Patriot progress

It wasn’t the strongest freshman year for Sophia Thomas, finishing the year with only five victories.

The Patriot sophomore grabbed a win in her first four matches, but it was her fifth contest of the year that produced one of her best results.

Thomas won her second match of the year by fall with just three seconds remaining in the first period to add to the No. 3 Jay County High School girls wrestling team’s 60-12 victory over the Columbia City Eagles on Thursday.

“I thought our girls wrestled great,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “Sophia Thomas came out and got a nice win. Our girls that were heavily favored got really nice wins. Maleah Parson’s win was one of the bigger ones, she had one of Columbia City’s better girls.

“Just really happy with our girls’ effort and progress. I think they just keep improving and that’s the path we have to keep them on. Make sure they don’t get content and just keep grinding and keep plugging away.”

The Patriots (4-0) won nine of 11 contested matches, including Thomas’ victory over Alexa LaFever in the 120-pound weight class.

Thomas fell behind early, as LaFever worked her way around her body for a takedown 17 seconds into the match. The JCHS sophomore got a point back on an escape four seconds later, but got taken down again to trail LaFever 6-1 with 1 minute, 25 seconds remaining in the first period.

Thomas stood up to escape a second time with 1:12 left on the clock. Thirty-six seconds later, she countered a shot from the CCHS freshman for a takedown of her own, cutting the deficit to 6-5. Thomas began to run a half nelson and turn LaFever over. With just three seconds remaining, Thomas got the Eagle on her back, eliciting an uproar from her teammates for the comeback-victory.

“I realized the girl was more at my skill, so I knew it was possible to beat her,” Thomas said, while noting it was LaFever’s timidness that gave her confidence. “I tried pushing myself a little more to get the win because I knew it was possible.”

Last season, Thomas had a 5-16 record while competing in the 105 weight class. With the move up to the 120, she has worked a 2-3 record on the young season, with both victories coming by fall.

“It feels awesome, because last year I only got one real win by pin,” Thomas said. “It just feels awesome that I’m finally improving and I’m actually getting to get wins this year. … It’ll give me a lot more confidence.”

The Patriots got wins from another pair of less experienced wrestlers in Allison Tipton and Reagan VanSkyock.

Tipton, a first-year wrestler, got on the board early by countering a shot by Columbia City’s Avah Hyden in the 125 contest. Once getting Hyden to the mat, it took 36 seconds to secure the pin.

VanSkyock, a freshman, faced off against Jaylynn Smith in the 140 match. She needed 22 seconds to circle around Smith for a takedown and 38 more for the fall.

“It wasn’t really the moves, it was really the aggression,” said VanSkyock. “I did a single leg into a half (nelson), but if I wasn’t aggressive, none of that would have worked.”

“It was definitely being aggressive, getting a tight grip and making sure I keep that tight grip,” Tipton added. “(The win) definitely boosts your confidence and helps you feel like you can keep pushing and keep getting better.”

Myers also highlighted Parson’s match with Hanna Maggard, who finished 16th in the rankings, in the 145 weight class. The two were hand fighting for nearly the first minute, and Parsons was able to prevent giving up a takedown by moving the action out of bounds. Once back in the middle, Parsons hit Maggard with a level-change double-leg takedown, which gave her good positioning to quickly get the CCHS senior on her back for the pin with 38 seconds remaining in the opening period.

Two Jay County freshmen came into Thursday’s dual match undefeated. Brenna Ruble left the match 8-0 after pinning Alena Lang 1:10 into the 115-pound contest.

Amara Crawford wasn’t as lucky facing off with No. 3 Michela Clifford. The JCHS freshman stayed even with the senior through the first period of the 190 match, but gave up points on a hand locking violation, an escape, a takedown where Clifford snapped her head down and eventually got pinned in 3:06.

Columbia City had two more ranked wrestlers, No. 6 Alexes Spaulding (120) and No. 6 Vivian Parke (235), that did not wrestle in the match.

The only other loss came from Madison Gage in the 155 weight class. Gage trailed Eden Taylor 4-3 headed into the third and was forced to start on bottom. She fell with 1:10 left in the contest.

The Patriots got points from five other weight classes. They were:

•No. 8 Emily Manor pinning Fe’ Waithira 50 seconds into the second period of the 135 contest

•No. 1 Mallory Winner getting a forfeit in the 170 weight class

•No. 4 Katie Rowles taking the 100 match by fall 1:34 in over Emily Krider

•Tatianna Willis with a pin of Alyssa Driver with 23 seconds remaining in the opening period of the 110 battle

•No. 3 Lina Lingo securing the victory over Petyon Kinney by fall 36 seconds into the 130-pound match

“That’s one of the most enjoyable things about coaching is watching girls make progress like that,” Myers said. “Our upper level girls are making progress, our newer girls are making progress, but it’s fun to see when things start clicking.”