TRIPLE CROWN: Princeton High wrestler Chloe Ayres, top, battles a foe in a 2018 bout. Last Saturday, senior standout Ayres took first at 114 pounds at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) girls’ state wrestling championships. It was the third straight state crown for Ayres at the competition, which started in 2019. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden and Justin Feil

Due to COVID-19 concerns, some key changes were made to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) girls’ state wrestling championships this year.

The finals were switched to April from March and the site of the event was moved to Phillipsburg High from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

But in the third year of the competition of the event, one thing remained constant — Princeton High star Chloe Ayres emerged as a state champ. The senior standout earned her third straight state title, prevailing at 114 pounds.

Capping her PHS career, Ayres dominated the competition last Saturday, pinning Emily Popek of Kittatinny in the quarterfinal round at 3:13 of the bout, pinning Gianna DeDreaux of Brick Township in the semis at 2:00, and then pinning Riley Lerner of Cedar Creek at 4:40 of the final.

“I went out and accomplished what I wanted to accomplish; I hope it was fun to watch, I wanted to put on a show,” said Ayres afterward as quoted on the NJ.com website.

“I’m really happy with my performance. I’m so proud to say I competed in the first three women’s state championships and to see how far it’s come is just phenomenal. It’s been such a journey to get here. When I went to high school, I didn’t even know if I would get to compete in a state tournament. My goal this year was to win every match with bonus points and to get a pin in my last-ever high school match was a good thing to do.”

Ayres’ father, Princeton University wrestling head coach Chris Ayres, certainly enjoyed the show put on by his daughter  and the other competitors.

“What I loved about it was the wrestling was so much better,” said Ayres, who will get to help his daughter continue to get better on the mat as she will be attending Princeton this fall and is looking to help establish a women’s wrestling club at the school.

“It has grown so much from that first year three years ago. The level has grown so much. I wish there were people there to experience it.”

PHS head coach Jess Monzo credited Ayres with gaining important experience since last season to refine her skills on the mat.

“She put the time in during the last year,” said Monzo of Ayres, who went 26-0 in girls’ competition during her PHS career and has also competed against boys for the Tigers.

“She traveled to get matches and she made it a point to seek out the best competition across the country knowing at the next level, she’ll see some of those girls later on. It tested her to let her know where she’s at and what she needed to work on and improve on.”

Undergoing those tests helped Ayres dominate last weekend. “She’s definitely gotten more mature,” added Monzo.

“Her understanding of positioning and understanding of how to score and where to score and sometimes getting out of that mentality that I have to do it this way. She knows there’s more than one way to get a takedown, or get a score.”

In addition to Ayres, PHS sophomore Ava Rose made the states, falling in the quarterfinal round at 107 pounds, getting pinned by Lililiana Zaku-Ramos of Kittatinny.

“It’s tough; we have to find someone for Ava now,” said Monzo. “Without having a second girl in the room, we don’t want her to be the only one. With Chloe in the room we had two girls. They were able to go places together and feed off each other. Now it’s going to be a little bit taller of a task to find someone else.”

But Monzo knows it will be hard to ever find someone else quite like the legendary Ayres.

“She’s always going to have a huge impact,” said Monzo. “We’re hoping that younger girls can see that name and say, ‘I want to be that next Chloe Ayres.’ Ava is seeing that and wants to do that as well. She’s a two-time state place-winner too. She can do exactly what Chloe has done. She can move forward. We were in that position last year. This year, she came up a little shorter, but she bumped up a weight class.”