KOKOMO — North Montgomery girls wrestling has been a fixture for girls wrestling in the state of Indiana. On Friday the Chargers continued their tradition of competing at the state finals in Kokomo as sophomore Sophia Shea and junior Hailey Kunz represented the Chargers. Shea ended up falling in her opening match to the fourth ranked Aubrey Troutner of Huntington North to conclude her first season of wrestling with an 18-14 record. Kunz went on to have a great shewing for the Chargers and placed fourth at 145 as the junior improved her placing from 2023 (sixth) and ended her season with a record of 28-5.
Kunz defeated Highland’s Kate Robinson in the opening match of the day and in the quarter-finals secured a 4-2 overtime win against Rochester’s Laine Peppler. In the semi-finals Kunz squared off against the top ranked Elly Janovsky of Lake Central an d fell in a 7-0 decision. In her fourth and final match of the day wrestling for third place against the second ranked Olivia Bohde of New Haven and would fall in the third round via pin.
Despite the two losses to end the day, Kunz put the day in perspective and also how far she’s come since she started her freshman year.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when I started wrestling,” Kunz said. “But when I got sixth last year I was really excited to get on that podium and now to say that I’m a top four wrestler in the state is a pretty nice feeling overall. Now the goal is first next year.”
Charger coach Lincoln Kyle noted how proud he was to get to see all of the hard work that Kunz has put in to this season pay off with a great finish.
“I’m super proud of her and she had another great season,” he said. “It was better than she finished last season. The last two matches of the day she faced the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked girls in the state. We knew the semi-finals were going to be tough and Hailey hung tough with her. Then the New Haven girl was real tough and it was a back and forth match that just didn’t go our way. She got to wrestle some amazing competition and had a great showing to finish fourth. To make the podium is tough enough and then to finish in the top half is even tougher. Couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Kyle also noted how for his sophomore in Shea, she can say in her first year of wrestling that she was a top 16 finisher at 130 pounds. The future looks pretty bright for her as well.
“This was a great experience for Sophia just to get here,” Kyle added. “That girl she faced was tough and ended up placing second. It’s tough when you wrestle a girl like that out of the gate, but I’m still super proud of her and she had a great first year and am really excited to watch her continue to grow.”
This season the Chargers had eight girls qualify for the semi-state and nearly had a few more join Kunz and Shea in Kokomo. As part of the state finals experience, Kyle brought his entire team to not only support their two teammates, but to see what the environment is like. The goal now for the Chargers is to have more of those girls join the two next season back at the state finals.
“I try to lead by example and show these girls that they have it in them to get here,” Kunz said. “Even though some of them might be brand new they can still make it here. It starts in the off-season for all of us and there’s plenty of opportunities to continue to get better. “
“I think having our entire team here motivated those girls to want to get here,” Kyle concluded. “All of them are capable of being here and it comes down to them believing in themselves.”
