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‘It tore me apart:’ Gerald overcomes mental, physical toll of injuries to make state
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester wrestler Lilly Gerald suffered a season-ending dislocated elbow last year.
And then she needed knee surgery.
There was rehab, and she got better, but that’s only the physical part.
Trusting her body to not fail her in her toughest matches is another thing entirely. And she admits that it was not easy.
“I broke, I broke, I broke,” Gerald said, not referring to any particular body part.
What she did at last Friday’s regional showed both her physical power and her mental fortitude as she finished third at 105 pounds at the Rochester regional to advance to the IHSAA state finals.
She will wrestle North Posey’s Kenna Kleinschmidt at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis at 10 a.m. today in the first round at state.
This is the first year that the IHSAA has recognized girls wrestling. Gerald finished fourth at 98 pounds at the 2023 state finals, which were held under the auspices of Indiana High School Girls Wrestling.
Ranked No. 4 according to IndianaMat.com, Gerald went 3-1 on the day and is 27-4 on the season. She said she holds herself to a high standard.
After clinching her state berth, she lost by fall to Lafayette Jeff’s Senniah Henderson in a match that she was leading 11-0 at one point in the semifinals. That loss was still bothering her later.
“I think I’m a lot harder on myself than a lot of other people are,” Gerald said. “So yay, I’m going to state, but I didn’t get the outcome I wanted. And it’s hard for me to handle.”
Gerald was then asked if she appreciated going to state more now than she did two years ago.
“Oh definitely,” Gerald said. “Two years ago, I was a little entitled freshman. ‘Oh, I got third at regional. I’m so proud.’ Two years later, ‘Oh, I got third at regional. I could’ve done so much better, and I got third because I made a mistake in my semifinals match.’ … I was ahead 11-0, and then she had a half(-nelson), and then she hipped me through. Everyone thinks that I granbied, but I did not granby. … I tried to hip one way, and she ended up taking me that way. I tried to hip in, and she took me that way, and that was where it ended.”
She then bounced back to beat Benton Central’s Laurana Dillon by technical fall 19-4 in 4:19 in the third-place match.
“I had nothing to lose,” Gerald said. “It didn’t matter. My bottom wrestling could have been better. I got a lot of ouchies and boo-boos, so I’m still kind of feeling it, but my bottom wrestling could have been better. Everything else was good though.”
Gerald transitioned to wrestling after starting with Brazilian jiu jitsu when she was in elementary school. Competing in a fledgling sport, she might have more experience in combat sports than anyone on the team.
But nothing could have prepared her for last year’s injuries and the toll it took on her psyche.
“I can handle pain better, but it tore me apart,” Gerald said. “I had a lot of time to reflect because I dislocated my elbow, and then exactly a month later, I had knee surgery. I really, really broke.
“At the beginning of the season, I broke. I kept breaking, and then at the RHS Invite (Nov. 23), it just clicked. I’m not going to get hurt again, and if I do, then I’ll live. It’s not the end of the world. I’d definitely say that I’m more realistic than I am now. I know that if something were to happen, I won’t do the same thing I did last year, and I’ll get better. It’s not going to kill me.”
Gerald was asked how it’s a different mental approach.
“Last year, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m the best,’” Gerald said. “This year, I know I’m not the best, but I know what I need to do to be the best. Definitely a lot less entitled, per se.”
Rochester coach Tristan Wilson commended Gerald on her mental fortitude.
“Two years ago, it was just a surprise to all of us how well she was wrestling at that time,” Wilson said. “She was wrestling 98 pounds, and there weren’t a ton of people there. Last year was the best I’ve seen her wrestle, but unfortunately, she dislocated her elbow. That’s going to have a mental toll on anybody. … At the beginning of the season, there was a lot of back and forth of why am I not where I was? Well, you had surgery. You had to heal everything up. And there’s always a seed in the back of your head that you don’t want that to happen again, and it locks you in.
“From the summer, she wrestled a few times when she was able to, but she really didn’t cleared until about the end of June (or) July. So a lot of this stuff that she’s making up, but I feel like from the Rochester Invite forward, she’s wrestled like she used to, and I feel like every weekend, she just looks a little more like old Lilly. I think this state run, I’m really excited for her at state. I think she’ll place.”
Gerald said her goal for state is to prove the ranking wrong.. A showdown with undefeated Daleville wrestler Kynlie Keffer, ranked No. 2, is a possibility in the quarterfinals.
“I’m top three,” Gerald said. “I got it. And if I do get fourth again, then it will be a repeat of my freshman year. … If I get fourth at state again, then I will be pretty upset, but I’ll move on and I’ll grow from it, learn and change.”
