Scott Swanson
Kelsie Rush may not have been thinking long-term when she asked Coach Steve Thorpe in the summer of 2021 about the possibility of participating in the inaugural women’s-only wrestling camp to be held in the state of Oregon, hosted by Sweet Home High School.
“Kelsie came to camp with Riley Watkins, neither of whom had ever wrestled,” Thorpe recalled. “There were just a handful of girls there – 24. It was the first one.”
But Thursday, May 18, it was clear that Rush has come a long way from that initial introduction to the sport, as she signed a letter of intent to wrestle for the newly established women’s program at Linfield University.
“It’s kind of amazing, where I’m at,” Rush said as she prepared for the signing ceremony.
She started wrestling as a junior and “started off pretty slow” in her senior season, but started finding success in late January, winning an individual title at the Linn County Championships at 110 pounds after wrestling up 10 pounds through the Oregon Classic.
“That was a pretty big achievement for me,” Rush said of the county tournament.
She said Linfield Coach Chad Hanke and Assistant Coach Alyssa Lampe both “reached out to me and they gave me a really good tour of their wrestling room and academic center.”
Linfield, she said, has “an amazing medical science program” that she was already interested in.
Coaches, she said, watched her at the Oregon Classic and then made her a “pretty nice” offer to compete for Linfield.
“They have a really good community of the wrestlers,” Rush said, noting that former Husky Kami Hart, who showed up to the signing ceremony, is already on the Wildcats roster.
Rush said she plans to wrestle at 110 pounds.
“There’s no one at my weight that I know but I do know Cami,” she said.
Thorpe said Rush’s character is what speaks about her, including to coaches.
“A couple of coaches reached out to me after watching her at the Linn County Championshps and the Oregon Classic,” he said.
“What’s impressed me the most is how she’s been a leader in our women’s program. She embraced wrestling.
“Kelsie is a risk-taker. She’s absolutely willing to take a risk and when you’re willing to fail, you’re finally going to start to succeed and that’s what happened to her.
“She stepped into wrestling, put the work in and took her lumps.”
Rush, he said, lost a “heartbreaker” in the blood round in one of the biggest brackets at this year’s regional tournament.
“She lost a very tough match, then to put your shoes on the next day to warm up your teammate – that speaks to her character. That says what kind of spouse you’re going to be one day, what kind of mom you’re going to be one day, what kind of employee, what kind of boss.”
Linfield will be a good fit, he said, not only because Hart is there, but because Rush has the ability to thrive in the academic environment the school offers.
“It’s kind of a neat thing,” Thorpe said.