Sunday was a historic moment for the Ohio High School Athletic Association and a number of its female athletes across the Buckeye State.
In four locations, Olentangy Orange, Mentor, Marysville and Harrison, the OHSAA put on the inaugural state regional wrestling tournaments at those sites.
Next up is the inaugural state girls wrestling championship, set to run alongside the boys from Friday through Sunday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
Local participation is still growing, but four OVAC teams sent competitors to their respective regional tournaments and three of them are seeing at least one wrestler advance through to compete at the Schott.
The top four finishers from each regional championship advance to the state, with the No. 5 finisher at each serving as the first alternate.
Warren and Shenandoah were sent to the Orange regional tournament, while Steubenville Big Red and East Liverpool competed at Mentor.
And each site saw an OVAC competitor’s hand raised in victory as the conference can count three regional champions among its ranks.
Orange Regional
The Host Pioneers featured a full roster of wrestlers and took advantage, winning four weight classes and amassing 221 points by Sunday’s end.
The OVAC’s Warren Warriors came in second with 106 points, but with far fewer wrestlers (3).
And three of those wrestlers, Hayley Snyder (110), Nevaeh Rockhold (130), and Kylee Tait (155) are advancing to Columbus
The Warriors had four placers, as Maria Nutter came in sixth in the 170 class.
Snyder will be looking to four-pete as champion. While this is the first official OHSAA girls’ state wrestling championships, the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association held state championship tournaments each of the last three seasons.
Snyder won her first two at 101 pounds, before moving up to win 110 as a junior. Her first two titles she defeated Elyria’s Riley Banyas, a fellow senior who won the 100 class at the Mentor regional.
This time, Snyder, who earlier this season celebrated her 100th victory, won by forfeit against Shenandoah’s Brooke Snyder in the finals of the 110 class.
Both Snyder and Farmer, a junior, are off to Columbus.
Snyder isn’t the only Warriors wrestler with state experience. She previously finished fifth in 2021 and second last year, losing a 7-4 decision to Lyndsee Young of Madison Comprehensive.
Rockhold is the final Warriors’ wrestler advancing after beating Madelyn Thornton via pinfall at 2:00 in the third-four place match.
Mentor Regional
Big Red entered the tournament with a decent number of wrestlers and totaled 32 points overall. But none of the Steubenville girls reached the Top 6.
Not that the trip wasn’t without some successes.
Jahmiah Bey (100), Taylor Zimmerman (120), Ana Gross (136) and Kami Anthony (190) all won their opening matches, with Bey earning a 9-2 decision while Zimmerman, Gross, and Anthony won via pinfall.
East Liverpool finished two spots behind Big Red in the team standings with 30 points, but those 30 all came via one determined junior wrestler.
Makyah Newlun advanced her way through the 155 bracket in dominating fashion, putting an emphatic stamp on her afternoon with a pin of Chippewa’s Isabella Adams in 2:39 of her final match.
That pin, her fourth of the afternoon, gave Newlun the 155 regional championship and a spot in Columbus.
Currently the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 155 in all of Ohio, Newlun advanced to the finals with pins in 15 seconds, 13 seconds, and 2:40.
She’ll look to improve upon last year’s fifth-place finish at the OHSWCA’s state championships.
Newlun lost a 1-0 decision in her opening match at the championships last year before wrestling back to finish in fifth place.
She’ll be looking to get off to a better start this time around.
