HANCOCK COUNTY — Kylie Smith-Foster doesn’t keep track of her opponents, the schools she’s competed against or even her season record.
For the Greenfield-Central 98-pound freshman wrestler, the sport and particularly each match, in and of itself, is the only thing that holds any weight in her mind.
So much so, it’s actually her routine.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
Before every match, Smith-Foster ritualistically paces. No music. No distractions. Pure focus, except for maybe an intimidating glare or two before entering the circle.
“I pace before my matches because that helps me get my mind right and not think about anything else besides wrestling and what I’m going to do on the mat,” Smith-Foster said. “Sometimes, I stare at my opponent just to get in their head.”
On Friday night, Smith-Foster will already have a psychological advantage over the competition during the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state finals at Hamilton Heights High School.
Though a first-time state qualifier in her career, Smith-Foster enters the state finals as an IHSGW South Regional champion with a ferocious streak.
“She’s mean as heck,” Greenfield-Central wrestling coach Josh Holden said. “She’s getting better as a wrestler, obviously, but she just goes hard. I tell them all the time in the room, ‘We’re blue-collar Greenfield-Central High School. We go forward. We bang on people. We win in the third period. We’re not Slick Rick or here to trick anybody. We’re going forward. We’re going to fight you, and that’s who we are.’ She fits really well into that.”
The daughter of Christopher Foster, a former wrestler at Greenfield, Smith-Foster is shooting for a state title in Arcadia, along with Cougars’ teammate and two-time state qualifier Livia Quigley, a junior, at 145 pounds.
The Cougars’ duo will be joined by three more Hancock County representatives in Mt. Vernon’s Sierra Pienkowski (138) and New Palestine’s Sydney DeLois (113) and Kayleigh Kirkwood (138), who each qualified with top-four placements at the regional event in Franklin last week.
In 2019, a pair of county girls wrestlers advanced to the state meet in Greenfield-Central’s Chloe Pike (160) and Pienkowski, who is now a three-time state qualifier and soon-to-be state-place winner.
There are eight girls set to compete in each of the state finals’ 14 weight classes for state medals on Friday, beginning with the opening round at 4 p.m.
In 2020, the county again sent two girls to the state meet.
This year, however, the total has more than doubled. The progression has been a result of increased interest, Holden says, and the momentum is continuing to build.
“It kind of shows you where not only girls wrestling in the state is heading but for us because there haven’t been a lot of girls that have been interested. At least in my 17 years, and now, we have three down at the junior high and girls talking about it up here (at the high school level),” Holden said.
“It’s exciting. They see her, and now people believe they can do it. Liv is right there, too. It’s exciting when they win.”
Quigley placed fifth at 138 last year, and she finished runner-up at 145 during the regional to secure her spot at state. Ranked third in the state, according to IndianaMat, Quigley will face Eastside’s fifth-ranked Timmery Rutter in the opening round.
Her experience will help with the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 145 in Aulani Davis of Kokomo, a state champion at 132 in 2020, in her half of the bracket where the two could meet in the semifinal round.
She’s ready for the challenge.
“I don’t know if (Liv) gets nervous to be honest. We’ll be getting ready to wrestle and she’ll ask me something weird about some animal, and I’m like, ‘Liv, I don’t know. Can we get ready to wrestle?,’” Holden laughed.
For Kirkwood, a first-time state qualifier as a sophomore, the Dragon will open against Logansport’s Liberty Sutton, who is ranked second in the state. Kirkwood is ranked seventh and placed fourth at regional.
DeLois was runner-up at 113 during the Franklin Regional. She is ranked fifth in the state. The freshman will face Twin Lake’s eighth-ranked Ella McNulty in the first round, while third-ranked Rose Kaplan of West Lafayette could potentially stand in her way during the semifinals en route to a rematch with top-ranked Torieonna Buchanan of West Vigo.
Buchanan pinned DeLois during the regional final in her quest for a third straight state title. Buchanan won state at 106 in both 2019 and 2020.
Pienkowski placed second at regional last week in Franklin and is ranked fifth in the state at 138. The Marauder finished seventh at state last year at 138 and was eighth at 145 in 2019.
This time around, she drew Rochester’s Mikaila Weightman, who is ranked ninth in the state. If Pienkowski wins, she could see Kirkwood in the semifinals with top-ranked Kaylie Petersen of Evansville Central in the other half of the bracket.
“She’s starting to come out of her shell,” Mt. Vernon head coach Chad Masters said. “Being a girl in wrestling is tough.”
Smith-Foster enjoys the hardship of being one of few girls competing daily against boys. If anything, it makes her better when she locks up with another female student-athlete.
“It’s super hard at times because you get underestimated a lot by the boys. And then when you go out there and win, they’re kind of shocked,” Smith-Foster said. “Against girls, I’m always scared I’m going to hurt a girl. With a boy, I don’t care.”
Her toughness comes naturally from her father and immediate family, along with the impact former Greenfield-Central state qualifier Dezmen McGinley made on Smith-Foster.
McGinley, 27, a family friend, passed away on Dec. 2, which was difficult for Smith-Foster.
“Her dad was really good friends with Dezmen McGinley, who passed away a couple of weeks ago now. He kind of got into it, and her grandfather is really big into it, comes to all of our meets,” Holden said. “She just one day decided, I’m going to do this.”
And for all the right reasons.
“That’s why I kept doing wrestling. It’s because I wanted to win for (Dezmen),” Smith-Foster said. “I’m going to win state one year. I’m going to win this year, I think.”
Ranked fourth in the state, Smith-Foster begin her quest against Central Noble’s Angelina Clay, who is ranked sixth.
At regional, Smith-Foster pinned all three of her opponents in 1 minute, 10 seconds, 1:20 and 1:40.
It was a stark contrast to her first high school match this past November when she got pinned. But that was then, and this is now.
“I kind of got thrown around because I was super nervous,” Smith-Foster recalled. “I’m really proud of myself (to make state), and I’m super proud of the other girls that are also doing it and staying with (wrestling) because I know at times it can be hard mentally and physically.”
