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Ellis Coleman (born August 16, 1991) is an American
wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...
from Chicago who won the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials to compete for the United States team in the Greco-Roman 60 kg competition of
Wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics were held between 5 and 12 August, the final day of the Games, at ExCeL London. It was split into two disciplines, Freestyle and Greco-Roman which were further divided into different weight categories. Men ...
at the 2012 Olympics. Coleman overcame challenging life conditions after being enrolled in youth wrestling classes. As a high school senior for
Oak Park and River Forest High School , motto_translation = Those things that are best , address = 201 N. Scoville Avenue , location = , region = , town = Oak Park , county = , state ...
finished third in the state wrestling championships. On several occasions, Coleman executed a takedown by jumping over his opponent and grabbing him as he flew over his back. Coleman is sometimes referred to as the Flying Squirrel for this takedown move that he has made famous.


Background

Coleman was raised by his single mother, Yolanda Barral, in
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. Coleman describes his biological father, Lewellis Coleman, as a person who was "in and out of jail iswhole life." Apart from visiting him in jail, the only memory he has of his father is the time his father sold all the family's
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
s and the PlayStation for drugs. Federal records describe his biological father as a "career offender" with 19 aliases. His mother raised the family, including Coleman's brother (Lillashawn) and sister, in the Humboldt Park community area, then the West Side and finally Oak Park. Coleman describes his stepfather as a long-time gang member with an extensive criminal record. After enduring formative years with gunfights outside elementary school, home loss due to an apartment fire, and expulsion hearings, his stepfather, Mose Oliver, introduced him to wrestling to keep him out of trouble. Federal records confirm that Oliver is an alleged 1990's gang enforcer who served time from 2004 to 2011 for participation in Operation Day Trader. The wrestling started in about 2001. By sixth grade both his father and stepfather were incarcerated and his father figure was his wrestling coach, Mike Powell. Coleman attended Ella Flagg Young elementary school. Barral raised her family with little assistance away from the gang influences of the West Side. She applied for section 8 assistance. Coleman, who was nearly expelled as a sophomore, graduated from
Oak Park and River Forest High School , motto_translation = Those things that are best , address = 201 N. Scoville Avenue , location = , region = , town = Oak Park , county = , state ...
in
Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...
in 2009. He studied at
Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...
.


Wrestling career

As a high school senior at the 2009
Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...
Class 3A tournament, Coleman endured his only loss of the season to Maxamillian Schneider of
Lane Technical College Prep High School Lane Tech College Prep High School (often shortened to Lane Tech, full name Albert Grannis Lane Technical College Preparatory High School), is a public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on ...
to finish third and end the season with a 49–1 record. Following the loss, his
heart rate Heart rate (or pulse rate) is the frequency of the heartbeat measured by the number of contractions (beats) of the heart per minute (bpm). The heart rate can vary according to the body's physical needs, including the need to absorb oxygen and excr ...
reached 225, necessitating treatment by
paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...
s. In 2011, a video of Coleman was posted to
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. Subsequently, Coleman gained a cult-following for the recording of him performing a move at the 2011 Junior World Championships that he calls "The Flying Squirrel", which involves
somersault A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards ...
ing over his opponent just before his takedown. He has performed the move at the 2009 Sunkist Open against Joe Betterman. He also performed the move against Iran's Mehdi Zidvand in the quarter finals at the 2011 Junior World Championships. Coleman claims he has used the "Flying Squirrel" move over a dozen times in competition. His successful attempt of the move at the 2011 Junior World Championships made the number 1 on SportsCenters Top 10 Plays and was ranked third on the
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
2011 Best of the Best Highlights. He appeared on
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
's morning shows, such as ''
ESPN First Take ''First Take'' is an American sports talk television show on ESPN. Episodes air daily Monday through Friday, with the live episode airing from 10am North American Eastern Time Zone, ET until noon, with reruns from noon to 2pm ET on ESPN2 and from ...
''. The move made him so famous that he received lucrative offers to begin a
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
career, but he declined in favor of continuing his Olympic dream. Coleman credits his brother for the move. Ellis is a five-time Greco-Roman US Open champion in (2013, 2016–2019) winning the Outstanding Wrestler Award in 2013. Ellis defeated Betterman 2 to 0 at the finals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Coleman had attended Betterman's wrestling clinics when he was younger. Coleman was the youngest member of the American wrestling delegation at the 2012 Olympics. After Coleman qualified for the Olympics, he realized that his mother, who works in customer service for the
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Illinois charged with building, operating, and maintaining toll roads in the state. The roads, as well as the authority itself, are sometimes referr ...
, could not afford to attend due to financial hardship. Coleman was living at the
United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Sprin ...
in
Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
on a limited monthly stipend from the
United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
and could not assist her. Mike Powell, Coleman's coach at Oak Park, rented Coleman's family a one-bedroom flat in London out of personal funds and the Oak Park High School wrestling program subsequently raised $14,000 to ensure that his mother, aunt and siblings could attend. Coleman dropped from the 66 kg division to the 60 kg division for the Olympics. Coleman lost in the first round of Olympic competition to Ivo Angelov of
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
by a 3–1 score. 2012 Olympic American gymnast
Gabby Douglas Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2 ...
also became known for the nickname "Flying Squirrel". In an attempt to solidify his nickname while training in Colorado Springs, Coleman purchased a pet flying squirrel that he keeps in a cage and feeds apples. His
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
handle is @daFlyinSquirrel.


References


External links

*
YouTube of Flying Squirrel takedown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Ellis 1991 births African-American sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the United States Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Living people American male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in wrestling Pan American Wrestling Championships medalists 21st-century African-American sportspeople