The Illinois wrestling star Lucas Byrd was recently seen posing for a photo alongside his 6’3″ girlfriend, Ellie Holzman, after his historic fourth All-American honor. This snapshot garnered a lot of attention online.
Byrd entered the D1 championships and started with two consecutive wins. However, he fell short during the quarterfinals. Nonetheless, he fell into the consolation bracket, fought in the blood round, and beat Julian Farber to grab the All-American Top 8 spot on the NCAA podium.
Byrd was seen holding the championship trophy in a photo with his girlfriend, Ellie. Standing at 5’6″, Byrd was seen smiling through the photo, and so was 6’3″ Holzman, who donned a shirt featuring Byrd. Fans online responded to the post with amusing reactions, given the striking height contrast.
Ellie Holzman herself is a former NCAA volleyball player for Illinois. She met Byrd at the same university. The couple is known for posting videos on social media, specifically highlighting their physical contrast.
Byrd has acknowledged his girlfriend Holzman’s support during his previous wrestling tenures, highlighting her standing by him and how difficult long-distance relationships can be.
Holzman also took to social media to congratulate her partner on his win and pointed out his clean, substance-free profile.
Lucas Byrd Talks About His 133 Weight Class
Lucas Byrd has had years of experience wrestling within the 133 lbs class. However, when asked how he felt going through another year with the same weight, he pointed out that it could leave a feeling of being left out due to seniority, considering many of the young freshmen fall into this bracket.
“It’s something I feel like I got put out of the back burner, as soon as all the freshmen came in, pour centered, inside-out, oh, “Keep the old guy, put him in the back burner,” but yeah, it doesn’t bother me,” he said (1:07).
While speculating on how being the older one in the bunch might have put him in the back, he highlighted his own strengths. He mentioned his signature way of ending matches is gritty, rather than flashing scoreboards with huge numbers.
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