The OHSAA Wrestling Championships get underway Friday in Columbus, and champions will be crowned in 14 weight classes across three divisions.
That will make 56 wrestling state champs for the season … and no, the math is not a little off.
Roughly two weeks ago, 14 young ladies escaped, cradled, hip threw and pinned their way to state glory during the inaugural girls-only wrestling tournament at Hilliard Davidson High School in Franklin County.
There more than 260 wrestlers competed in the event sponsored by the Ohio State Wrestling Coaches Association. Ohio Valley Athletic Conference wrestlers joined the counterparts across the state on the podium as Warren’s Hayley Snyder won the 106-pound class and Indian Creek senior Ellie Patera came in second at 116.
The statewide celebration of competition and taking the next big step in the evolution of girls’ high school wrestling ensured during the weekend and immediately after. The party, however, got an unexpected interruption soon after.
Not a Real Championship?
Sidney’s Josie Davis won the 126-pound class after pinning her way to the finals and pressing Defiance’s Carmela Castaneda to the mat in 48 seconds of the championship match. It was a dominant run with an impressive finish.
Soon after WHIO reported that Davis would not be honored with a championship banner in the school’s gymnasium since the OHSAA, the state high school’s athletic governing body, didn’t sanction girls wrestling or the tournament. Not an official sport, no banner. Other reports stated that athletic director Mitch Hoying commented “because it’s not a real championship” when the Davis family asked about the banner.
That comment has since been cleared up, with the school district superintendent stating it was misrepresented as what was said was in reference to the non-sanctioned event and gym banners being OHSAA only. But Davis’ father took to social media to make his case and share in his disbelief.
Davis, her father, superintendent Bob Humble, and Hoying all met again later with the school agreeing to give Davis a championship banner in the auxiliary gym, one utilized primarily by the basketball team. She’d also have her name added to the school’s all-Ohio board in the hallway but that the main gym was reserved for OHSAA-sponsored sports only.
“We reserve the space in our competition gym for league championships and OHSAA championships,” Humble told Bryant Billing of the Sidney Daily News.
That was the similar reasoning offered by Malvern athletic director Dave Tucci when asked about his champion, Olivia Daniels. Daniels won the 189-pound girls’ championship, finished third in the recent Division III sectional tournament, and won her second district match by pin before losing the next match to finish her season a few steps from Columbus.
“We have honored Olivia Daniels for her state title, but we will not be putting up any banners as of now,” Tucci said, noting that the school still needs to purchase and hang banners for two state track champions.
He added though that once those were purchased, “We probably won’t put anything up permanently until it is an OHSAA sanctioned sport.”
What About Everyone Else?
Upon hearing of Davis’ situation at Sidney, LEDE News sought to inquire with the other athletic directors from the schools across the state who had champions to inquire about their intentions. The only other school still up in the air is Miami East, which not only has individual champion Olivia Shore, but also the overall team championship. The school’s athletic council is meeting soon to decide how it will honor both Shore and the team.
All other schools are choosing to honor their wrestlers either with an individual championship banner in the gym, or adding the girls’ names to a banner with other individual champions.
Locally, Warren Local athletics director Steve Harold was one of the first to respond.
“We will be including her name on a banner as a state champion,” Harold noted by email.
Indian Creek’s Patera finished second, losing a narrow 6-4 match to London’s Grace Jones in the 116-pound finals. Patera just ended her career with a fifth-place finish at the Division II sectionals at Claymont.
Even coming in second, Indian Creek has chosen to honor Patera for her historic achievement.
“Ellie has worked so hard over the years in our wrestling program” Indian Creek AD Joe Dunlevy said. “She has gotten strong through her work in the weight room and has won matches against boys.
“We were so excited for her in the (girls) tournament. We are so very proud of her.
“We absolutely will have her in the gym. She is a state runner-up in our eyes.”
Patera lost in the last few seconds of the third round in what Dunlevy considered “arguably the best match of the weekend.”
What’s Next?
Last year, Miami East’s Shore not only qualified for the state tournament at 106, she won a match against some of the toughest boy wrestlers in the state. She had shoulder surgery last spring and opted not to compete in the open wrestling tournament this season. Her younger brother Cooper filled her spot and is currently prepping for Columbus.
Snyder, Davis, and Daniels all finished in the top four in the sectionals and advanced to last weekend’s district tournament. Daniels was third at 195 while Snyder and Davis both finished fourth. At the District level, only Daniels won a match on the mat, a 21-9 decision in the consolation round. Snyder went 0-2 at the districts while Davis’ 1-2 record was bolstered by a forfeiture.
The young ladies will move on to other non-school sanctioned tournaments, some major national events as a few of the girls wrestle for Team Ohio. Others, like Davis, is wrestling in a tournament in Europe.
Nationally, Ohio has five girls ranked in the Top 20 of their respective weight classes in a list put together by USA Wrestling, FloWrestling, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Museum.
New Lexington’s Leilah Castro, who won a title at 121 with a pin at 1:04, is the state’s highest ranked wrestler, tabbed fourth at 122. Olentangy Orange’s Taryn Martin and Dublin Coffman’s Ayala Wolak are ranked fifth and 20th at 138 and 144, respectively. Both are Ohio champions.
Liberty Center’s. Kendall Bostelman is eighth at 127 and Cleveland Central Catholic’s Madeleine Wadesisi is 19 at 225. Wadesisi was second in Ohio, losing in the finals by pin at 2:21 to Minerva’s Alaina Jackson.
Coaches and organizers were more than pleased with the tournament for the inaugural girls championships and are hoping it goes a long way to proving to the state board that girls wrestling should be a a sanctioned, official sports for the OHSAA.
If that comes to fruition, Ohio will join 20 other states with officially sanctioned girls divisions and tournaments. Utah most recently came on board when it approved the measure in January and hopes to have the sport debut, officially, for 2020-21.
