(Harlan, IA) — The Harlan girls wrestling program is only in its second year but a freshman is making a huge impact to start the season.
Elle Stephens is off to a 13-1 start early this winter — she pinned her way through the Council Bluffs Abe Lincoln tournament, she pinned her way through the Treynor Invite, she has 10 pins overall. To start the year, she lost a close match in the semifinals of the Ridge View Tournament 5-4 to Tegan Robertson of Ridge View and Stephens knows exactly what happend
Stephens says she has learned from the loss, she keeps her head up now. Stephens comes from a wrestling family — her mother and father both wrestled and Stephens remembers watching her older brother Kaden wrestle. They got into a few scraps at home — no furniture was destroyed, the coffee table is safe and sound but in the process, Stephens learned that wrestling is not all about muscle strength
Growing up, girls wrestling was not a sanctioned sport in Iowa so girls for the most part wrestled against the guys. When the Girls Union sanctioned the sport 3 years ago, Stephens was relieved because she didn’t like wrestling with the boys. Now she has developed her own style and relies on being cagy and surprise her opponents
When asked about her goals this year, she says it is to get better, to make the Harlan team better and grow but when pressed, she says she thinks about going to state a lot and says getting there is all about conditioning. Harlan is back on the mat this Saturday at a tournament hosted by Shenandoah.
Complete interview with Harlan Freshman Elle Stephens
