CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET: ELOISE WOOLSEY, CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL

Meet Eloise Woolsey — a senior at V. Sue Cleveland High School, a defending state champion, and a competitor whose sights are set far beyond the mat in front of her. “I obviously want to win state again,” Eloise said. “Then in May, I’m going to the World Team Trials. I want to win that and hopefully make a World Team. After that, I’ll go to Fargo — and hopefully win Fargo too.”

Wrestling has been part of her life almost as long as she can remember. She first stepped onto the mat following her older brother’s lead. “My older brother, Mayhem, wrestled and kind of forced me into it,” she laughed. “So I started when I was four or five years old.”

What separates Eloise from her opponents isn’t just strength or speed — it’s her mindset. “I spend a lot of time working on my mental game and thinking about my matches,” she said. “I’m pretty aggressive. When I wrestle, I go at it hard.”

After moving from Hawaii to New Mexico, Eloise made an immediate impact. She went undefeated in her first season in the Land of Enchantment and has yet to lose to a New Mexico wrestler in her career. “My mindset is always to get the pin,” she explained. “But I want to make sure I’m doing things the right way — technically, and correctly.”

That approach recently led to a major milestone: her 100th career win. Along the way, she’s watched girls wrestling explode in popularity. “When I was in elementary and middle school, I wrestled boys,” Eloise said. “Now I see elementary and middle school girls wrestling other girls — and that’s really exciting. There are so many more athletes, so many more colleges adding women’s programs. It’s like… kaboom. It’s the fastest-growing women’s sport.”

And for Eloise Woolsey, the journey is far from over. She hopes to continue her wrestling career at the next level, with schools like Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado already on her radar. For her, every match is just another step toward something bigger.