Plainfield Central’s Alicia Tucker is the Herald-News Girls Wrestler of the Year

If you want to know what kind of competitor Alicia Tucker is, look no further than the path the Plainfield Central sophomore traveled on her way to the IHSA Individual State championship at 155 pounds.

Because the Herald News 2022-23 Girls Wrestler of the Year’s postseason results weren’t just a list of her wins, but a testament to the type of grind-it-out, in-it-to-the-finish wrestler Tucker is.

“I’d say my biggest strength is my stamina, just being able to wrestle the whole six minutes and still have a little bit of gas left in the tank,” the Wildcats state champion said.

The results back her up.

Tucker opened the state tournament with a 4-0 showing at the Geneseo Sectional. Of her four victories, two came via pinfalls in the final 30 seconds. The fourth and sectional title-clinching win over Plainfield South’s Teagan Aurich was decided via a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire 3-0 decision.

Keeping that in mind, fast forward two weeks.

Tucker’s path through the 155-pound bracket at the IHSA State Finals at Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena looks awfully familiar. Of the three victories that set up her state championship match against Moline’s Maryam Ndiaye, two came by third-period pinfalls.

Then came Ndiaye, whose only postseason loss had come at the hands of the same Plainfield South wrestler, Aurich, whom Tucker had survived a 3-0 decisioning of two weeks before for the sectional title. Now with the state title on the line, Tucker found herself behind 1-0 heading into the third and final period before flipping the script in the closing seconds for a 3-1 decision and the state championship.

“If I’m being honest, I don’t think I knew I was down,” Tucker said of the state championship match. “I was just looking to wrestle all the way through the six minutes. When I found out I was down in the middle of the third, I was either going to try to get those points back and take it to overtime or find a way to finish it. ...

“[Succeeding with over 30 wins and a state title] were expectations I had, but achieving them was definitely a surprise.”

Tucker finished her season with a 34-2 record.

“I am really happy with how it went,” Tucker said. “I just think the season was pretty great overall. Even at practices, my cardio’s been better, I’ve had more endurance in general, and this was my first year having the majority [of my matches] wrestling girls. I feel like I’m getting used to wrestling against girls more, and that will get me ready for when college does come.”

Plainfield Central wrestling coach Terry Kubski said Tucker’s ability to fight through adversity, such as working her way through a male-dominated sport and competing against mostly boys her freshman campaign, has also been a key component to her success. It’s something he believes will carry her to greater heights now that she’ll be facing even greater challenges.

“When Alicia came in, we knew that winning a state championship was definitely a goal that we could have. ...” Kubski said. “Now that we’re feeling it, it’s a great accomplishment, but you also have to look at what we have to accomplish next year knowing that we’re going to have a target on our back.

“Last year [she] didn’t qualify for state. Next year it’s going to be really turned up, and it’s going to be exciting knowing that every match is going to be somebody else’s state championship. They’re going to be gunning for her, so we need to be ready all the time, but I’m really excited to see that with her.

“Because when the lights are on, she definitely brings it.”

“I’m also very excited for that,” Tucker said. “If they know that I’m state champion, they’re going to give it their best. That’s all I want out of people, to give their best on the mat so I can give my best.”

Plans of a collegiate wrestling career weren’t in Tucker’s mind a few short years ago; until, that is, she rediscovered the sport in junior high.

“My brother wrestled and my dad coached him, so I’ve been around wrestling for a while,” Tucker said, “but once my brother quit it was kind of out of sight, out of mind. In sixth grade I got back into it. I originally wanted to play football, but my parents didn’t let me do that, so I feel like wrestling was the next best thing.

“I like that [wrestling] takes work, that you can’t just show up one day and expect to win everything. You have to be persistent, you have to keep showing up, you actually have to put in the work.”