Grappling with choice

Beyond her accomplishments on the women’s national scene, Addison Trail’s Veronica Carlson hopes to qualify for state this year against the boys at 135 pounds.
(For the Sun-Times)

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Addison Trail’s Veronica Carlson has a very important decision to make: Continue high school wrestling or move on to train for the Olympics?

Carlson, a 135-pound junior and an All-American, traveled the world last summer and established herself as a potential Olympian. Since starting her high school career, she has improved at a phenomenal rate while wrestling against boys, parlaying her offseason success into a standing offer to train for the 2012 women’s Olympic team at the United States Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.

USOEC coach Shannyn Gillespie and his staff want Carlson so badly that they have asked her to forgo her senior year of high school wrestling and begin training immediately. The coaches even asked her to come to Michigan during her sophomore and junior seasons, but she turned them down.

A three-year starter for coach Rob Serio, Carlson is a tireless worker.

‘‘She never complains or says, ‘Why do I have to do that?’’’ Serio said. ‘‘She is the hardest worker I have ever been around, guy or girl. She is unbelievable.’’

Carlson, who also swims and runs track, got a late start in wrestling. Most Addison wrestlers started at age 6 and wrestled at Indian Trail Junior High.

‘‘I was like, ‘Are you crazy?’’’ said her mother, Sherri Carlson.

Carlson had the coach convince Sherri that she should wrestle, but she suffered a broken nose after her first five matches in seventh grade.

By the time she entered high school, she was a solid 135-pounder with a United States Girls Wrestling Association national title.

After winning only five matches against boys, Carlson’s work ethic won over coaches and teammates.

‘‘There was more pressure to do better on varsity,’’ Carlson said. ‘‘I didn’t win a lot, but I worked very hard in the wrestling room, and I went the whole season without missing practice. I was awarded Most Improved.

‘‘I rarely gave up a pin in a match. My best match of the season was spent fighting off my back for a full minute 45 seconds in the first period, and then tearing a muscle in my shoulder trying not to get turned again in the next two periods. I didn’t win, but I felt I had accomplished something. I was not one to give up. I think I have adjusted well since then.’’

The summer after her freshman year, Carlson validated her presence on the women’s national scene.

Finishing second at the Asics national championships and earning All-American honors in her first season of international freestyle wrestling, she got her first offer for Olympic training.

After a stint at the United States Olympic Center in Colorado Springs for three weeks, Carlson was introduced to her future coaches.

‘‘I have talked to her Olympic training coaches, and they love her work ethic and can’t wait until she’s there,’’ Serio said.

This summer, Carlson captured a spot on the World Junior Team that traveled to Venezuela, and she was chosen to wrestle in the Canada Cup after a first-place showing at FILA Cadets. She also won the prestigious Asics Freestyle National Championship.

But Carlson has some unfinished business.

Having failed to qualify for state last season, she is optimistic she can be the first female since current USA World team member Mary Kelly of Mahomet-Seymour in 2002 to make it to the state finals.

‘‘I am aggressive, a brawler but not quicker or stronger than the boys,’’ Carlson said. ‘‘I am in good shape and I have a lot of stamina. Right now my first goal is to qualify for regionals.’’

Carlson’s coach thinks her goal is an uphill battle.

‘‘She understands she is in a tough weight class,’’ Serio said.

Her mother probably has the best perspective.

‘‘I would never have thought she would go this far,’’ Sherri Carlson said. ‘‘She has built this ship, so we will see how far she can sail it. I think it is a neat opportunity and I trust that whatever decision Veronica makes, it will be the right one.’’