By Michael Letendre
Bristol Eastern standout grappler Ella Nichols is once again nationally ranked even as the scholastic season in Connecticut remains in jeopardy.
But, in spite of the trying times, the junior is in training, striving to improve, and waits along with the rest of her teammates for the start of the upcoming season.
The national rankings are provided by USA Wrestling, FloWrestling and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum for high school girls wrestlers for the 2020-21 season.
The ranking evaluates all girls enrolled in high school grades 9-12, and wrestlers from all 50 states are eligible for the poll.
Unfortunately, the pandemic cancelled most of the spring and summer tournaments, but when the preseason rankings were finally compiled, Nichols was featured in the first – and second – polls for the 2020-21 season.
The first set of rankings, released on September 16, saw the All-American ranked eighth at 144 pounds, moving up four spots from the last poll in March.
But in the latest rankings, Nichols moved up in the poll and is now a top-five rated competitor.
The new rankings, just released on November 5, have Nichols slotted at No. 5 – seven spots up from her final spring ranking.
Nichols is one of two female wrestlers from the Nutmeg State that are currently ranked in the national poll.
She had an eventful end to her sophomore campaign at Eastern – wrestling in both the boys and girls wrestling invitationals.
Nichols won matches at each invite but in the finals of the girls 145 pound bracket, she defeated Montville’s Aida Flores via pin-fall in 1:02 to claim the title.
With the nation currently in the grips of COVID-19, scholastic wrestling is considered a high-risk sport, and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference may postpone it from its winter schedule.
In fact, the entire winter campaign has been put on hold.
And just this past Monday, the Connecticut Department of Public Health made its recommendations for the winter season while the CIAC reconsiders its winter practice start date.
“As we get into the winter season, there is a higher level of community spread of COVID-19 than there was a few months ago, and that impacts athletes in all sports, especially those played indoors,” said Acting DPH Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford, MD MPH in the statement. “It is still important to remain as physically active as possible during the winter and I encourage that. It will be important going forward that sports leagues or event organizers give their coaches and players the tools to mitigate risks of transmission as much as possible.”
It is always possible that wrestling could commence later in the winter if the COVID situation improves, but until then, Nichols, and the rest of the scholastic wrestlers in the city of Bristol are patiently waiting their chance to once again hit the mats.
