Five Big Things Happening In High School Girls Wrestling
Five Big Things Happening In High School Girls Wrestling
Check out five of the biggest storylines in high school girls wrestling after a huge month of marquee tournaments.
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December ignited the high school season through iron-sharpening tournaments across the nation. The year is coming to a close after the Ironman in Ohio, followed by Beast of the East in Delaware, the Reno Tournament of Champions in Nevada, and Senior Nationals in Texas. At the state level, four states are also breaking ground for their first sanctioned seasons.
Harrison Takes Home Title In First Women’s Division At Ironman
This year marked the first year the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Tournament — renowned for high school its powerful boys division — added a women’s division.
Second-ranked Harrison (Ohio) won the tournament, placing eight out of the 10 athletes who entered and accumulating 148 team points. #11 Tulsa Union High School (Okla.) also entered 10 athletes who scored 130 points for a second-place finish.
Harrison champion Chloe Dearwester (#8 at 105) pinned her way to the 100-pound finals before meeting up with Rianne Murphy (#3 at 100) of Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) and notching a 5-4 win.
Harrison had three other finalists: Raegan Briggs ( #11 at 120) at 115 pounds, Veronica Decaluwe at 145, and Jessica Edwards at 235. Ana Malovich ( #8 at 110) from Butler HS (Pa.) defeated Briggs in the final bout after running a bar-and-half on the Ohio state champion and getting the fall.
Other champions included Jaclyn Bouzakis (#7 P4P), Libby Roberts (#5 at 110), Brissa Bernal (#13 at 125), Victoria Carbonaro, Lyndyn Gibbs, Corryenne McNulty (#14 at 135), Violette Lasure (#25 P4P), Makenzie Eltzroth, Kylee Tait (#18 at 155), Millie Azlin (#16 at 170), Savannah Isaac (#12 P4P), and Azreal Smith.
Champions Unleashed at Second Girls Beast Of The East
For its second season, the women’s division at Beast of the East upped the weight classes offered from nine to the 14 NFHS-sanctioned weight classes.
Jaclyn Bouzakis followed up her Ironman title with a Beast of the East title at 100 pounds. In the finals, the Wyoming Seminary wrestler earned a 17-2 technical fall over #9 Natalie Radecki of Caravel (Del.).
Fellow Ironman champion Victoria Carbonaro (Blair Academy) also won the tournament at 125 pounds. The unranked wrestler defeated Jordyn Anderson (Woodside), #21 at 120, in a 4-0 decision.
Lane Fordyce of Bishop McCort (Pa.) stopped Kylie Gudewitz from Howell (N.J.) from earning her second Beast of the East title in a 5-2 decision at 115 pounds. Zoey Haines from Gettysburg, who is #20 at 145, took out #9 and last year’s champion May Cuyler from Brentsville (Va.), in the 145-pound finals with a fall.
#6 Sarah Henckel from Blair Academy (N.J.) took home a second Beast of the East title, winning the 155-pound bracket. In her post-finals interview, Henckel said she reflected on her seventh-place finish at the Ironman and adjusted her mindset for the Beast. The U17 Pan-Am champ pinned her way through her pool in a combined time of 1:31 to move on to the finals where she beat Gettysburg’s Kylie Monroe, #3 in Pennsylvania’s rankings, 14-3.
Other champions included Julia Horger (#116 at 105), Mia Goodwin(#27 at 110), Kayla Moroschan, Taina Fernandez (#14 P4P), Haylie Jaffe (#6 P4P), Jordyn Fouse (#6 at 140), Taylor Waddy, Caroline Hattala (#10 at 190), and Peyton Fries.
Toppenish Dominates at Girls Reno TOC with Five Finalists
Third-ranked Toppenish (Wash.) took home the team title at the Girls Reno Tournament of Champions on Saturday, scoring 191 points with five finalists. Gilroy (Calif.) finished second with four champions and tied the third-place team #9 Allen (Texas) for the most champions with three.
Toppenish crowned its champion, Ruby Clark, at 145. The senior hit a lateral drop on Sanger’s Gabriela Flores 30 seconds into the first period, and a fall was quickly confirmed. Runners-up for Toppenish were Adalyne Montiel (114), Sara Ortega (138), Sophia Torrez (107), and Vania Diega (126).
Last year’s runner-up and #1 at 155, Jasmine Robinson from Allen (Texas), returned and won the 165-pound bracket with three quick pins including her finals pin over Utah state runner-up Clarion Fager. Karianne Baldwin (#8 at 130), representing Glacier Peak, defeated fellow Washingtonian Vania Diego in the finals at 126. #10 at 155, Kaiulani Garcia of Gilroy (Calif.) also picked up three pins en route to the 185-pound finals, where she defeated Ylyana Sandoval from Crook County in a 4-2 decision.
The remaining champions include Jaelle Cortez (100), Jillian Wells (107), Sarah Delacerda (114), Kailin Sebert (120), Dulcy Martinez (132), Mary Jane Porter (138), Eduarda Rodrigues (152) and Esther Peters (235).
The Young and Fearless
With many top-ranked wrestlers competing this month, the opportunity for quality competition is high. However, a handful of young athletes toed the line against our nation’s best of the best at Senior Nationals battling to qualify for the Olympic Team Trials. Wyoming Seminary’s Clare Booe (#1 at 110) advanced the furthest, defeating two collegiate wrestlers in her opening rounds before falling to U20 silver medalist Katie Gomez, 10-8, in the 53 kg quarterfinals. Booe finished seventh, while the top five qualified for OTT.
The last opportunity for high schoolers to qualify is the Last Chance tournament in March, where athletes who have already qualified will not be allowed to compete, and only the champion of each weight will qualify.
Year One
Forty-four states have sanctioned high school girls wrestling. This season kicks off with four states holding their first official season with athletes on the hunt for each state’s inaugural state championship that a state high school executive association officially recognizes. Below are a handful of athletes hailing from the newly sanctioned states, making names for themselves regionally and internationally.
North Carolina — Sanctioned State #35
Many states hosted an unofficial state championship leading up to their sanctioning, including North Carolina, which hosted the seventh annual NCHSAA Women’s Invitational Championship last year. Some notable champions that you might expect to return to the mat this year include senior Alfa Dominguez Gutierrez of Cary who had an undefeated 45-0 season last year; junior Brianna Deleon of Weddington, who took fifth at NHSCA High School Nationals; and junior Elaina Pollock of Laney who won the Invitational back-to-back years. Also, watch for Mount Airy’s Jamie Hearl, a runner-up at the Invitational and NHSCA Nationals.
Kentucky — Sanctioned State #38
Nationally ranked Lauren Walton of Carr Academy (#6 at 135) returns this season as a back-to-back champion from Kentucky’s unofficial state championship. Walton was also a Fargo finalist in 2022 and owns Preseason Nationals, NHSCA Nationals and Junior Folkstyle Nationals titles. Gabriella Ocasio of Simon Kenton returns for a final season. Ocasio was a champion at the 2022 unofficial state tournament and runner-up last year. Ocasio also represented Puerto Rico at the Pan-Am U17 Beach Championships, where she defeated U.S. representative Lilly Reese in the 70 kg bronze medal bout.
Pennsylvania — Sanctioned State #39
As of the Nov. 28 rankings, PIAA schools hold three pound-for-pound spots — #6 senior Haylie Jaffe (Kennett), #18 junior Aubre Krazer (Easton) and #25 freshman Violette Lasure (Chestnut Ridge). Jaffe, a U17 bronze medalist, and Krazer, a Fargo champion, both won the unofficial PA state championship last year while Lasure won U15 Pan-Am gold just last month and the Ironman at 140 pounds this month.
Rhode Island — Sanctioned State #44
In October, Rhode Island became the latest state to become sanctioned, a few months following the state’s first female All-American — Norah Swaim, a North Kingstown senior who earned fourth place at NHSCA Nationals in April.
A complete list of states sanctioned, unsanctioned, or holding emerging status can be found at WrestleLikeAGirl.