Going for gold

The Patriots are looking to take home some hardware.

Some are aiming for gold.

Others would be happy just to be on the podium in the eighth spot.

But all five girls are looking to medal.

The five girls from the No. 5 Jay County High School girls wrestling team that will compete at the inaugural IHSAA State Finals at Corteva Coliseum at Indiana State Fairgrounds on Friday are looking to make it past the first round and earn medals.

At the state tournament, wrestlers only need to win their opening match to guarantee a spot on the podium. Each following match either moves them towards the championship of their respective weight class or into the consolation bracket.

“You want to get as many placers as possible,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “If you go in there, focus on one match at a time, then you’re able to go wrestle that first round, secure your medal and then everything there on is just taking one step up that podium every time. You can’t overlook anyone at that level.”

While she isn’t overlooking anyone in her bracket, three-time-state-champion No. 1 Mallory Winner (32-0) has the highest goal on the team —  win her fourth state title. 

Winner’s path to a title won’t be a cake walk. She opens with Providence Cristo Ray’s Jessica Martinez (21-6), which would be Winner’s 100th career victory. Should the higher seeds win, Winner’s 170-pound quarterfinal would be against No. 3 Laine Peppler (26-4) out of Rochester before a semifinal with No. 2 Grace McMahon (24-1) of Columbus East. Should the JCHS senior stave off the next two ranked wrestlers, potential title-match opponents include No. 4 Heaven Gardner of New Haven (23-5) and No. 11 Lydia Kwaleh (17-4) of Perry Meridian — both of whom Winner beat 1-0 at some point this season — as well as the fifth, seventh, ninth and 10th ranked wrestlers.

The stiff competition does not seem to have phased Winner as she aims for the gold.

“I’ve always been told, ever since I was itty bitty that wrestling is 90% mindset and 10% skill,” Winner said. “I just know that it’s all in your head. If you believe you’re the best, you’ll go out there and be the best.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling myself ever since I was a freshman that  I want to be the best and I’m gonna do what it takes.”

 Winner also mentioned she wants to see Jay County finish top four at the state tournament. With five Patriots wrestlers competing, the main threats to Jay County are No. 4 Columbus East (8), Franklin Central (7), No. 1 Merryville (6), No. 10 Mooresville (6), No. 2 Whiteland (6) and No. 3 Franklin Community (5). Winner will be helped by a pair of returners in No. 5 Katie Rowles (31-5) and No. 6 Lina Lingo (30-8).

Rowles was thrilled with her draw as she opens the 100 bracket with No. 10 Mariah Pope (15-5) of Bloomington South, someone she beat multiple times in the offseason. A victory would set her up against either No. 15 Jacqueline Mallory (9-3) of Lowell or Riverton Parke’s Shelby Leitgabel (17-4).

The highest-ranked wrestler Rowles could see in the semifinal is No. 3 Madisyn Mikels (7-0) of Portage, as No. 1 Ella Neibert (29-1) and No. 2 Claire May (27-1) are on a collision course in the bottom half of the bracket. With her draw, Rowles will have her eyes set on a run to the title match.

“I think I got the best draw I could have,” Rowles said. “I just need to stay focused, stay technique driven and not just try to be faster but sloppier. … I know I can definitely be top four and I think it would be really awesome to be in the finals.”

Lingo is favored to win her 135-pound opener against No. 13 Abigail Goodwin (27-6) of Bloomington South as well. Lingo has a tough draw, pitting her against the top-ranked wrestler out of Northwood, Naima Ghaffar (42-1) in the quarterfinal. For her to match last year’s top-four finish, she’ll need to find a way to upset Gahffar to earn a match against No. 3 Katy Vardaman (33-2) of Homestead.

“It’s my last time there, so I want to place obviously and get that medal for my senior year,” Lingo said. “But I really just want to take it all in and enjoy it because it’s the last time I’ll ever get to experience it. … I just need confidence in myself and knowing that I belong here and this is what I was made for.”

While Winner, Rowles and Lingo aren’t new to competing at state, this year will be a new experience for the group. With the IHSAA officially sanctioning girls wrestling for the first time this season, the state finals were moved from a high school gym —last year Kokomo hosted the tournament —to Corteva Coliseum. Myers — who also coaches the boys team, which wrestles at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the state series — knows it can be a struggle to block out the bright lights and is coaching the returners and two new state competitors to take it in while drowning it out.

“I always tell kids when they get to the state finals, ‘Whenever you walk out on that mat, you need to focus and isolate everything else outside of that circle,’” Myers said. “So these girls wrestling at Corteva Coliseum, that’s going to be a big step, especially if they haven’t wrestled anything like that. …

“That’s hard for kids. Whenever you get into that arena and do the parade of champions, you kind of want to take that in. That’s an experience that you’ve worked for, but once the matches start and that whistle blows, you’ve got to get focused.”

The other two Patriots, No. 11 Tatianna Willis (28-7) and Brenna Ruble (33-7) come in as underdogs in their opening match.

Willis will open the 110-pound bracket against Whiteland’s No. 4 Brooke Fuller (28-4). Willis and Fuller have squared off three times throughout their careers, with Fuller leading the series 2-1.

While Willis has fallen to the fourth-ranked wrestler, the win gives her some insight on how she can pull off the upset and move on in the tournament.

“The first one is going to be a tough one, but I’m ready to work this week,” Willis said. “I beat her last year when we were going back-and-forth and I got on top and got her in a backside half that she couldn’t get out of. … She’s gotten me in a couple of bars, so I’ve been working with Brenna and Pat (Rowles) on defending bars.”

A win would give Willis a quarterfinal matchup she’d be favored in against the victor of No. 15 Britain Whitmer (20-7) of Glenn and No. 16 Kadie Fearnow (25-6) of Clinton Prairie.

Ruble faces No. 9 Vika Konovalenko (27-7) out of Columbus North. While Konovalenko comes in as the favorite, Ruble is happy with the draw, noting how both wrestlers are freshman and will be on an equal playing field.

“I’ve looked at the girl and she seems very beatable if I wrestle to the best of my ability,” Ruble said. “We’re both freshmen so it goes hand-in-hand. … She’s very top heavy and likes to overpower you. So, I have to be more technical with her and setting up shots can really catch her off balance.”

A win over the freshman Bulldog would set Ruble up for a match with No. 2 Angel Smith (26-0) of Plymouth.

Both Willis and Ruble mentioned that their primary goals are to medal, even if it is just in eighth place. This will be the former’s last chance at placing at state, while the latter hopes to grow from the experience the next four years.