Penn claims 13th straight NIC wrestling crown as fascinating storylines emerge
ELKHART — Two unrelated, but equally fascinating, storylines played out during Saturday’s Northern Indiana Conference wrestling championships at Elkhart.
Penn claimed its 13th consecutive NIC team title, sporting a varsity lineup filled with lots of new faces that most fans need a program to keep straight.
But before we get to that, consider the gutsy effort turned in by Genesis Ramirez, an Elkhart senior who finished second in the 106-pound weight class, thus becoming the first female to earn NIC All-Conference recognition in wrestling.
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There’s more to her story than that, starting with the fact that on Friday, she was in Mooresville, south of Indianapolis, competing in the IHSGW (Indiana High School Girls Wrestling) championships.
The IHSGW — which is not affiliated with the IHSAA — is a non-profit group that promotes girls wrestling. Penn’s club, in fact, just won the IHSGW state title for the sixth time in seven years.
Ramirez wrestled four times, collecting three falls, and finished fifth in the 98-pound class after being upset in the quarterfinals and then working her way through the wrestlebacks.
But as soon as that was over, she was in a car for the 3-1/2 hour trip back to Elkhart, because she had to be back at the gym by 8 a.m. Saturday for the conference meet weigh-ins.
“I think I slept four hours. Maybe,” said Ramirez. “My coach told me to take the day off, but I said, ‘No, I want to wrestle.’”
And that she did, moving up to the 106-pound class and collecting quick falls to reach the semifinals, where she pinned John Glenn’s Austin Pranger in 5:30.
A large crowd at Elkhart’s gym gave her a well-earned ovation.
“It was like a relief, because I thought I would lose that match. I was nervous for sure,” said Ramirez. “But then he took a bad shot and I threw him and got the pin. I was like, ‘What?? I’m going to the finals!’ I was proud of myself at that point. It was such a great feeling.”
Even in the finals, where the exhausted Ramirez faced No. 1-seed Aden Hartman of Jimtown, the young Lion didn’t go easily. Hartman scored a 17-0 tech fall, but had to go the distance to get it.
“It was important to me to make it the whole six minutes,” said Ramirez. “He (Hartman) was going to have to work to win.”
“You understand, this (Ramirez) kid wrestled eight times in like, a little more than a day,” said Riley coach Bill Flatt, who watched with admiration from the sidelines. “And she had to travel a couple hundred miles in the middle of it. And then she makes the finals!
“That’s just amazing.”
Ramirez, who started wrestling at age seven in her native Puerto Rico, was still coming to terms with being All-Conference, a half-hour after her awards ceremony.
Of course, the name Sarah Hildebrandt came up. But Hildebrandt wrestled under a different format.
“It’s crazy to think about,” said Ramirez. “I’m proud. I worked a lot this summer to be where I am today.”
Meanwhile, hard work was the factor cited by Penn coach Brad Harper after his team scored 292-1/2 points for the victory.
It wasn’t your typical dominant Penn performance, as Elkhart finished second at 243 and New Prairie was third at 233 ½.
Five Penn wrestlers won individual titles, including sophomore Ryan Schmidtendorff at 113 pounds, freshman Vinny Freeman at 182, junior Dylan Bennett at 120, senior AJ Steenbeke at 160 and Zymarion Hollyfield at 170.
Several other Kingsmen were in their first conference meet.
“We pride ourselves on our system of hard work,” said Harper. “We have a young team and we showed we have a lot more work to do. But we will be ready by the sectional in two weeks.”
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Freeman, the son of Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman, put himself in rare air by winning an upperweight title as a freshman. Normally, those go to older, stronger, more experienced wrestlers.
He beat Elkhart’s Kaullin Price in the finale, 9-1, and improved to 19-7 on the season.
“I’ve had to work a lot on my technique,” said Freeman. “In eighth grade, I beat up on a lot of people just because I was stronger. But at this level, they get a lot bigger. I work on my technique a lot to get an edge.”
Oddly, Elkhart claimed only one champ – heavyweight Brayden Jellison – while third-place New Prairie had four individual champs.
Chief among them was freshman Jeffrey Huyvaert, who remains undefeated this season at 36-0.
In the day’s feature bout, Huyvaert edged Penn’s Wes Harper, 3-1, in an intense battle that had to be halted a couple times for injury.
Harper is 13-3.
“Honestly, it was an honor for me to wrestle him,” said Huyvaert. “It was a tough match but I was confident I would find a way to win.”
Jayden Lewis (145), Hayden Whitenack (152) and Neil Johnson (195) also claimed titles for New Prairie.
John Aranowski of Saint Joseph was the 220-pound champ. And at 126, Glenn’s Bentley Whitmer was all smiles after pinning first-year Penn sophomore Braden Ashe in the final. He’s 28-3 this season.
“In the past, I’ve been third or fourth in this tournament,” said Whitmer. “So it feels good to have a conference win under my belt.”
NORTHERN INDIANA CONFERENCE WRESTLING INVITATIONAL
At Elkhart
TEAM SCORES: Penn 292 ½, Elkhart 243, New Prairie 233 ½, Jimtown 176 ½, John Glenn 166, Riley 153, Bremen 70, Marian 60, Saint Joseph 60, Washington 45, Clay 30, Adams 26.
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
106: Aden Hartman (Jimtown) tech. fall Genesis Ramirez (Elkhart), 17-0 in 6:00.
113: Ryann Schmidtendorff (Penn) maj. dec. Brody King (Glenn), 13-4.
120: Dylan Bennett (Penn) pinned Walter Drews (Glenn) 0:47.
126: Bentley Whitmer (Glenn) pinned Braden Ashe (Penn), 1:00.
132: Mikey Kallimani (Jimtown) won by inj. forfeit over Cam Dews (Elkhart).
138: Jeffrey Huyvaert (New Prairie) dec. Wesley Harper (Penn), 3-1.
145: Jayden Lewis (New Prairie) dec. Evan Eutsey (Penn), 8-4.
152: Hayden Whitenack (New Prairie) dec. Jamaiel Lowe (Riley), 6-0.
160: AJ Steenbeke (Penn) dec. Conner Watts (Jimtown), 4-3.
170: Zymarion Hollyfield (Penn) dec. Ethan Freedline (Elkhart), 7-5.
182: Vinny Freeman (Penn) maj. dec. Kaullin Price (Elkhart), 9-1.
195: Neil Johnson (New Prairie) pinned Nash Shupert (Elkhart) 1:41.
220: John Aranowski (Saint Joseph) dec. Clayton Deutscher (New Prairie), 5-3.
285: Brayden Jellison (Elkhart) dec. Peyton Kendall (Penn), 2-0.
CONSOLATION ROUND
(For 3rd Place)
106: Caleb Halfacre (New Prairie) pinned Travis Sears (Penn), 4:35.
113: Josh Corona (Elkhart) dec. Alex Moyer (Jimtown), 7-1.
120: Grant Beery (Bremen) pinned Seth Martinez (New Prairie), 3:39.
126: Preston Hammond (New Prairie) dec. Blake Mock (Elkhart), 7-0.
132: Reece Greene (Bremen) dec. Ben Walatka (Riley), 4-2.
138: Brennon Whickcar (Elkhart) maj. dec. Zach Pflugner (Riley), 13-2.
145: Cohen Lundy (Elkhart) pinned Trayvon Fleming (Riley), 3:42.
152: Kaden Rogers (Jimtown) and Leonardo Santiago (Penn), double forfeit (too many matches).
160: Marques Young (Riley) dec. Cam Freedline (Elkhart), 6-5 in double OT.
170: Mason Kobelt (Glenn) pinned Danny Gratzol (Jimtown), 2:21.
182: Jeirmi Scales (Riley) pinned Ethan Barkey (Jimtown), 2:12.
195: Josiah Williams (Penn) dec. Ayden Smigielski (Glenn), 5-3.
220: Preston Stimac (Elkhart) pinned Connor McPhee (Jimtown), 4:29.
285: Chris Johnson (New Prairie) pinned Zachary Schmucker (Bremen), 1:57.
NOTE: Individual champions are NIC All-Conference first team. Second-place finishers are NIC All-Conference second team. Third-place finishers are NIC honorable mention.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana high school wrestling Northern Indiana Conference meet Elkhart
