How Edmond North wrestler Taylor Ellis-Hishaw became world MMA champion, 'must-see TV'

EDMOND — Taylor Ellis-Hishaw hasn’t been an athlete for the majority of her life.

Up until Ellis-Hishaw turned 13, she spent more time selling Girl Scout cookies than doing anything related to sports.

But Ellis-Hishaw’s father, Ronnie Hishaw, started to worry about his daughter as she became a teen.

That’s when he decided to take her to a kickboxing and striking garage, and that marked the beginning of something special.

“Middle school and high school is crazy,” Ronnie said. “Girls are mean, and Taylor is really nice and she was kind of soft. And I was like, ‘I don’t want my kid to be getting beat up. At least be able to defend yourself. Put your hands up or something.’”

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Ellis-Hishaw’s time in the kickboxing garage led to her getting involved with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and although she had some growing pains, she became an elite grappler and is now a two-time world champion in the sport.

Also a three-time world champion in mixed martial arts, she’s a junior at Edmond North and chasing her first state wrestling title in this weekend's state tournament at State Fair Arena.

Ellis-Hishaw, a 125-pounder, has an undefeated record this season and hopes to keep it that way after placing third last year as she dealt with an injury she had suffered at regionals.

She’s confident and isn’t overlooking things as she gets closer to taking the mat.

“Same mindset,” Ellis-Hishaw said. “Destroy everybody. Train, eat good, make weight. That’s really it.”

Ellis-Hishaw, who is 24-0 this season, has developed a passion for wrestling, but Brazilian jiu-jitsu is her first love and remains her favorite.

“That’s my baby right there,” she said. “That’s my ride or die.”

Ellis-Hishaw has two blue belt no-gi world titles in the sport, both in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.

She started wrestling in 2021, then began MMA in 2022.

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In MMA, she has claimed two world championships in the International Martial Arts Federation and one in the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts.

Ellis-Hishaw took online classes at Epic Charter Schools as a freshman before attending Edmond North as a sophomore and junior. She takes classes online there, too.

Edmond North has one of the top wrestling programs in the state.

The Huskies also have star junior Bella Williams, one of the best wrestlers in the nation.

“Taylor only wrestles because her friend Bella is good at wrestling,” said Ronnie, a cousin of Kansas running back and former Moore standout Daniel Hishaw Jr. “She’s a good workout partner for her.”

Ellis-Hishaw’s training sessions with Williams, who hasn't lost a match with Edmond North, have played a big role in her development.

“Bella is one of the best wrestlers on the planet,” Ronnie said. “It would be a no-brainer. They wrestled together during their good little club stuff, and we just kind of kept it going. We love it because she gets really hard rounds in with Bella. It’s a good workout for Taylor because there’s not a lot of girls that are good in grappling.”

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Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA are individual sports.

Wrestling gives Ellis-Hishaw the opportunity to be a part of a team.

“I think if I wasn’t wrestling at Edmond North, I wouldn’t be wrestling at all,” Ellis-Hishaw said. “And I also feel like my game in my jiu-jitsu and my MMA wouldn’t have developed to where it is, and I wouldn’t be where I am without being at North and all of my teammates and coach Charles (Jones) and Bella.”

Jones, who starred at Edmond North before wrestling at OU and Fresno State, has been impressed with Ellis-Hishaw.

“Her adaptability is probably the biggest thing (that has stood out),” Jones said. “Because a lot of times, it’s hard to go three different sports and mix them all together and stay focused.”

Although wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu are both grappling sports, the two are quite different.

“Jiu-jitsu, they work more from their back, and wrestling, we work more from on top,” Jones said. “It’s fundamentally very, very different.

“Even though they’re both grappling, one wrestles from the back, in jiu-jitsu, and then in wrestling, we wrestle from on top — we don’t want to be on our back because that’s where you get pinned at. For her to be able to switch those two I think is very, very unique.”

Ellis-Hishaw manages her time well and trains in everything in a given week.

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She runs and doesn’t lift weights, instead focusing more on calisthenics.

Ellis-Hishaw often puts in hours of training in a day.

She works out like a professional athlete, and the results speak for themselves.

“I train like I’m already one of the best,” she said. “I feel like with that mindset, it already puts me above the people who I’m going against.”

The progress Ellis-Hishaw has made in such a short period of time is remarkable.

And when she competes, she often puts on a show.

“Taylor is must-see TV,” Ronnie said.

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Edmond North's Taylor Ellis-Hishaw aims for 1st state wrestling title