NHSCA High School Nationals - Girls Wrap up
Same thing here with the girls as with the boys wrap up. I have only watched a few of each girls matches so far … so this won’t be in great depth, but will highlight those girls that had an outstanding weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with NHSCA - the boys are separated into their high school “class" (Senior, Junior, etc.). The girls haven’t had the # of participants for that to happen … yet. Perhaps as girls wrestling continues to grow - one bracket at NHSCA’s will be a thing of the past.
The Results
Georgia and Florida each had National Champs - nice to see 4 of our 6 states represented in the finals as Aniyah Kelly of SC and Jailynn Tindall of TN both lost their finals match.
Georgia had 5 All Americans including National Champ CG Bertrand
Florida had just one - National Champ Chloe Ogden
South Carolina had 3 AA’s
Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina each had 1 AA
Championship Finals
112: Catherine Grace Bertrand (GA) fall Chloe Herrick (MO), 1:47
128: Janida Garcia (CA) dec. Aniyah Kelly (SC), 5-0
136: Chloe Ogden (FL) fall Abby Piper (WA), 2:40
144: Loralei Smith Milton (WV) dec. Jailynn Tindall (TN), 8-6
All Americans
3rd/4th
144: Kilee Callaghan (WA) def. Yasmine Oliveira (AL), 3-2 2:05
5th/6th
120: Isabella Hoffman (SC) fall Sam Parcell (CA), 1:32
128: Aileen Lester (AK) fall Brette Spink (TN), 3:07
136: Kiana Daniel Los Banos (CA) fall Hannah Mains (SC), 2:35
144: Mia Buckner (GA) fall Brianne Honaker (VA), 1:23
7th/8th
112: Alyssa Valdiva (GA) fall Reagan Riddick (NC), 3:16
144: Tays Pascual (NY) fall Kamryn Ellis (GA), 0:33
160: Shianne Whited (VA) fall Caitlyn Mixon (GA), 0:56
Briefly by Weight Class
103
No SE wrestlers made the podium. NC’s Heaven Fitch came in as the #2 seed, but dropped her quarter to California’s Kaelami Shufeldt 6-2 and then her next match 4-0 to Mia Zuniga of Washington to finish 2-2. Florida’s Kealonie Bega also went 2-2 with an 8-2 loss to Fitch. Vega had 2 good wins over Rylee Balcazar of Colorado and Charlee Shuler of VA, but couldn’t find her way to the podium through the backside.
112
Georgia’s CG Bertrand was simply outstanding on her way to the 112 lb. title. Presbyterian is getting a good one next year. Three of her 5 wins were by fall including her finals match over Chloe Herrick of Missouri. She outscored her opponents 28-1 - giving up her one point as a penalty at the end of her match vs. Isabella Ngo 13-1. Georgia also had another AA at 112 - Alyssa Valdiva who finished 7h. She finished the weekend 5-2 by pinning NC’s Reagan Riddick in the 7th/8th place match. Riddick was 3-3 with a fall of Grace Elliott of TN and a 9-0 decision of Madison Packer of CA to make the podium.
120
The South Carolina girls wrestled well this weekend and that included All American Isabella Hoffman at 120. Hoffman finished 3-2 and 5th - pinning CA’s Sam Parcell in her placement match. Hoffman ran into one of the best in PA’s Montana Delawder in the semis … Delawder rolled to the title.
128
South Carolina’s Aniyah Kelly showed why she is one of the best 128’s in the SE … she finished the weekend 4-1 with a loss to Janida Garcia of California in the the finals. Kelly had quite the back and forth semi vs. Brooklyn Grant of Delaware - eventually coming out on top of a 13-9 decision. TN’s Brette Spink also made the podium - finishing the weekend 3-3 and taking 6th. She lost to AA’s Dillard, Grant, and Aileen Lester. Spink had a nice win over Mullis of Georgia and a 10-8 decision of Lara Schecter to make top 6.
136
Florida’s Ogden is the top 136 in the country and she showed that this past weekend at NHSCA’s. She went 4-0 with 3 falls and a 12-5 decision of Alexandra Lopez of California. One of Ogden’s wins came over SC’s Hannah Mains who rebounded from that semifinal loss to make the podium in the #6 spot.
144
144 was good to the Southeast. 4 SE hammers made the podium including runner-up Jailynn Tindall of Tennessee. Tindall dominated her first 3 matches - winning with 2 falls and an 8-0 major of Mia Buckner of Georgia (who finished 5th). She dropped her finals match 8-6 - had an opportunity to tie it in the last minute with a takedown but couldn’t make it happen. Alabama’s Yasmine Oliveira had a very good tournament in taking 4th at 144. Oliveira also lost a close one to Smith in the semis 10-6 - rebounded with a 7-5 SV1 over Buckner before defaulting to Kilee Callaghan of Washington and taking 4th. Buckner finished 4-2 with her only losses coming to fellow SE wrestlers. GA’s Kamryn Ellis rounded out the SE wrestlers on the podium by finishing 8th.
160
Georgia’s Caitlyn Mixon lost her first match to Shianne Whited of Virginia and then rebounded to win two matches to make the podium - she would eventually lose a second time to Whited and take 8th.
185
185 had no SE wrestlers in a bracket that was dominated by Savannah Isaac of Ohio.
On the rise
These 10 girls showed that they deserve a look. Sure folkstyle vs. freestyle - very different, but loved the way they battled through their brackets.
Jaiylnn Tindall (TN) - Bertrand could’ve been #1 on this list, but she is a known commodity and is nationally-ranked. Tindall, on the other hand,
Catherine Grace Bertrand (GA) - Bertrand was simply awesome on her way to the 112 lb. title - the only reason she (or Ogden) aren’t #1 on this list is because they are already “at their ceiling” in terms of being known. CG is off to Presbyterian next year and it will be interesting to see how she transitions to wrestling just freestyle in college.
Yasmine Oliveira (AL) - really good weekend for Oliveira. She nearly downed eventual Champ Smith in the semis - rebounded for a win in the consi semis before defaulting for 4th.
Aniyah Kelly (SC) - Kelly finished 2nd at 128 - she was 4-1 and looked great in making the finals.
Chloe Ogen (FL) - Nowhere for the #1 wrestler at 144 to go. She is already committed (signed?) to the University of North Carolina. She dominated her weight, but that was expected.
Alyssa Valdiva (GA) - finished on the podium in a deep 112 lb. bracket. Beat fellow SE hammer Reagan Riddick for 7th.
Isabella Hoffman (SC) - Hoffman made the podium in a deep 120 bracket. She lost to PA’s Delawder in the semis and ended up 5th.
Brette Spink (TN) - AA at 128 - lost some tough matches, but fought back through the consis to finish 6th.
Mia Buckner (GA) - went 4-2 and fought hard all weekend to take 6th at 144.
Hannah Mains (SC) - finished 6th in at 136 - made the semis where she lost to Ogden.