By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When Coach Anthony Gutierrez first saw Eliana Rush in her Wonder Woman singlet nine years ago, he had no idea she would win a state wrestling championship for Bowling Green Middle School.
But after years of early morning trainings, tough losses and unforgettable victories to boys, Eli became the first female state champion in school history, according to Gutierrez. She got there with discipline, resilience and pure heart.
“It was very exciting. I was very proud – all my work paid off,” Eli said.
Though Ohio has sanctioned girls wrestling, most schools like BG Middle School, don’t have enough girls to make a team. So most of Eli’s wrestling matches have been against boys.
That worked to her advantage when she went to the state championships, where she wrestled the top girls in the state.
Her victory came after nine years in the sport, beginning in club wrestling as a kindergarten at Crim Elementary School. Eli grew up with two older brothers, Zeke and Isaiah, who wrestled with Coach Gutierrez. Already dreaming of being a wrestler, Eli would attend her brothers’ matches wearing a Wonder Woman singlet.
She recalls Isaiah trying to teach her how to perform her first hip toss.
“That didn’t go too well,” Eli said with a smile.
During her first year of wrestling, she lost every match.
“Eli just perseveres,” Gutierrez said.
Not that she didn’t feel like quitting at times – especially after a really hard practice, a disappointing loss, or failure to make her weight.
“I think about quitting, but I never do,” Eli said.
With the help of her mom, Amanda Rush, Eli adopted a disciplined diet and dropped from 205 pounds last year to 162 this year. “She would do that with me,” she said of her mom.
In addition to doing well academically (with math being iffy at times), Eli also competes in track, football, and does mixed martial arts on the side. She’s toying with giving up football this fall and running cross country instead.
But there’s no doubt which sport has her heart.
“Definitely wrestling,” she said. “It’s always been a part of me.”
And Eli hopes that continues – with her sights set on Olympic competition some day.
“That’s actually been one of my goals since kindergarten,” she said.
Wrestling is a type of “controlled violence,” that prepares athletes for other competitions, Gutierrez said. “One of the first things a football coach will tell you is they want wrestlers.”
As a female in a predominantly male sport, Eli often surprises her competition.
“I’m stronger than the average female,” since she has been weightlifting for years. “That surprises them.”
Girl wrestlers tend to have more leg muscles, and often perfect techniques to compensate for boys’ upper body strength.
“It’s tough wrestling boys,” she said. Eli recalled one particular opponent who was “almost pure muscle.”
Eli focused on technique, skills, strength and endurance.
“When he got out of breath, I got him. He was gassed,” she said with a grin.
Eli and Gutierrez have heard plenty of negative comments about a girl wrestling against boys. Some fathers have refused to allow their sons to compete against her. Some boys who lose throw their head gear in anger. And some parents have been overheard saying, “I can’t believe you lost to a girl.”
“It is a tough reality of our sports sometimes,” Gutierrez said. But Eli is able to build positivity out of that negativity. “We use that as fuel.”
Gutierrez sees the same determination in Eli in his second period English class.
“Every day is the same – 100% effort every day,” he said of Eli in the classroom. “She’s very consistent.”
Eli is team captain this year. Captains can often be divided into two types – the talkers and the “show me” types, Gutierrez said. “Eli is the latter,” he added.
Eli also has the highest praise for Gutierrez.
“He’s a great coach. He will push you, but he will never cut you down,” she said.
Gutierrez does not yell after losses, like some other coaches do, Eli said. “He just says, ‘We’ll train harder and we’ll get them next time.’”
