By George Bremer, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
PENDLETON — Demi Allen’s energy reminds Pendleton Heights coach Dave Cloud of a young Mason Todd.
That’s saying a lot, considering Todd qualified for the state finals last year as a freshman for the Arabians.
And Allen is 7 years old.
“In some ways, she compares to the best we’ve had,” Cloud said. “In other ways, there is no comparison. She’s one of a kind.”
Clearly, Allen is no average third-grader.
She so dominated a youth soccer league, scoring 28 goals in a single game, her mother, Lisa, pulled her out to silence the protests of other parents.
She’s a star in Pendleton’s youth football league. And one parent of a teammate hopes to enter her in the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition this fall. Because he believes she can win her age group.
“She’s a very gifted athlete, period,” Cloud said. “She’s one of those kids who would be fantastic at anything she did because of her natural athletic ability.”
How has that translated to the wrestling mat?
Allen is 122-10 since January wrestling primarily against boys, and she became the first female ever to win Indiana’s Triple Crown — the freestyle, folkstyle and Greco-Roman state championships.
She trains nearly every day at Indianapolis’ esteemed Red Cobra wrestling club and once a week with Cloud at Pendleton Heights.
She routinely wrestles opponents more than 20 pounds heavier and several years older.
“She’s just fearless,” Cloud said.
Lisa Allen is at a loss to explain where her daughter’s athletic gifts come from. Older sisters Liz, 13, and Emily, 8, have shown little interest in sports. Even Demi’s twin brother, Dawson, does not share her competitive fire.
Allen got started in wrestling after she brought a flier home from school.
“I thought basketball just ended, and she’s real athletic,” Lisa said. “I didn’t think she’d be good.”
She’s been outstanding.
She finished eighth in the folkstyle nationals in Iowa this March, earning All-America honors.
She cites former Pendleton Heights star Katie Downing as her hero and has made an Olympic appearance her long-term goal.
“She really wanted to meet Katie,” Cloud said. “And it was a good experience. Katie blazed a lot of paths for women in wrestling. Katie’s goal was to get to the Olympics, and she got so close, being a first alternate. It would be great if someone else from Pendleton could pick that up and carry it on.”
