INDIANAPOLIS — On the surface, Kendall Moe has a victory. Deep down, she was defeated.
As Moe parked her car in the driveway of her Cicero, Indiana, home, she sat in her car and had a panic attack. About a week ago, Moe stood on the podium with a 105 to be crowned the 2025 IHSAA girls wrestling state champion. Now, she’s crying on the phone with her mother, Kristi Moe, telling her she wants to quit wrestling.
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“Most kids are ecstatic when they win a state championship,” said Skylar Moe, Kendall’s father. “She was more happy that the season was over than actually winning.”
Kendall struggled socially during his junior and senior year at Hamilton Heights before transferring to Cathedral. Kendall eats lunch in the hallway that connects the gym to the Huskies’ locker room. Only half the lights were on as Kendall sat alone, trying to cope with her emotions. The two cleaners responsible for the area became her best friends.
School life affects overall life.
Kendall’s grades dropped. She stopped going to church. Panic attacks occur three times a week. She didn’t want to participate in family traditions, such as Skylar’s nightly prayers with Kendall and her five siblings. The only thing Kendall could blame was the closest thing to her.
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“I just totally lost it,” said Kendall, who won the state title at 115 on Friday and was named the IndyStar girls wrestler of the year. “Instead of looking at it from the perspective of me having always loved wrestling, which is what exists for me, I looked at it from a social perspective, like, ‘Wow, this is really bad.'”
“I didn’t like the situation I was in and I thought it had to be wrestling’s fault, so I tried to push it away.”
glimmer of hope
Extroversion has never been an issue for Kendall.
Kendall grew up as a military child, which forced her to make friends quickly. Skylar served in the Army for 22 years and Christie served for six years. By the age of 9, Kendall had lived in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Colorado. The Moes family moved to Indiana in 2017.
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“It’s weird when you grow up and leave a community where you’ve been on a military base your whole life,” Kendall said. “No one knows what that’s like unless you’ve experienced it.”
However, the experience developed the discipline Kendall needed to wrestle. In third grade, while living in Colorado, Kendall brought a wrestling flyer from school and told her parents she wanted to play the sport. Skylar and Christy believe wrestling will be a “great asset” for Kendall to showcase her intensity.
Influenced by his parents, Kendall wanted to join the military. Kendall’s favorite college is Norwich University, a military college in Vermont, where she hopes to compete in wrestling. When Kendall wanted to give up wrestling, Skylar and Christy motivated her to keep wrestling.
Cathedral’s Kendall Moe smiles before competing in the 2026 IHSAA Girls Wrestling State Finals 115-pound championship match at the Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. Moe outscored Tech 17-1.
Christie told Kendall she had to tell the club coach that she didn’t want to pursue a career in combat sports. Contenders Wrestling Academy coaches Ryan Parrish and Sean Schmaltz responded to Kendall’s text within 5 minutes, telling her she couldn’t quit and needed to take a week off. She did it.
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“Without practice, I feel worse. Wrestling is my therapy,” Kendall said. “For me, mentally, wrestling became the opposite thing in the Highlands. Getting back into it, it felt like drinking ice water on a hot day.”
Still, Kendall’s interest in the sport waxed and waned. Skylar told Kendall that her family loves her even if she doesn’t continue wrestling. He reminds Kendall that she is someone who transcends wrestling. A girl who loves reading fantasy, drawing, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.
“That conversation with my dad motivated me to keep going and it took a lot of pressure off me because I won at state and everyone expected me not to lose this year,” Kendall said. “We went from I have to do this to I have to do this.”
Passion returns
Kendall transferred to Cathedral for her senior year and joined its inaugural women’s wrestling team. She didn’t bother learning anyone’s name the first week of practice. Kendall didn’t know how or if she could fit in.
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Despite the new scenery, previous experiences left Kendall losing hope. The increased fear and uncertainty about this year’s results led to another panic attack during the preseason.
“I didn’t know how my year would go with academics, wrestling and friends,” Kendall said.
This time, she’s not alone. Cathedral assistant coach Brian Seltzer encouraged Kendall when she had a panic attack. “It’s all mental,” he told Kendall. Those three words convinced Kendall that she had the ability to control her intrusive thoughts.
Kendall began to learn the names and personalities of his teammates. Bonds begin to build. Coach Tim LaVine has just six members on his roster, and Mo is the only one with wrestling experience, having won three state championships.
Cathedral’s Kendall Moe and Whiteland Community’s Moriah Morphet compete in the 115-pound championship game during the 2026 IHSAA girls wrestling state finals at the Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Indianapolis. Moe outscored Tech 17-1.
Kendall is committed to being more aggressive on the mat this season. The state champion continually attacked her opponent and suffered a technical fall in the midseason game at Columbia City.
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“She got up off the mat and said, ‘I think I finally feel relieved that I can accept anyone,'” LaVine recalled. “When that switch flips for her, it flips for everyone else.”
Other players started asking if they could attack. They watched Kendall intently during training and observed her pregame routine.
Kendall listened to heavy metal music while warming up and looked aggressive, earning her the nickname “Metal Kendall” among her team. While Kendall’s teammates couldn’t quite replicate her routine, they began to figure out their own.
Kendall has established her own traditions with the group, like wearing matching T-shirts that say “Bring the Dogs Out.” In addition to Kendall, sophomore Aanas Gladney (170) and senior Aaryn Garrard (130) have also had strong seasons.
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“Even without trying, she set an example for other girls on how to carry themselves, overcome adversity and win an ugly game,” LaVine said.
Kendall calls her team “family” and says their support “feels like a really tight hug.” The 45 minute drive to the cathedral is reasonable every day. Kendall’s passion for wrestling is back. She began attending morning mass and grew in her faith. Skylar and Christy see a difference at home.
“I didn’t want to accept (the support) at first because I couldn’t accept it before. I was like, ‘I don’t know, this could be a good thing or a bad thing,'” Kendall said. “A year ago, I was like in pieces and there was nothing to put me back together, and now I’m back up again.”
“It’s been different for her, just realizing that she deserves it and deserves it and that it’s okay to accept it,” Christie added.
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From tears of failure to tears of joy
Cathedral’s Kendall Moe smiles after winning the 115-pound championship match during the 2026 IHSAA girls wrestling state finals at the Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Indianapolis. Moe outscored Tech 17-1.
Cathedral students lined the sidewalks after class Thursday, wearing winter coats and braving the 26-degree heat, cheering on Kendall, Garrard and Gladney as they walked across campus.
Kendall admitted she felt nervous when her peers applauded, but a solitary year at the cathedral helped her feel seen.
“I no longer sit alone at the lunch table. I have so many chairs at the lunch table that we don’t even eat at the table, our lunch is in our laps,” she said. “I appreciate the community.”
The 10-minute celebratory walk ended with a trip to the wrestling gym. Skylar stood near the gym entrance and watched as his daughter posed for photos with teammates and showed off her favorite pink and black wrestling shoes.
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Just three hours earlier, Skylar and Christy were sitting at a discussion table at the Hamilton Heights Conference Center documenting their daughter’s journey. Kendall was born with hip dysplasia and spent her first year in a harness. Doctors told Skylar and Christy that Kendall might never run.
“Just seeing the progress she’s made from you, you can’t do anything like, ‘Oh, now we’re an athlete,'” Christy said. “And Kendall, who was in third grade, would get mad and throw her tiara to the ground. Now Kendall can stand there and win and lose humbly and then walk up to the podium, and by the end of the photo, she’s friends with everyone on the podium.”
“That’s very inspiring to me.”
Skylar added: “Through all the highs and lows, from birth to now, the lesson she’s learned is how to take on a challenge and finish it. You may not make it to the top, but do you finish it? That’s always been the case with Kendall – she always gets the job done.”
Cathedral’s Kendall Moe smiles after competing in the 2026 IHSAA Girls Wrestling State Finals 115-pound championship match at the Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Indianapolis. Moe outscored Tech 17-1.
Near the end of the two-hour conversation, Skylar stood up from her dark brown leather chair and walked over to a small black table in the right corner of the first floor of the former house-turned-gathering space. Skylar reached into a clear storage box, sunlight streaming in from the adjacent artificial pond through the brightly lit wooden door.
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In the trash can were Kendall’s medals—probably too many to fit on the small table. Skylar began removing them. Some, one at a time. Others, two by two.
He placed the honor on the conference table about four feet away. A blue ribbon medal was buried beneath other awards, barely visible. It was last season’s state championship. What was once a symbol of pain is now a testament to Kendall’s resilience, as another one will soon join them.
Kendall shot 115 on Friday to raise his hand for the final time as a state champion. The past year has been full of trials and ultimately ended in triumph. Not because she won the ultimate award, but because of her fashion style.
Peaceful and safe. And filled with joy.
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Now, the 18-year-old can sit in her driveway and cry tears of joy. She didn’t give up, and through adversity and changes in circumstances, she discovered something valuable.
She found Kendall.
“I’m still a non-wrestling person,” she said. “But, I need it. I have all the things I love, but wrestling is what makes it complete.”
follow Josh Heron for more high school wrestling coverage on the X at @HeronReports. get IndyStar’s high school coverage delivered right to your inbox, including High School Sports Newsletter.
This article originally appeared in The Indianapolis Star: Women’s Wrestling: Kendall Moe Earns Indy Star Wrestler of the Year Honors
