JCHS girls finish fourth at Findlay

FINDLAY, Ohio — Only three Patriots made it to the podium over the weekend.

Yet, the team did well collectively to secure its highest finish and some hardware of its own.

The Jay County High School girls wrestling team racked up 131.5 points to earn fourth place out of 80 teams, its highest ever finish, at the Findlay Invitational on Saturday.

The Patriots just edged out host Findlay (130.5) by one point while falling to Olentangy Orange (245), Harrison (135.5) and Lebanon (134.5).

No. 1 Mallory Winner put together the best performance of the Patriots, claiming the title in the 170-pound bracket for her third championship at Findlay. The senior wrestled a total of 4 minutes, 39 seconds over five matches, claiming every victory by fall. Winner beat her first three opponents in less than a minute before putting Faith Stevenon of Liberty on her back in 1:21 and claiming the title match by fall over Carolina Klawon of Eaton in 1:22.

No. 4 Katie Rowles and No. 5 Amara Crawford also placed in the meet.

Rowles plowed through the first three rounds of the 100 bracket with a pair of pins and a 15-2 major decision before hitting a snag in the semifinal against Walton Verona’s Emma Moore. Rowles dropped the match in an 8-6 decision before falling to Ella Thomas of Poland Seminary by pin in 2:03 in the consolation semifinal. Rowles pulled out a fifth place finish over Taylor’s Vita Savage with an 8-7 decision.

In the 190-pound bracket, Crawford opened with a victory by fall before getting pinned by Cumberland Valley’s Kimberlee Hechler in the third period. She picked up three wins in the consolation bracket before getting taken down by Raegan Hites of Benjamin Logan in the semifinal. Crawford then won a rematch with Hechler with a 5-0 decision.

Six more wrestlers earned points for the Patriots by winning matches, but came up short of making the podium.