Undaunted by the jeers, she's out to beat boys

Dressed in street clothes -- down to her pink-laced sneakers -- Elissa Reinsma blended in with the crowd at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday as teams competed at the wrestling state tournament. But unlike a year ago, when torn knee ligaments kept her in the stands, Reinsma will compete when the individual part of the tournament starts Friday.

"To come up here and not wrestle killed me," said Reinsma, who injured her knee a week before last year's team sections. "Seeing all the people, all the action and everything ... I didn't like having to watch."

She'll leave the watching to others. Because once again, all eyes will be on her.

Reinsma, a senior 103-pounder for Class 2A Fulda/Murray County Central, is making her second appearance in the state meet. She also qualified as a sophomore in 2009, becoming the first female in Minnesota to reach the season's final meet.

She made news in western Minnesota when she pinned Sioux Falls Roosevelt's Troy Kiggins -- this year's South Dakota big-school state champion -- at a meet in January.

Though female wrestlers are hardly a new concept -- The United States Girls' Wrestling Association proudly boasts on its website the slogan "The Future of Wrestling" -- the notion still is controversial to some.

Joel Northrup made national headlines last month when the senior from Linn-Mar High School forfeited his first-round match at the Iowa state tournament because his opponent was a girl. In a statement, Northrup cited religious reasons.

"Wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times," the statement read. "As a matter of conscience and my faith, I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner."

Reinsma's reaction was muted.

"It's his decision. He can do what he wants," Reinsma said, carefully choosing her words. "But I think all you should be thinking about is wrestling."

Reinsma's opening-round match against Foley's Tristan Manderfeld will be one of more than 1,000 that will take place over the two-day individual tournament. Through coach Lyle Freudenberg, Manderfeld declined to be interviewed about his match with Reinsma -- though Freudenberg did say Manderfeld intends to wrestle her.

Coaches from Scott West and Chisago Lakes -- whose wrestlers could potentially meet Reinsma in the quarterfinals -- also declined comment. Fulda/Murray County Central coach Dan Blankenship understands.

"It's just two kids going out there to wrestle," he said. "I keep a pretty open mind."

A varsity wrestler since seventh-grade, Reinsma hasn't always encountered open minds. She's heard heckles and jeers; she has seen rolled eyes and sneers. An opponent's mother once ran out of the stands to confront her.

But she's never backed down from a challenge. Reinsma is second all-time in program history with 145 career victories, behind the 175 her brother Justin racked up before graduating in 2009 as a five-time state entrant.

"Technique-wise, she's one of the better wrestlers we've ever had," Blankenship said. "She learned from her brother, went to all the camps. She's very precise about all of her moves. And she's tough."

Though as sound as she is physically, Reinsma's biggest asset is her mental power, Blankenship said.

"She's very capable of doing a lot of things, but she's got a tough backbone," he said proudly. "You have to be tough like that. Six years ago, she came in and took her lumps. But everything she's gone through? That's tough. She's a good girl."