A tournament of their own: Lady Longhorn gives girls wrestling a home for the holidays

Large holiday tournaments have been staple of Northeast Ohio wrestling for decades.

Events like the Brecksville Holiday Tournament and Medina Invitational Tournament draw the best boys programs every year.

Based off that tradition, Lutheran West girls wrestling coach Dave Ressler had an idea three years ago.

"We want to be the MIT, we want to be Brecksville for the girls," Ressler said. "That was the whole goal when I started this. We wanted to feature our female athletes."

Three years in, the Lady Longhorn Holiday Tournament has forged its place in the local wrestling landscape.

Lutheran West welcomed 51 teams to the third annual Lady Longhorn, which concluded Thursday. Ressler noted that, in its short history, the tournament has mirrored the growth of girls wrestling in Ohio.

"We're going to try and get the brackets to be full 32-person brackets," he said. "We're planning on building a field house, so hopefully we'll be able to fill it up with mats instead of going to two gyms. We're probably going to keep to around 50 teams because every year those teams will get bigger. We want to be the premier holiday tournament in the state."

The Lady Longhorn already has its own traditions brewing. Before Thursday's finals, rather than a parade of champions, the wrestlers danced the "Cha-Cha Slide" on the mats.

Perry girls wrestling looks to continue tradition of excellence

One sign of the girls wrestling growth: Ohio's traditional boys wrestling powers are sending their females forward.

At the Lady Longhorn, Massillon Perry and Rootstown each had nine wrestlers. The Rovers were led by Rootstown alumna and mixed martial arts star Jessica "Evil" Eye.

Although Perry is its first year as a program, the Panthers showed they are no bit players. Perry finished third in the team race with 277.5 points.

"We're pleased with our performance so far, but we've got some gaps to clean up," said Perry coach Gary Define. "We're a young team and we're learning how to fight.

"Our athletic director, Kevin Yoder, saw this an opportunity we couldn't pass up. We're Perry. The other thing that made it possible is coach [Brent] McBurney and his staff allowing us the room to grow like that."

Perry was led by freshman Emma Shephard, who reached the final at 125 pounds. While Shephard was pinned in the final by United's Auston Brown and took second, Define said she has no ceiling on her potential.

"I don't think there is one," Define said. "The Shephards are a hard-working family, they love sports and they're good at them. Em has had brothers to show the way. Our goal is to bring a state title."

Alliance girls wrestling reasserts itself at Lady Longhorn Holiday Tournament

While Perry has a long linage in boys wrestling, Alliance won Northeast Ohio's first regional title in girls wrestling last March.

The Aviators flexed their muscles by winning the team title at the Lady Longhorn, despite missing several starters. Alliance won with 349.5 points.

"They wrestled great overall from top to bottom in our lineup," said Alliance coach Dane Johnson. "Getting ahead of a team title, you've got have everyone go out and get wins. I'm super proud of them today."

Alliance also brought home two individual titles. At 110 pounds, Ashlynn Pennington scored the first win of her career over Minerva's Bridget Hilliard, coming from behind to get a pin in 3:17.

"Hilliard works hard. We work hard. They're both fantastic wrestlers," Johnson said. "Obviously, Bridget has beaten her a few times, so it's nice to change the times there."

At 130 pounds, All-Ohioan Abigail Mozden dominated her weight class, scoring seven pins on route to the title. She pinned Mogadore's Kai Gaetjens in 2:49 in the final.

"The strategy was really just to go out and be the more aggressive wrestler," Mozden said. "I really have to use a lot of my strength and a lot of the technique I learned over the summer. I knew she was really flexible and really tall. Being tall is such an advantage."

Summit County girls wrestlers grapple hard at Lady Longhorn

Akron-area wrestlers saw plenty of mat time in the finals, led by Manchester's defending state champion, Jaydyn McKinney.

McKinney has been on a mission since losing in the final at the Women of Ironman Tournament. She tore through the 135-pound bracket, scoring seven pins, including a pin in 39 seconds over North Royalton's Sophia Antonio in the final.

"Coach has been making me score 10 points in every match before I go for the pin, but in the final he said, 'Just let it rip,'" McKinney said. "I think its good to lose every once in a while. Now, I remember what I feels like to win."

Mogadore's Gaetjens sisters endured a tough end to a good tournament. Along with Kai's loss, Mia Gaetjens lost her final at 170 pounds, getting pinned by Lutheran West's Paris Willis.

"I think we wrestled really well. This is only our second tournament coming back," said Mogadore coach Duane Funk. "We've got some things to work on. There are things that we can fix."

Walsh Jesuit's Bella Mbappé reached the final at 120 pounds and wrestled a solid first period against Brecksville All-Ohioan Anna Madi. However, Madi used an armbar to get a pin in 2:28

Akron North also had a podium finisher as 235-pounder Anne Ruble took third. Ruble pinned Mentor's Diorrah Harrold in 4:05 in the third-place match.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Northeast Ohio girls wrestling finds its holiday home at Lutheran West