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Peppler packs punch despite giving up pounds, procures state spot
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester junior Laine Peppler weighed in for the regional at the RHS gym last week at 160 pounds.
She wrestles in the 170-pound weight class.
So giving up 10 pounds to an opponent is common. Peppler overcoming that size disadvantage and winning is also common.
Peppler finished third at the regional one week after winning a sectional title to earn a spot at the IHSAA state finals for the second straight year.
“Great,” Peppler said when asked how it felt. “Tired but great.”
Ranked No. 3 according to IndianaMat.com, she will face Penn’s Amani Reed in the first round at 10 a.m. today at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis. A bout with top-ranked and three-time state champion Mallory Winner of Jay County is possible.
Peppler finished fifth at state at 145 last year when state was held at Kokomo High School and the event was held under the auspices of Indiana High School Girls Wrestling.
Peppler went 3-1 at the regional and is 26-4 on the season. She got a first-round bye and then punched her state ticket when she pinned Tri-County’s Kylee Kleist in 55 seconds.
She lost her semifinal match to No. 16 Emersyn Adkins of Tipton by fall in 5:02 but bounced back to shut out Lebanon’s Claira Gramlin 6-0 in the third-place match.
Against Adkins, she said she needed to take better shots.
Gramlin, ranked No. 5, had 10 pounds on Peppler like so many other opponents. Yet seemingly only the buzzer at the end of the match prevented Peppler from getting another fall as she rode Gramlin from the top position for the entire third period.
Peppler said the weight disadvantage is what made this year different.
“It’s definitely more challenging,” Peppler said. “Going up two weight classes certainly changes quite a bit.”
Peppler said that when giving up 10 pounds to an opponent – she estimated she weighed 156 or 157 by the end of the day – technique becomes even more important.
“And strength helps a lot as well,” Peppler said.
It’s a different tack than last year, according to Rochester coach Tristan Wilson. They decided to skip the 155-pound class and go straight to 170.
“When she wrestled 145 last year, she was the strongest 145er in that weight class,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t manageable, though, for her at 145. 155? There’s a different style with it, and then at 170, it’s an even more different kind of style. Those big weight jumps and weight classes, you have to wrestle some things differently.”
Peppler was asked if her conditioning helps her win matches.
“Somewhat yes,” Peppler said. “But I think a lot of it is I know a lot of technique. It’s just using that technique in those matches.”
Peppler said she will be working in practice on wrestling from the bottom position as she trains for state.
She attributed a lot of her success to her mental fortitude.
“Quite a bit,” Peppler said. “I can tell when I’m having an off day, and I’m not doing as well. It certainly shows in my matches.”
Asked if it was enjoyable to gain 15 pounds since the end of last year, she said “not exactly.”
“It’s stuffing myself pretty much every time I can,” Peppler said.
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