It’s been said over and over that this is an historic season of girls wrestling. The first sanctioned IHSAA season has hit the sectional level of the calendar, and with it, more in a long line of ‘firsts’ for girls programs across the state. That certainly includes Wawasee, which took part in the Goshen Girls Wrestling Sectional and added to its historical footnotes Friday afternoon.

Wawasee’s first-ever sectional champion was an enigma of sorts as Karlee Clevenger received a free ride into the finals by way of two byes and a forfeit. The 100-pounder worked into and out of trouble before getting a pin over Prairie Heights’ Aubri Avila at 1:27 of the second period. The second champion for the Lady Warriors was the fifth and final championship match with a Wawasee entrant, Cyanna Leon needing a minute of the second period, but being in control of majority of the matchup with Garrett’s Mika Roxas for a pin at 3:00.

Three others made the final but didn’t find the same success rate as Clevenger and Leon.

At 110, Hadley Faroute had an impressive start of the day with consecutive pins to reach her first sectional final. That run came up a little short as Christina Kuemmel of West Noble ended Faroute’s run in the second period. One class later, Lydia LaBarbera had made her first final in the same manner as Faroute with two pins en route to the 115 capper, but East Noble’s Marisa Schneider wasn’t interested in becoming a third victim in a 47-second pin.

At 135, Kenidi Nine met up with NorthWood’s Naima Ghaffar for the third time this season, and Ghaffar made it three-for-three with a pin of Nine at 1:30. The Wawasee junior made the final by way of bye, forfeit, and a pin of Garrett in the semis.

“Take a kid like Hadley, a freshmen wrestling in a championship against a sophomore, and Lydia, the girl she saw in the final was a senior,” stated Wawasee girls head coach Miguel Rodriguez. “To be in their first years of wrestling and going against older kids, notably a senior, I think says a lot about our toughness and the work these girls are putting in.”

Rodriguez also noted, “Out of the five that were in championships today, only one doesn’t return, so that says a lot about where this program is heading. The best part of this is a lot of our girls are underclassmen that will be back next year. This sets a nice tone for what’s to come.”

Wawasee also advances two others to the Goshen Regional as both Alex Garcia at 155 and Kenadi Pierce at 170 both finished with wins in their third-place matches to move on as regional qualifiers to next Friday’s second rung of the state ladder. Garcia overcame a semi-final loss to Prairie Heights’ Amber Handshoe to score pins in both getback matches. Pierce, who lost to eventual 170 champion Ivon Rescalvo of Goshen in the semis, fired back with a tech fall and pin to close out her day and first tournament advancement.

Sylvia Dixon closed out her senior season in sixth place at 120 and Katie Sigsbee, who missed a good part of the last month with health issues, fought through it and also was sixth at 125 pounds. Tiana Senders was 0-2 in the 190-pound class to round out the Wawasee actives.

“A lot of expectations were exceeded today,” Rodriguez said of his total roster output. “You always set the bar high, and I felt like we had enough to win the team sectional, but they all wrestled hard and you can’t ask for much more. It’s a young team – two senior and three juniors and the rest are mostly first-year kids. We still have a lot of girls still in the state tournament, but you start thinking about the offseason tournaments and work in the room. This program has every ability to be a championship team, and we’ll work to get there.”

The Goshen Girls Wrestling Regional is set for next Friday, Jan. 10, with a 10 a.m. start time. Feeding the regional will be sectional advancers from Illiana Christian, Mishawaka, Hobart and Goshen. The IHSAA State Finals are set for Friday, Jan. 17 at the Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. Of note for the Goshen Regional, tournament officials at Goshen mentioned next Friday’s tournament will coincide with school being in session at Goshen High School, so special parking is being made across the street from the high school in the bus parking lot. Patrons can use the stoplight crosswalk to make their way to the school. Fans and wrestlers are asked to stay out of the hallways as much as possible to limit traffic and distractions to the school day.

Goshen Girls Wrestling Sectional
Top four advance, fifth place serves as alternative to Goshen Regional

100 – Karlee Clevenger 1-0, 1st place
110 – Hadley Faroute 2-1, 2nd place
115 – Lydia LaBarbera 2-1, 2nd place
120 – Sylvia Dixon 1-3, 6th place
125 – Katie Sigsbee 1-3, 6th place
135 – Kenidi Nine 1-1, 2nd place
140 – Cyanna Leon 2-0, 1st place
155 – Alex Garcia 2-1, 3rd place
170 – Kenadi Pierce 3-1, 3rd place
190 – Tiana Senders 0-2

Top 10 Teams (14 Teams)
1. Garrett 200
2. East Noble 167
3. Wawasee 157.5
4. Lakeland 150
5. Prairie Heights 106
6. NorthWood 99.5
7. West Noble 88
8. Goshen 85
9. Angola 52
10. Central Noble 48