MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon Yellow Jacket wrestlers are sending 11 team members to the District wrestling tournament this weekend. Seven boys and four girls made the cut.
On Saturday, the boys’ team competed in the Division I sectional tournament in Upper Arlington, and on Sunday, the girls took the mat at Licking Valley.
Standing at the end of the packed Licking Valley gymnasium, Mount Vernon girls’ head coach Jay Depolo was pleased with the way his team performed.
“I feel really good. Everybody showed up to wrestle today,” he said.
Depolo realizes that tournament action is a season after season.
“The competition is always elevated when you get into the postseason. We have four girls who are going through (to the district tournament), and we brought seven, so I feel really good,” the coach said.
Mount Vernon’s fearsome foursome, headed to the Big Walnut district, includes Luci Parker at 100 pounds, who placed fourth, Ashlynn Brokaw at 110 pounds, the top-seeded and defending state champion.
Alivia Zimmerman (145) placed fourth, and Khadija Ndow (170) took third . The top four finishers in each weight class at the district tournament will advance to the state meet.
Sitting in the stands before her championship match, Brokaw took a moment to reflect on what she has done to try and repeat as state champ.
“I’m getting enough sleep, eating properly, and all that goes with staying in shape,” Brokaw said.
Even though she has travelled the road to the championship title before, she may not be a kid on Christmas Eve, but she is close.
“I’m just really excited,” Brokaw said.
She then made one more wish, one backed by a year of preparation, setting her goals for the rest of the season.
“I just want all of the time and hard work I have put in to pay off, and when I get there, I’ll be where I need to be,” Brokaw said.
The day before the girls assembled their district qualifying team, 50 miles west, the Mount Vernon boys team was mounting a threat of its own.
The Yellow Jackets will take seven wrestlers to the Division I Hilliard Darby district this weekend.
“We finished second as a team, Upper Arlington finished first, so we had a pretty good day overall as a team,” Mount Vernon coach Corey Firebaugh said.
“We ended up getting seven to the district qualifiers and all seven of those placed in the top three.”
The coach said that even those who did not make the cut came close.
“We had three alternates, so that means they placed fifth,” he said. “Overall, 13 of the 14 placed in the top six, so I’m pretty happy with that. I just wish we could have gotten a couple more in the top four.
“I thought we had a really good chance, maybe nine or ten guys.”
Firebaugh knows well that as the postseason progresses, the competition gets more challenging.
“This round is always a tough round,” Firebaugh said. “We didn’t do as well in that placement round as we would have liked, but overall, not a bad day, but of course, we would like to do better.”
The Yellow Jackets headed for Hilliard Darby this weekend are Gabriel Kiser at 106 pounds (who placed third), Ty Thomas at 132 pounds (third), 144-pound champion Gabe Thomas, Preston Hempfield at 150 pounds (third), 157-pound champion Maverik Gregory, 190-pound champion Luke Mullins and 215-pound titlist Trevor Jones.
Conspicuously absent from the leaderboard is defending state champion Alex Taylor, who is out for the season with an injured knee.
Around the county
Centerburg 215-pounder Cole Evans will compete in the Division III Coshocton District Tournament this weekend.
Danville and Fredericktown wrestlers will be competing at the Division III Troy district on Friday and Saturday.
That group includes Danville’s Jonathan Stephens (106), Kyle Hackman (113), Camden Horn (126), Cooper Baldridge (144), and Carter Wittel (285).
The Fredericktown bus includes Gavin Galbraith (120), Owen Garver (138), Gage Selby (150), Aidan Ebersole (157) and Domenic Wolpe (285).
