Jacket trio win individual titles, girls' wrestling team fourth

The Mount Vernon girls’ wrestling team rode three weight-class champions to a fourth-place team showing at the Maysville Panthers Girls’ Invitational on Feb. 8.

Ashlynn Brokaw (110 pounds), Alivia Zimmerman (145) and Khadija Ndow (170) all won individual titles for the Yellow Jackets. MV finished with 155.5 points, behind winner Steubenville, which scored 257.5.

Brokaw was dominant in her title run, winning two matches in pool play via pin (1:58 and 1:28). She then posted a 19-2 tech fall victory and pinned Bailey Hilliard of Minerva in 2:59 to win the title.

Zimmerman was a pinning machine at 145, winning all five of her matches by pinfall. She won her three pool play matches in 5:01, 0:32 and 1:21. Zimmerman then won in 1:04 in the semifinals before beating Steubenville’s Gianna Millines in 5:19 to grab the title. Her win over Millines was the second time she beat her on the day.

Ndow also pinned her way to a title. She opened the day with one in just 30 seconds, then cruised through the bracket in 3:57 and 0:45 before pinning Georgia Carr of Columbus DeSales in 3:45 in the finals.

Luci Parker (100) and Jessie Blas-Perez (105) both finished fourth for the Jackets.

Parker won her first two matches via pin (1:10 and 1:25) before falling in two matches to finish fourth.

Blas-Perez won two of her three pool play matches via pin (0:29 and 1:04) but dropped both matches in the brackets to finish fourth.

Joy Morman (170) also wrestled for MV, winning one match via decision (11-3).

Boys’ wrestling

The Mount Vernon boys’ wrestling team struggled in a dual match with Ashland on Feb. 5, falling 53-22 to the Arrows.

The Yellow Jackets suffered six pins in the loss to their former conference rival.

MV did get one pin in the match, in the first period by freshman Trevor Jones at 215 pounds. MV also received a forfeit and won three other matches on the night. Gabe Kiser picked up a 13-9 victory at 113; Tye Thomas won 12-3 at 132; and Mavrik Gregory won 15-8 at 157.

Boys’ basketball

Trailing by 12 entering the fourth quarter, things looked a bit bleak for the Mount Vernon boys’ basketball team on Tuesday.

Granville had kept the Yellow Jackets in check for three quarters, leading 41-29 as they headed down the home stretch. But, MV found some life, got the crowd behind them and rallied for a 55-54 victory over the Blue Aces.

The Jackets nearly doubled their scoring output in the final quarter, outscoring the Aces 26-13, and pulling out the victory.

Justus Shaw led the Jackets with 24 points and seven rebounds. Trace Beck added 13 points and four rebounds, while Trenton Wells had 10 points.