By Garth Shanklin/Mark Carpenter
Two West Union girls wrestlers earned guaranteed spots at the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association (OHSWCA) state tournament this weekend while two others finished as alternates.
Sophomores Leena Blanton and Scotlyn Adams placed in the top four of their respective weight classes to guarantee a trip to Hilliard Davidson for the state championship. Jaylynn Mason and Alexis Cowan both placed fifth.
As a team, West Union finished eighth in the standings with 71 points. Greeneview won the title with 148 followed by Harrison (145.5) and Lebanon (107.5).
Adams placed third for the Lady Dragons at 105 pounds. She pinned Milford’s Ainsley Hull in the quarterfinals in 1:20. Chloe Dearwester, the eventual 105-pound champion, pinned Adams in 47 seconds in the semifinals.
In the consolation bracket, Adams pinned Western Brown’s Paige Catron in 35 seconds to clinch a spot at state. She capped off her tournament run by pinning Harrison’s Mia Hotchkiss in 38 seconds to take third.
Adams will be making her second consecutive trip to the OHSWCA state tournament.
“I;m glad to go back, I just want to perform better than I did last year,” said the WUHS sophomore. “I want to do better and in more matches (she went 2-2 last year at state) plus see some of my old friends. I like my chances this year.”
“I like that our elementary and junior high girls are interested in wrestling, building our program, and thinking we are giving them someone to look up to.”
Leena Blanton placed second for West Union at 125 pounds.
Blanton pinned Miamisburg’s Symone Mortin in 5:47 to advance to the championship semifinals. She then squeaked out a 4-2 win over Mason’s Julie Sung to earn a trip to state and advance to the championship bout.
In the final match, Badin’s Rachel Nusky pinned Blanton in 3:08 to take first place.
“It’s been fun to be part of this program,” said Blanton. “It’s kind of scary to go to these big competitions but it’s also really fun to see all the other people taking the same journey as you and being in the same place.”
West Union’s Jaylynn Mason placed fifth at 140 pounds, earning a spot as an alternate.
Mason dropped her first match but rallied with a pin of Fairfield’s Sade Henry in 1:48 to advance to the consolation semifinals.
After a loss to Harrison’s Aaliyah Lee, Mason pinned CNE’s Lilly Taylor in 33 seconds to clinch fifth in the tournament.
Teammate Alexis Cowan also took fifth place in her weight class. Cowan won her first match, pinning West Carrollton’s Felecia Gordon in 55 seconds.
In the semifinals, Cowan fell to Greeneview’s Karlie Harlow, the eventual champion at the 235 pound class.
Lakota West’s Kate Fenton pinned Cowan in 3:36, sending the West Union wrestler to the fifth-place match. She won that bout by forfeit.
Three other West Union wrestlers battled at the district tournament but just missed spots on the podium. Skylan Pennington dropped a pair of matches via pin in the 115-pound class while Trinity Reeves fell in her first two matches at 110 pounds.
Sara Boldman won her first bout, pinning Finneytown’s Paige Ficke in 1:47. She dropped her next two contests via pin to miss a spot in the top six.
Coach Michael Felts has taken on the task of building a West Union wrestling program the past few years and he thinks his girls have a shot this weekend.
“It wasn’t given to theses two girls, they deserved it,” says Felts. “At this point last year Leena was an alternate so I know it’s been stewing with her for a year. Scotlyn lost in the blood round last year and since that time they haven’t taken much of a break from wrestling. I’m super excited for them, the brackets just came out and they look good for us in my opinion. Leena has a great chance to be in the state semis and Scotlyn will have to go through a former state champion, a little tougher road. When Scotlyn is on, she can wrestle with the best of them.”
The OHSWCA girls state tournament is scheduled to be held over two days at Hilliard Davidson High School in Hilliard, Ohio.
Two championship rounds and two consolation rounds are scheduled to be wrestled beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 19. Consolation rounds begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, February 20.