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Fund-raiser scheduled for Olympian Coleman
Ellis Coleman of Oak Park (bottom) at the Olympic Trials April 2012 in Iowa City, Iowa. | Courtesy of Photographer Jonna Borgdorff.
Updated: July 22, 2012 7:57PM
A celebration of support for 2012 Olympic wrestler Ellis Coleman will be held from 3-7 p.m. June 24 at Doc Ryan’s, 7432 W. Madision St., Forest Park.
Tickets are $30 in advance from www.elliscolemangold.com and $35 at the door and include all-you-can-eat pizza, beer, wine and soda. Half of the proceeds from each ticket goes to the 2012 Ellis Coleman Olympic Fund.
For more information, visit: www.elliscolemangold.com
Years before the world knew of Ellis Coleman and his Flying Squirrel move with more than 5 million views on Youtube, the Oak Park-River Forest Huskies Wrestling Family knew he was a winner.
Coleman, a 2009 graduate of Oak Park-River Forest High School, has the enthusiastic backing of hundreds of alumni, coaches and friends who saw him mature from a member of the Little Huskies Wrestling Program as an eighth-grader to a member of the 2009 Illinois high school state championship wrestling team and now a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team at the 60kg weight class headed to London this summer.
The younger son of a single mother raising three children in Oak Park, Coleman has amazed spectators and athletes around the world with his agility, determination and humility. His is an inspiring story of becoming a world-class elite wrestler from a pre-teen enrolled in a sports program as a way to avoid trouble. He has succeeded with the help of a high school coach, the Olympic Training Center, friends, family and a community called the Huskies Wrestling Family.
“Ellis is one of our best guys ever in the program, and a real leader, the younger kids look up to Ellis so much,” said Mike Powell, head wrestling coach at Oak Park-River Forest High School.
With the goal of raising funds for what Coleman needs to win gold, the Huskies Wrestling Family and Huskies Booster Club are sponsoring a fund-raiser June 24 in Forest Park.
