First time, third place

FISHERS — The Patriots were looking to make history.

They rolled through the first round without much trouble. 

A freshman secured a big victory as part of a 12-points swing that shifted the momentum in the Patriots’ favor.

They ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinal as they also suffered from an emotional hangover from the prior big victory.

But in their final match of the day, a plethora of athletes came together, playing their parts to secure some hardware.

The No. 4 Jay County High School girls wrestling team fell short of a spot in the championship match at the inaugural IHSGWCA Girls Team State Duals on Saturday, but bounced back to beat No. 2 Franklin Community 45-27 to claim third place.

The Patriots (12-1) opened up the day with a 63-18 domination of Lafayette Jefferson before upsetting No. 3 Moorseville 47-36. After the emotion-filled victory, Jay County fell to the hands of No. 8 Merrillville 53-30, leading to the 18-point win against the Grizzly Cubs.

Merrillville went on to win the title 47-34 against No. 1 Franklin Central. Unlike in the boys wrestling, the girls tournament was a single-class event, meaning the placements are representative of their spots in the entire state.

“Being a single-class team state and finishing third, you’re finishing third in the entire state, so it’s pretty awesome,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “I think for our program, it’s pretty cool that we had girls represented in the first girls individual state championship in 2017 and we were able to qualify and participate in the first team state championship this year. It says a lot about the Jay County program and our girls program to be here for both beginnings.”

The Patriots got support in a bunch of different places to claim the third-place dual with FHS. They first got on the board when Alison Tipton (13-16) got thrust into the 120-pound contest at the last second. The sophomore got up early on Alayna Dale (15-14) with a single leg takedown and two 4-point near falls in the first period. Tipton chose to start neutral in the second period, and circled around Dale for a takedown after 35 seconds but started to run out of steam, allowing a reversal.

After an injury timeout and a pep talk from her coaches, Tipton went back out and held on for a 15-8 decision.

“To be honest, it was (assistant coach) Troy (Jacks),” Tipton said. “He told me to suck it up and just keep going and he really helped me through that.”

Brenna Ruble (38-10) followed with a pin of Haylee Maxey (1-11) in 35 seconds before Franklin pulled ahead 12-9 with its own pin. JCHS grabbed a 9-point advantage after Emily Manor (32-9) pinned Samantha Carrico (19-17) after 1 minute, 22 seconds, of the 135 contest and Lina Lingo getting a forfeit in the 140.

A pair of Franklin’s individual state placers pulled them back to even, but No. 5 Lily Bridges (37-5) only managed to beat Madison Gage (23-16) in a 1-0 decision with an escape.

No. 1 Mallory Winner (41-0) reclaimed the lead after dragging Rachel Mills (4-8) back into the circle to pin her in 24 seconds.

Another state-medalist gave Franklin six more points, but the Patriots finished the dual with wins via fall from No. 5 Amara Crawford (39-5) and No. 11 Tatianna Willis (30-10) and a forfeit for No. 5 Katie Rowles (37-7) in the 100 weight class.

“I know it means a lot to us,” said Willis, who is one of the four seniors that ended their career on a high note. “I know we had some losses today and we’re all taking those pretty hard, but we’re proud of the ones that we’ve won and happy to get third.”

To even get hardware, Jay County had to upset the Pioneers. JCHS opened with a 23-6 technical fall by Rowles in the 105 match against Miia Williams (26-14).

The dual looked as if it was starting to turn south for the Patriots as Moorseville rattled off three consecutive pins.

Ruble was on pace to make it a fourth straight pin as Peyton Nedelsky (20-16) as the junior had the Patriot nearly on her back in the second period. Ruble executed a risky roll to get a reversal to stay alive and send the contest to the third. Nedelsky attempted a double-leg takedown, but Ruble countered it for a takedown and pinned her at 1:03 to complete a 12-point swing and get the momentum on Jay County’s side.

“I just fought off my back and had enough stamina,” Ruble said. “It’s very big. Before the match they told me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t get pinned.’ So that just kept my mind focused on not getting pinned and doing what’s best for my team.”

Moorseville got six points back in the 125 weight class before the Patriots reeled off four straight pins from Manor (1:47), Lingo (3:11), Maleah Parsons (23-16, 1:33) and Gage (1:45) to go up 35-24.

A pin by No. 15 Allie Silcox (29-12) in the 170 match pulled MHS within five points, and with a forfeit for each team – Jay County giving up the 100 and the Pioneers surrendering the 190 – the match fell on the shoulders of Crawford.

The freshman and No. 9 Brylee Blackwell (29-13) didn’t get much going in the first period and the Pioneer chose to start the second on top. Crawford got the reversal just nine seconds in and 20 seconds later started to run a near fall. The fifth-ranked wrestler’s efforts resulted in a pin at the 1:10 mark to secure the win for the team.

Mallory Winner (left) and Brenna Ruble of the No. 4 Jay County High School girls wrestling team burst with excitement as No. 5 Amara Crawford pinned No. 9 Brylee Blackwell of Mooresville to pull off a 47-30 upset and guarantee a top-four placement at the IHSGWCA Girls Team State Duals on Saturday hosted by Fishers. For the full story, see page 8. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Jay County had little trouble rolling through Lafayette Jefferson, getting points from the following wrestlers:

•Rowles in the 100 weight class with a 15-2 major decision

•Willis in the 110 with a 24-9 technical fall (2:38)

•Ruble in the 120 with a pin (0:16)

•Reagan VanSkyock (10-12) in the 130 with a forfeit

•Manor in the 135 with a pin (0:19)

•Lingo in the 140 with a pin (2:17)

•Parsons in the 145 with a forfeit

•Gage in the 155 with a pin (4:54)

•Haley Ridenour (6-4) in the 170 with a pin (0:36)

•Winner in the 190 with a pin (0:35)

•Crawford in the 235 with a forfeit

Jay County couldn’t generate the points needed to move on to the championship dual, as they fell to the eventual state champions Merrillville. Rowles, Ruble, Gage, Winner, and Crawford combined for 30 points with the first three coming via pin. A key point to the loss was the Patriots inability to avoid getting pinned, as six of the seven losses came via fall.