Meet The Leaf-Chronicle's All-Area girls wrestling team, wrestler of the year for 2024
On Feb. 24, after winning the TSSAA girls wrestling state championship at 138 pounds, West Creek's Mariana Bowen fell to the mat in tears.
Coyotes coach Brock Budesheim understood Bowen's feelings in that moment. Budesheim's been there himself — as a senior in high school, he won a Delaware state title. But for him, part of coaching a wrestler as talented as Bowen is teaching her how to process those emotions.
"Just instilling in her that, hey, you shouldn't be surprised about this," Budesheim said. "Every time you go out, you should expect to win. That's who you are. You're the best of the best, and you deserve this."
Bowen, a sophomore, is The Leaf-Chronicle's Girls Wrestler of the Year for 2024. She didn't lose to another wrestler from Tennessee and ended the vast majority of her matches within two minutes. In addition to her second straight individual championship — she won the 120-pound title at Rossview last season — Bowen helped West Creek place second in the TSSAA girls wrestling traditional tournament, the school's highest team finish in any TSSAA sanctioned sport in history.
Changing schools meant a whole new set of teammates for Bowen — including Jes'Onia Barefield, who she defeated in last season's 120-pound title match. This season, instead of competing against each other, Bowen and Barefield pushed each other to develop their respective techniques, and it paid off as Barefield won her first state title in just as dominant a fashion as Bowen.
Bowen, who placed fourth at NHSCA Nationals earlier this month and earned All-American honors, felt there was a target on her back this season. She thinks that target will only grow after back-to-back titles, but she's not letting it change her goals.
"It would mean the world to me," Bowen said of the possibility of another title. "I want to be a four-time state champion."
Below is The Leaf-Chronicle's All-Area high school girls wrestling team:
First Team
Miranda Robles
Clarksville, Sr.
Weight class: 100 pounds
Why chosen: Robles went 40-14 with 16 pins. The Region 4 champion placed sixth at the state tournament.
Gracie Tuberville
Montgomery Central, Sr.
Weight class: 107 pounds
Why chosen: Tuberville, who was second team All-Area last season, went 21-8 with 13 pins. She won the region championship and won a match at state.
Shyanne Michalski
Northwest, Sr.
Weight class: 114 pounds
Why chosen: Michalski capped off her career with a 57-3 record, 32 pins, a region championship and third-place finish at state. She's been named All-Area three times and was on the first team as a junior.
Lexi Dean
West Creek, Fr.
Weight class: 120 pounds
Why chosen: Dean went 37-2 with 28 pins and finished as state runner-up. She also won the Region 4 championship.
Jes'Onia Barefield
West Creek, Jr.
Weight class: 126 pounds
Why chosen: Barefield went 40-2 with 32 pins and won the state championship a season after finishing as runner-up at 120 pounds. She was second-team All-Area in 2023.
Eleasa Renken
West Creek, Jr.
Weight class: 132 pounds
Why chosen: Renken posted a 36-7 record with 25 pins en route to a region title, third-place finish at state and second straight All-Area first team appearance.
Mariana Bowen
West Creek, So.
Weight class: 138 pounds
Why chosen: Bowen went 44-1 with 37 pins as she rolled to her second consecutive state championship, as well as a region title. This is her second time on the All-Area first team.
Audrey Levendusky
Montgomery Central, So.
Weight class: 145 pounds
Why chosen: Levendusky lost her region final but bounced back to win her second straight state championship, finishing off a season in which she went 48-3 with 35 pins. She was first-team All-Area as a freshman as well.
Janiya Johnson
Kirkwood, Fr.
Weight class: 152 pounds
Why chosen: Johnson went 46-2 with 37 pins and won the Region 4 title before placing third at the state tournament.
Cearyona O'Connor
Montgomery Central, Sr.
Weight class: 165 pounds
Why chosen: The Region 4 champion went 43-3 with 32 pins and finished third at state. This is O'Connor's first time on the All-Area first team after she was second team as a sophomore and junior.
Jehieli Valez-Almodovar
West Creek, Jr.
Weight class: 185 pounds
Why chosen: Valez-Almodovar went 24-18 and captured the region crown before placing fifth at the state meet.
Sha'niayha Wysinger
Clarksville, Sr.
Weight class: 235 pounds
Why chosen: Wysinger, a two-time defending champion at heavyweight, went 11-4 and finished as region and state runner-up to end her career. She's a three-time All-Area first team honoree.
MORE: Meet The Leaf-Chronicle's All-Area boys basketball teams for 2024, player of the year
MORE: Meet The Leaf-Chronicle's All-Area girls basketball teams, 2024 player of the year
Second Team
100: Devin Jost, Montgomery Central, Fr.
107: Anete Rodriguez, Clarksville, Jr.
114: Najette Mojica-Soto, West Creek, Jr.
120: Ava Johnson, Clarksville, Fr.
126: Tatiana Pena-Corona, Clarksville, Jr.
132: Emily Whitmore, Montgomery Central, Sr.
138: Jocelyn Kolozsy, Montgomery Central, Jr.
145: Brooklyn Whiteside, Clarksville, Sr.
152: Sally Johnson, Northwest, So.
165: Brooke Arbic, Fort Campbell, So.
185: Nora Pena-Corona, Clarksville, Jr.
235: Tyvenoria Munene, Northwest, Jr.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that West Creek wrestling coach Brock Budesheim won a state title in Pennsylvania rather than Delaware.
This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Clarksville high school girls wrestling All-Area team, wrestler of year
