Clutch pin by Ally Williams in final match at Portage highlight of the week for Chesterton girls wrestling program gathering steam

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
The girls wrestling match between visiting Portage and Chesterton last week came down to the 14th and final match, and every outcome but one would give the visitors the win.
Winning by decision (three points), major decision (four points) or technical fall (five points) would not get it done for Trojans junior Ally Williams against Portage sophomore Sophie Medley at 125 pounds.
It was a case of pin or bust for Williams, a great opportunity for her to show what she could do in the clutch.
Williams delivered, pinning her opponent 24 seconds into the second period. Counting the tiebreaker point, Chesterton prevailed, 37-36.
The Trojans won despite having fewer weight classes covered and falling into a deep hole because of forfeits.
Portage scored 30 points on forfeits, compared to six for Chesterton, which won 6 of 7 matches in the weight classes in which both teams fielded a wrestler. Junior Aubree Peters was the only Trojans wrestler to lose and her opponent, Madisyn Mikels, is ranked No. 2 in the state at 105 pounds.
“Even though Aubree lost, she did very well. She’s only been wrestling (since midway through last season),” Williams said. “She did get pinned but she has improved a lot and she made it a lot longer with her than she would have last year.”
Williams expressed how well younger teammates are applying the daily instruction from head coach Chris Richardson and assistant Will Scharp.
“I can see the improvement day by day with the team as a whole and with individual wrestlers,” Williams said. “We’re winning most of our matches, we just have too many forfeits.”
Senior Kileigh Flynn, sophomore Alice Scharp and junior Arti Haney joined Williams in earning six points with pins. Sophomore Lauren Orsburn and freshman MJ Scharp contributed three points apiece by winning decisions.
Williams said the Trojans won the tiebreaker point because of having more pins (four) than Portage (one).
Williams met her weight-loss goal to get to 125, which helped to break the team’s logjam at the 130-pound weight.
Four wrestlers have winning varsity records for the Trojans, according to usabracketing.com: MJ Scharp (27-9, 15 pins, 2 technical falls, four major decisions); Arti Haney (20-8, 10 pins, four techs, two majors); Alice Scharp (23-13, 16 pins, two techs, two majors) and Williams (20-14, 14 pins, two techs).
The Trojans had matches against five schools at the Valparaiso Duals on Saturday, where they went 3-2.
West Lafayette Harrison 36, Chesterton 31: Williams and Flynn picked up pins, MJ Scharp and Haney won by technical fall and Alice Scharp won a decision.
Hobart 72, Chesterton 9: MJ Scharp won by pin and Haney by decision against the powerhouse Brickies.
Chesterton 28, Boone Grove 24: MJ Scharp and Williams picked up six points apiece with pins and freshman Lila McLendon scored four points with a major decision.
Chesterton 36, South Bend Riley 24: MJ Scharp pinned her opponent in 3:38 and the Trojans scored the rest of their points via forfeit.
Chesterton 30, Rensselaer Central 24: The schools both had a wrestler in only three weight classes and Rensselaer won all of those, but Chesterton prevailed on the strength of six forfeits.
Next up for the Trojans: A trip to Crown Point to take on the always strong Bulldogs.