Penn, South Bend Riley, Bremen all win at girls wrestling semistate
MISHAWAKA — When Penn’s two heavyweight wrestlers brought their opponents to the mat, there was no getting up until the pin was counted.
The Kingsmen emphatically finished off a girls wrestling semistate championship Friday, with senior Gabby Safeukui winning the 190-pound title in 38 seconds and sophomore Giuliana Reed the 235-pound championship in a tidy 34 seconds. The hosts scored 125 team points, distancing the field with ease.
“I make sure all of our girls have a finishing move because, in girls wrestling, there’s a lot more pins,” Penn coach Matt Selis said. “You’re going to pin a good wrestler before you beat her on points sometimes, so we just make sure that every girl has that to work for their style. Everyone’s going to have that big move to go to.”
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Safeukui and Reed were joined as semistate winners by teammate Haylee Selis. It didn’t look like the senior was going to win the 135-pound title in the first few minutes of the match, with Mishawaka junior Kaylee Smith dictating the pace.
While Smith was going for the win, though, Selis reversed the momentum, turning it into a pinning opportunity of her own. Ten seconds later, Selis had the pin secured, eliciting a huge response from the Penn faithful in attendance.
“Both those wrestlers are big-move wrestlers,” said Matt Selis of the 135-pound title match. “That one was never going to end in points. You’ve got to hit the big move at the right time and have the cards fall their way, and luckily, they did for us. Both girls don’t have quit in them.”
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Penn was able to advance four others to the state finals next Friday, Jan. 12 at Kokomo: Kadence Ashe (third place, 140 pounds), Madison Raper (third place, 155), Morgan Mendlikowski (fourth place, 170) and Amani Reed (second place, 170).
South Bend Riley’s Gindelberger avenges regional loss
A week ago, Riley junior Nyisha Gindelberger suffered just her second loss of the season in the regional final to Amani Reed.
She made sure history didn’t repeat itself, pinning Reed in the first round to win the 170-pound semistate championship. Gindelberger pinned all four of her opponents Friday to improve her record to 22-2, becoming the first semistate champion in the young girls wrestling program at Riley in the process.
“It feels amazing,” Gindelberger said. “I came into the match thinking I was going to win, and I succeeded. … I’ve won the majority of my matches this year, so I went out there (last week) a little cocky and overconfident. I came back this week, though, and thought about it and took my time with this match.”
This will be Gindelberger’s third trip to the state finals. She placed seventh as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore.
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Gindelberger won’t be the only Riley Wildcat competing at state, as junior Janiya Howard also advanced with a third-place finish in the 190-pound weight class Friday.
“It’s amazing to see from my freshman year, being the only girl wrestler to now having a team of 11 girls that keeps growing every year,” Gindelberger said. “I cannot wait for years down the line how big Riley’s team is going to be.”
Shumaker gives Bremen a semistate champion
While Gindelberger was able to avenge her loss to Reed, Bremen sophomore Makena Shumaker made sure to make it two-straight wins over Wawasee’s Alex Garcia.
Similar to their battle in the regional final, Shumaker took a couple minutes to get comfortable before making her move, pinning Garcia mere seconds before the second-period horn sounded to reign at 155 pounds.
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“(Garcia) is a pretty good wrestler and we both have similar techniques for the most part,” Shumaker said. “I anticipated the same match, but I was hoping and praying that I would come out on top again.”
Shumaker is now 15-2. For her, wrestling is a family affair, which has helped fuel her success this season.
“I’ve been around wrestling all my life,” Shumaker said. “My brother (Dylan) started when he was five, and he’s my coach now. He inspired me to be what I’ve become today.”
Other area advancers to state
From the Penn semistate, Mishawaka Marian’s Lilly Anderson (105), LaPorte’s Mersaydes Carter (110) and Aubrey Klettke (145) and Plymouth’s Angel Smith (125) will all be going to Kokomo next week for the state finals. Anderson and Carter finished fourth, while Klettke and Smith had second-place showings.
Another semistate featuring area girls wrestlers took place at Rochester. NorthWood sophomore Naima Ghaffar continued her impressive season, improving to 25-1 overall by pinning all four of her opponents to win the 120-pound championship. Also advancing to the state finals was Goshen’s Maria Rescalvo, who finished fourth in the 105-pound weight class.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn, South Bend Riley, Bremen all win at girls wrestling semistate
