Parsons’ revenge

Addison Flores got the better of Maleah Parsons when they met in junior high.

Two years later, as sophomores, Parsons was able to turn that around.

Parsons pinned Flores 21 seconds into the second period to help the Jay County High School girls wrestling team to a 60-6 victory over the Blackford Bruins in Thursday’s season opener. The Patriots also took down the North Miami Warriors 48-18.

There were only a total of eight contested matches for the Patriots (2-0), who won all three against the Bruins (0-2) and went 3-2 against the Warriors (1-1).

Jay County coach Eric Myers was pleased with the results.

“Our girls were very excited to get out and wrestle,” Myers said. “Getting out there and getting their first competition is pretty awesome. We did look a little rusty, and that's to be expected first match in the year, but we had some great things.

“We won some pretty nice matches there. But then you also take away from that match that we’ve got some stuff to work on. And that's fun too. You get done with your first match and you think ‘I'm ready to get back in the practice room and fix a few things.’”

Parsons and Flores opened the match between Jay County and Blackford in the 145-pound weight class.

Flores struck 30 seconds in when they were on the mat and she was able to roll over to gain control. Thirteen seconds later, Parsons pulled off a reversal and immediately forced Flores on her back for a three-point near fall to take a 5-2 lead.

With seconds remaining, Flores escaped but was called for an illegal move to end the first period 6-3 in favor of the Jay County sophomore.

Parsons chose to start up and never gave up control, pinning Flores 21 seconds into the second period.

“I got pretty tired during the match and to be honest, I wasn't the most confident,” Parsons said. “Whenever I was snapping her down, it seemed pretty easy to get her down. So that's what I used during the match. She seemed pretty good scrappy on the ground, so it was kind of hard to pin her but I did.”

The Patriots got some strong matches out of Lina Lingo, Kiley Williams and Mallory Winner.

Williams faced off with freshman Brylee Edwards at 190. They were on their feet for the bulk of the first period, with Edwards putting Williams in a headlock while the Jay County junior pulled to Edwards’ leg to try and gain an advantage.

Williams eventually gained control as she took Edwards down with 46 seconds left and got a near fall. Time ran out before Williams could finish the pin, resulting in a 5-0 lead heading into the second period.

Williams started up in the second period and kept control, pinning Edwards 41 seconds into the second period.

“When we get on the ground I feel like I have more confidence,” Williams said. “(On the mat), I just power halved, pushed through and got her to turn.”

Winner won her 155 match against Maddy Jiminez in under 40 seconds.

The Patriot star and two-time state champion immediately forced a take down before allowing an escape and getting another takedown to rack up a 4-1 lead. As Jiminez tried to escape the ring, Winner pulled her back in to quickly pin her.

Lingo won a pair of matches in the 130 weight class. Against Blackford’s Sara Yoho, Lingo gained control 30 seconds in and subsequently forced the fall.

In Lingo’s match against Lindsey Pugh of North Miami, she was up 2-0 and started on the bottom in the second period. An escape and a takedown put her in position to pin Pugh.

“Lina was at a position where the girl was going for one of those (throws),” Myers said. “It’s kind of a bulldog position. And (Lingo) ended up clamping down on that elbow and hitting a fireman, which was a beautiful moment.”

The other win came from Jay County’s Willow Hardy who pinned Blackford 125 pounder Jolee Tallman.

After developing an 8-0 lead, Hardy lost to North Miami’s Sophia Wohlfarth by a fall.

“Sophia is one of those kids that believes if she gets tough one time in a match, she has a chance to win,” NMHS coach Byron Sweet said. “Sophia committed to that one move. She believed in it. And she hit a reset and she was able to hit that move.”

The only other match was in the 115 weight class between Tatiana Willis and North Miami’s Lilly Quinn. Willis was able to stay alive for two and a half periods, but was pinned with 54 seconds remaining.

Myers was happy to see North Miami early in the season to gain some more experience with a team that likes to throw a lot so the Patriots aren’t as shocked if they see it later in the season.

The Patriots are back in action today as they travel to New Palestine for a tournament.

“I was excited about getting a little bit of live wrestling in,” Myers said. “We go to New Palestine on Saturday, and there's some good teams there. So I'm glad we kind of got our feet wet before we jump into the deep end.”