'In my corner': Orange wrestler Kascidy Garren gets coaching boost from father, brother
In more ways than one, Olentangy Orange senior wrestler Kascidy Garren is following in the footsteps of her three brothers.
Not only is she the youngest of the four Garren children, tagging along wherever her brothers went when they were younger, but she shares her brothers’ passion for wrestling. In fact, she has been wrestling since she was 3.
Garren would love to lead the Pioneers girls team to a third consecutive state dual tournament championship and then close her prep career by winning her first OHSAA individual state title, matching a feat accomplished by one of her brothers.
Competing at 190 pounds this season, she is 15-0 with 10 pins.
“(Winning an individual state title is) not my only goal being here at Orange, because if it doesn’t happen, my life isn’t going to completely end,” Garren said. “If I did, I would go insane. I would go crazy. I would be so excited.”
Garren is pursuing her state championship dreams with her father, Jack, and brother, Patrik, in her corner. Both are assistant coaches with the Pioneers.
A 2014 Ready graduate, Patrik won the Division III state title at heavyweight as a junior and finished third as a sophomore and senior. He went on to become a four-year starter at the University of Pennsylvania.
“(Coaching my sister is) a dream come true,” Patrik said. “Emotionally, it’s more satisfying watching (the girls) reach their goals because I was expected to do it. Now being involved with them, seeing their happiness and their growth is more rewarding. ... Something I try to capture every time I go into the room is what I can do to make them the best version of themselves possible because wrestling did that for me.”
Without her family’s support and coaching, Kascidy said she wouldn’t be this skilled.
“It’s been pretty cool (working with Patrik),” she said. “I couldn’t imagine him not being here. He’s taught me to have a positive mindset through everything because he’s been through a lot. You try and stay as positive as you can. Life keeps going.
“My dad has coached me all my life. It’s definitely different, but I couldn’t imagine anyone else being in my corner.”
Kascidy will wrestle at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, joining her brother, Connor. The women’s team is one of only three Division I programs in the country, along with Iowa and Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Connecticut.
“The (wrestling) room at Presbyterian is amazing,” Kascidy said. “Everyone there is great, not only on the wrestling mat, but in life, too. They’re going to help me grow in life every single day that I’m there.”
Connor, a 2023 Orange graduate, competed for the Pioneers for three seasons and earned a Division I state berth at heavyweight as a senior. He’s competing at 197 as a freshman at Presbyterian but currently is sidelined with a knee injury.
Kascidy’s other brother, Bailey, is a 2020 graduate of Grove City Christian, where he played soccer and football as a junior and senior after competing in soccer and wrestling at Ready during his first two years of high school.
Growing up, the Garren children competed in the Hamilton Township Little Rangers youth wrestling program.
“I could tell Kascidy was going to be special,” said Bailey, an Ohio State senior majoring in health sciences. “She was kicking boys’ butts. The family is very wrestling-oriented. ... There is another gear that she has and a drive that she wants to win (a state title).”
A 1997 graduate of Marion-Franklin, Jack played football and basketball for the Red Devils but wasn’t involved with wrestling until being invited to join the youth program as a coach.
“They all loved spending time together,” Jack said of his four children. “I would carry Connor in one arm and carry Kascidy in a car seat, and Bailey would help me bring in the bags and we would be going to Patrik’s practices. Everybody was hooked. Everybody was all in.”
Orange girls wrestling coach Brian Nicola said the Garren family dynamics have made Kascidy a strong wrestler and ideal teammate.
“The thing that makes them such a great family is wrestling and sports in general are a really big fabric of their family, but family is the foundation of it,” Nicola said. “Maybe once Jack has been frustrated with Kascidy for effort. Wins and losses aren’t something that they dwell on in their house at all. Coming in and being a good teammate and giving a strong effort, those are foundational pieces.”
Orange will host a regional dual tournament Feb. 3, with the winner advancing to the state duals Feb. 10 at Marysville. The postseason for individual wrestlers begins two weeks later.
After attending New Beginnings Christian School in Columbus for middle school, Kascidy enrolled at Orange so she could compete where girls wrestling was growing. Connor enrolled at Orange for his sophomore year at the same time.
“(At that time), the public and private schools in the (South-Western City Schools) area wanted nothing to do with girls wrestling, so we were forced to move for Kascidy to continue on her path,” Jack said.
After an injury-riddled freshman season, she finished fifth at state at 145 as a sophomore and fifth at 170 last season despite competing in the postseason with injuries to both knees.
Patrik and Kascidy occasionally spar together in practice, and Patrik said his sister holds her own.
“She has grown into such a fierce individual,” Patrik said. “Every time I step out there, I know I have to bring my A game because she’s coming for it. She’s ready to make that next jump (to college) and she’s yearning for it. ... She’s going to be one of the first women from Ohio to compete on a D-I wrestling team. She deserves all the accolades.”
The Garren children also wouldn’t have enjoyed this success without the support of their mom, Laura.
“I’m a sports person,” Laura said. “I was never afraid of wrestling. Kascidy started when she was so young, following her brothers. She had to go because the boys were wrestling and I worked evening shifts and Jack helped coach, so she would have to tag along. That’s how she started.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Garren family adds to central Ohio wrestling legacy at Orange
