Columbus East’s Tienica Dits, left, locks up with North Posey’s Desirae Reese in a 105-pound match at Saturday’s Bloomington South Regional.
Rob Baker | For The Republic
Tienica Dits got off to a rough start her freshman year.
The Columbus East wrestler went 0-16 in her dual matches, but she didn’t let it get to her. She stepped up and put in the hard work.
Once the IHSAA sanctioned girls wrestling as an official sport in the summer of 2024, Dits went from a novice freshman to a state-qualifying sophomore in a year. Dits and the rest of the Olympians made history as the first girls state championship team in the inaugural year.
“I did not do well freshman year, but as a sophomore, I started getting it, and this year, I think I’m understanding the sport and have been falling in love with it more and more every time,” Dits said. “It’s the feeling of being pushed, the challenge and the dedication. I want to keep this dedication and discipline throughout the rest of my life.”
Tienica Dits
Dits, now a junior, is determined to return to the Girls Wrestling State Finals, but she needs to get through a tough regional field. She and six other Columbus East wrestlers, along with one Columbus North and four Jennings County wrestlers, will grapple at the Bloomington South Regional at 9 a.m. today.
Dits started with the Olympians her freshman year when it was still a club sport.
“I tried it one time, and I loved it since the beginning,” Dits said. “I stuck with it since then, and that’s how I’ve gotten here.”
Wrestling at 100 pounds in the state tournament last year as a sophomore, Dits lost to Roncalli’s Claire May in the opening round. In the sectional round last week, Dits lost to Indian Creek’s Ella Neibert, last year’s state champion at 100, in the championship bout.
For Dits, she said wrestling is more of a mental game than a physical game for the six-minute duration of a match.
“I feel like last year, I got a little too worried because I went against one of the best girls (May) in the state last time,” she said. “This year, I’ve gone head-to-head with the girl (Neibert) that won state last year, and I’m not getting my head about it, and I’m just looking at what I can do better than what I did so bad. I’m more for looking at the positives. I’m focusing on those and making those better and strengthening them.”
Last week, Dits qualified for the regional after finishing as the runner-up at 105 pounds in the Indian Creek Sectional. Dits, who has a 20-5 record this season, said most of the competition she’s faced this year is the same as last year with the majority of the girls moving from 100 to 105.
The top four in each weight class advance to Friday’s state finals at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis. Dits has an excellent chance to advance out of the regional, but knows in order to become a state champion, she’ll likely have to defeat Neibert at state to make it a possibility.
“I feel like I still have more potential, but I’m definitely doing so much more to what I would have been doing to last year,” Dits said. “This year, I think I’m not being as scared. I’m just going out there and leaving it on the mat and not worrying about it.”
The one person that has seen Dits’ transformation and progress over the past few years has been Olympians coach Ty Olds.
“When we go back to look at some of her matches now from then, it’s not even the same girl,” Olds said. “It’s a totally different girl, but with her personality then, I really didn’t know if she would make it. She was so quiet and nice. She’s put the work in. She’s comes to everything that we have. She started lifting weights, bought into the program, bought into what we teach, and she started blossoming. You could see every practice, every week and coming to offseason stuff, and before you know it, at the end of the day, she’s now competing with really tough girls.”
“Our room just exudes on getting better every single day, and her buying into what our program stands for. I think that is what helped her a lot,” he added. “Having all those seniors last year showing her how to do the right things, but it really boils down to her buying in and her doing the right things, and she’s done all the work. We just happen to guide her through it.”
