Discipline Fuels Underdog Triumph for Elahmadi

Dual-sport star wins HP’s first state wrestling title since 2019

Perhaps the most difficult sacrifice of Highland Park wrestler Amin Elahmadi’s state championship season came before his first match even started.

Elahmadi was a starting defensive lineman on the HP football team that finished as the Class 5A Division I state runner-up in late December, when he weighed 240 pounds.

With his first bout on the mat just two weeks later, the senior had to drop more than 20 pounds — over the holidays, no less.

“It was the most brutal shift I’ve had to go through,” Elahmadi said. “With my friends and family all eating. I had to stay strict with my diet.”

The culinary discipline paid off two months later, when Elahmadi pulled two upsets in the 215-pound weight class during the 5A state tournament in Cypress to become the first gold medalist for the Scots since three-time champion Aidan Conner in 2019.

“He told me three weeks before the state tournament that he was gonna win it,” said HP head coach Tim Marzuola. “He has a real persistence about him. He had all the attributes of being a state champion.”

During his four years with the program, Elahmadi was accustomed to peaking late in the season. Coming from football, he joined the squad more than a month into the season, and competed in about half as many matches as some of his teammates during the regular season.

He qualified for his first state tournament by placing fourth in District 9 and third in the Region III tournament — hardly a typical championship resume.

However, arguably the top two foes in his weight class, Anna’s Cash Williams and Winnsboro’s Anthony Fulmer, were both in the same district. Elahmadi came close to beating both of them, and just needed a rematch.

He took down Williams in overtime in the state semifinals and had eight hours to prepare for a final showdown against Fulmer, who boasted a 39-1 match record.

With the score tied in the closing seconds and another overtime looming, Elahamadi took a risk by hitting one of his favorite moves, scoring the decisive point to pull out a dramatic 6-5 victory.

“This was my last shot. I didn’t have to reserve anything. I gave it my all,” Elahmadi said. “Being the underdog helped a lot. That was the best feeling.”

Along the way, he became the lowest seed to triumph in any weight class at this year’s state tournament and the first HP football player to claim a wrestling championship since Stephen Dieb in 2013.

“I always wanted to be a state champ, but I never really imagined myself as one,” he said. “Winning was great, but I also beat two guys who beat me earlier in the season. It proved to me I could come back.”