Four for four

INDIANAPOLIS — Mallory Winner is a lot of things.

She’s a 4-H member.

She’s a pitcher on the softball team.

She’s a three-time IHSGW state champion.

She’s the first Jay County IHSAA state champ.

She’s a four-time state champion.

But most of all, Winner is a true Winner.

No. 1 Winner of the Jay County High School girls wrestling team claimed her fourth state title and the inaugural IHSAA state championship in the 170-pound weight class on Friday in Corteva Coliseum at Indiana State Fairgrounds by pinning 11th-ranked Lydia Kwaleh of Perry Meridian.

“It means a lot to me,” said Winner. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s really set in yet, that I’m a four-time state champion. But it means a lot to me to be able to bring this back to my community and to bring back to my family and give back to everybody that I love.”

She led a group of five Patriots who competed in the state finals. Four of Jay County’s wrestlers medaled to earn 52 points and finish sixth out of 146 teams. Katie Rowles claimed fourth in the 100-pound weight class, while Brenna Ruble and Lina Lingo each placed eight in the 120 and 135 weight classes, respectively.

“We brought five here and were able to get four medalists, that’s a pretty great day,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “Anytime you’re top 10 at state meet, you’ve got to be happy with that. … Coming away with a four-time state champ, sealing the deal there, having a freshman medalist, Katie Rowles breaks into the top four and Lina Lingo gets another state placement is a pretty great day for Jay County girls wrestling.”

For the second year in a row, Winner’s state title match was a rematch of the regional, in which she beat Kwaleh 1-0. Friday’s match went nothing like the first bout.

Winner got on the board after only 29 seconds with a single-leg takedown, rather than needing to rely on an escape. Kwaleh (20-5) got her own escape to cut the deficit to 3-1, but couldn't retaliate in the first period.

Kwaleh chose to start down in the second and almost escaped Winner’s control after 40 seconds. However, Winner got the junior on her back after a low single-leg and when Kwaleh flipped to her stomach, the top-ranked wrestler ran a double-wrist bar to earn the pin at 2:50. 

Following the victory, Winner started to tear up before running over to her father and assistant coach Jon Winner for an embrace.

“‘I just told myself that I had to improve my position, control the ties and I was just able to get to the shots today, where I wasn’t able to get to them last week,” Winner said.

“I just want to thank my family. Everybody that’s been supporting me the past four years like my coaches. I can’t thank my dad enough for being there day-in-day-out even when he doesn’t feel good. That means a lot to me. … It also just means a lot to me to get that fourth state title for my grandpa, who I know is looking over me and helped me out.”

Winner’s all-time record moved to 103-2 record — both losses came as she worked her way back into the lineup after suffering a broken leg.

Winner beat Providence Cristo Rey’s Jessica Martinez (21-7) in the opener with a 17-0 technical fall in 4:12 to notch her 100th career victory. 

Winner picked her spots against Rochester’s No. 3 Laine Peppler (28-6) in the quarterfinal, eventually getting her with a reversal into a cradle for the fall at the 18-second mark in the second period.

She also picked off No. 2 Grace McMahon (27-2) of Columbus East in the semifinal. With a 3-0 advantage, Winner chose top to start the second period and McMahon never found control as the No. 1 wrestler got the Olympian on her back in 3:12.

Rowles (33-7), who was ranked fifth in the state, started the day against No. 10 Mariah Pope (15-6) of Bloomington South. She needed 2:40 to secure a 16-0 technical fall, finishing it with a four-point near fall on a turk and half Nelson.

She rolled through Riverton Pike’s Shelby Leigabel (19-6), pinning the freshman in 1:47 to earn a trip to the semifinal against No. 3 Madisyn Mikels (10-1) of Portage.

Mikels pinned Rowles in 1:02, ending her shot at the title and pushing her to the 100 third-place match. 

She came up short against No. 2 Claire May (30-2) of Roncalli in her final match of the day, despite striking for a takedown just nine seconds into the match. May fought back on the second with her own takedown, but lost a point for a full Nelson.

Down by one, May chose to start the third period neutral, which worked out as she got Rowles in a headlock for the pin (3:38) after the JCHS junior tried for an underhook.

While the lightweight secured her first medal, she was unsatisfied with the result, relating it to last season when she fell in the ticket round of the semi-state.

“It’s something I’ve been waiting for for a while,” said Rowles. “It still kinda stinks right now, but I know I’ll be happy about it tomorrow. …

“It’s the same as the way I ended my season last year. That pain, that hurt sticks around for a while and while you hate it in the moment, it’s going to lead to better things.”

Also earning her first medal, Ruble (34-10) pulled off an upset in the 120 opener against No. 9 Vika Konovalenko (27-8) of Columbus North.

The freshman caught Konovalenko with a double underhook to throw her to the mat after 24 seconds. From there, she trapped the Bulldog’s arm and head to run something resembling a half nelson for the upset pin at 34 seconds.

“(Coming out aggressive) was big because I feel like it gave me confidence,” Ruble said. “(Medaling) as a freshman is pretty good, but you will always feel like you could do better than you did.”

Ruble dropped the following three matches to finish eighth. Despite keeping the quarterfinal close, she couldn’t pull off the upset against No. 2 Angel Smith (29-1) of Plymouth getting pinned in 3:39.

The freshman wasn’t able to bounce back against Marion’s Alana Montgomery (23-8), falling after 3:54. Ruble wrapped up her state experience with a loss via pin to No. 7 Amelia Mitchell (29-4) of Munster in 4:22 on a half nelson.

Lingo (31-11) battled all three periods against No. 13 Abigail Goodwin (27-8) of Bloomington South, to start her day with a 7-2 victory. She scored on a takedown in the first by pushing Goodwin’s head down and circling around. She ran a double arm bar in the second to get a four-point near fall, but gave up a reversal to hit the final score. She sprawled throughout the third to run down the clock.

Lingo ran into a buzz saw in the quarterfinals. No. 1 Naima Ghaffar (46-1) of Northwood was too much for the JCHS senior, pinning her in 2:37 after going up 7-0 with a double-leg takedown, an escape and a single-leg takedown.

Similar to Ruble, Lingo got upset by Franklin Central’s Madeline Thompson (27-11) in the consolation semifinal, putting her on the path to fight for seventh. The JCHS 135 pounder started on top in the second period but got reversed off of an attempt to throw Thompson, which allowed the Flash to get a near-side turk and run it into a butcher for the pin (5:49).

Lingo fell quickly in the seventh-place match as No. 15 Kenidi Nine (32-11) of Wawasee hit her with a side headlock that put her directly on her back in 47 seconds.

“I’m just happy I placed and I got to bring home a medal for my senior year,” said Lingo. “I still have four years (of college wrestling) to make up for it, but this was the last time I get to be here. … It was just emotionally draining.”

Suffering the only first-round loss for Jay County was No. 11 Tatianna Willis (28-8). The senior gave up a single-leg takedown and a near fall to No. 7 AnnMarie Shuler (32-7) of Seymour to go down 7-0 in the first period. She chose to start on top in the second, but got reversed into a headlock with 1 minute, 37 seconds, to go before being pinned at 18 seconds later.