The growth of the sport of high school girls wrestling is still not slowing down, and it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon.
Friday begins the second annual Ohio High School Athletic Association Girls' State Championships, which will be held in conjunction with the boys' state championships at the Schottenstein Center.
A girls state tournament of some kind has been held since 2020, with the initial tournament being sponsored by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association.
“I received an email from the state the other day.” East Liverpool wrestling coach Jeremy Shaw said. “The numbers are from four years ago, when 283 girls were participating in regional tournaments. That number has increased by 1,100 percent.”
It also means qualifying for the state tournament will be much tougher than it was in 2020.
“Back then, we were competing in regionals and there were six to eight girls (in each weight class).” Said Salem coach Drew Hart. “There will be more than one girl from the school in the weight classes as we struggle to fill the ranks. If you look at this year, the numbers are staggering. But that's not all. It’s the level of talent and skill set that the girls have.”
Hart said many of the girls who currently wrestle couldn't afford to study wrestling in middle school and had to adapt on the fly in high school.
“I don't want to take sides on this, but girls seem to pick up on things a little faster than boys.” Hart said. “If you're a boy who's a senior in high school and you start wrestling, you're probably not going to do very well. Of course, there may be outliers. As for the girls, they really seem to figure things out.”
Shaw said the current crop of high school girls wrestlers has created opportunities for young athletes to step up and take on challenges.
“We are growing” Shaw said. “I think we have six girls in the youth program, one is my niece and one is my daughter. Tristan Eckles (boys state tournament champion) said his sister is the best for us. He’s a great wrestler.”
Paige Cowan
east liverpool potters
110 pounds
36-5, Fr.
Cowan comes from a wrestling family, so it's no surprise that she's so passionate about the sport.
“She has wrestled with the boys and worked her butt off.” Shaw said. “She's someone you don't have to tell her, she knows. She practices twice a day, several times a week, and she's passionate about this sport. We take that seriously.”
Shaw said Steubenville freshman Talea Guntrum is the favorite to win her weight class and is a good yardstick for Cowan.
“(Gunturm) has caught up with me the last few times, but the gap is narrowing.” Shaw said. “I can see Paige finishing in the top three and she is very capable of that. She is young and this is her first year competing in the women’s game. I am excited.”
Cowan is ranked 20th in the state in her weight class in American women's wrestling.
Auston Brown
united golden eagles
125 pounds
41-5, Soph.
Brown returned to Columbus, placing fourth in the same weight class he did as a freshman. Even considering her experience, this field seems difficult. Doylestown Chippewa's Gabi Martin was second at 110 in 2023 and second at 115 in 2022. Clayton Northmont's Lacey Nick was second at 120 last year, and Lewis Center Olentangy's Cori Young was fourth at 120 in 2023.
Brown is ranked No. 5 in the American women's wrestling rankings in her class.
“I think she was happy with her fourth place finish last year, but that wasn't her ultimate goal.” United women's wrestling coach Tyler Reitza said.
Her coach believes her mindset has improved greatly heading into her second state visit.
“She showed a lot of raw talent and ability last year.” Reitza said. “This year, she's done a good job of not getting irritated and staying calm. You know, throughout the year, you're going to meet some of these girls multiple times, and they're going to have a hard time against you. She believes in her training and knows she will perform at her best.”
Irani Jones-Wallace
salem quakers
135 pounds
44-5, Senior
Jones-Wallace is a former basketball player who was scouted to the team by Salem senior Carly Stice, who became the first Columbiana County girl to play in the girls state tournament.
“She had torn her ACL her freshman year when she started playing basketball, so she was worried about how her knee would handle wrestling.” Hart said. “I told her that everything you do in wrestling is actually going to strengthen your joints and tendons. It's going to be good for you. I was really impressed that she came out. She's so He’s very athletic and really smart.”
Hart said she was very coachable and that helped her grow.
“She is the type of athlete who always asks why we do things and really digs deep into the craft.” Hart said.
Jones-Wallace is not ranked at her current weight, but was 17th in American Women's Wrestling at 130 pounds.
Makyan Nyrun
east liverpool potters
145 pounds
45-2, Senior
That's what East Liverpool wrestling coach Jeremy Shaw calls Newlan. “Pioneer” That's because she appeared on the show as girls' high school wrestling grew in the state.
“She has worked really hard to get where she is.” Shaw said. “She doesn't need to be told when to train in the offseason or when to train. She just knows. Once high school girls wrestling was established, she put her foot on the pedal and I never looked back.”
An accomplished powerlifter and club wrestling standout, Newlan was fifth in the state with 155 points as a sophomore and third in the state with 155 points as a junior. She is not ranked at 145 pounds this season, as she dropped from 155 pounds, where she was ranked No. 4 in American Women's Wrestling.
“She had just come back from qualifying and placing in national bodybuilding at 170 pounds and said, 'I feel like 155 pounds is still too heavy for wrestling.'” Shaw said. “She said she thought she had lost speed because she had gained muscle. We talked about it, went over her weight loss plan, and decided to go to 145. At 145, she said, It's the biggest secret in the state right now. There aren't many girls who can match her strength at 145. Her speed has also gotten faster.”
Newlan could become Columbiana County's first girls state champion on Sunday if she wrestles to the best of her ability, but her biggest test will be in the semifinals, when she will face defending division champion Batavia-Clermont. Northeastern's Jesse Forver may come close.
Annika Murray
salem quakers
145 pounds
41-8, Senior
Murray was a multi-sport athlete at Salem University, participating in basketball before turning to wrestling as a winter sport. Her older brother Sam wrestled under Coach Hart all four years in Salem.
“When she first came out, she was practicing basketball and wrestling at the same time.” Hart said. “Once the season ended, she focused on the wrestling team and left the basketball team.”
Murray paid off last year, winning 20 games in his first full season.
“Away from the mat, Annika is a happy, energetic, goofy girl, but when she gets on the mat, she flips a switch.” Hart said. “It's what we call zombie mode. She's a machine on the mat.”
Murray got a chance to compete against state champion threat Makiyah Newlan of East Liverpool in the regional tournament, so she knows the kind of work it takes to advance at state.
“Annika had wrestled her before in Carrollton a few weeks ago.” Hart said. “New Run nailed her in the first 30 seconds. At regionals, she went into the second period 0-0, but finished with a pin at 3 minutes, 26 seconds. She saw improvement in two weeks. was impressive.”
Jocelyn Brink
West Branch Warriors
190 pounds
16-12, Junior
Brink will be the only Warrior in the state this season, but it marks Brink's 22nd straight year as a state qualifier. She is also the first female Warrior to qualify for the state tournament.
“As a coach, you want to be selfish and send as many kids as possible.” West Division coach Chris Dorris said. “The three girls that we went out and wrestled for us were the first girls to wrestle in the West Branch, so for someone to qualify in their first year is really That’s wonderful.”
Brink's older brother, Hudson, was a state candidate last year, and Jocelyn will follow in his brother's footsteps.
“I went to Hudson last year.” Doris said. “When she (Jocelyn) decided to cross that line and wrestle, there was an expectation that she would put on those cumbersome shoes and qualify for state.”
Jocelyn was a quick learner, but didn't get much game time.
“The first part of this year was just learning about the sport.” Doris said. “Once we started finding something that fit her style of wrestling, she caught fire and hasn't looked back since. Unfortunately, there aren't many women's matches in this area, so mat time is limited. There wasn't much. She practiced hard and learned a lot from the drills.”
Dakota McCracken
united golden eagles
235 pounds
12-1, Junior
McCracken has two third-place finishes in this weight class and is looking to take it even further. She is considered the favorite to take home a state title in her class, and she is ranked as the top wrestler in her class by American Women's Wrestling. Her best challenge could come as early as the quarterfinals, as three-time state finalist Jessica Edwards of No. 2 Harrison University awaits.
But McCracken's coach isn't really interested in rankings.
“I don't really care about rankings.” Reitza said. “But I understand that all high school kids are seeing that stuff, especially today with more platforms covering the sport. I would rather focus on what worked for them. The focus is on talking to the girls.”
McCracken suffered a summer freestyle injury that slowed his development. In the pre-regional tournament, there was an overtime bye because there were no other female players entered in that class.
“We had some girls that played during the season and were supposed to be there (at the pre-district tournament) and I don’t know what happened.” Reitza said.
McCracken followed that up with a district championship. Now, with her younger brother Dallas also ranked very high in the division, the possibility of a very special day for the United wrestling community on Sunday is starting to take shape. III 285 lbs.
“I'd be lying if I didn't say there's a possibility.” Letiza said. “But that's not what we talk about. I don't believe in trying to add any more pressure.”
