Girls wrestling: Jiu jitsu background proving a plus for Elyria's Ravenna Guidicelli and Madalynn Whalen

The Elyria High girls wrestling team may have stumbled onto a new secret to success when it comes to reaching the top of the podium … a background in jiu jitsu. The Pioneers are sending eight wrestlers to the regional tournament at Mentor on Sunday and two of them won pre-regional championships at Avon Lake last weekend. Freshman Ravenna Guidicelli captured the 115-pound title while junior Madalynn Whalen finished first at 155. Both have studied the grappling martial art. "I did karate and jiu jitsu before trying wrestling," said Guidicelli, who has been wrestling for four years. "Madi and Emilie (Conley) also did it … we're all friends. "Wrestling and jiu jitsu are very different from each other, especially the top and bottom in wrestling. I was so confused when I first started, but then once I focused on wrestling and actually learned it, it was really fun." Whalen, who is in her first year of wrestling, said there is a familiarity between the two sports. "There's a lot of similarities but most of the biggest things are different," Whalen said. "There's way more rules to (wrestling). It's definitely a different thing to learn. In jiu jitsu you just tap out (when you lose) and in wrestling you just keep going until eventually you pin or get pinned." The fact that the pair finished first — and Conley also advanced to the regional tournament — may be just a coincidence, but with Elyria sending eight of its 10 wrestlers into the second round of the postseason the obvious thing is the Pioneers are doing something right. "We're all very supportive of each other and that makes things easier," Whalen said. "And it's definitely a lot better when we have a super supportive coach — Paul (Felton) is amazing and having all the other coaches, they're super supportive and helpful as well. They're very understanding so it's definitely easier to learn." While Whalen said she picked up wrestling as a buffer sport between her soccer and track seasons, Guidicelli is the seasoned pro on the team despite being in her debut varsity season. "I've been lucky enough to get to coach her the last couple of years as some of these tournaments have been a mixture of junior high and high school (girls)," Felton said. "So we've got to spend a lot of time over the last couple of years and she's a super nice kid, and also super smart. When she's in the room, she works hard and she believes in herself, too. That's what I think keeps her going and keeps her driven — knowing that she's good and that she can be good." Guidicelli is 34-14 heading into Mentor and is ranked No. 22 in the state by americanwomenswrestling.com. She dominated Strongsville junior Cailey Vocak, who is ranked No. 12, in the pre-regional final. "She looked really good and she looked very serious about what she was doing, so I just wanted to impress everybody and show what I can do," Guidicelli said. "I feel like I only got ranked 22 because of my record and just because she had three losses, but it should have been the ratio of wins to losses. But I definitely showed that I can beat people who are ranked higher than me." While Whalen didn't have to upset any powerhouse opponents en route to her title, she showed she knows how to take advantage of a good draw. "I told her at the beginning of the tournament, 'If you wrestle the way Madi knows how to wrestle, you could win this tournament,'" Felton said. "I think she believed me a little bit. She's another one of those really nice girls and she's got this nervous laugh and she's always very loud in practice. But she was hurt a lot this year and at one point we didn't even know if we were going to get her back." Whalen has battled chronic knee issues the past few years and things took a turn for the worse during an early season tournament. "My tendons get really tight (in my knee) and they kind of pull on my kneecaps," Whalen said. "I was in a match and I went to stand up and my kneecap popped out. Then it popped back in when I got slammed down. So I was out (of the lineup) for a bit and I started doing rehab with my trainers and it's getting better and doesn't hurt as bad anymore." Felton is hopeful his two No. 1 seeds can take advantage of their regional draws. He also believes several other Pioneers have a shot at advancing to the state tournament next week. "We tell these girls to just focus on the match in front of you," Felton said. "You can be successful if you take it one match at a time so we're going to try and do the same thing we did last week. The girls probably had the best practice of the year last week. I think they took to heart how serious these three (postseason) weeks are and they worked really hard, maybe extra hard compared to what they have been, and I'm hoping that they bring the same intensity this week." Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on X.