Girls Wrestling: Columbia's Gabby Grace dedicates 145-pound title to late uncle

BRUNSWICK — Columbia senior Gabby Grace used some motivation from above to win the 145-pound championship at the Brunswick Invitational on Saturday. Grace honored her late uncle, Danny Link, with the title. "I feel, honestly, amazing," Grace said. "My uncle passed recently and today was his funeral. I dedicated this day to him." Grace rallied from seemingly insurmountable odds in the final after trailing Cloverleaf junior Amelia Ryncarz 11-3 before pulling off a pin with two seconds left in the match. "(Ryncarz) is really, really tough, I applaud her for everything she's doing in the wrestling room," Grace said. "I just fought. Dedicating this day to my uncle, I didn't want to lose the match or tournament. I thought of my uncle the whole, entire time and wrestled on." Grace pinned all three of her opponents on the day. Avon Lake's Destiny Cabot joined Grace on the top step of the podium, winning at 100 pounds with a pin of New London's Ava Downs in 38 seconds. Getting on and off the mat quickly was the theme of the day for Cabot, the returning fourth-place state finisher at 100. She pinned all three of her opponents in the first round, wrestling for a total of 2:26. "I feel pretty good after this tournament," Cabot said. "I only had three matches, but that's still more than I had last week (two). I'm just happy to get matches in. I wish more of them would go to the second period, because I really want to work on bottom, but that's something I want to work on at tournaments." Despite the quick work, Cabot is ready to make another postseason run to Columbus, beginning with the sectional tournament that the Shoregals host in two weeks. "I feel very ready for the postseason," Cabot said. "Our practices, the conditioning is great. We go live a lot and I have great partners in the room that are really pushing me to get ready for postseason." Avon Lake (128) was Lorain County's top finishing team, taking sixth of 48 teams. Keystone (49) placed 17th, with Oberlin (24th, 35.5), Columbia (26th, 31) and Wellington (31st, 27) following. Behind Cabot the Shoregals had placers in Bianca Craig (second, 120), Virginia Jordan (third, 105), Bridget Carbaugh (fifth, 125), Rylee Post (sixth, 130) and Kaylen Martin (sixth, 135). Craig pinned her way into the finals before Lakewood's Riley Robertson beat her by an 18-4 major decision. The Wildcats had placers in Emma Wilson (third, 155), Kyriana Grahn (fifth, 130) and Elliot Jankowski (sixth, 105). The Phoenix put Phoebe Harrison (fifth, 155), Azariah East (sixth, 120) and Lillian McFarland (sixth, 115) on the podium. Wellington's Rylee Kolmorgen (115) also reached the finals, but was forced to withdraw due to injury during the championship match after trailing Cleveland Heights' Ta'Mya Bouie 17-3. The Dukes added a placer in Jurnee Gourbourne (sixth, 235). Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Standings: 1. Walsh Jesuit 191.5, 2. Claymont 182.5, 3. New Philadelphia 177, 4. Barberton 167.5, 5. Berea-Midpark 154.5, 6. Avon Lake 128, 7. Cloverleaf 105, 8. Brush 91, 9. Cleveland Heights 77, 10. Madison 74, 11. New London 72, 12. Highland 68, 12. Lakewood 68, 14. North Royalton 67.5, 15. Chippewa 62, 16. Brunswick 50.5, 17. Keystone 49, 17. Indian Valley 49, 19. Napoleon 47, 20. Beachwood 46.5, 21. Strongsville 46, 22. Brecksville 44.5, 23. Canal Fulton Northwest 39, 24. Oberlin 35.5, 25. John Adams 34, 26. Columbia 31, 26. Lutheran West 31, 26. Olmsted Falls 31, 29. Ravenna Southeast 30, 30. Western Reserve 28, 31. Canton South 27, 31. Wellington 27, 33. Seneca East 26, 34. Valley Forge 25, 35. North 23.5, 36. Kent Roosevelt 22, 36. Padua Franciscan 22, 38. Nordonia 21.5, 39. Paulding 20, 40. Akron Manchester 19.5, 41. Conneaut 11, 41. Garfield Heights 11, 43. Kenston 5, 45. Coventry 0, 45. North Olmsted 0, 45. Tuslaw 0, 45. Woodmore 0.