Kenidi Nine finished seventh at the IHSAA Girls Wrestling State Finals.
Wawasee now has a historical benchmark to bookend its first year of IHSAA sanctioned wrestling.
In a season of firsts, Kenidi Nine becomes the answer to the trivia question at Chubbies: “Who is the first girl in Wawasee wrestling history to place at the IHSAA Girls Wrestling State Finals?”
Nine finished seventh at Friday’s IHSAA State Finals in Indianapolis, going 2-2 in the 135-pound weight class. She now also holds the highest finish for any female wrestler at the state finals, that previously being current junior Alex Garcia, who was eighth as a freshman at the IHSGW State Finals.
Nine made the podium round by overwhelming Clinton Prairie’s Shelby Luper, storming out to a 9-2 start before finally getting the pin in the third period eight seconds into the final frame. Nine went on offense first and got a near fall in the first, then rock and rolled through an 8-0 second period, drawing top to start the third and getting Luper into a pin off the start.
The next two rounds didn’t go the Wawasee junior’s way, getting pinned on the first takedown by Southport’s Kyla Johnson, then falling behind 10-0 to Merrillville’s Charisma Lawrence before the Pirate star closed out the pin in the second period.
In the seventh place match, Nine opened up quickly against Jay County’s Lina Lingo, getting a takedown and covering for a pin at 47 seconds to close out with a dub. Nine would conclude her fantastic and historic season at 32-11 overall.
In the same bracket, it was a banner day for NorthWood’s Naima Ghaffar, who stood tallest with a 4-0 day and won the 135-pound bracket. Ghaffar won the championship match with a 12-2 major decision over Jeffersonville’s Kaylea Beauchamp.
Other area wrestlers to place at state included Plymouth’s Angel Smith, who was third at 120; Mishawaka’s Kaylee Smith fourth at 140 and Onica Gradeless sixth at 110; Goshen’s Ivon Rescalvo seventh at 170; Warsaw’s Mariana Castro eighth at 155; and Fairfield’s Jacinda Brown eighth at 170.