When Alexus Johns and Abby Bowen began in the Mexico girls wrestling program four years ago, they had to learn how to wrestle.

As seniors, Johns and Bowen lead the program and have achieved results this season, including finishing first in their respective weight classes of 235 and 140 on Monday at the fifth annual Brick City Classic. Mexico hosted the girls wrestling tournament on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, welcoming 22 other schools to Gary Filbert gym, and had seven girls finish in the top three to medal.

Johns picked up career win No. 150 and her 100th career pinfall later in the day while Bowen secured her third straight tournament victory on the same day they each were recognized in a Senior Day ceremony. Johns is the first ever Mexico girl to achieve 150 wins.

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“My freshman year and the first year doing it, I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to do that,’” Johns said. “I’m so glad I got it at home in front of the home crowd. My aunts could make it from two and half hours away.”

Bowen lost one match to Palmyra’s Kyndal Wilt after already losing once to her in a home dual but finished her day by pinning Wilt in the third period to tie the season series at 2 with her district foe.

“I generally don’t know how I do it sometimes,” Bowen said. “I felt like I was done. I don’t know I reversed and pinned her. It was the third time I wrestled her this week.”

Bowen admitted she has been wrestling with a condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) since being diagnosed last year. This season is her first full season wrestling with the disorder of the autonomic nervous system — which controls heart rate, blood pressure, sweating and body temperature — that affects one to three million Americans and is more likely to develop in younger women, according to Johns Hopkins. She said this has affected her conditioning, explaining that her “vision goes black” sometimes when she is wrestling.

“I wear my compression socks that make me look crazy, but they help,” Bowen said with a grin. “I eat a lot of salt and drink a lot of water to help keep my blood pressure regulated.”

Head coach Tony Senor said hosting the Brick City Classic is “better than Christmas” and loves making it “close to a district format” in front of the home crowd. He is proud how Johns and Bowen each finished the day with victories over Holt and Palmyra, respectively, to affect district seeding at the end of the season. Johns has earned two state medals, and Bowen has wrestled in two state tournaments in her career, but Senor said their impact on the program has meant so much more.

“They mean everything to the program and mean everything to me,” Senor said. “I taught them how to wrestle. They had no other coaches besides me. To see what they did today, it’s what you hope as a coach. Going to war with those girls is so much fun. Next year, it’s going to be a big hole not just on the mat but in my heart.”

Senor said Johns had some nerves prior to her 150th win and told her to “go out and wrestle, let’s go to war and let’s win” prior to her 100th pinfall victory to avoid putting any pressure on her.

“To get 100 pins is not easy in this sport,” Senor said. “If you think about it, 153 wins now and 100 of those were pins.”

As for Bowen, Senor said she showed so much “grit” against Wilt, saying she reminds him of her older sister and Mexico alum Katie Bowen. 

“That is mental toughness,” Senor said. “I don’t know many girls that have that much fight in her, and she does.”

Lilly Cuno at 100B, Lehua Grantz at 110B and Makiya Workes at 135 extra each finished first while Erika Pech at 145B and Cassius Williams at 170 extra each were second to medal. All of those girls are freshmen, except the sophomore Pech. 

“Our freshmen are starting to learn,” Senor said. “The main thing that brand new girls struggle with is learning the sport and going out and actually doing it. What we saw today were these girls going out and fighting. That’s what I want.”

Johns said she loves watching all of the girls wrestle and seeing everybody improving like she has over the years. 

“Mat awareness is getting so much better with the newer girls,” Johns said. “I try to drill with the girls. You’ve got to be motivated, but you also have got to be disciplined. You’ve got to drill like it’s your last.”

Johns said she looks up to Kaylynn Pehle and Katie Bowen, who were there when the program started. She said she intends to wrestle in college but will miss high school.

“Everybody wants to be the best and be the best,” Johns said. “Here we are doing it. It’s great. I love it.”

Bowen can’t believe she made the walk to the center of the mat with her family.

“I can’t believe I’m a senior and am graduating in four months,” Bowen said. “Everyone tells you high school goes by so fast. You never believe it, but now that I’m here, I’m like, ‘Wait, how did four years go by so fast?’ It makes me so sad. It’s bittersweet.”