Shellitha Collins’ lightning quick escape, takedown and pin brought a roar of approval from the NJSIAA Girls State Wrestling Championships crowd at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in March.
But when the Ewing High School senior channeled her inner Simone Biles to celebrate, the crowd’s crescendo grew even louder.
After Collins became the first to defeat Union’s Alissa Alcindor this season to claim her second straight 235-pound state title, she immediately popped up from Alcindor, took a short running start and executed a perfect roundoff cartwheel, and upon sticking the two-footed landing, she promptly dropped into a full split. Her memorable celebration capped an unforgettable career in the girls division that has taken off.
“Winning this year, the feeling was greater,” Collins said. “I felt more accomplished because last year I felt like maybe it’s just luck, I couldn’t do it twice. And I did it twice. So I have it in me.”
The celebratory move after making more history was something that Trenton wrestler Princessstorm Woody had dared her to do if she won again. Collins could barely hold in her emotions after the win as her accomplishment set in, but she remembered the dare after battling back from a 1-0 deficit to start the third and final period.
“I just got up and did it,” Collins said. “I don’t think I was that tired ‘cause if I was really tired, I wouldn’t do it.”
Collins had plenty of energy left to celebrate her final achievement, another title to one-up both of her brothers, who also wrestle. Younger brother Patrick Collins was a freshman this year for the Blue Devils. Older brother Lavinsky Collins competes for Clarion University now. He placed as high as fourth in the boys state wrestling championships, and it was him that prompted her to start with Ewing recreation wrestling in second grade.
“I was in my follower stage and my brother wrestled, so I wanted to wrestle too,” Shellitha said. “I was following everything my older brother did.”
Now it’s everyone else that is following her. Collins became the first wrestler in Ewing High history to win a state wrestling title last year. She proved it was no fluke with this year’s win.
“Whenever you reach the peak, it’s mainly just continuously pushing them to get better and for them to not get complacent,” said Ewing High head coach DJ Zedalis. “For the most part, she had that drive herself, so it was mainly just finetuning things, making sure that we perfected every single move, even like the tiniest little quirk in a move. Me and my assistant coach, Jason Bruno, were right on or to just make sure she was in tiptop shape.”
Collins fought through some early challenges to get to her second state title. She lost two of 21 matches according to FloWrestling statistics, falling 5-2 to eventual fourth-place state finisher Samantha Domask of Palmyra, after losing earlier in the year to Alcindor in the Bloomfield Holiday Tournament after defaulting due to injury.
“We were telling her at the beginning of the season, ‘You know people are after. You’ve got the target on your back,’” Zedalis said. “I think being that it happened so early in the season, I’m glad that it happened early on because it was almost kind of a wake-up call for her. Like oh shoot, people are going to be chasing me. I can’t plateau here. I have to continue making the peak of the mountain higher.
“So for her to lose two early on, she lost to the Union girl that she ended up beating in the finals and the girl from Palmyra, two really good wrestlers, and bounce back like she did. She didn’t hang her head. She just kind of took it as a, all right, I gotta get after it now.”
Collins had plenty of motivation when she reached Atlantic City for states. While she was defending state champion, she was the No. 2 seed because of the earlier loss to Alcindor. She looked focused on a mission as she marched to states with three pins in regions in a total of 1:21 wrestling time. Another two pins in 2:24 and 4:37 put her in the state title where Collins earned her payback on the biggest stage.
“I’m anemic, “Collins said. “The day that I lost, I was like really low on iron and I was weak, but I just proved why I’m the champion.”
Collins was also champion at 235 in the inaugural Mercer County Girls Tournament. Ewing placed third in the team standings, just two points behind runner-up Hamilton West. Trenton won the title. Collins was one of three individual champions that day for the Blue Devils. Samantha Dupee won the 120-pound crown an Alexandra Neuberger won the 152-pound weight class. Franchesca Edouard was second at 165 and Khyla Villard took second at 185 pounds.
“I was surprised,” Collins said. “I didn’t think they would actually do it, but they did and we placed third. It was so much fun.”
Collins also enjoyed being a part of the growing Ewing team. The Blue Devils regularly had nine girls in their practices along with the boys team. Dupee and Neuberger both had winning records while competing with the boys team, but there are enough girls that they are moving towar getting their own girls-only season schedule. Collins has never been a fan of wrestling boys, and seeing the emergence of the girls side was a big plus to her career.
“I love the community that I have with all the girls that joined my team this year because a lot of them are first-time wrestlers and all that stuff,” Collins said. “I just love it. Now it’s like a bigger community than it was because it was small. Everybody almost knew each other. It was fun to see new people come into the mix.”
Collins’ success has opened the eyes of other girls to the opportunity to wrestle and flourish in it. Winning again has put that standard out there again.
“You could see it in the rec program,” Zedalis said. “The rec program’s growing. I think it’s also just good for the community itself. The sport is tough and nobody from Ewing has ever done it before. So for somebody to finally reach that pinnacle and not only once, but twice, it’s driving a lot more kids to join that rec program and it’s just growing the wrestling community as a whole. So I’m having a lot of interest now from just girls at the high school that are like, the sport is growing, ‘I’ve always been interested in it. I didn’t realize how big it is.’ And you know Shellitha really put that on the map for Ewing as a whole. It’s pretty cool.”
Collins has come a long way from her rec wrestling days, and even over her high school career. She placed fifth at states as a sophomore before winning back-to-back championships.
“I feel like I had more confidence in the beginning,” Collins said. “I thought I was going to beat everyone. But then after you lose, then you actually think to yourself, maybe I can’t beat everyone. I just take all my opponents seriously.”
Collins has developed into a smarter wrestler in her time at Ewing High. There are plenty of strong girls in the 235-pound class, and she needed to rely on more than power. It’s one way that Collins has evolved into a better wrestler.
“I use my head a lot more,” Collins said. “It’s not about my brute strength because I’m not that strong honestly. I just use my head and I use logic. I try to see stuff happening in my head before it happens that way I can prevent it. I’m very cautious.”
Collins’ reputation as a strong wrestler grew each year. She had other wrestlers in Atlantic City telling her that they were scared of her.
“I feel like I look like a really friendly person because I am friendly,” Collins said.
Except on the mat.
“Yeah,” Collins said. “Not at all.”
On the wrestling mat, Collins was a different person. She brought everything necessary to be a champion.
“Wrestling is a sport where it’s individual,” Zedalis said. “So if you go into a match thinking you’re going to lose or even have the slightest bit of doubt, you’re probably not going to go out there and do well. She had the confidence. She had the moves. She had the strength, the size. She’s just a great all-around wrestler.”
Collins is still debating whether her wrestling career is over. She is looking to attend a four-year college, but would have to find the right combination of a school with a women’s wrestling program to continue.
“It’s something I’ve thought about, it’s something that I have to consider,” Collins said. “I have to really think if that’s the best fit for me.”
Collins has cemented her spot in Ewing wrestling history. She became a dominant wrestler, one of only three girls wrestlers in all of Mercer County to win two state titles in their careers. She ended her high school career atop the podium for a memorable finish.
“It was great,” Collins said. “I broke a lot of records. I broke Ewing records. I broke a lot of records and I can know my name is going to be out there for a while about the things I did.”
Including an all-time great celebration after repeating as state champion.
Ewing High School’s Shellitha Collins (center) stands atop the podium after winning the 235-pound state title at the NJSIAA Wrestling Championships on March 2, 2024 in Atlantic City.,
