In
continuing to count down my favorite John’s Journal stories from 2021-22, today’s
Honorable Mention story is a profile of one of the pioneers of girls wrestling
in Minnesota. Elissa Reinsma of Slayton was a sophomore wrestler at
Fulda/Murray County Central in 2009 when she became the first female to qualify
for state.
In an
unforgettable moment from the 2022 state tournament – the first with girls-only
competition – Elissa was called to the center mat at Xcel Energy Center before
the state championship matches began. As her accomplishments were announced to
the crowd, she received a rousing standing ovation.
Here’s the
story, originally posted on March 2 …
Elissa Reinsma
Wieneke would never refer to herself as a pioneer, as others do and will. The
29-year-old, however, is feeling pride this week in knowing that the 2022 state
wrestling tournament includes a division for girls.
Forty-six girls
from 36 schools will compete for state titles on Saturday at Xcel Energy
Center, in 12 weight classes from 100 to 235 pounds. Four individuals in 11 of
the weight classes qualified for state through section tournaments, with two
individuals qualifying at 235.
This is the first
MSHSL state wrestling tournament to include female-only brackets, but this is
not the first time fans will witness girls on the mat. As a team member at
Fulda/Murray County Central, Reinsma broke that barrier when she qualified for
state in 2009 and returned in 2011 (she was injured in 2010). The only other
girl to wrestle at state was Emily Shilson; competing for Centennial and
Mounds View, she went to state in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and now is a member of
the women’s wrestling team at Augsburg University.
Elissa's
brother Justin, then a senior, wrestled at state for the fifth time in 2009,
making them the first brother-sister duo to qualify for state.
I was at the
Class 2A Section 3 wrestling tournament at Luverne High School in 2009 to
witness Elissa clinching her spot at state. She placed second in the 103-pound
division at the section meet.
My report from
that day in the Minneapolis Star Tribune began like this…
With a trip to
the state tournament on the line and the match winding down, sweat dripped from
the hardworking young wrestler's face. Exhaustion was near, but there was no
letup. A cotton ball, stuffed into the wrestler's left nostril, stemmed the
flow of blood.
And she didn't
mind a bit.
Standing 5-3 and
weighing barely 100 pounds, Elissa Reinsma doesn't look the part of a
wrestler when she's wearing a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. But when she hits
the mat, she makes things happen.
“It doesn’t seem
that long ago,” Elissa told me this week. “It’s crazy. Time just flies.”
Also a volleyball
and softball player in high school, she played college softball while attending
Augustana University and Southwest Minnesota State, graduating with a degree in
sports management and minoring in coaching.
She lives and
works in her hometown of Slayton. She’s the director of Community Education at
Murray County Central, will begin her first season as MCC’s head softball coach
this spring and is the first female member of Slayton’s volunteer fire
department. Her husband, Nathan Wieneke, is a fourth-grade
teacher at MCC and the school’s head baseball coach.
Murray County
Central activities director James Wajer, who was Elissa’s softball coach in
high school, said she is one of the hardest-working people he has ever known.
“What defines
Elissa is she’s a perfectionist and she outworks everybody,” he said. “I think
she learned that from an early stage and wrestling certainly teaches all those
things. She was always a coach’s dream. She had to be kicked off the diamond
sometimes if she was struggling because she wanted to stay and work on things.
You had to say, ‘Hey, sometimes we have those days, go home and relax.’ ”
Elissa wrestled
against only one girl in her high school career. Her record was 32-10 as a
sophomore and 32-7 as a senior. She was unable to win a match at state.
Her memories from
those state tournaments include lots of cameras focused on her.
“I was
starstruck,” she said. “I felt like I was pretty humble, I had been wrestling
since kindergarten. But to me it didn’t feel any different. And when you’re in
high school you don’t think about how big things are. It was amazing. Hard work
pays off for a reason.”
She’s thrilled to
see girls having their chance to shine at the 2022 state tournament.
“For me it was
weird going up against girls,” she said. “But now that there’s enough to have
it, it’s great. Time flies, and look at what can change.”
She said the
lessons she learned from wrestling have remained with her.
“The fire
department had no question about hiring me because they knew I had what it
takes,” she said. “When I face adversity, nothing will be harder than
wrestling.”
Wajer said,
“She’s the first female in the fire department, and you talk to any of those
firefighters and she’s one of the best they’ve ever had. She’s one of the guys
and that’s what she’s always wanted to be.”
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of
Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn
and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts.
Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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