Triple Winner

KOKOMO — Four matches.

Three titles.

Two times defeating Turtle.

One clear best wrestler in the 155-pound weight class.

Jay County High School junior No. 1 Mallory Winner dominated everyone Friday as she earned her third Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state title with a 6-0 victory over Eastside’s No. 2 Rhaigyn “Turtle” Trenary in the tournament at Kokomo.

Jay County sent three girls in all to the state finals, with No. 11 Lina Lingo (24-11) breaking out and finishing fourth and No. 10 Emily Manor (21-4) falling to the eventual champion.

The three Patriot girls combined for 41 points to place seventh out of 118 teams.

New Haven ran away with the title by scoring 90 points.

“It was a pretty good day for us,” JCHS coach Eric Myers said. “You know, you always want 3-of-3 … at the beginning of the year, we were hoping to be a little bit higher team score wise, but the girls who were here today did their job. They all competed really hard and really well and we’re proud of their effort.”

That effort culminated in the 155-pound championship match for Winner (26-0) that was a rematch of the semi-state championship with Trenary (26-3).

The JCHS junior came prepared with a game plan to counter Trenary when she attacked her for a low single-leg.

“I was baiting her on it,” Winner said. “I set my leg up and as soon as she hit it, I got my feet back and sprawling and I knew I could get my two off of it.”

By focusing on her defense, Winner got easy offense on the counter, taking Trenary down once in each period.

Once Winner took control in each period, she held strong and refused to relinquish control, winning her the title.

“It feels awesome and I’m so excited,” Winner said. “My brother was always looking to get a state title for our grandpa that passed away of Alzheimer’s. I’ve been able to do it for him and that makes me really, really happy.”

Winner cruised to the championship match, wrestling a combined 6 minutes, 12 seconds, as she pinned her first three opponents. In those rounds, she took out No. 15 Sophia Rygiel (11-9) of Greenwood, No. 8 Kate McKee (29-10) of Perry Meridian and No. 3 Josie Hause (23-5) of Monrovia.

“You have a bit of a target on your back and you have to go through the grind of a season, to be able to come out today and dominate the way she did, I don’t think enough can be said for that,” Myers said. “Jay County wrestling fans cannot take what Mallory Winner is doing for granted. You’re just not going to see that very often, being a three-time state champion with a chance for a fourth.”

    Mallory Winner stands atop the podium after winning the 155-pound state championship match on Friday night. The junior, who won her first two state championships at 160, will have a chance to become Jay County’s first four-time state champion in 2025. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
  

Winner wasn’t the only Patriot to walk away with hardware.

Two seasons after not winning a single match and one after getting bounced in the opening round of the state finals, Lingo pulled off a pair of upsets to collect her first state medal.

The Jay County junior drew a first-round match with Switzerland County’s No. 9 Klaire Redwine (8-6). Lingo came out aggressive, needing only 20 seconds to get on the board with a takedown. With one minute remaining, Lingo began to drive Redwine into the mat for a near fall.

Lingo wouldn’t let that opening match go to a second period, pinning Redwine with five seconds remaining to pull off the upset and clinch a medal.

As she stood up after the whistle, Lingo’s hands were clasped over her mouth in shock and joy before she was announced the winner, went over to shake the opposing coaches hand and sprinted back to jump into the arms of assistant coach Troy Jacks.

“It was almost hard for me to believe,” Lingo said. “I still don’t think it’s set in.

“If you were to tell me my freshman year that I would be where I am today, I would have laughed in your face. I would have said you’re ridiculous, but I put in all the work.

“It feels so good to see where all the work I’ve done has taken me.”

Lingo followed up her opening-round win with a 6-3 upset over No. 2 Haylee Selis (16-4) of Penn.

The first period finished tied and Lingo chose to start the second on top. With 50 seconds left, Selis pulled off a reversal to crack the scoreboard.

Lingo followed the mistake up with a reversal of her own with 11 seconds on the clock that morphed into a three-point near fall to give her a 5-2 lead.

“She tried to cradle me and I just went with her momentum,” Lingo said. “She went on her back and I kept her there.

“I felt so much relief going into the third with a lead. I just had to keep working to prevent her from getting any more points.”

Lingo did just that by getting an escape to help secure her win.

She fell to Pendleton Heights’ No. 1 Maddie Marsh (14-0) by fall in 1:13. Marsh went on to win the state title.

After two scoreless periods in the third-place match, No. 5 Sian Rodgers (26-2) of Jeffersonville flipped Lingo in an escape attempt and ran a bar to pin her 45 seconds into the final period.

    Lina Lingo of JCHS looks at the official while attempting to pin No. 9 Klaire Redwine in a 135-pound opening-round match at the state finals Friday. Lingo pinned Redwine with five seconds left in the first period to earn her first state medal. Lingo went on to upset Penn’s second-ranked Haylee Selis in the quarterfinal round to earn herself a spot in the top four. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
  

No. 10 Manor also participated at state, falling to No. 1 Aleksandra Bastaic (16-6) of Highland — the defending and eventual repeat champion — by pin in 1:43 in the 145-pound opening round.

“Emily’s definitely a girl that could be on the podium,” Myers said. Manor medaled by finishing fifth in the state at 132 last season. “Just some circumstances that led up to today didn’t put her in the best spot and we didn’t get there but she gave it her all.”