NAPPANEE — For the first time ever, NorthWood High School has a two-time state champion in any sport, team or individual. Senior Naima Ghaffar cleared the 135-pound bracket in the IHSAA girls wrestling state finals tournament held Friday, January 16 inside Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds to claim her second title.
During the last two years, which represent the first two years of girls wrestling being its own sanctioned sport by the IHSAA, Ghaffar tallied an 85-2 overall record, only dropping one match each season. In fact, this year’s loss was the last one leading up to the state finals when she came up short in the regional championship match, falling to Garrett senior Nevaeh Wilson, an opponent Ghaffar had defeated in the sectional championship match.
As fate would have it, Ghaffar and Wilson fell on opposite sides of the state championship bracket, setting up the proverbial rubber match to take home the bracket sheet and claim a piece of Indiana High School wrestling immorality. In that championship match, Ghaffar would defeat Wilson 10-5 in three rounds to secure the title.
“The first [title] was different because I hadn’t done it before,” she said. “This year I had to make sure to train hard and change some things. The second one, I knew what it took and I knew that I was willing to do it again.”
Ghaffar said she felt that last year’s bracket, which also was at the 135-pound level, was a bit tougher than this year’s. In 2024, the championship match saw her defeat a previously undefeated senior wrestler from Jeffersonville by a 12-2 major decision.
This year, her toughest competition came from Wilson, also a senior.
“The one match I lost to her, it definitely wasn’t my match,” Ghaffar said. “I let her control the tie, let her throw me, but the other ones, the two I won, I was wrestling my match, controlling the ties and getting to my shots.”
Now that her high school wrestling career is officially over, Ghaffar’s plan is to continue practicing and training, participating in some freestyle national tournaments. She is planning to continue wrestling in college, although she has not yet decided where that might be.
“I’ve been doing some visits and trying to find out where I want to wrestle in college, but I don’t know yet,” she said. “There are a lot of schools I’ve looked at, lots of phone calls with coaches. I’ve done a couple of visits and have a couple of more scheduled.”
This year, Ghaffar had the opportunity to wrestle with another 2024-25 state finalist as a teammate. Last year, Onica Gradeless finished sixth in the state finals as a member of the Mishawaka Cavemen wrestling team. As a sophomore, she transferred to NorthWood to take the mat as the newest Panther. Wrestling in the 110-pound class, this year Gradeless was a sectional and regional champion, finishing fifth in the state finals. Gradeless’s father, Yancy, also served as a Panthers assistant under head coach Rod Lone.
“Coach Yancy is good, and I liked having him coach me and help me out,” she said. “It was awesome having Onica here. It was nice having her on the team and I’m proud of her. I know she will do great things in the next two years, too.”
Her own father, Faruq, also has been instrumental throughout her wrestling career.
“He’s helped me a lot by just driving me places and paying for me to do tournaments,” Ghaffar said of her dad. “He’s always at practices and tournaments, supporting me and encouraging me. NorthWood also has been a great place to wrestle. It’s great having a nice community and school. There’s a great system behind me. I’ll definitely miss the team. They’re all fun, but we all work hard. I like them all and I’m gonna miss it.”
Ghaffar admitted that wrestling wasn’t always her first choice for a sport.
“Both my brothers wrestled, and after seeing them do it, and I wanted to try it,” she said. “At first, my dad was not for it. Eventually he let me. At first I didn’t love it as much as I do now. I really didn’t care for it too much. But then, eventually, I liked it a lot more.
“I like wrestling because it’s a team sport, but it’s not. You can work as hard as you want and reach your goals on your own and by yourself. It definitely becomes part of your life and you definitely want to keep going as long as you can.”
Ghaffar’s advice to the teammates she is leaving behind is to keep making it fun and to be nice to your teammates.
“Try to convince other girls to join and be kind to people who are new and all your teammates,” she said. “Work hard, and just keep practicing hard.”