COLUMBIA — Her Nixa career complete with three State championships, Ashlyn Eli finally and unabashedly displayed her emotions for all to see Saturday.
Normally stoic, even in victory, the Lady Eagles’ senior pioneer burst into tears following her 7-6 triumph over Camdenton’s Abigail Fuglsang in their 100-pound title tilt at the Girls State Wrestling Tournament.
“I was crying tears of joy because it’s my last high school match,” Eli said. “I’m sad that I’ve wrestled my last high school match.”
“What we saw was a lot of raw energy and excitement of being able to finish her career with a win,” Nixa coach Dustin Martin said. “It wasn’t joy or pain, it was instant relief. I think the amount of weight on her shoulders to come out here and win her third straight state title was a lot.”
Eli finished the final three seasons of her career unbeaten against in-state competition. She was 35-1 as a sophomore, 42-0 as a junior and 40-0 as a senior. Her lone loss during that span was to an Oklahoma opponent.
Overall, she finishes 142-3.
No one has pinned Eli since Kearney’s Emalie Olson did so three years ago in a 103 semifinal round match at State. Fuglsang, a freshman, came about as close as she could to pinning Eli without doing so.
Eli jumped out to a 6-1 lead, only to see Fuglsang (37-2) dominate the third period with a takedown and a near-fall. Eli kept her left shoulder an estimated inch off the mat, if that.
“It was close,” Martin said. “But she battled through it and avoided the fall.”
“The first period was fine and second period was good. But in the third period I got tired and got thrown on my back,” Eli said. “I thought I was actually going to get pinned. At Districts, she threw me on my back so I almost got pinned at Districts, too.
“I thought I was stuck,” she added. “But I got out of it.”
Fuglsang was ruled to have employed a full-nelson. The penalty point was the difference in the match.
Camdenton coaches vehemently argued the penalty, to no avail.
“That’s their job. They are going to advocate for their athlete, just like I’m going to advocate for my athlete,” Martin said. “They didn’t think it was there, I thought it was. But I haven’t seen the film.”
With Eli and Fuglsang both in tears after the match, they shared a hug and Eli voiced support for Fuglsang to go on to win three state championships.
The weight of her finale had Eli experiencing nerves beforehand. She tried to keep pressure off of herself by realizing all she had already accomplished.
“I was nervous going into it, but once get on the mat I was fine,” Eli said. “Even if I would have lost, I was going to feel proud of myself, knowing that I was a two-time State champ and also made it to the finals my senior year.”
