Hamilton Heights’ Maya Tottleben won an exhibition match after varsity action concluded at the Huskies’ dual meet with Elwood on Wednesday. (Richie Hall)
By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – The Hamilton Heights girls wrestling team began its season with a dual-meet victory Wednesday in its home gym.
The Huskies edged out Elwood 24-23. Two Heights wrestlers won by pin: sophomores Diana Galt at 170 pounds and sophomore Natalie Head at 190 pounds. (She is listed at 170 pounds, but competed in a different weight class on Wednesday.)
The Huskies also picked up forfeit wins from sophomore Maya Tottleben at 135 pounds and senior Izzy Bailey at 155 pounds.
“It gave the girls a good feel to know what it feels like to win and start the season strong,” said Heights coach Markaela Pugh. “I feel like that’s a good note to start on.”
A handful of wrestlers also competed in exhibition matches after the varsity action was done to gain some extra match experience. Heights has a very young team this year: Bailey and Audrey Lang (155 pounds) are the only seniors and Amaelia Cordero Ballinger (155) is the lone junior.
After that, the Huskies have seven sophomores and a freshman, Sophie Smith-Bailey (190). But, Pugh pointed out that everyone on the Heights team is a returning wrestler, except for Lang and Smith-Bailey.
Other sophomores on the team are Madeline McKinney (100), Rae Trent (135), Cora Flack (145) and Ali Morris (235).
“They’re a tough team,” said Pugh. “They work hard, they want to win, so they grind it out every practice and I can’t be more proud of them.”
Heights is back in action Saturday when it competes at the New Palestine Invitational, one of several big tournaments for the Huskies. Others include the Bronco Fall Classic on Nov. 15 at Daleville and the “Wrestlemania” Super Conference tournament Dec. 20 at Kokomo.
Heights will host one of the wrestling sectionals this season, on Friday, Jan. 2, something that Pugh is “super excited” about. As a freshman, Pugh competed in the first women’s wrestling state tournament at Hamilton Heights; she won the 106-pound state championship.
“Now I get to see it from a different standpoint,” said Pugh. “Instead of an athlete, now I’m a coach. I’m just super excited and hopefully we’ll bring out a lot of fans, that they can feel that feeling again one more time before we wrap the season up.”
