By Michael Letendre
The 33rd Annual High School Wrestling Nationals took place from the Virginia Beach Sports Center from Virginia Beach over the weekend of March 25-27 and Bristol Eastern’s Ella Nichols was back on the mats once again.
Nichols has been excellent in these out-of-season tournaments and at the NHSCA’s, she came away with a championship at 144 pounds.
The High School Nationals is one of the premier wrestling tournaments in the country as “wrestlers from across the country compete to become All-Americans” according to their website.
The event featured nine weight classes and Nichols was tremendous at 144 – going a perfect 5-0 against some steady competition.
In the finals, the Kingstreeter scooped up and early lead and cruised to a 5-2 decision over Ruby Rios of Washington State for the win and title.
She battled opponents from all over the United States including New York, California, and Washington State in the championship match.
Nichols won her first two matches via pinfall, needing a total of 55 seconds to defeat Lauren Garcia of New York and Alexis Jimenez from California.
In the elite eight, Nichols zipped up a 15-0 technical decision against Georgia’s Raven Cook – needing just 2:53 to end the match.
In the semifinals, the Bristol standout nabbed a 10-4 decision over California’s Aalijah Pineda – rolling into the title bout against Rio.
In the finals, Rio trailed 5-0 out the gate and never recovered as Nichols collected another championship trophy.
Over the five matches, Nichols outscored her opponents 32-6 on the scoreboard.
The senior has earned three NHSCA All-American championships, placing no less than seventh over her scholastic career.
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