NEW PALESTINE — When New Palestine senior Sydney DeLois looks back at her high school wrestling accomplishments, she won’t focus as much on the big wins — and she’s had a lot of them — as much as she centers on how she helped grow a sport she loves.
A four-time high school state placer, DeLois — who finished third in her weight class and was the top finisher of all county wrestlers at the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling Association State Finals in January — is The Daily Reporter Hancock County Girls Wrestler of the Year.
She finished fourth in each of her first two years at the state meet and placed third both as a junior and as a senior. She had a regular-season record this season of 24-4.
In each of the last two years — in the 125-pound class this season and 120-pound last season — she’s reached the state semifinals and lost to eventual state champion Rose Kaplan of West Lafayette.
In January at Kokomo, site of the state tournament, had she been placed on a different side of the bracket, she could have met Kaplan in the finals. DeLois had pinned Warren Central eventual state runner-up Aminah Rusunuguko-Taylor twice during the regular season.
Winning a lot has been great, but …
“My favorite part of this year has been growing the team,” DeLois said.”We went from five people on the team last year to 15 and I’m so excited to see it keep growing. It’s tripled in size since last year.
“My freshman year I was the only girl on the boys team. I was on varsity and I was the only girl in that practice room. To watch it not only go from having our own practices but to having 15 girls on a separate team is just crazy. Especially with the state tournament, it’s grown a lot and the competition has gotten tougher in the four years I’ve been out there.”
The past two years the IHSAA has added girls wrestling, along with boys volleyball, as emerging sports. Both are on schedule to be IHSAA-sanctioned sports for the 2024-25 school year.
“I am very honored to be at the forefront of such an amazing sport and to help it grow,” DeLois added. “It’s truly a blessing to watch what I didn’t have be possible for all of the younger generations that are coming after me.”
DeLois won’t be part of the IHSAA-era, at least not as a wrestler, she plans on sticking around the sport, either helping out the Dragons or possibly helping start a girls wrestling club team at Indiana University, where she plans on majoring in Animal Science before going to Purdue University’s veterinary school.
“Once you get in it, you never really get out of it and you never really want to,” DeLois said. “You always want to stick around and help out people when you can and give everything back to the sport that has given you so much throughout the years.
“It’s given me my dedication, my mental aspect of everything, mental toughness, and disciplining myself in every aspect of my life.”
And though it might not be on the wrestling mat, DeLois is hoping to continue using those attributes athletically in college — at the other sport she excelled in at NPHS — cheerleading.
Part of the football sideline and competition cheer team at New Palestine, DeLois is trying out for Indiana University’s cheerleading team. She will find out next month if she makes it.
Like wrestling, she had a lot of success with the New Pal cheer squad. The Dragons finished third in the state competition and went on to a national event.
DeLois admits it’s a unique combination of sports and two that are seldom linked together.
“It’s definitely challenging,” DeLois said. “For cheer you’ve got to get dressed up and you’ve got to look pretty. Wrestling, you’re really getting down to it and sweating out there — there’s nothing pretty about that.”
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2024 All-Hancock County Girls Wrestling Team
Wt. Class;Wrestler;School;Class
105;Asia Bowen;Greenfield-Central;9
110;Kylie Smith-Foster;Greenfield-Central;12
120;Mackenna Hardebeck;Eastern Hancock;10
125;Sydney DeLois;New Palestine;12
130;Ezra Wagner;New Palestine;12
135;June Wagner-Gilbert;New Palestine;9
140;Madisyn Covington;New Palestine;12
145;Ella Morris;New Palestine;9
155;Jasmine Camacho;Greenfield-Central;11
170;Ella Harpold;Greenfield-Central;11
235;Keely Allen;Greenfield-Central;9
Wrestler of the Year: Sydney DeLois, New Palestine
