Olentangy Orange won the team title and Delaware Hayes nabbed runner-up honors to highlight Sunday’s Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches’ Association Girls Central District Tournament at Olentangy Orange High School.
The Pioneers, who were boosted by four individual champs, closed with a score of 258.5 while the Pacers finished second with 156. Bishop Watterson smoothed out the top three with 59 points.
All four Orange champions — Ayla Castin, Macy Carroll, defending state champion Taryn Martin and Talia Mitchell — pinned their way to the top of the podium. Castin took top honors in the 121-pound division, pinning Hayes’ Meredith Milligan in 1:31 in the championship match. Carroll picked up a dominant win at 131, pinning Hilliard Bradley’s Hailey Amador in 2:57, and Martin and Mitchell pinned Hayes’ Carmen Pape and Columbus Briggs’ Melissa Foster to secure titles at 170 and 189, respectively.
The Pioneers’ other top-four finishers who will be joining the quartet at the upcoming state tournament Saturday and Sunday at Hilliard Davidson High School include Lucy Scheibeck, who finished second at 106; Lexi Simmons, who was second at 116; Alicia Coleman, who earned runner-up honors at 137; Noel Frye, who was second at 150; Sara Borton, who placed third at 111; Casey Homorody, who earned third-place points at 160; and Josephine Nickoloff, who closed fourth at 126.
Hayes, meanwhile, was paced by district champ Kasey Wells, who outlasted Scheibeck 9-6 to earn first-place points at 106.
Milligan (second at 121), Pape (second at 170), Kelcey Dew (third at 126), Aubrey Griner (third at 131), Serenity Perez (third at 116), Megan Keller (third at 150), Ella Ries (third at 189), Jackie Hernandez (third at 235), Molly Wells (fourth at 111), Hailey Hatfield (fourth at 116) and Caiya Combs (fourth at 121) also advanced to the state tournament with solid showings.
Other area standouts who punched tickets to next weekend’s state showcase include Big Walnut’s Cali Lang, who finished second at 101; and Olentangy Berlin’s Maia Crumb and Aubrey Noeth, who finished second at 160 and third at 170, respectively.
