Odds were pretty good Wawasee could position itself for a run at a state finals berth Friday at the Penn Girls Wrestling Semi-state. It became a 1-in-4 proposition as Wawasee sent two of its eight competitors to the IHSGW State Finals next weekend in Kokomo.

Wawasee sent its lone state qualifier from last year, Alex Garcia, back to the semi-state along with seven of her Lady Warrior pals. Garcia would make it 2-for-2 in state finals appearances after scoring pins in both of her opening matches, the first over Lafayette Harrison’s Victoria Kinsey and then pinned Munster’s Allyson Compton in the ticket round.

The falls kept coming for Garcia, getting her third of the day in the semi-finals against Penn’s Madison Raper, getting out from bottom to start the second and quickly working a takedown and hold to pin the Penn star at 2:41. In a rematch of the Mishawaka Regional final against Bremen’s Makenzie Shumaker, Garcia started quickly with a takedown, and just like the regional, Shumaker worked a reversal to get back into the match. After Garcia countered with a reversal of her own, Shumaker would reverse out of the hold and work into a pin just before the end of the second period in an eerily similar finish at regional, Shumaker the 155-pound champion over Garcia.

Joining Garcia in Kokomo next weekend will be Kenidi Nine, who will make her first state finals appearance after running a pair of pins in qualification. Needing just over a minute to end Rensselaer Central’s Araceli Murillo’s season in the opening round, Nine needed nearly three periods to pin Merrillville’s Honesty Lacy to get the state ticket.

Semis didn’t go as planned for Nine, who was blitzed by Mishawaka’s Kaylee Smith in a 19-2 tech fall, and then was pinned by Valpo’s Karlie Mann with a tick left on the second period clock. That left Nine in fourth place overall in the 135-pound bracket.

Wawasee had two others fighting in the ticket round. Karlee Clevenger, who was on the anomaly trip in the state tournament not having to wrestle at the regional as the lone 100-pounder, then getting a bye into the quarters at Penn, unfortunately didn’t wrestle long in her only match of the state series. It took Merrillville’s Jada Taher just 50 seconds to pin Clevenger to bounce the freshman from the tournament.

Wawasee’s other ticket rounder, Cyanna Leon, was in an all-out war with Chesterton’s Abigail Dennington. In the 15-12 win by Dennington, there were a combined four takedowns and four reversals, but also a whopping seven penalty points awarded between the two in a wild affair. Leon was leading 10-8 after two periods before five bonus points for calls against Leon started the third. A late Leon takedown wasn’t enough as Dennington quickly got a reversal to finish off the match.

Ciara Rodriguez, Sylvia Dixon and Naviya Leon all lost their first matches via first period pins, and Isabel Schwartz also lost in her first matchup, a 9-1 decision.

Wrestling at the 2024 IHSGW State Finals begins Friday at 11 a.m. at Kokomo Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of Kokomo High School.

100 – Karlee Clevenger
BYE
v. Jada Taher, Merrillville – LOSS Fall :50

105 – Isabel Schwartz
v. Joanna Cantu, Hobart – LOSS Major Decision 9-1

120 – Ciara Rodriguez
v. Jennah Smith, Merrillville – LOSS Fall 1:26

125 – Sylvia Dixon
v. Amy Bosman, Illiana Christian – LOSS Fall :21

135 – Kenidi Nine
v. Araceli Murillo, Renssaelear Central – WIN Fall 1:10
v. Honesty Lacy, Merrillville – WIN Fall 5:13
v. Kaylee Smith, Mishawaka – LOSS Tech Fall 19-2
v. Karlie Mann, Valparaiso – LOSS Fall 3:59

140 – Cyanna Leon
v. Maggie Branstettler, Attica – WIN Fall 4:21
v. Abigail Dennington, Chesterton – LOSS Decision 15-12

145 – Naviya Leon
v. Andi May, Crown Point – LOSS Fall 2:27

155 – Alex Garcia
v. Victoria Kinsey, Lafayette Harrison – WIN Fall 1:24
v. Allyson Compton, Munster – WIN Fall 1:07
v. Madison Raper, Penn – WIN Fall 2:41
v. Makenzie Shumaker, Bremen – LOSS Fall 3:55