New Palestine High School

The New Palestine girls wrestling team advanced five of its nine competing wrestlers to the IHSGW State Finals from Friday's semistate at the Muncie Fieldhouse, with four advancing to the finals and finishing as semistate runners-up. Sydney DeLois (125), Ezra Wagner (130), June Wagner-Gilbert (135) and Ella Morris (145) all finished second. Julia Champ (155) finished fourth. All will advance to the State Finals next Friday. DeLois (21-3) returns to the State Finals after placing third last season. She won her first three matches by fall before dropping a 7-2 match in the championship to Southport's K'yla Johnson in a rematch of last week's regional final. Wagner (29-6) had three first-minute falls to get to the final - coming in 26, 52 and 33 seconds. In the championship match, she lost by fall in 2:48 to Noblesville's Kyra Tomlinson. Wagner-Gilbert (35-3) had a 29-second fall in the first round, then won a 7-2 decision in the ticket round over Lawrence Central's Samarrah Swannigan. She won her semifinal match with a 2:49 pin before losing by fall to Pendleton Heights' Maddie Marsh in 3:19 in the championship match. Morris (33-7) had three first-period falls in 1:03, 1:00 and 1:45 to advance to the final, before a 7-0 loss to North Montgomery's Hailey Kunz in the championship match. Champ (22-13) finished fourth, as she won her first two matches by fall to clinch a State Finals berth, before dropping a semifinal match by fall and a 7-3 decision in the third-place match. Also competing were Jillian Champ (1-1 at 135), Madisyn Covington (1-1 at 140), Elizabeth Champ (0-1 at 145) and Erica Whetsel (1-1 at 155). As a team, the Dragons tallied 102 points and finished as semistate runner-up to Southport, which had 142. The five advancing Dragons will compete in the Jan. 12 State Finals at Memorial Gymnasium in Kokomo.