South Tama County wrestler Maeley Elsbury represents community's blue-collar mentality

VINTON − Wrestling in the 135-pound finals at the Vinton-Shellsburg Girls Invitational on Saturday, South Tama County senior Maeley Elsbury faced a familiar opponent in Chloe Sanders.

This was her fourth time facing Sanders, a top 25 girls wrestler in the state, in the last two years. Elsbury faced her just five days earlier at the Williamsburg Girls Invitational. She came out of that match with two things: a 2-0 victory and a black eye.

Her matches with Sanders are always competitive, coming down to a point or two. This time would be no different.

Leading the match late in the second period, Elsbury went limp, quickly grasped her knee and was in visible pain. With the match blown dead for a moment, the senior stood back up, dusted herself off, stretched out her knee and told the official she was ready to go.

Despite the pain, the thought of dropping out of this match never crossed Elsbury's mind. For her, this was an opportunity to wrestle against one of the best and improve her skillset for later in the season.

"Not unless it was broke or they forced me to," Elsbury said. "They (Elsbury's coaches) said it was my choice, and I was like, 'I'm going to wrestle.'"

The grittiness from the senior didn't shock her coaches one bit.

"She's not the kind of girl that's gonna back down, you'd have to cut her leg off," South Tama girls wrestling coach Jason Arp said. "She's a hell of a tough girl."

With just over 40 seconds left in the second period, she rode out the remainder of the frame on top to prevent Sanders from adding any points to the board. Sanders went on bottom again, down just two, but the South Tama product held on and added another two points for a 4-0 decision over Sanders to place first at 135 pounds.

For anyone who knows Elsbury, gutsy performances like these are just par for the course.

Small-town kid shining in the bright lights

Elsbury was originally a basketball player growing up. Like many girls in Iowa, she didn't have an opportunity to wrestle since the sport was not being sanctioned by the IGHSAU until 2022.

She begged her father, a local youth wrestling coach, to let her wrestle. She got her wish, but it came with a distinct challenge, having to wrestle with the boys with no structure at the time for girls like herself to compete.

Ultimately, it's proven to make her tougher and stronger. Fast forward from her freshman year to her senior year, she is the reigning state champion at 135 pounds after accumulating a 46-1 record and 35 pins in her junior season. Arp credited her time wrestling with the boys at South Tama as part of her success, saying the technical side of her skills had to grow to keep up with the guys.

To this day, Elsbury will often run over to the boys side of practice once she wraps with the girls team before she heads home. Wrestling full-time for just about three years, including over sixty matches this summer after wrestling in nearly 50 her junior year, she's caught up quickly to the best in the state.

"Three years doesn't seem like much, especially to a lot of the girls I compete against," Elsbury said. "But, just because you have only been wrestling for a short time, doesn't mean that you can't be good."

That work ethic is a product of the community she grew up in. South Tama County schools cover a large area, including 10 different townships. Despite that geographic footprint, the school has an enrollment just north of 1,400, according to the US News and World Report. The district is built by the surrounding rural communities.

"Everybody's just kind of a lunch-pail type people there and that's what she (is)," Arp said. "She's ready to go to work every day."

The grind she partakes in on the mat extends off of it too. Just last year, the team had only six wrestlers, including herself. Today, the team has 19 girls competing, allowing South Tama County to roll out a full lineup at events like the one she competed at Saturday. Elsbury has been out on the daily recruiting girls at school to come out and join the roster.

With her winning a state title and having sustained success, she's got a pretty good recruiting pitch and it's starting to pay off. As the only senior on her team, she's helping build the foundation for what's to come for the Trojans.

"To have those underclassmen look up to her and see her battle through stuff, that means a lot to them as well," Arp said. "They may not know it just yet, they'll figure it out how tough the sport is just by looking at the way these top-flight wrestlers wrestle."

The status she holds in the area is not something Elsbury takes for granted either. She prides herself on being a good representative for South Tama County.

"It feels good to know I hold such a high standard for our town," Elsbury said. "I get to show that, even coming from a small town, you can be good at wrestling and what you want (to do). I know there's a lot that look up to me, so I focus on how I represent myself. I'm representing my town every time I step onto the mat."

With less than one year remaining in high school, Elsbury is focused solely on winning the 135-pound crown. For her, it is an added stressor to try and replicate what was nearly a perfect season as a junior.

That's especially true as she deals with the common struggle of many high school seniors at this time of year of choosing what comes next. While she admittedly had anxiety to begin the year since she still has not found the right opportunity for her to wrestle in college, she came to realize that as long as she continues to win matches, the right chance will come along.

If she continues to pack her lunch and work hard, there's little doubt she'll end up being right.

"If I focus on what's ahead of me right now, the schools are going to come," Elsbury said. "I'll find a place to go."

Individual champions from the Vinton-Shellsburg Invitational

• 100 pounds - Olivia Hernandez, Bettendorf

• 105 pounds - Kaelynn Roster, Vinton-Shellsburg

• 110 pounds - Macy Tiedt, Waverly-Shell Rock

• 115 pounds - Ellie Weets, Vinton-Shellsburg

• 120 pounds - Camille Schult, Waverly-Shell Rock

• 125 pounds - Hannah Rogers, Bettendorf

• 130 pounds - Tatum Shepard, Ridge View

• 135 pounds - Maeley Elsbury, South Tama County

• 140 pounds - Kiara Djoumessi, Waverly-Shell Rock

• 145 pounds - Greta Brus, Davenport

• 155 pounds - Destiny Koheim, Charles City

• 170 pounds - Izzy Strickert, Independence

• 190 pounds - Leah Stewart, Charles City

• 235 pounds - Breanna Peach, Iowa Valley

Team results from the Vinton-Shellsburg Invitational

• 1st - Bettendorf (206 points)

• 2nd - Vinton-Shelsburg (190 points)

• 3rd - Waverly-Shell Rock (181 points)

• 4th - Independence (162 points)

• 5th - South Tama County (146 points)

• 6th - Davenport (117 points)

• 7th - Charles City (113 pounds)

• 8th - Fort Madison (104.5 points)

• 9th - Pleasant Valley (103 pounds)

• 10th - Ridge View (92 points)

Match-by-match, full brackets and team results can be found on trackwrestling.com

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: South Tama County wrestler Maeley Elsbury representing community