Elizabeth Yelle

I started doing jiu jitsu during Covid when I was 12. In 8th grade, I started wrestling while still playing other sports, but something about wrestling was different from everything else. It challenged me in a way nothing else did. There was no hiding behind a team, no excuses, and no one else to blame. Every match reflected the work I had or hadn’t put in. By my freshman year, I made the decision to completely on wrestling. I was drawn to the brutality my team and coaches carried. I loved how raw and honest it was. Wrestling had demanded discipline, toughness, and resilience, and I wanted to be apart of that. Since then, wrestling has become more than a sport to me. It’s shown me I’m capable of achieving my highest hopes in dreams by working hard. I use everything I’ve learned from wrestling into my daily life. Through wins, losses, pressure, and everything going on outside of the sport, wrestling has taught me how to keep fighting for myself even when things get hard.