Maple Grove Wrestler’s Olympic Dreams Put on Hold by COVID-19
Because of the novel coronavirus, the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo have been pushed from 2020 to 2021. This has had a direct impact on Maple Grove’s Emily Shilson, who is an Olympic hopeful and just completed her first year wrestling at Augsburg University.
Emily Shilson with her father, Chad. Emily wrestles for Augsburg and Chad is an assistant coach.
Shilson was supposed to compete at the Olympic trials this weekend at Penn State. But that has been canceled too.
But Shilson isn’t disappointed in the delay. She’s actually optimistic the delay may work in her favor.
“It’s a bummer,” Shilson said. “But it can only help me. These other women, they are only getting older. It’s a long time for them to wait for the Olympics. So I think it will be a big advantage for me.”
Recently Shilson has put on more muscle and gained weight. She wants to be ready to go when training for the Olympics officially resumes.
“I’ve been lifting a lot and getting my cardio in,” Shilson said. “I’m lucky enough to have my dad and brother as training partners. We’ve been working out in our basement.”
Group of Augsburg Trailblazers
Shilson and her Augie teammates were trailblazers this past season. They were part of Minnesota’s first-ever women’s collegiate wrestling program. See that story here.
“It was an amazing experience to be a part of that first team,” Shilson said. “We were small. We only had 10 girls. But we have a great foundation. We’re only going to get bigger and better as the years go by.”
Shilson made quite a splash in her inaugural season. She won two national titles in the 109-pound weight class. Shilson was a perfect 14-0 on the mat with six technical falls and six pins.
Augsburg finished 9th in the recently completed National Collegiate Championships in Michigan in early March. The event just missed getting caught up in the wave of COVID-19 cancellations.
“We were really lucky,” Shilson said. “If it had been a week later, then we would not have been able to wrestle. It was great for us to get that tournament in.”
