Sandwich’s Ashlyn Strenz is the Times 2024 Girls Wrestler of the Year

Last season, Sandwich senior Ashlyn Strenz became the first Indians’ wrestler to earn a medal at the IHSA Girls Wrestling State Meet after finishing fourth.

This season, with an added step (regionals) and growing competition across the sport, Strenz etched her name and set the bar even higher by finishing fifth and taking home a second piece of hardware.

“I was really excited when I found out there was going to be regionals this year,” Strenz said. “Yes, it was going to be another step to get where I wanted to go, state, but it also means the sport has continued to grow and there were enough girls doing this that a regional was necessary. Last year it was just sectionals then state, so I guess, to me, having that extra round just made making it to state a little more satisfying.”

Strenz ended this season with an 18-6 mark against girls at 110 pounds, with about another dozen matches against boys. She finished runner-up at the Minooka Regional and Geneseo Sectional.

She said that even after a successful junior season she knew there were some things she needed to work on.

“My offseason was really about me and my coaches working on or trying to really refine the things we felt I did well,” Strenz said. “Last year when I would wrestle boys, it was not only hard to shoot in on a leg, but very hard to finish the shot. I just didn’t have the arm strength. So then it seemed like when I would wrestle girls, I’d shy away from shooting, which I feel is a strength of mine, and become way too defensive. I had to get into and stay with the mentality of whoever I was wrestling, boy or girl, I had to stay aggressive and wrestle the way I wrestle. I feel like I did that this year.”

“You can’t have doubt, you can’t be broken, you have to be confident, no matter the situation. It’s just you out there, and if you don’t believe in yourself and what you can do, well, there are no subs.”

—  Ashlyn Strenz, Sandwich senior wrestler and two-time state medal winner

At the state finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, Strenz opened the competition with wins over East Peoria’s Kennedy McMeniman (6-4 decision) and Grant’s Ayane Jasinski (5-3 sudden victory). She fell to eventual champion Morgan Turner, of Lockport, in the semifinals, then dropped a 1-0 ultimate tiebreaker to Litchfield’s Rilynn Younker.

Strenz bounced back for a 4-1 victory over Bartlett’s Emma Engles in the fifth-place match.

“In the quarterfinals she won over the girl that won state at 110 last year and then in the fifth-place match she defeated the girl that won state at 100 pounds last year,” Sandwich coach Derek Jones said. “She lost in the semifinals to arguably the best girls wrestler in Illinois and Top 5 in the nation in Lockport’s Morgan Turner. I feel like she was better than the girl she faced in the consolation semis, but sometimes she wrestles in her mind and not on the mat. That said, I couldn’t be prouder of how she bounced back in the fifth-place match to close out her high school career with a win. That girl was tough, but once Ashlyn got that first takedown, I knew she was going to make it count.

“Over her career I’ll remember her make team state for us, winning a regional boys title (as a junior) and the two trips to state. She’s done so many great things for the program. She was our foundation and our jumping off point. She’s set the bar pretty high for the future girl wrestlers here at Sandwich to try and reach.

“I’m going to miss seeing her wrestle for Sandwich.”

Strenz also said she was more mentally prepared this season.

“I seem to handle it pretty well now, but there is a certain mindset you have to have to be a wrestler, I believe,” Strenz said. “Last year, I would get really stressed out at times, but you have to be good mentally before a match, during a match and especially after a match that didn’t go so well. You can’t have doubt, you can’t be broken, you have to be confident, no matter the situation. It’s just you out there, and if you don’t believe in yourself and what you can do, well, there are no subs.”

Strenz said she is leaning toward continuing her wrestling career at the next level if the right opportunity comes along and hopes to major in chemistry, with working in lab the destination.

She still has one more match as a prep as she has been asked to participate in the Team Illinois vs. Team Iowa dual Sunday in Mooresville, Indiana.