Girls State Wrestling: Five from area open with wins, advance to quarterfinals

COLUMBUS — Columbia's Youstina Hanna and Black River's Taylor Owen started Friday as part of a group of Lorain County wrestlers making a third trip on the Ohio High School Athletic Association girls state tournament. Hanna and Owen ended the day as part of an even more elite group — five area wresters three wins away from a state title after the opening round of competition at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University. Hanna, a senior, improved to 41-1 with a second-period pin of Norwood freshman Lillian Lampe in the 140-pound bracket. Hanna will face Salem senior Paige Menough in Saturday's quarterfinals. Owen also had a second-period pin — 14 seconds into the period, to be exact — to defeat Lakota East's Corinna Sowah in her 155-pound opening-round match. Owen, a junior, will face Gahanna Lincoln's KyLee Tibbs in the quarterfinals. Elyria senior Jaelyn Green and Lorain sophomore Cali Otero, both two-time state qualifiers, are also headed to the quarterfinals. Green improved to 49-5 with an impressive 145-pound opening-round win over St. Marys Memorial sophomore Kayla Opperman. It was a 20-4 technical fall. Green will face Jonathan Alder freshman Blair Stilwell in the quarterfinals. Just hours after her brother D.J., a Lorain senior, punched his ticket to the quarterfinals, Otero did the same by defeating Pickerington North sophomore Kenleigh Ballance by pinfall at the 3:48 mark at 100 pounds. Otero (33-7) will face one of two undefeated wrestlers in the bracket, Shaw's Aniya Polk, in the quarterfinals. Elyria senior Emily Conley made the most of her first state tournament appearance, needing only 16 seconds to defeat Greenville junior Kaylin Bradburn by pin. Three local wrestlers stayed alive with consolation-round wins after opening-round losses. Avon Lake senior Destiny Cabot, who placed fourth last season, lost her first 100-pound match then defeated Stubenville's Jahmiah-el Bey by pin at 2:26. North Ridgeville senior Gianna Sanfilippo, hoping to place in her first state appearance, stayed alive after she won in the consolation bracket by injury default after dropping a 14-1 decision in her first match. Elyria's Seraiah Jackson (170) advanced through the consolation bracket with a 7-4 win over Lebanon's Taryn Naill. Jackson, a senior, lost her opening match 7-0 to Gahanna Lincoln's Jordan Mills. Six local wrestlers had their state tournaments come to an end after going 0-2 — Vermilion's Cory Fredrick (125), Keystone's Kryiana Grahn (130) and Sage O'Brien (145), Columbia's Cailyn Demagall (155) and Elyria seniors Kira Maassen (190) and Khloee Washington (235). Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.