WRESTLING | Chippewa and West Holmes wrestlers earn All-Ohio honors at girls state tourney

One the second day of the OHSWCA Girls State Wrestling Tournament held at Hilliard Davidson High School, three area girls duked it out with the state's best. Chippewa freshmen Gabi Gartin and Isabella Adam, and West Holmes junior Cylie Couch left it all on the mat and earned All-Ohio honors.

Gartin showed the heart and resilience that embodies coach Hanna Hall hopes Chippewa wrestling becomes known for. Holding a 5-2 lead entering the last 20 seconds of her semifinal match against Greenview’s Gwen Matt, somehow, Matt turned Gartin in a cradle to score three back points.

“I was mad, because I thought I could fight that cradle off more than I did,” said Gartin. “But I knew that I could beat her, because I wanted it more than she did and I did my best.”

After a quiet first overtime period with both grapplers on their feet, Gartin pushed the pace in the second overtime. That aggression proved to be pivotal as Matt was called for stalling to give Gartin a 6-5 double overtime win, which was her first overtime time and a ticket to the finals.

“At that point, it comes down to who wants it more,” said Hall. “It’s whose willing to put it on the line and do the work to make it to the finals.”

In the finals, Gartin ran into Harrison’s Raegan Briggs, who had notched three straight first period pins to get there. Gartin gave it everything, but in the end, Briggs scored her fourth straight first period pin to win the title at 115.

“She’s worked extremely hard to get to the finals,” said Hall. “She just ran into a better wrestler, but to compete with someone at that level, that’s great.”

Between the experience of it all, Gartin enjoyed it, but there is no question, it’s left a hungry wrestler ready for another shot.

“It was a fun experience, I realized how good I was and to get second, it makes me smile that I did that good,” said Gartin. “But it doesn’t who I have to wrestle, I know I can make it back to the finals the next three years, maybe win, but I have that motivation to get better and get back.”

Adam, a fellow freshman, opened her day at 145 against a tough Meghan Werbrich of Taylor High School. After a tough first period battle that saw Adam dodge three near falls by Werbrich, the Taylor sophomore, who entered the season the No. 1 ranked wrestler per americanwomenswrestling.com at 135, scored a second-period pin at 2:30.

Regrouping herself, Adam met Olentangy Orange’s Kascidy Garren in the consolation side of the bracket. They battled to a 0-0 first period, before both were given a point for stalling in the second period. Entering the third period, Adam put it in overdrive and scored three points for three near falls to win 4-1.

“It’s definitely a big important match for people,” said Hall. “Sometimes people lose that championship bracket match and it can be hard to bounce back, but Bella wrestled really good in that match.”

That advanced Adam to the third place match against Clermont Northeastern's Jesse Foebar, where she continued that aggression. With Adam up 1-0, Foebar pulled a mat returner on Adam, which resulted in her hitting her head on the way down and that ended her day as she had withdraw due to injury to finish in fourth place.

“I am extremely happy,” said Hall about her two freshmen wrestlers. “They wrestled hard all weekend, the experience was great for them, it will keep them excited and hungry for the future to get back again.”

Couch opened her day up on the move as she dodged three near falls before Chelsea Horsley of Bellefontaine pinned her at :45. That put Couch into the consolation brackets where she wrestled Sadie Napier from Jonathan Alder, who she had beaten earlier in the season. Trailing 2-0 after the first period, Couch again dodged a takedown to fall behind 4-0 before Napier finished Couch’s season with a pin at 1:49. Then in her final match, she wrestled West Union's Scotlyn Adams, who won by pin as Couch finished her season sixth at state.

"Cylie did a good job to get better from last," said Knights coach Scott Vaughn. "But those girls she wrestled were on the next level and if she wants to take that next step, she has to get that level now. She was excited to be at state and I know she wanted to win out. It all comes down to dedication, putting in the time and working at it.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wrestling: three locals earn girls tourney All-Ohio honors