Beating the Bearcats

MUNCIE — Wrestlers typically only need to grapple for two minutes at a time before getting a break.

Brenna Ruble got a different experience in her seventh match of the season, and the freshman utilized every extra second to the fullest.

Taking advantage of nearly an extra 30 seconds in the 115-pound match, Ruble secured her seventh career pin in the first round to help the Jay County High School girls wrestling team take down the Muncie Central Bearcats 54-15 on Thursday.

The Patriots (3-0) got to wrestling in eight matches during its third dual meet of the season, claiming victory in five.

“Our girls are wrestling pretty well right now,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “It’s fun to see them grow. … It’s fun and exciting to be able to come out here and wrestle against a team like Muncie Central, who’s growing their program also and has a good group of girls. They’ve got a good coach in A.J. Bradley and it’s good to get a good weeknight dual in. You wouldn’t have been able to say that a couple of years ago, but it’s a lot of fun.”

It was one of the Jay County freshmen’s matches that stood out during the meet.

Ruble and Muncie Central’s Courtney Thrash were deadlocked for the first 90 seconds of the 115 contest before the JCHS freshman executed a single-leg takedown to get three points on the board.

After about five more seconds, assistant coach John Winner realized the clock had not been running and alerted the operator. After it finally started, a few seconds ran off before they cut a minute off the time and continued.

During that final minute, Ruble worked a far side cradle on Thrash, leading to a pin milliseconds before the clock sounded to end the round.

“I was definitely starting to feel that,” Ruble said. “The girl that I wrestled, she was very strong in my opinion and a very good wrestler. I just stayed with it and did not give up. … I found that I could work her more and get her more worn out. Then instead of having that short time (where) I’d have to rush into the move I felt like I had more time to lock the cradle up.”

Ruble is now 7-0 in her career with all seven matches ending by fall in the first period.

The 115-pounder wasn’t the only freshman to find success early in the season, as Amara Crawford pinned Ava Platt 40 seconds into the 190-pound match. Crawford has also won all of her matches by fall this season to sit at 6-0.

“We’ve got a good group to start with, but then to be able to add like those two who’ve wrestled for us in club and middle school and come in experienced, that has really helped solidify our girls team from top to bottom,” Myers said.

The Patriots also got three victories from former state competitors.

Emily Manor got things started with a victory in the 140 match. She took down Learah Rollins early in the opening period and got two 4-point near falls to lead 11-0. A Manor takedown, a Rollins reversal and then an escape gave the JCHS senior a 15-2 advantage going into the third. Starting on top in the final period, Manor forced Rollins to the mat to secure the pin with 1 minute, 40 seconds remaining in the contest.

Mallory Winner (who came in ranked 27th nationally in the 170 weight class by USA Wrestling, FloWrestling and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum) made quick work of Yarimar Figueroa. She got a two-leg takedown in three seconds before eventually getting the fall in 45 seconds.

Maleah Parsons also pulled off a win over Alyssa Black in the 145 contest. The two got whistled three times for going out of bounds in the first 23 seconds. 

After the third time, John Winner directed Parsons to shoot for Black’s hips. During the next action, Parsons immediately executed a double-leg takedown, leading directly to a pin in 29 seconds.

“She was going straight arms on me and I was mostly trying to snap her down, but that wasn’t really working,” Parsons said. “I just like pushed her arms up and went forward (on the last try) when she was pushing into me.”

The rest of the Patriots’ points came off of forfeits. Filling in the weight classes for the free points were Katie Rowles — who is ranked 30th national in the 95-pound weight class despite it not existing in Indiana — (100), Tatianna Willis (120), Sophie Thomas (130) and Lina Lingo (135). (Neither team had wrestlers for the 105 and 110 weight classes.)

Two of Jay County’s losses came by pin while the other was an 11-7  decision. Jumping up into the 235-pound weight class, Rayan Murphy fell to Rianna Webb in 59 seconds.

Allison Tipton held a 7-3 advantage with a minute left in the second period before Noemi Galan got a reversal on her. Galan kept working Tipton before eventually getting the JCHS sophomore on her back with 18.5 seconds remaining in the 125 contest.

Maddie Gage battled with Amaya Stoudemire in the 155 match. Gage got the first takedown with 31 seconds left in the first period to lead 3-0. Gage started on top in the second and held Stoudemire down until there were six seconds left. The junior Bearcat pulled off a reversal and a 4-point nearfall to claim a 6-3 advantage. A single-leg takedown and a 2-point nearfall got Stoudemire to 11 points, while Gage only managed a reversal and 2-point nearfall, coming up just short of a pin as time expired.

“We’re going to have some minor setbacks here and there, but I think that’s how we’re going to learn,” Myers said. “Not everything’s going to go right in every position and every match like we want it to, but I think that’s the way our girls are going to learn. We’ll get back into the room and fix some things and be ready to progress forward.”