Panther Samiya Love has persevered this season while battling at 190 pounds
Samiya Love is punching above her weight.
Well, not punching exactly. That is frowned upon in high school wrestling, but the Bloomington South freshman, who tips the scales at 168, had certainly held her own and then some this season. That's why head coach Donnie Hillenburg has high hopes for her, despite the odds, in the 190-pound bracket at the Indian Creek girls' wrestling sectional on Friday, Jan. 2.
"She's done a really good job for us," Hillenburg said. "It's been a surprising year to me. She's 17-5 and beat some really good girls.
"She came up here and has done a heck of a job. She's really improved and is starting to put it together. I think she'll make some noise in the state series."
Losing last year's 235-pounder, Abby Purtlebaugh, to a shoulder injury, forced some adjustments at the upper weights for South. Senior Jaclyn Hillenburg, who has committed to Manchester, bumped up from 190 to cover the 235 spot, and Love went up to 190.
Love started wrestling as an eighth grader at Jackson Creek, so there figured to be a big learning curve coming up to high school and often facing older and more mature and experienced wrestlers. But she's handled all that well.
"The biggest thing is your mind and where your mind is as far as knowing I'm going up against bigger girls here," Hillenburg said. "You have to maintain the same work ethic, which is hard to do.
"You're facing 190s who are cutting down from 200, when you're only 168. Sprinkle in few high 170s who missed weight, and it's an adjustment in size and length and experience. And as girls get older, they bump up in weight, so they're usually juniors and seniors."
So Love had to come up with some weapons and skills to offset those disadvantages.
"Her quickness is definitely an advantage to her," Hillenburg said. "Couple that with being strong, really strong. She has a nice shot, and she's not afraid to mix it up, which is big, especially wrestling up a weight."
Love 'flows' on the wrestling mat
One of the things Hillenburg loves about Love is the way she approaches the sport and her eagerness to learn and get better at it.
It's easy to tell by the way she shows up early at practice and gets advice from the seniors in the room. Everything she's soaking up is translating to the mat.
"Her movement, just being able to get into the flow," Hillenburg said. "She flows into her shots and defense, so she's not so choppy and blocky. She flows to it now, after working in the room with Jaclyn in practice and picking up things from the other senior girls and listening to what they have to say."
Over the season, Hillenburg sees better footwork in setting up her shots and more confidence in what she's doing.
"Her composure is 100% better," Hillenburg said. "She doesn't lose focus. That's a big part of it, especially in high-pressure situations.
"We always say, 'Keep your body fast and slow your mind down.' She doesn't miss practice. She gets with the seniors. She gaining what she needs, and she's willing to be taught. Being coachable is the No. 1 thing. She's got the drive."
Top four advance
Here's what you need to know as the girls wrestling postseason kicks off: Area squads South, Bloomington North and Edgewood will head to the Indian Creek Sectional, which will start at 9 a.m. with the finals set in the afternoon.
It's one of the toughest groups in the state, led by No. 1 Whiteland, No. 5 Franklin, No. 10 Indian Creek and No. 13 Seymour, who all have a number of highly ranked wrestlers. The field also includes Bedford North Lawrence, Brown County, Columbus East, Columbus North, Eastern (Pekin), Mitchell, Shelbyville and West Washington.
South has three wrestlers ranked state-wide in Mariah Pope (ninth at 100), Abi Goodwin (11th at 130) and Hillenburg (14th at 235). Whiteland has 10 ranked competitors.
Owen Valley will head to Mt. Vernon (Posey), joining Boonville, Castle, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Central, Evansville Reitz, Evansville Harrison, Evansville North, Evansville Memorial, Heritage Hills, Jasper, Mt. Vernon, North Knox, North Posey, Paoli, Pike Central, Southridge, Sullivan and Tecumseh.
The top four in each weight class at both sectionals will advance to the Bloomington South Regional on Jan. 10. The fifth-place wrestler in each class will be an alternate if someone can't continue.
Tickets are $8.95 each and available at eventlink.com.
Seeds were not determined until mid-week and the IHSAA, and USABracketing did not release the seeds or brackets in time to meet publication deadlines.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South freshman looks to make noise at girls wrestling sectional
Category: General Sports
