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The Nixa girls wrestling team is aiming for a top-3 finish at the state meet this season, led by senior Ashlyn Eli.
Eli is going for her third state title, a goal she wasn’t even thinking about four years ago.
“I wrestled in third and fourth grade, but I didn’t take it seriously because my brothers were wrestling and my dad was the coach,” Eli said.
Because it wasn’t a girl’s sport, Eli ditched her headgear for basketball shoes and a softball bat in middle school. That is until Nixa kickstarted a girls wrestling program ahead of her freshman year.
“I wasn’t going to do any sports, go to school for academics and then wrestling came and I was like ‘let’s give it a shot,’” Eli added.
“I think her freshman year was like, she may wrestle, she may not, she hadn’t really decided. Ultimately, (she) decided to try wrestling and has immediately been successful ever since,” said Nixa Wrestling Coach Dustin Martin.
Since stepping on the mat, Ashlyn has only lost three matches and is nearing 100-career pins.
After a third-place finish her freshman year, she’s now a back-to-back state champion.
“Definitely a lot of pressure, I just go out there and wrestle like I’ve been wrestling and try not to let it get to my head,” said Eli.
Her success comes as no surprise to Coach Martin.
“In season, it’s unbelievable how hard she commits to what she’s doing,” he added.
And she does a lot right as a wrestler.
“The body position, the hip awareness, the technique and you add in she’s a pretty fast, pretty athletic girl. A tough, physical girl and all of those together create a great wrestler,” said Martin.
With a third state title in sight, it’s crazy to think of what almost wasn’t.
“It’s really neat just to watch the last four years take place and all the pieces kind of fell into place,” Martin said.
“I feel like it’s crazy. I did not expect myself to win two state championships, let alone wrestle in high school,” Eli added.
