Girls Best of the Break: Winslow, Rodgers win wrestling titles at RV tournament

Over the holiday break, River Valley hosted its first girls wrestling invitational, bringing in 25 teams.

The hosts took third with 102 points to trail only Gahanna Lincoln's 117 and Olentangy Berlin's 104. Highland was fifth with 87 points, while Elgin was 16th and North Union 20th.

Elgin's Hallie Winslow recorded pins in 1:38 or less in every match to win the 120-pound championship, while RV's Havyn Rodgers won the 145-pound top spot via a pin and 9-4 decision.

North Union's Rylan Riffle was a runner-up at 100 pounds as was RV's Valerie Riegel at 110, Lennon Jester at 135, Kylee Sardina at 140 and Highland's Caitlyn Mooty at 155. Finishing fourth were Elgin's Neveah Hunter at 105 and Highland's Lillia Roesky at 110. Highland's Madalynn Morrison was fifth at 235. Elgin's Gabbie Phillips was sixth at 170 as was Highland's Kayla Mendez at 125. In seventh were Highland's Iliana Men-Hartley at 130 and Mia Arick at 140.

Here are some other results over the holiday break for area girls sports teams and athletes:

Look back: Lots of highlights around the area, but one local sports story stands out in 2023

More: Nothing ugly in Pleasant's start at Marion Harding Friday night in the Xmas sweater game

More Wrestling

● Marion Harding's first-year girls program won its first tournament. The Presidents claimed the Olentangy Berlin Duals after going 5-0, led by a 5-0 mark from Ebonie Harding, a 4-1 mark from Sophie Holt and a 3-2 record from Kierra Snyder.

● Highland was 13th and RV 21st at the 45-team Watkins Girls Wrestling Tournament. Highland's Emma Bolton was runner-up at 235 and Mia Arick was third at 141. Also placing for the Scots were Men-Hartley (sixth, 126) and Mooty (eighth, 155). Four placed for the Vikings: Riegel (seventh, 110), Khloe Kee (fourth, 126), Rodgers (seventh, 135) and Sardina (sixth, 140).

Basketball

● Pleasant won its William and Marjorie Grover Holiday Classic, beating Buckeye Central 60-28 and Mount Gilead 58-32. Against the Buckettes, Avah Steele had 14 points, Kamryn Cocherl 12 and Whitney Waddell 10. Against the Indians, Cocherl scored 17, Waddell 12 and Olivia Pratt and Brooklin Davis eight each as Faith White had nine and Aubrey Thomas eight for MG. Pleasant also beat Kenton 55-47 over break, getting 21 points from Emerson Williams, 15 from Waddell and 11 from Cocherl.

● Cardington trailed River Valley 25-13 at halftime, but came back for a 40-36 victory. Kinistin Henthorn led the Pirates with 12 and Jill Bertke had eight, while for RV, Lexie Hecker had 13 and Halle Snyder nine. During a 66-35 loss to Loudonville, Bertke produced 14 points. Cardington defeated East Knox 61-31 led by Henthorn's 15, Lydia Hess with 11 and Abigail Hardwick's nine.

● Marion Harding's Aniya Mitchell scored 19 points, while Sophia Pedraza had eight points and six rebounds, and Asley Haines seven rebounds in a 48-39 loss to Madison.

● No one scored more than seven points in Highland's 40-20 loss to Clear Fork.

● North Union handled Jonathan Alder 47-38 with Audrey Benedict getting 18, Zoe Wedding eight and Kennedy Harrah five steals. The Wildcats dominated Graham 62-26 as Benedict led with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Wedding had 11 and Gabby Lindsey eight.

● Lauren Leslie had 10 points and Callie Comer eight in a 65-42 Ridgedale loss to Wynford. In a 55-42 loss to Bucyrus, Camryn Thiel and Comer both scored eight points.

● Mount Gilead nipped Fredericktown 45-43 as White got 13 points and three steals, Greer Simpson 11 points and eight rebounds and Thomas nine points and three steals.

● Northmor stopped Elgin 42-35. For the Golden Knights, Madison Simpson had 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals, Reagan See eight points, Shelby Cooper nine rebounds and Ryann Brinkman eight rebounds and six assists. For Elgin, Sam Girton had 11 points and four steals, Maycee Muselin eight points, Jordan Wall eight rebounds and Madison Hill four steals.

● No Northmor players had more than seven points in a 45-29 loss to Danville. Alexis See had 13 points and seven boards and Brinkman nine rebounds in a 71-32 loss to Loudonville. During a 46-34 win against Plymouth, Cooper put up 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while Simpson had 11 points, five assists and four steals, and Claire Tackett added five steals.

● Elgin knocked off Genoa Christian 76-70 in overtime as Muselin had 21 points, Girton 18, Wall 16 and Gracie Isler eight. In a 76-42 win over Galion, Muselin produced 27 points, while Girton had 15 points, eight assists and six steals, and Hill had seven rebounds.

Bowling

● River Valley's Alexis Manning shot a 233-288 for a 521 series as the Vikings beat Shelby 1,671-1,270. In a 1,530-1,116 win over Highland, Manning had a 170 game and Olivia Thorpe a 248 series. Page Elswick led Highland with a 140 game and 246 series.

● Benjamin Logan edged North Union 2,067-2,062 as Ryleigh Rasey paced the Wildcats with a 372. Lexi Bahan had a 278 series in a 2,040-1,847 loss to London.

● Pleasant led by 10 pins after the two regulation games and added 10 more pins in the two Bakers for a 1,551-1,531 win over Galion. Leading Pleasant were Breahna Howard with a 276 series and Ashlyn Peters with a 272 series.

● Highland slipped by Centerburg 1,277-1,267 as Shelby Michels had a 180 game and Elyssa Reigles a 327 series for the Scots.

Swimming

● Pleasant hosted Buckeye Valley, Wellington, Galion, Beechcroft and Mount Gilead during its senior night at the Marion Family YMCA. The Spartans finished second and MG fourth. For Pleasant, Stephanie Foos won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:16.83 and was second in the 200 individual medley in 2:50.75, while Addison Gierhart won the 500 free in 6:04.13. The Spartans also won the 400 free relay and were third in the 200 free relay. For the Indians, the 200 medley relay was third, while Camryn Travis won the 100 breaststroke in 1:43.65, and Abigail Griffith was second in the 500 free in 6:34.42 and 100 backstroke in 1:18.45.

Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, X @ McMotorsort and Instagram at rob_mccurdy_star.

Marion Star Girls Best of the Break Performer Poll, vote:

• Elgin's Hallie Winslow won the 120-pound class at the River Valley Girls Wrestling Invitational.

• River Valley's Havyn Rodgers won the 145-pound class at the River Valley Girls Wrestling Invitational.

• Marion Harding wrestler Ebonie Harding went 5-0 to lead the Presidents to a first-ever team title at the Olentangy Berlin Duals.

• Northmor basketball's Shelby Cooper scored 15 points with nine rebounds and four steals in a win over Plymouth.

• Pleasant swimmer Stephanie Foos won the 100-yard butterfly and was second in the 200 individual medley at Pleasant's senior night meet at the Marion Family YMCA.

• In last last girls poll, Cardington wrestler Cameron Sherman, who won the 190-pound weight class at the Clyde Girls Wrestling Invitational, earned 348 of 690 votes (50 percent) to win it. Other nominees were North Union basketball's Kennedy Harrah, Ridgedale basketball's Hannah Cook, Pleasant basketball's Emerson Williams and River Valley bowler Alexis Manning.

• In the Marion Star's Top Local Sports Story of 2023 Poll, voters deemed records being broken to be No. 1, earning 561 of 907 votes (62 percent). River Valley's Carson Smith who scored 48 points with 11 3-pointers to set school records and Marion Harding's Jayden Combs who rolled a perfect game in bowling teamed for the honor.

• Rounding out the top five stories were Highland track standout Juliette Laracuente-Huebner's four outdoor state championships and team runner-up finish by herself, district championship basketball games, Pleasant's Daxton Chase and his fourth-place finish at 144 pounds at the Division II wrestling state tournament and, Pleasant and Highland both making the volleyball regionals.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Girls Best: Wrestlers win titles; Pleasant hoops posts win over break