By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – The best girls wrestlers in the state traveled up to Hamilton Heights on Friday, as the school hosted the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state finals.
The 112 wrestlers, divided among 14 weight classes, included seven from Hamilton County. Carmel and the host Huskies both had three wrestlers competing for their respective schools, while Noblesville freshman Kyra Tomlinson made history by being the first Millers girls wrestler to compete at state in the event’s five-year history.
This is the third time that Heights has hosted the girls state finals.
“I think it’s going great,” said Huskies coach Gary Myers. “The girls are getting better every year. They’re getting after it, they’re training hard. The coaches are finally helping them. And to have this back at Heights is really an honor for us.”
Of the three county schools, Carmel finished the highest by taking 10th. The Greyhounds scored 30 points, with two wrestlers placing in the top four.
Senior Haley Mattingly finished in third place at 120 pounds. Mattingly won her first match with a second-period pin over Rochester’s Jadyn Geller, but lost to Delta’s Anna Krejsa in the semi-finals by an 11-4 decision. Mattingly rebounded to win the third-place bout, in a 16-4 major decision over Frankfort’s Emma Pillion.
Freshman Tay Coatie took fourth place at 126 pounds. Coatie advanced to the semi-finals with a pin of La Porte’s Taylor Higley in the first period of her first match. In the semi-finals, Coatie lost an overtime decision to Penn’s Heidi Selis, then lost to Jay County’s Lita Chowning in the third-place match with a second-period fall.
Senior Roni Ledzema placed eighth at 98 pounds. Ledzema dropped her first match by fall to Crown Point’s Alexie Westfall, lost to Cowan’s Cricket Morey in a 15-0 technical fall, then fell to Frankfort’s Eryka Pillion by an 11-0 major decision.
“We tell all of our seniors, when you’re gone, there’s a footprint of what you’ve left inside of the program,” said Carmel coach Ed Pendoski. “And as our girls program is starting to grow and build some traction, what those two have done is going to be seen in girls wrestling in Carmel for a very long time.”
Heights finished with nine points, placing it 50th as a team. All three Huskies wrestlers that competed are juniors, starting with 132-pounder Jayla Logan. She finished sixth in that division.
Logan dropped her first match to Lowell’s Nadine Summers by a second-period fall, but rebounded to beat Terre Haute South’s Paisley Sanqenetti in a 10-6 decision. In the fifth-place match, Logan was pinned by Columbia City’s Lauren Platt in the second period.
Semera Henson finished seventh for Heights at 113 pounds. Henson fell to West Lafayette’ Rose Kaplan in the first round by a 14-2 major decision, then lost to Twin Lakes’ Ella McNulty by fall in the semi-finals. But Henson went out with a victory, getting a first-period pi over North Miami’s Aubrey Burns in the seventh-place match.
Reagan Ward placed eighth at 250 pounds. Ward lost to Fort Wayne Wayne’s Felicity Stockman by pin in the first round, and to Attica’s Rachel Smith by pin in the semi-finals. Ward injury defaulted the seventh-place match to Decatur Central’s Lizeth Williams.
Tomlinson wrestled at 132 pounds, where she finished third. The freshman beat Platt in the first round with a second-period pin, but lost in the semi-finals to Penn’s Grace Selis by fall. Tomlinson rebounded to beat Eastbrook’s Abigail Turner, getting a fall in the first period.
Tomlinson accounted for all of Noblesville’s 15 points, which tied the school for 32nd in the team standings.
“I was really excited, also nervous, but people say that means I care,” said Tomlinson. “I just want to take it one match at a time and keep pushing. I mean, just super-excited to be here, to be honest.”
Lebanon won the team trophy, scoring 79 points. Penn was the runner-up with 71.5 points.