Girls wrestling: Elyria runner-up at Freddie Invitational

FREDERICKTOWN — Elyria may have been unable to pick up its fourth girls wrestling team tournament title of the season Sunday — finishing just two points behind champion Licking Heights in the team race — but it was still a successful day at the Freddie Invitational. "We came out a little flat on Thursday," Elyria coach Paul Felton said. "But I think we picked it up a little bit today and wrestled a lot better. We put a lot of good things together, but there's still work to do, and unfortunately we came up a couple points short." The Pioneers picked up championships at 115 pounds, 125, 140, 145 and 190, as well as runner-up finishes at 100, 120, 190 and 235. They also had a couple third-place finishes. They got their first individual title from sophomore Olivia Campbell at 115, who pinned all four opponents she faced in under two minutes on the way to yet another weight class championship this season. "It was just my confidence," Campbell said. "I feel like if you really put your mind to it, you can do anything and what helped me through it was the fact that I was able to push through all my matches." After Emilie Conley picked up a second-place finish at 120, Ravenna Guidicelli secured Elyria's second weight class title of the day at 125 with a decision victory and a pair of pins. "I wasn't in the best mindset this morning," Guidicelli said. "But I just love being around all the support I have, and that makes me feel so much better. My coaches understood what was happening and were able to talk me through it." The Pioneers' most dominant performance of the day came from sophomore Rielle Hawkins at 140, who pinned all three of her opponents, with the longest match taking just 35 seconds, as she picked up another weight class title. "I was just wrestling my best, doing what I know how to do," Hawkins said. "I love everybody on my team and we're great practice partners at the middle weights." That practice certainly showed at 145, as the Pioneers got a second straight weight class title from Jaelyn Green, who pinned all four of her opponents, with her longest match going just over 90 seconds. "I felt good out there," Green said. "Having a week off helped. Seeing my teammates go out there and wrestle hard makes me feel more motivated for my match." Green's win gave the Pioneers a significant lead, but as the higher weight classes finished up, the Hornets continued to pull closer until Mariama Gaston-House pinned the Pioneers' Khloee Washington in the final at 235 to snatch away the victory. Even after that, Elyria still had plenty of points for a second-place finish, thanks in large part to the wins from underclassmen Campbell, Guidicelli and Hawkins at the lower weights. "We have a lot of seniors on this team," Felton said. "So it's good to know that next year we're going to be in good hands and we're going to have good leaders on this team after the seniors leave." The Pioneers may have fallen short of picking up a fourth tournament win, but with the team playoffs around the corner, Felton views each tournament as much-needed practice for the postseason. "The kids are working hard," he said. "We talk about these being just practice matches until we get to the postseason, so we'll take it one step at a time, and hopefully we can get back down to the state duals." Contact Will Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Licking Heights 258, 2. Elyria 256, 3. London 148.5, 4. Utica 73, 5. Fredericktown 72, 6. Madison-Plains 66, 7. Tri-Valley 53, 8. North Union 44.5, 9. Wellington 36, 10. Bexley 35, 11. Buckeye Valley 34, 12. Newark 32, 13. Loudonville 31, 14. Cardington-Lincoln 30, 15. Ontario 28, 16. Lucas 11, 17. Orrville 5.5. 100 — 1. Lainey Peters (Licking Heights), 2. Emily Parker (Elyria), 3. Emily Stoltz (Madison-Plains), 4. Addison Hess (Fredericktown), 5. Alisha Behl (Bexley). 105 — 1. Leilah Casey (Licking Heights), 2. Aaliviyah Brown (Tri-Valley), 3. Josephine Ruble (London), 4. Lilla Roesky-Gramye (Cardington-Lincoln), 5. Jasmine Thornton (Licking Heights). 110 — 1. Mirage Haverfield (Madison-Plains), 2. Molly Crabtree (Licking Heights), 3. Isabella Trujillo (Elyria), 4. Mikaila Blanski (Bexley), 5. Joslyn Snyder (Utica), 6. Avigayle Miller (Lucas). 115 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Olivia Campbell (Elyria) pinned Rylee Kolmorgen (Wellington), 1:01; THIRD: Gabby Ford (Buckeye Valley) pinned Brooklyn Dowell (Newark), 1:50; FIFTH: Hannah Howard (London) pinned Truth Yarman (Fredericktown), 2:28. 120 — 1. Hailey Wygle (Utica), 2. Emilie Conley (Elyria), 3. Journey Belt (Cardington-Lincoln), 4. Aria Cintron (Elyria), 5. Brylee Huff (London), 6. Rylee Horne (North Union). 125 — 1. Ravenna Guidicelli (Elyria), 2. Taleah Clark (Utica), 3. Skylah Price (Bexley), 4. Shonya Ghimirey (Licking Heights). 130 — 1. Abigail Kalu (Licking Heights), 2. Karlee Pratt (London), 3. Cescily Shaw (Newark), 4. Kharma Sanders (Madison-Plains). 135 — 1. Kristina Meszarosova (Fredericktown), 2. Natalya Miller (Loudonville), 3. Layla Price (Licking Heights), 4. Jessanie Pfister (North Union). 140 — 1. Rielle Hawkins (Elyria), 2. Ella Ballah (London), 3. Shyrel Njomou (Licking Heights), 4. Addi Nail (Wellington). 145 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Jaelyn Green (Elyria) pinned Lilly Gray (Ontario), 1:21; THIRD: Jaiden Hammer (Tri-Valley) pinned Katherine Waddell (Licking Heights), 1:23; FIFTH: Charley Peters (London) pinned Jayden Chesser (Buckeye Valley), 2:57. 155 — 1. Lilli Seeman (Licking Heights), 2. Madison Goad (North Union), 3. Anna Miller (Fredericktown), 4. Sabrina Ndiaye (Licking Heights). 170 — 1. Shayla Lowe (London), 2. Ayanna Shaw (Licking Heights), 3. Alolah Garcia (Elyria), 4. Maci Eikleberry (Loudonville), 5. Emma Taylor (Wellington). 190 — 1. Kira Maassen (Elyria), 2. Seraiah Jackson (Elyria), 3. Ava Doyle (Tri-Valley) 235 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Mariama Gaston-House (Licking Heights) pinned Khloee Washington (Elyria), 5:11; THIRD: Arzhea Curry (Elyria) pinned Mallory Mayes (Elyria), 3:34; FIFTH: Khloe Jackson (London) pinned Kylynn Thompson (North Union), 1:14.