Columbus North wrestlers Lilly Breedlove, left, and Arabella Fortino pose for a photo at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Breedlove and Fortino have qualified to compete in the Girls Wrestling State Finals on Friday at Mooresville.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Lilly Breedlove and Arrabella Fortino didn’t exactly get off to great starts in Friday’s Franklin girls wrestling regional.
But after getting pinned in their first-round matches, the Columbus North pair each battled back through the consolation bracket to become the first Bull Dogs to qualify for the Girls Wrestling State Finals.
“I’m really proud of us for being able to make it as far as we’ve gone because with our mindset and our abilities on the mat,” Fortino said.
“I think it’s really great,” Breedlove added. “It’s a really good steppingstone for Columbus North, and I like that we have the opportunity to set prime examples for the new upcoming freshmen, just any girl that would want join wrestling.”
Breedlove, a junior, rebounded from her first-round defeat with five consecutive wins — all by pin — to finish third at 138 pounds. Fortino, a sophomore, bounced back with three straight pins before falling in the third-place match to place fourth at 132.
“I feel like we’ve been working pretty hard for it,” Breedlove said. “It’s something that we’ve been working for, so we came in there with more confidence than at the beginning of the year.”
“I wouldn’t say that I know that I was going to make it, but I was thinking that I would be able to because I came in there with confidence, and I felt like I earned my way up there,” Fortino added. “I feel like I’ve been practicing hard enough to be able to make it to state.”
Both Breedlove and Fortino are first-year wrestlers for the Bull Dogs, who started a girls program this year with the IHSAA giving girls wrestling “Emerging Sport” status.
“I thought that since it was something new to Columbus North, and only for girls, I thought it was a cool opportunity and something to start something for the girls later on coming up,” Breedlove said. “It’s a new experience, something that we haven’t done before. Everything was really new to me. Even today, I’m still learning new things, like how to be really physical with people.”
North had about 10 girls on the team this year, and five competed in the regional. Anay Acevedo wrestled in the 120B division, and Kaitlyn Krebbs competed at 195. Mia Hernandez was a second Bull Dog wrestler at 132.
“Us being a first-year program, and Lilly and Arabella being first-year wrestlers, I kind of walked into it just hoping for the best and no expectations,” North girls coach Lindsey Prozanski said. “Lilly and Arabella are definitely our top wrestlers, and they definitely deserve the right to be state qualifiers. They’ve been very consistent all year and have made continuous improvements toward bettering themselves and have definitely peaked at the right time.”
Prozanski said Fortino’s strength is her ability to go out and compete with no expectations.
“She’s really one of those that really gets her mental game right,” Prozanski said. “Both Arabella and Lilly love their headlocks, so that’s something they’re making a name for themselves for. Lilly is our team captain, so I’m especially glad that she went out and represented our team well,” she added. “Lilly has always been that one that has great leadership skills, as well, so she definitely practices what she preaches to the team.”
In Friday’s state finals at Mooresville, Breedlove will wrestle Haylee Selis of Penn in the Round of 16 at 138 pounds. Fortino will square off against Kyra Tomlinson of Noblesville in the opening round at 132.
“My expectation is just to take it one by one and just keep my mindset on what I want,” Breedlove said.
“My expectation is to go home with no regrets at the end of the day,” Fortino added.
