Two win LCL titles for MV girls' wrestling squad

Mount Vernon girls’ wrestling coach Jay DePolo knows his team has put in the work this year. Saturday at the Licking County League Championships, some of those wrestlers saw the work pay off, while others saw how much work they still had in front of them.

The Yellow Jackets finished third as a team, behind Licking Heights and Watkins Memorial, and had two individual champions on the day.

“I think we did well,” said Mount Vernon coach Jay DePolo. “I think there were some matches that I thought we could have won that didn’t go our way. The two teams that were first and second had bigger lineups, so we went in in the hole at the start.”

MV was led by defending state champion Ashlynn Brokaw, who continued her strong junior year run with another title. Brokaw secured two first-period pinfall victories to grab the title at 110 pounds.

The Jackets also got another champion in Khadija Ndow at 170. The senior also pinned all of her opponents, needing a second period in just one of the matches.

MV also had a great day from Alivia Zimmerman at 145. The sophomore, who qualified for districts a year ago, secured a first-round pin in her first match, but fell in the championship match, 22-7, and finished second.

“It’s good to see Khadija is coming into her own. She’s getting back on track and seems to be getting dialed in heading into postseason,” DePolo said. “Alivia Zimmerman has really started stepping up the last few weeks, getting some wins. … Seeing her have some success is nice.

“Then, Ash, as usual, is just getting dialed in. She’s really ready for the postseason.”

Evelyn Martinez was able to bounce back after suffering a stunning pin in the first match and finished fourth on the day at 115.

Luci Parker (100), Jessie Blas-Perez (105) and Mahayley Laverick (130) also wrestled well at times but ended up dropping their matches.

The Jackets will look to continue that improvement this Sunday at the Delaware Hayes Invitational before starting sectional competition on Feb. 28.

“We had a couple of matches where our girls were wresting very well. Whether it was a mental mishap or technical mistake cost them the match,” DePolo said. “In the conversations I had with them, I told them ‘you belong out there. you’re just as good as they are. You just need to realize that.’ I think that will go a long way in the next few weeks.

“Technical wise, we’ve seen so much improvement the last three or four weeks that I’m really excited to see what they can do. We’ve got a big tournament in Delaware this weekend, then the following weekend is postseason. As a coach, it makes me feel good seeing them make improvements week to week. They’ve really improved a lot the last few weeks, which is really great to see.”