MV girls' wrestling creates a lasting legacy with first home tournament

Those in attendance at the Mount Vernon High School’s Energy Fieldhouse, got to be part of history on Sunday, Feb. 1. They all saw the first annual Mount Vernon Lady Jackets’ Legacy Wrestling Tournament. It was the first high school, all girls tournament to be held at Mount Vernon High.

The Legacy attracted over 20 participating schools from around the region in its very first year. That was due, in no small measure, to good planning and organization, the support of the well-established Jackets’ wrestling program, and that Mount Vernon is a mini-Mecca for wrestling in the State of Ohio.

“A lot of teams were interested in coming to a well-run tournament,” said Mount Vernon girls’ wrestling coach Jay DePolo. “Mount Vernon has always had a reputation for running good tournaments. Alan Oswalt, who runs all the wrestling tournaments, always does a fantastic job, from youth, to middle school, to boys tournaments, for years. The venue is so good, Energy Fieldhouse is just great. You can’t ask for a better place to have a tournament. So, I think all of that was a nice draw.”

The Jackets’ were led by first-place finisher Ashlynn Brokaw. The defending state champion rolled through the 110-pound weight class, finishing up with a pin of Easton Miller of New Philadelphia, in the championship final. Brokaw took down Miller twice. Then, she finished off Miller with a fall at 1:39 of the first period. Brokaw went undefeated Sunday, knocking off Northwestern’s Aliva Welch (fall 1:57 of the first period), Westerville South’s Eliana Chanthasene (fall 1:22 of the first period), and Olentangy’s Stefany Montes (fall 2:44 of the second period.)

“My goal was to go in there, rack up points, and then, get the pin,” said Brokaw. “I wanted to go in there, doing some new moves and work on some things that I haven’t done, yet.”

As a junior, Brokaw has watched the Jackets’ girls wrestling team grow, along with all of the other schools, as girls wrestling becomes more and more popular.

“It’s pretty cool to remember that a few years ago, there was sometimes, only one girl wrestling in each county, and how much it has grown since then,” said Brokaw. “Our Killer Bees program, once had only one or two girls in it and they had to wrestle the boys. Now, the girls have an entire, separate (Killer Bees) program. Having, at least, 20 girls, being interested in wrestling. It’s incredible to think that girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports or the fastest growing in Ohio and maybe all over the world.”

The boys wrestling team was also on hand on Sunday, helping out any way they could.

“The boys definitely support us,” said Brokaw. “Mount Vernon does a better job at getting the boys to support the girls team than some schools. The boys supporting us is one thing. It’s another thing to have eight to 10 girls next to the mat, yelling and screaming and being excited for us.”

Along with Brokaw, the Jackets’ were well represented on the mats, finishing with a trio of fourth-place finishers and a pair of fifth-place winners, along with a seventh placer and an eighth placer. The top three finishing teams were Northwestern (136 points), New Philadelphia (128), and Woodmore (126). Mount Vernon placed seventh, as a team, scoring 103.5 total points.

Mahayley Laverick finished in fourth place in the 130-pound division, when Mallory Meggitt of Clyde dropped her with a fall at 2:37 of the second period of the third-place final. Laverick, nursing a knee injury, started out the day with a loss (fall, 1:46, first period) to Arazelia Ajanel of New Philadelphia.

“After I lost my first match, I didn’t really think, “Oh, I’m done, now,” said Laverick. “I kept up a mindset of, ‘I need to win my next one, I’m fine. Just staying out of that negative mindset, stay positive, and be mentally tough.”

After that, Laverick scored a win over Tina Hoi of Medina Highland (fall, 3:19 3rd period) to propel her into the third-place final. The fact that she was doing it in front of the home crowd made it more satisfying.

“We’ve had a (girls) program for about three years, now,” said Laverick, who was a member of the first Mount Vernon girls team. “Just being able to have a home tournament, this year, feels great. We are more comfortable in our own house. Sure the nerves are up, but it’s nice to present to the town, what we have.”

Alivia Zimmerman had a pair of wins to start the day, but wound up wrestling Tri-Valley’s Jaiden Hammer in the third-place match. Hammer won (fall 1:51, second period) to finish third, while Zimmerman placed fourth. Earlier in the day, Zimmerman beat Gabriella Sealy of Pickerington Central (fall, 0:47, first period). Then she knocked off Sheridan’s Ava McDonald (fall, 1:29, first period). Zimmerman fell to eventual first-place finisher Molly Hower of Woodmore (3:39, second period), winding up in the consolation bracket and a second bout against Sealey, whom she disposed of with another fall in the first period at 0:43.

Khadija Ndow placed fourth at 170 pounds, dropping the third-place final to Olentangy’s Nawal Ali, who won with a fall (4:36, third period) in a closely contested match.

Ndow won her first match of the day, pinning Na’Kylee Jett of New Philadelphia (1:05, first period). In her next bout, Ndow was pinned in the first period (1:56) by Northwestern’s Kelsee Smith, dropping her out of the championship bracket. Ndow won her third-place semifinal over Sabela Tesfagabir of Pickerington Central (fall, 0:22, period one.)

Ndow enjoyed having a tournament on her home turf. At the same time, the senior didn’t forget the significance of the moment.

“It feels good that something we got to help start, is going to be something bigger, when we leave it,” said Ndow. “It will get better, every year, after.”

In the 100-pound class, Mount Vernon’s Luci Parker outpointed Alyssa Storad of Medina Highland, 11-5, in the fifth-place final. Parker, who had a opening round bye, got off to a fast start on Sunday, defeating Nichole Rodriguez of Olentangy, 6-0. She followed that by pinning Allison Ventura Leal of Olentangy at 2:37 of the second period. Parker lost her consolation semifinal match with New Philadelphia’s Rilee Jones, 6-0, landing her in the fifth place final.

Jacket’s 115-pounder Evelyn Martinez scored a 16-0 technical fall at 3:17 of the third period to win the fifth-place final. After losing her first round match on a fall to Tri Valley’s Kandice Spry, Martinez won a pair of matches, beating Kayla Tischler of Clyde (fall, 1:30 of the second period) and Amelia Bender of Lexington (fall, 1:20 of the second period), in their consolation round matches. Martinez lost her consolation semifinal match to Vida Guillen of Woodmore (Fall 1:20 of the first period), which landed her in the fifth-place final.

Also for Mount Vernon Jessie Blaz-Perez was seventh in the 105-pound class and Joy Morman was eighth in the 170-pound class.

“It went smoothly,” said DePolo. “I got a lot of feedback from the other coaches, the teams, parents and spectators. Overall, it was positive feedback. The tournament, and the girls program as a whole, has just had phenomenal support from administrators of the school, students, and the community. It’s been really great support all around and it has been good to see that.”