New Philadelphia girls win inaugural Quaker Invite; area wrestlers shine

New Philadelphia’s girls wrestling team is getting on the map more every day. This past weekend the Quakers too another step in that direction by hosting – and winning – the inaugural Quaker Girls Invite, a 15-team event with 10 counties and two states represented.

The host Quakers totaled 193 points to edge Parkersburg, West Virginia’s 178.5 Claymont as fourth with 175, with Dover 14th with 29.

Junior Riley Jones finished second at 100 pounds for New Philadelphia. Jones won her first four matches before falling to Kristen Hawkins of Carrollton in the round-robin format. 

Junior Easton Miller matched that finish at 110. Miller went 5-1, falling only to Ellie DeFiori of Canton South, who had six pins on the day. 

Senior Annabelle Rummell also had a runner-up finish, grabbing the silver at 125 pounds. She notched five pins before losing to Parkersburg’s Amiya Powell. 

Sophomore Arazelia Ajanel made it four seconds when she was runner-up at 130 pounds. Ajanel went 2-1 in pool matches and 3-2 overall with both losses to champion Karma Hedges of Perrysburg.

The Quakers’ final runner-up was junior 190-pound standout Isabella Ramirez. Rameriz won all of her pool matches by pin. She notched another pin in the bracket semifinal before falling to Carrollton’s Riley Alborn in the championship.

Coming in third place for New Philadelphia was 235-pound sophomore Zoey Eversole. Sophomore Josalin Hunter placed fifth for the Quakers at 105, junior Devlin Herrington came in fifth-place for the Quakers at 120 pounds, and junior Kyle Kirby came in fifth for the quakers at 140.

Freshman Laken Warner won for Claymont at 105. Warner pinned all of her opponents, needing just 3:29 to win all four matches. 

Freshman Kenadie Wease led a trio of runners-up for the Mustangs, placing second at 140 pounds. Wease went 4-1 on the day with three pins. Her loss was to champion Kai Gaetjens of Mogadore. 

Also runners-up for Claymont were 155-pound junior Melody Parrish and 235-pound junior Jadyn Sproul. Parrish went 3-0 in pool matches, won the bracket semi and then lost in the final to top seed Mackenzie Shellenbarger of Mogadore. Sproul was 4-1 with three pins, losing to Waterloo’s Hayleigh Camacho in the title match. 

Sophomore Emma Western notched a third-place finish for the Mustangs at 115, as did junior Kyndall Boitnott at 130. Sophomore Isabella Watson finished fourth for the Mustangs at 110. 

Dover got fourth-place finished at 100 from Ashly Castro Cica and at 140 from Nedia Cedillo. 

In another event involving area girls wrestling teams:

At the Girls Top Gun tournament, Tusky Valley scored 85 points to place fifth in a field of 42 schools. Austintown Fitch won the team title with 134 points.

Sidney Bosler led Tusky Valley by winning the 190-pound championship with two pins before edging top-seeded Anna Blanton of Madison Comprehensive 2-0 in the final. Sophomore Sara Whitlach was runner-up at 105 pounds after recording two pins en route to the title match. Senior Tori Wilson also earned a silver medal, pinning her first two opponents before falling 11-8 to Emma Shephard of Massillon Perry in the final. Sophomore Olivia Whitlach placed fourth at 100 pounds.