First time for everything

It’s been a year of firsts for girls wrestling.

It was the first year that the Indiana High School Athletic Association sanctioned girls wrestling.

It was the first year that a Patriot — Mallory Winner — won a state title under the IHSAA banner in girls wrestling.

It was the first year the Patriot girls won a sectional title as an IHSAA sport.

As a result, they will be competing in the inaugural team state tournament.

But the Patriots aren’t satisfied with just making the team state tournament, but rather are looking for another first in the form of the title.

The Jay County High School’s fourth-ranked girls wrestling team will travel to Fishers on Saturday to compete in the inaugural IHSGWCA Girls Team State Duals, and are aiming to bring the first title back home to Portland.

To qualify for the team state duals, schools had to win their sectional during the individual state series. (Wawasee finished third behind Garrett and East Noble at the Goshen sectional and Rochester Community claimed third after New Haven and Columbia City but both moved in as replacements.)

“Well, our goal is to win it, but just like the girls individual tournament, you’ve got to take it one match at a time,” said coach Eric Myers. “I think the real test is when we get there and see the weigh-in sheets to see if any girls have changed weights or if they’re not in the lineup. Then you can start breaking down your matchups.

“Then once you have those weigh-in sheets, then you start looking at your coin flip and whether you have to report first and what kind of adjustments you can make after that. It’s pretty fun whenever you get into those high-level duals and you can juggle your lineup a little bit. It’s fun to play that chess match.”

The Patriots will open with Lafayette Jefferson. Bronchos feature three state qualifiers in the 100, 105 and 190-pound weight classes. No. 13 Alexis Baumgartner (21-14, 100) and No. 12 Liberty Quesada (24-10, 190) did not place at the state finals on Jan. 17 at Cortiva Coliseum, but No. 11 Senniah Henderson (23-8) finished fourth in the 105 bracket.

Four more Bronchos made the regional meet at Rochester, while six fell in the sectional they hosted.

LJHS filled all but the 130 weight class during the state series, which was one of the three weight classes Jay County had open. While the Patriots didn’t have wrestlers compete in the 105, 130 or 235 weight classes during the individual state series, they have a few potential plans to juggle their lineup to fill as many spots as they can on Saturday.

One of those potential plans would include Haley Ridenour, who has had to sit behind four-time state champion Mallory Winner throughout the regular season.

“I’m a little nervous,” said Ridenour of breaking the lineup after having to sit out the individual tournament. “I’m a little nervous but at the end of the day, if I win, I win. I just hope I get the points that my team needs to help us proceed to get at least second place, but hopefully shooting for first.”

Jay County’s lineup will be subject to the results of the weigh-ins for itself and its opponents, and can change from dual to dual depending on if they won the coin flip.

Should JCHS get past Lafayette Jefferson, it would get the winner of No. 3 Moorsville and North Montgomery in the quarterfinals. As of Wednesday, the Patriots were preparing to face the former.

    Jay County’s No. 6 Lina Lingo runs a double-chicken wing on No. 13 Abigail Goodwin of Bloomington South during the 135-pound opener at the IHSAA state finals at Cortiva Coliseum on Jan. 17. “I’m really excited for this weekend,” Lingo said of wrestling at the team state duals. “I think if everyone does their part and works hard the rest of the week, then we'll be set to win.” (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

The Pioneers tout six state qualifiers — the same number as Jay County, but only two of those wrestlers placed — the Patriots had five placers in Katie Rowles (33-7, fourth in 100), Brenna Ruble (34-10, eight in 120), Lina Lingo (31-11, eight in 135) and Winner (37-0, champion of 170). No. 9 Bridget Martin (26-10, 100), No. 14 Cadence Williams (30-8, 120), No. 13 Neveah Hultgren (21-7, 140) and No. 9 Brylee Blackwell (26-12, 190) all got bounced in the opening round of the state finals. It was Mooresville’s 115-pounder No. 4 Khloe Nedelsky (34-6) and 130-pounder Maddison Whitted (35-5) that made the podium, each of them finishing sixth.

All seven of Mooresville’s wrestlers that didn’t make it to state advanced to the regional, while it couldn’t fill out the 235 weight class.

While Jay County sees a path for them to get past the Pioneers, the coaching staff emphasized the importance of pinning the girls who only qualified for regional and avoiding getting pinned by the state competitors, even if it means taking a technical fall.

“You want to be stingy with points if you can save one anywhere throughout the dual,” Myers said. “Then at the end, some of your tiebreakers deal with those pins and those tech falls. So, whenever you’re out there, if you can get that pin or can stay off your back, either one has a significant outcome on the match.”

A potential semifinal match would likely be against No. 8 Merriville, which would have to go through Mount Vernon and the winner of Jennings County and Hobart.

The Merrillville Pirates also feature six state qualifiers, with three making the podium. Their top threats are No. 1 Joy Cantu (37-0), who won the 110 title, 130-pound runner-up No. 3 Julianne Cantu (31-6) and No. 4 Charisma Lawrence (33-5), who beat Lingo on her way to fifth place in the 135 bracket.

The Pirates also didn’t have a 235-pounder, while filling out the rest of their lineup with four regional qualifiers and three girls who fell in the sectional.

On the other side of the bracket awaits a handful of threats including No. 1 Franklin Central, No. 5 Penn and No. 6 Whiteland. Those schools had seven, two and six state qualifiers, respectively.

While the Patriots will have to beat some of the best teams in Indiana to win the inaugural team state duals, they have confidence in themselves and are aiming to secure one final first in an already historic year for the sport.

“Girls have never had a team state, so this being the first one and being able to wrestle at it is amazing for me because I’m a senior and it’s going to be my only one,” said Emily Manor, one of four Patriot seniors. “I have confidence in winning with our lineup because we’ve been working hard all season to be able to win this tournament. … We want to put our name out there and make a statement.”