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5 Questions With Ellis St. John

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 4, 2007

Robinson senior 189-pounder Ellis St. John, an individual state qualifier last season, remained undefeated this season after a solid showing Saturday at the six-way dual tournament at Robinson. St. John also is a standout linebacker on the Knights' football team and earned first-team all-conference honors this season.

I've got to ask. What's better: a quarterback sack or pinning your opponent?

Ooh, it depends what the hit is like smiling. ... A quarterback sack, every time.

How did you get into wrestling?

My friend, Matthew Willis, he kept saying, 'Oh, you can't wrestle.' We always used to play around wrestling, and one day I came to practice and I wrestled former Robinson wrestler Michael Esser. Ever since then I've just been on the mat. That was my sophomore year.

So how was your first experience on the mat?

I went in there and said I would slam him Esser. I slammed him, and then he just shot on me and took me down and pinned me. I didn't know what was happening. He was like 125 pounds, and I probably weighed like 160. It just upset me a little bit because he looked real nerdy with glasses and stuff.

So after that experience did you have a newfound respect for wrestlers?

Oh yeah. It's tough, it's a tough sport. I think anybody who does it deserves a lot of credit. It's hard. Most people can't do it.

Are you surprised with how well you've done in the sport?

Kind of sort of. I knew I could be good, but I would never have thought I would put so much into it. It's not like football. Football you work hard and you can still lose. It happens because you don't work as a team. Wrestling, if you work hard, you don't lose. You may lose as a team, but it's something you do by yourself. You always want your team to do well, but as long as you're doing good, you're at least somewhat happy.

Adam Adkins

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