. "I love it. I love the high school practices where we practically work our butts off."

She explained in an interview with the Star-Tribune in 1998 that she was wrestling because she enjoyed it, not to prove any point for women in Wyoming. She also confided that she didn't find it awkward to throw her male teammates around.

"I'm used to it," she said. "And it's gotten a lot easier, more guys respect me now."

"She didn't wrestle to prove anything to anybody, other than to prove that she loved the sport," Tim Wilcox, who coached Tolin at Kelly Walsh, recalled Tuesday.

Wilcox said initially some of the boys on his wrestling team were reluctant to accept Tolin as a member of the squad, but she eventually won over her teammates.

"We had several wrestlers who went undefeated that year, and frankly, she stole the spotlight a little bit," the coach said. "But there were some guys she was tougher than, no doubt."

At Kelly Walsh, Tolin was also a member of the student council and played viola in the school orchestra.

She was a two-time Wyoming Girl's Freestyle State Champion, a medalist at the Girls High School National Championships and a High School All-American.

She was recruited by Neosho Community College, one of only six in the country that offer women's wrestling.

The 121-pounder placed second at the University National Championships in Evanston, Ill., in May 2002.

"The entire University of Oklahoma family was saddened by the tragic death of Sarah Tolin," OU President David Boren said Monday in a press release. "She was widely loved in the OU and Norman community. She excelled both as a student and an athlete. She will be remembered most of all for her kindness and for her concern for others."

Funeral services are tentatively scheduled for Monday afternoon in Casper. Bustard's Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. A complete obituary will be published later.

Assistant Managing Editor Kerry Drake can be reached at (307) 266-0582 or kerry.drake@casperstartribune.net.