You’ll want to watch Winner this winter

In about 25 years writing about sports, this marks the first time I’ve written a column nine months in advance.

That should say something about how I feel about the importance of the sentiments I’m about to express.

I started dictating it on my phone just before midnight Jan. 12 after finishing up work on the evening that Mallory Winner won her third consecutive Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state championship.

Just about an hour earlier, I was telling reporter Bailey Cline that at this point Mallory is probably the most accomplished athlete in the history of Jay County High School. Previously, I explained, it had to have been Kerri McClung, a 2000 JCHS graduate who was a two-time state champion and two-time state runner-up in the shot put.

But three state championships, that probably put Mallory at the top of the list.

So, as Mallory and her fellow Patriots prepare to start their 2024-25 season Thursday, Nov. 7, I ask you this question: Have you ever seen her wrestle?

For those of you who are a part of the Jay County wrestling community, and there are plenty of you, the answer is yes. Many of you probably saw her wrestle when she was in elementary school.

But for many, many more of you, the answer is no.

I challenge you to change that in the coming weeks and months. Come and see Mallory wrestle.

Here are your opportunities, right here in Jay County:

•Thursday, Nov. 21, against Columbia City

•Tuesday, Dec. 10, versus Delta, Yorktown and Winchester

•Thursday, Dec. 12, against New Haven

•Tuesday, Dec. 17, versus Norwell

•Monday, Dec. 23, as the Patriots host the East Central Indiana Classic

You don’t have to drive far to make this happen. You don’t have to spend a lot of money.

Some of you may be sitting back right now and saying:

•“But I don’t care about wrestling.”

•“I don’t understand wrestling.”

•“I don’t like wrestling.”

None of that matters.

The only thing that matters is that arguably the most accomplished athlete in the history of Jay County High School, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, is about to begin competing in her final season as a Patriot.

Take advantage of this opportunity so that sometime down the road, when Mallory is wrestling for championships in college, being inducted onto the Jay County Wall of Fame, when she becomes an Indiana High School Wrestling Hall of Famer — all of which will surely happen — you can look back and say, “I saw her when.”