Wawasee’s Dez Vetor and Ciarra Rodriguez practice ahead of Friday’s Penn Girls Wrestling Regional. Wawasee is competing in its first regional as part of the IHSAA’s Emerging Sport status.

They’ve been asking for it, and it’s finally here:

The Penn Girls Wresting Regional is on tap and Wawasee’s Iron Seven are primed and ready to make their run to the State Finals. The tournament, put on by the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling Association, is an IHSAA Emerging Sport and Wawasee will enter competitors in the tournament for the first time as a school.

The regional is set to begin at approximately 5 p.m. Friday at Penn High School, host for the one-step ladder in the state series. Top four placers in each group advance to the State Finals next Friday, Jan. 13, at Mooresville High School.

Brackets were revealed Tuesday night, and a lot of new faces await the Lady Warriors, who haven’t seen a good majority of teams from the Region which feeds the Penn Regional.

Ciarra Rodriguez will take on Lily Culbreth of Kankakee Valley to open Wawasee’s action at 120, and would face either Clara Walmsley of Tri-County or Breyanna Moreno of Mishawaka. Rodriguez, who has been up and down this season against some top competition from the eastern half of the state, likes her chances against some new western faces.

“The first girl I wrestle, I haven’t seen, but either of the girls I would see next, I’ve beaten both of them,” noted Rodriguez, who originally had a bye but the bracket was updated and moved Rodriguez into a first-round match. “I’m hoping to stay strong, you just have to win the first three and you move on to state. Right now I’m really confident, I feel really good.”

Elsewhere in the regional layouts are Brooke Catron at 132, pitted against Pioneer’s Ali Hoffman, with Portage’s Ja Lynn Parker awaiting the winner. Dez Vetor at 138 will get a local opponent in her first matchup, drawing Warsaw’s Emily Dawson. Kenidi Nine will open her 145 quest against Delphi’s Alivia Batta, the winner to get Highland’s Katherine Robinson in the quarters. Rylin Vanlaningham will have a tough opener, getting a top seed, Anna Hahn of Lafayette Jeff.

Alex Garcia is part of just an eight-man grid at 160, needing just two wins to get to the final and guarantee herself a spot in the state finals. Garcia opens with Jackson Grubbs of Andrean in round one, and with a win, would see either Penn or Valpo in the semis. At 250, Olivia Hill will take part in the only opening round match, where she will get Tri-County’s Thalia Pearson to kick off the bracket, Madyson Membres of Portage awaiting the winner.

“Penn’s a huge gym, so having been there once already makes me more comfortable to go back there,” said Catron, noting Wawasee’s involvement in the Sarah Hildebrand Invite at Penn a week ago. “I just need to be mentally and physically prepared for regionals, my goal is to win. That’s my main goal. It’s always my main goal. I really want to go to state.”

Full brackets and live updates (Friday) can be found here on the Track Wrestling site.