Noblesville High School senior Kyra Tomlinson easily recalls the moment she was hooked on wrestling.
“I fell in love with it during eighth grade, when I got a takedown against this guy and the crowd screamed my name,” she said. “I truly love the feeling of people screaming for me. I love climbing to the top and being the best.”
Both things happened Jan. 12, when Tomlinson captured the 130-pound championship in the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling state finals in Kokomo. Tomlinson defeated Huntington North’s Aubrey Troutner in a 19-10 major decision. She finished the season with a 22-1 record.
Tomlinson, who won her first two matches by pins, said the crucial match was beating Northfield’s Ella Gahl 5-4 in the semifinals.
“That was a rematch of the state championship last year,” Tomlinson said. “It was a really tight score. That was really more emotional for me, rather than winning the final.”
It was especially sweet because Tomlinson considered this a comeback season. She suffered blood clots in her head in April 2023 and was sidelined from competition for approximately six months.
“An injury doesn’t define who I am, and I was able to grow as a person,” Tomlinson said. “All glory to God because he definitely healed me through the process along with my family and friends.”
Tomlinson placed second at the state finals her sophomore year and finished third as a freshman. The weight class was 132 her first three years and changed to 130 this year.
“You learn a lot from your losses, and I learned a lot about how to get out of being on the bottom, and that’s what cost me the state championship last year,” Tomlinson said. “This year, I worked on a lot with the guys and focused on my bottom work, along with conditioning and being more dominant.”
Tomlinson will wrestle collegiately at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, a new NCAA Division III program, which will begin competition in 2024-25.
“I want the world to know my name, so I’ll continue working on getting better,” she said.
Women’s wrestling is under consideration for being an NCAA-sanctioned championship sport.
“It’s growing super-fast,” Tomlinson said.
There were eight girls on the Noblesville High School team this season, with Tomlinson the only one advancing to the state competition.
“We had a dual meet with Hamilton Southeastern this season, which was my first one and that was amazing,” she said.
Tomlinson, who has been wrestling since seventh grade, wrestles with the Central Indiana Academy of Wrestling.
“Once I got to high school with my coaches and mentors, I saw a big difference in my ability,” Tomlinson said. “I started going to club (wrestling), and that helped me tremendously with positions. I’ve definitely gotten better throughout the years.”
She said she became stronger mentally and physically this season.
Tomlinson played several other sports, basketball, softball, gymnastics and track and field when she was younger. She was a sprinter and long jumper in sixth and seventh grade track and field. Her eighth-grade season in 2020 was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m strictly a wrestling gal,” she said. “I live and breathe wrestling.”
