Another OFSAA bronze for Andrew
Ella Andrew has a history of misfortune at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ wrestling championships.
Last year en route to a bronze medal in 95-kilogram division, the 12B student at E.L. Crossley sprained her ankle in her first match. This year, on the first day of competition at the OFSAA championships in Hamilton, the 18-year-old Ridgeville resident chipped four of her front teeth in the first eight seconds of a match. She bashed her face off of her opponent’s chin while she was attempting to set the pace.
“It was not fun. I should have been wearing a mouthguard and I wore one for the rest of them. I didn’t stop but it was a bit of a shock.”
She was able to get refocused and managed to win bronze again.
“I told myself it was fine. If you don’t feel it, nothing happened and act like nothing happened,” Andrew said, adding it took only one dentist appointment to get her teeth back to normal.
Winning her second OFSAA bronze was no easy feat.
“It was definitely a lot harder competition than last year. The girls were strong. They were all rugby players and they were tall. It was scary,” she said. “It was a better experience than wrestling last year because I knew what I was doing.”
Her toughest match was her final one.
“I was losing 11-2 and then I got a pin in the last 40 seconds. If she had got one more point she would have won (by technical superiority). It was a fight,” she said. “The coaches thought I was done for and they were saying throw everything you’ve got now. Once I got the pin, I thought maybe the time had run out and I didn’t know right away that I had won. Having my arm raised was such a great feeling and it was ‘I actually got it after almost giving up that one point.’ ”
The Brock Junior Badger club wrestler felt she was much better this season.
“I became a lot more technical and I found things that really worked for me. I learned as a big wrestler that throws worked a lot better than shooting and getting low. It was figuring out who I am as a wrestler and what was going to make me win instead of just learning the fundamentals.”
Andrew, who had trained previously in boxing and Muay Thai, did a little bit of wrestling in Grade 8 but didn’t compete or take the sport seriously until last year.
“It was just right from there. I really loved it when I started. It was a lot harder than my other sports, a lot more cardio and a lot more natural skills that you need to have. I don’t have a gymnastics background so a lot of that is difficult but I really enjoyed it and my sister (Maddie Andrew) used to wrestle when she went to Governor Simcoe. Hearing about her love for it really made me want to start wrestling.”
She is heading to Brock this fall to study kinesiology and she thinks her wrestling career might be over unless she drops down to the 83-kilogram weight class.
“It will be a challenge but I would like to get there.”
Andrew loves the sport.
“It is not just the feeling of winning. It is the feeling of accomplishment afterwards. It is not like a team sport. It is an individual sport and you are the one that does it.”
Despite the high school season being over, Andrew is still training with the Brock Junior Badgers.
“I love being here. I love learning new things and getting new experiences. It is a great way to keep fit and keep strong. And it is just a great community to be around. All the people I have been with for the last two years are great friends.”
Brock coach Ryan Weicker has enjoyed Andrew’s time with the club.
“She is a great worker. She comes to practice and she is ready to work and she is also willing to help other people,” he said. “Tonight she is working with another athlete. Not only is she willing to work hard, she is willing to share her knowledge which is awesome.”
