Chesterton girls wrestling wins one-sided match vs. Lake Central and loses close one to LaPorte at DAC Double Duals event at Portage

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The growing Chesterton girls wrestling squad split a pair of matches in the DAC Double Duals at Portage on Wednesday during a night that in some ways felt more like a sweep.
The Trojans opened by defeating Lake Central, 42-18, then lost a close one to LaPorte, 36-34, even though Chesterton won more matches that were contested than did the Slicers.
Fielding enough wrestlers to cover all 14 weight classes is half the battle in girls wrestling, in just its second season as an IHSAA-sanctioned sport. In that regard, the Trojans are better than some, not as good as others. When both schools have enough wrestlers in a weight class, Chesterton is faring better than so so.
For example, vs. LaPorte, there were double forfeits at 100 and 120 pounds, so no points were awarded.
A forfeit earns six points for the team that has a wrestler ready to go. The Slicers won by forfeit at 110, 170, 190 and 235, earning 24 points. Chesterton won by forfeit at 135 and 150, totaling 12 points.
So in order to finish ahead on the scoreboard, the Trojans would need to win by 13 points in the six matches that actually were contested. Chesterton won four of those matches, but still finished behind on the scoreboard.
“We have a decent-sized team,” junior Ally Williams said. “It’s just that so many of us are at about the same weight.”
Consequently, although 13 wrestlers are on the roster, the Trojans have 8 of 14 weight classes covered for now.
Hearing what Williams, fellow junior Aburee Peters and sophomore Alice Scharp say about how the experience has been so far this season, it’s easy to project steady growth for the numbers in the program. Plus, the sport in general and at Chesterton in particular just has a more big-time feel to it this year.
“We have our own coaches this year and we have our own practices,” Williams said “That’s part of it. Last year, we were half in the guys room and half by ourselves. Now we have designated coaches and we have our own mats.”
And their own space at the high school, the alcove of the fieldhouse.
“It’s such a mental sport, so to be with all girls is definitely good,” Williams said. “We’re bonding a lot better and we just understand what a struggle it is to wrestle. Girls struggle differently than guys do. So it’s just nice to have our own thing and our team to run to.”
Chris Richardson is the girls head coach, Will Scharp, promoted from middle school, the assistant coach.
Williams started wrestling as a freshman, when the sport was in its second and final year under the IHSAA designation as an emerging sport. Alice Scharp has wrestled for longer than that and her sister, freshman MJ, has a long history with the sport as well. Junior Aubree Peters, in her second season wrestling, has shown terrific potential.
Many of the girls are in their first year wrestling and their experienced teammates have enjoyed watching their rapid growth.
“A lot of our new girls are doing really great and they're looking for their ties, which is very important in wrestling,” Alice Scharp said.
Ties? Meaning?
“So, you want to try to get head position, and you want to get your hand position where you want it to look for your shot, or to look for some way to take them down,” she explained. “So, like, in the room, we've been working throwbys, which is where two people have a collar tie, and you'll throw their arm by and you'll get behind them and you'll mat-return them. And so a lot of girls have found what they like that we've been working on and they've been able to, like, use it out on the mat. It's really cool to see them transform themselves too.”
The forfeit points in the LC match were even with each team winning two forfeits, and four double forfeits taking place. Chesterton won 4 of 6 matches that were contested.
Wrestlers go to tournaments and duals hoping there is an opponent to wrestle, and in that regard, Peters, Williams and junior Stefany Lopez were the luckiest on the team because they wrestled twice. In contrast, sophomore Lauren Orsburn had to deal with the disappointment of neither LC nor LP having an opponent in her weight class, so she won both by forfeit.
Williams each had two pins on the night.
Wrestling at 130 in both matches, Williams needed 1:01 to pin her LaPorte foe and 1:59 to pin her LC opponent.
Peters wrestled at 110 vs. LC and pinned her opponent in 40 seconds. It took her just 40 seconds to pin her Slicers opponent in a 105-pound match.
Long, lean and quick, Peters came on strong late last season when she mastered the cradle. She has expanded her tools this season.
“She's still been using it,” Alice Sharp said of the cradle. “She found the bundle, too.”
The bundle?
“There's something called a series, so you have one thing and you can go to multiple different moves from it,” Scharp explained. “And so on the top, you have the crossface series and you have the bundle and a bunch of different cradles, and Aubrey's found that she really likes that series, because when one thing doesn't work, then you can go to a different thing.”
Peters explained what the bundle has done for her.
“When you crossface around and you grab their arm from one side, and then you reach under and grab your hand from the bottom, and then you circle around their head, and as you circle around, you tighten it, and the only thing they can really move is their legs,” she said.
Not counting the forfeits, Chesterton won eight matches on the night. Williams, Peters and MJ Scharp (one pin, one major decision) won two apiece. Alice Scharp (pin) and junior Stefany Lopez (pin) one each to go with their wins by forfeit.
The Trojans participate in the Rochester Invitational on Saturday and will face Valparaiso and Michigan City in the next DAC Double Duals event, Tuesday, Nov. 25 at Valparaiso.