How did Greater Columbus high school wrestling teams fare at state dual tournaments?
Moments after a 42-39 loss to Harrison in the championship match of the state dual tournament, Olentangy Orange girls wrestling coach Brian Nicola challenged his athletes to look ahead to the OHSAA finals.
Harrison ended the Pioneers’ two-year reign as state dual champions, rallying for the win Saturday at Marysville.
Trailing 39-36, the top-seeded Wildcats pulled out the victory when Harrison's Jessica Edwards pinned Orange’s Jenny Huaracha-Arellanos in 2:39 at heavyweight.
Harrison also defeated the Pioneers 42-39 on Dec. 16 in the Citrus Duals at Orange.
“Harrison is a great team,” Nicola said. “I thought we wrestled hard. We have to be able to win some of those matches. We knew we would get a fistfight the whole way. (It was the) same score as last time. We’re not happy, but we’re proud of the girls. They’ve been working hard. We feel like someone took something from us. ... We should get a shot at them in (the OHSAA individual state tournament).”
In the state dual final, Adri Metzler (100 pounds, 3:58), Josie Nickoloff (125, 4:17), Surraiya Mahmud (155, 3:46) and Lydia Heinrich (170, 1:42) had pins for Orange.
“We’re going to take them at the (individual) state tournament,” Nickoloff said. “They’ve had it for a couple of years, and now it’s our turn. We’re coming for them. We need to lock it down and focus on our technique a little bit more. Our conditioning and endurance are pretty good.”
The individual state tournament is March 8-10 at Value City Arena. Harrison is the two-time defending champion of that event.
This is the second season that girls wrestling is an OHSAA sport, but the state duals are sponsored by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association.
Second-seeded Orange advanced to Saturday's final by beating seventh-seeded Lebanon 54-30 and third-seeded Marysville 57-24.
Marysville went on to lose to sixth-seeded Delaware Hayes 42-40 in the third-place match. The Monarchs rallied to beat sixth-seeded Vincent Warren 42-39 in the opening round.
“Delaware put the result on us that we got on them earlier in the year (beating them 54-24 on Dec. 7), so that’s concerning,” Marysville coach Shawn Andrews said. “It’s the time of the year that you have to look at individuals, and all 14 girls hopefully in the lineup are making improvements for the postseason.”
Delaware edged fourth-seeded Alliance 42-41 and lost to Harrison 66-18 in a semifinal.
“We’re really excited about the day,” Delaware co-coach Josh Lamb said. “When we saw the brackets come out, we knew we were going to have to be in a tough battle with Alliance. It was about plugging girls in and girls getting big wins. We knew Harrison was good. That team is legit. ... Against Marysville, our girls were backing one another and when you believe in it, good things can happen.”
Dublin Coffman, Olentangy Liberty boys fall short of Division I title
Competing at Lakewood St. Edward, Coffman finished fourth and Liberty placed sixth.
Third-seeded Coffman opened with a 42-23 win over sixth-seeded Springboro before falling 43-18 to second-seeded Massillon Perry in a semifinal. The Shamrocks then lost to fourth-seeded Brecksville-Broadview Heights 40-23 in the third-place match.
Omar Ayoub (144) and Grayson Woodcock (157) went 3-0 for Coffman.
“We have to go back to our identity, whether it’d be neutral or on the mat,” coach Chance Van Gundy said. “We’re kind of getting away from who we are individually and as a team.”
Seventh-seeded Liberty lost to Perry 59-6 before rebounding to beat Springboro 42-23. The Patriots lost to fifth-seeded Cincinnati La Salle 36-34 in the fifth-place match.
Brady Quillen (215) went 3-0 for Liberty.
“We could have done a little bit better if a few guys stayed off their backs, but it’s good competition,” coach Mark Marinelli said. “The guys who were there all wrestled pretty hard.”
St. Edward defeated Perry 36-21 in the final.
Watterson boys place seventh in Division II
Competing in its first state duals, Watterson went 1-2 on Saturday at New Lexington.
The third-seeded Eagles lost to sixth-seeded Carrollton 36-35 and seventh-seeded Napoleon 39-30 before beating fifth-seeded Steubenville 42-22 in the seventh-place match.
Neal Krysty (120), Joe Curry (126) and James Lindsay (138) went 3-0 for Watterson.
“We fought hard, but due to some injuries and inexperience came up a little short of our overall goal,” coach Felix Catheline said. “It was still a great experience for our program, and this is just the beginning.”
Second-seeded St. Paris Graham beat top-seeded Medina Buckeye 45-25 in the final.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How did central Ohio wrestling teams fare at state duals?
