Championship effort

By RAY COONEY

The Commercial Review

The referee’s hand slapped the mat.

As Alayna Willoughby got to her feet, she threw her arms in the air.

“I did it,” she shouted excitedly to her coaches.

The first career victory for the sophomore newcomer was one of a long list of highlights for the Jay County High School girls wrestling team Saturday, combining with championship performances from veterans to give the Patriots the trophy at the Monroe Central Invitational.

“It was awesome,” said senior Katie Rowles, who was a tournament champion along with Maleah Parsons and Amara Crawford. “It’s just a great feeling. 

“There’s a whole different dynamic to the team this year. Everybody’s learning and getting better as fast as they can. And there’s a lot of effort that goes in the room every single day. And there was last year, too, but it just feels different when girls are playing catch-up, and they’re so hungry to get out there and win some matches. …

“I can only imagine that’s gonna get more intense after getting a taste of victory.”

The Patriots eked out the title with 163 points, finishing just five ahead of Warsaw in the field of 17. Franklin County was a distant third at 117.

In addition to the champions, three other JCHS wrestlers finished in the top half of their bracket. Two of them — freshman Alexis Tipton and sophomore Gracie Rowles — were wrestling in their first high school tournament.

“I did not expect that at all,” said Jacks, whose team lost 2025 state medalists Mallory Winner and Lina Lingo to graduate and Brenna Ruble to an injury. “Warsaw’s a senior team. …

“It was a dogfight to the end. … That was exciting, and the girls were super excited.”

Willoughby’s moment came in the consolation semifinal of the 110-pound bracket as she fell behind Northeastern’s Sophia Campbell 5-0. She picked up her first point on a penalty.

She fell behind 10-2 but continued to fight off Campbell and eventually got an opening. She managed to get leverage and hold Campbell down for a pin in 3 minutes, 54 seconds.

“It’s really amazing,” said Willoughby, who finished fourth, “because I really don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just going out there and trying to remember what I was taught … and just going for it.”

Competing in one of the busiest brackets of the tournament, Gracie Rowles bounced back after an opening loss to eventual 130-pound runner-up Leia Conner. She scored her first career win by pin over teammate Kaileigh Compton in the consolation bracket and then pinned Marlee Wampler of Richmond and Maria Johnson of Muncie Central to reach the third-place match.

Wrestling for third place, and with the Patriots needing every point, Gracie Rowles escaped potential trouble when she slipped out of a Candice Matson headlock for a takedown with 5 seconds left in the opening period. She started the second period from the top position, found her way to a half nelson and pinned the Cowan senior in 2:13.

“It was really good,” said Rowles, who said she found success with the half nelson and continued to use that move throughout the day. “It’s a good experience … getting the feel for it and wanting to proceed.”

Tipton needed only one victory to take second place among the four wrestlers in the 115-pound bracket. She finished off Beautiful Criglar of Richmond in 55 seconds before falling to Cami Davis of Centerville in the final.

Other high points for the newcomers to the team included two victories each for freshmen Kelly Jones (145) and Kenady Lyons (235) and one for their classmate Chloe Torres (105).

“Our focus for day one was effort,” said Jacks. “With so many new girls, all I said was, ‘Give us effort and good things will come.’ And we had some surprise wins because of the effort. We had some really close matches because of the effort. And we seem like we’re reloading, not rebuilding.”

Katie Rowles, who finished fourth in the state last season, needed just over three minutes to sweep her way through the 100-pound bracket and could have finished much faster had she wanted to. She worked on some tactics with a takedown-and-release pattern against Franklin County’s Isabella McEwen-Merre Jr. before pinning her in 1:41 in the opening round and then scored her semifinal and championship pins each in less than a minute.

Parsons pinned each of her three opponents to win the 140-pound title, and Crawford notched her two wins for the 190-pound crown in just 1:17 total. 

“Lead by example,” Jacks said. “They work hard in practice and girls feed off of that.

“(Katie Rowles) doesn’t have a slow bone, so she goes 110% with anybody she’s practicing with. … 

“It’s also teaching them that intensity and then they’re carrying that over with their practice partners. And I think we saw that today.”

Also placing for Jay County were third-place finishers Chloe Torres (105), Willoughby (110) and Jones (145), fifth-place Lyons (235) and sixth-place Allison Lopez (155).