Cait Jones had anything but an ordinary freshman season.

Jones, who competes for Crystal Lake Central, saw her first year of high school wrestling cut short after a pair of significant injuries. The first setback occurred early in the season, when she suffered a sprained ankle while practicing against her older sister Hailey.

Not long after, Jones sustained a seizure that ended her season in December and led to her being diagnosed with epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition causing recurring seizures. Jones, who grew up playing multiple sports and currently competes for the Tigers’ track and field team, didn’t record a single win as a freshman, and at one time thought she wouldn’t wrestle again.

“It was my first time wrestling,” Jones said. “I learned that I had epilepsy during my freshman year of high school, which threw me aback and took me a couple of months to figure out. I honestly wasn’t going to join wrestling again, but I decided, kind of at the last minute, that I would try it one more time and see how I feel.”

Jones could have given up wrestling to focus on other sports. But after healing from the ankle injury and managing her condition, she returned to the mat as a sophomore and has made the most of her second chance at wrestling. Jones won her first varsity match and posted a 15-13 record as a sophomore, placing sixth at regionals and advancing to sectionals for the first time as a high-schooler.

“It was amazing,” Jones said. “I was really surprised with myself because that was the first season I actually won a match. I was amazed by how far I could take the sport, even though I didn’t go too far my sophomore year. ... It was really cool to see that I was capable of that. It made me really motivated and driven to get better, and my mom really supported and pushed me to get better.”

Pushed to wrestle by her sister and inspired by her mom, Michelle Byerly, Jones started training over the offseason and even dropped a weight class, moving from 170 to 155 for her junior year. Jones, who has wrestled for multiple clubs including Omega, ISI and New Wave, made significant leaps as a junior, finishing 14-3 and taking first at the Whip-Pur Women’s Classic, her first tournament win as a Tiger.

“Every single year, I feel like it’s been a different Cait,” said Crystal Lake Central coach Amy Saldivar-Castaneda, who was hired during Jones’s freshman year. “Her sophomore year, she started coming to practice and she was committed. She seemed really motivated and last year was the first year she came in with outside wrestling experience. I could tell that she was starting to enjoy the sport.”

Jones represented Crystal Lake Central as the school’s lone girl in the regional tournament at Hampshire, where she went 4-0 with two pins and a tech fall to claim the first regional championship of her career. It was an heartwarming win for Jones, who had the school’s entire varsity boys team on hand to support her.

“It was a really emotional moment for me,” Jones said. “As a junior, I was a lot more aggressive and I improved my technical skills a lot. I was more motivated, but I had some setbacks mentally and physically because I was struggling to keep my weight consistent and stay positive. This year, I’ve changed a lot mentally.”

Now a senior, Jones is back at 155 and currently 12-2 on the season. She defended her title at the Whip-Pur Women’s Classic after posting runner-up finishes at Rockford East’s E-Rab Girls Invite and Antioch’s Sandy Gussarson Invite. Jones pinned two opponents to take first at the Harvard Girls Scramble.

“My season has gone pretty well,” Jones said. “I’ve been watching tape back and checking all of my mistakes so I can work through them in my head. My preseason has been very useful and I’m a lot more confident in my abilities than I was last season. I’m less scared of hurting someone on the mat and I don’t let that hold me back in my head. A couple of years ago, I broke someone’s arm in a match on accident and that held me back in a lot my matches.”

A two-time sectional qualifier and a two-time Northwest Herald All-Area selection, Jones is leading a Tigers girls wrestling program that has seen its numbers slowly increase. Jones, who aspires to wrestle collegiately, said her goals this year include qualifying and placing at the state meet. A shift from defense to offense has coincided with her renewed confidence.

“I’ve been working on my shots a lot more in matches,” said Jones, whose hip toss was an effective move in her tournament victory at Hampshire earlier this season. “I use the hip toss a lot when it’s there since it’s usually an easy pin from a hip toss. ... I usually work to get to a pin in matches by hand fighting, elbow passes or double legs. Going into junior year is when I really started understanding how to flow and feel out positions. I’ve grown a lot technically.”

Should Jones place at the state tournament, she would become the first girls wrestler from Crystal Lake Central to bring home a state medal. Once the only girl on the wrestling team at her high school, Jones hasn’t shied away from taking on all challengers, including boys. An avid weightlifter who throws in track and field, Jones wrestles year round, even qualifying to represent Illinois at the 2025 Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota.

“I’ve seen a different mental aspect of Cait,” Saldivar-Castaneda said. “She’s ready for every single event we go to. Seeing her be mentally strong and grow into the young lady she is has been a privilege. ... The boys team here is really strong and it’s intimidating for girls to want to practice with them. She comes to practice and will do the same things the varsity boys do. That’s how she’s gotten a lot better.”