MAWA Eastern Nationals -- Girls Edition!

Last Saturday (May 3rd) the girls had their placement matches at the MAWA Eastern Nationals at the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland. As opposed to the boys, the girls had just one division for the high schoolers, Elite.

Three Marylanders made it to the top of the podium, Eastern Tech’s Ariana Carnahan (118), Havre de Grace’s Kayla Ward (148), and Randallstown’s Daegan Bishop (175).

Carnahan was second at the state tournament and faced off with a Pennsylvania state placer, Nevaeh Colon, who was seventh at states, in the finals and came out the victor, 5-3. A second period reversal by Carnahan put the first points on the board. With 18 seconds remaining, Carnahan was hit with a technical violation, then upon the restart gave up a reversal with a second left on the clock.

Up 3-2, Colon chose to start the third in neutral. Carnahan pushed the pace, forcing a stall warning, and eventually securing a takedown on the edge of the mat with a Merkle to take a 5-3 lead she would not relinquish as Carnahan rode Colon out for the duration of the match. Carnahan’s other two wins were over Jersey Girls, Grey Henecker, 5-0, and Jane Rodrigues, 15-0. Henecker beat Rodrigues in the third-place match.

It was announced ahead of the tournament that Carnahan would be moving onto McDaniel College to continue her wrestling career. If this was her last high school tournament, she went out in Grand Style.

“I have been putting in a lot of work and just trying to have fun with it, so it was nice to see it pay off,” Carnahan expressed. “I am happy with my performance this weekend, I wrestled my matches and left everything I had on the mat. I have been able to gain some confidence with training in the offseason, as well as having some of the most supportive coaches who have been there for me every step of the way. It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling leaving behind my Eastern Tech wrestling family, but I am excited for my next chapter at McDaniel and getting to see some new competition at the next level. I can’t wait to continue my wrestling career. I’m prepared to work hard and see where this journey takes me.”

Ward was fourth at states losing to Quince Orchard’s Esther Hernandez, by technical fall, 17-2, in the bronze bout. Ward did not meet Hernandez here but was crowned champion with a 12-9 decision of Pennsylvania’s Amillyiona Green, who placed sixth at her region and did not qualify for states. Hernandez placed seventh at MAWAs.

Ward jumped out to an early lead over Green with two first period takedowns and a 7-1 edge. Disaster almost struck in the second when Green head locked Ward. After looking dead-to-rights, Ward somehow rolled through for a reversal and a 9-8 advantage. A quick escape came for Green in the final frame that led to a Ward takedown for the final points of the bout.

Ward’s two victories before the finals came by pins versus Manchester Valley’s Addie Grubb in the semifinals, 3:42, and Amelia Smith (PA), 4:15, in the quarterfinals. Rising Sun’s Anna Farr, a third-place state finisher, was pinned by Green in the quarters and came back for third. Farr pinned Grubb, who was fifth at states, and Hernandez in the consolation rounds. Grubb came in fifth place here.

Bishop wrestled at 155 pounds during the season and failed to place at states, so she was a considerable underdog to North Haford’s Jordan Lawson, who was fourth at states, in the 175-pound final. Bishop did not let that deter him for putting forth a championship effort to claim a 9-4 win.

Bishop’s first points came late in the first with a takedown followed by a rapid escape. Lawson started on the bottom in the middle stanza and was contained until the end of the period when she was able to get away to narrow the gap to 3-2. They started the third in neutral where Bishop hit a sweet spin behind to go up 6-2. Lawson escaped and was again take down to account for Bishop’s final points.

Bishop beat the bronze medalist from Pennsylvania, Jasmine Baker, 3-0, in the semis. A fall in 4:21 of Kailey Evans (PA), who placed eighth, came in the quarters. Lawson used two pins to reach the finals with one coming against Patuxent’s Sophie Cobb in 2:26. Cobb went on to place fifth.

Elenor Roosevelt’s Jennifer Djobo lost a battle of third place state finishers to New Jersey’s Lamiah Berry by fall, 3:25, in the 140-pound final. Djobo mudslided Manchester Valley’s Chloe Chwang (5th at states) with a 16-2 semifinal major decision. A 32 second decking of Michelle Yakupova (PA) came in Djobo’s first match. Chwang placed fifth and Yakupova seventh. In her placement match, Yakupova teched Patapsco’s Gianna Guarnera, 15-0.

Two state finalists landed fifth in their respective weights, Randallstown’s Wura Idowu (110) and Tuscarora’s Ella McDonald (125). Idowu, who won the 105-pound state title, was pinned by the eventual champ in the semis, Adriana Yodice (NJ), 1:56.

In the consolation bracket, Idowu suffered a consolation semifinal loss to Gwynn Park’s Jada Agurs, who placed third at states, and duplicated that placing here when she stuck New Jersey’s Emma Cain in 46 seconds. In the quarters, Agurs lost to the runner-up, Holly McKinney (PA), 3-2.

McDonald had a 120-pound state final rematch with Smithsburg’s Rileigh Romberger in the opening match for both with Romberger replicating the previous outcome, a 14-2 major decision, with another major, 12-3. Pennsylvania’s JC Allis did not place at her state tournament but had little trouble with the two Marylanders as she vanquished Romberger to the consolation rounds in the quarters with an 8-0 major.

Romberger would lose her first consolation match to Delaware’s state champion Autumn Littleton, by pin, 3:54. McDonald wrestled back to face Allis and was shutout, 6-0, to drop into the fifth-place match where she pinned Pennsylvania’s Alexis Foscone, 2:58. Littleton beat Allis to take third.

Also earning hardware for Maryland were Fairmont Heights’ Britney Ortez (5th at 158), Oakdale’s fourth-place state finisher Madelyn Hartman (6th at 118), Poolesville’s Lily Merino (6th at 190), and Smithsburg’s Isabella Cox (8th at 132).

Elite Girls

103

1st Cadence Guy NY (Oneonta) DEC Natalie Andrade NJ (Neshanic Station), 5-3

3rd Lily Moffett DE (Wyoming) DEC Brooke Pettet NJ (Berlin), 15-10

5th Peyton Schneck PA (Emmaus) DEC Kaelynn Dickson NY (Endicott), 3-1

7th Samantha Larkin NJ (Old Bridge) DEC Ana Mendoza WV (Springfield), 6-0

110

1st Adriana Yodice NJ (Butler) F Holly Mckinney PA (Souderton), 0:45

3rd Jada Agurs MD (Brandywine) F Emma Cain NJ (Millville), 0:46

5th Wura Idowu MD (Randallstown) F Koralyz Luyando PA (Tobyhanna), 2:15

7th Remiah Rivera PA (Bethlehem) TF Anna Truscott PA (Northampton), 15-0 1:23

118

1st Ariana Carnahan MD (Dundalk) DEC Nevaeh Colon PA (Nazareth), 5-3

3rd Grey Henecker NJ (Glen Rock) DEC Jane Rodrigues NJ (Piscataway), 3-0

5th Paige Stankina PA (Gilbertsville) DEC Madelyn Hartman MD (Mount Airy), 8-7

7th Bella Young PA (Muncy) F Erin Talmadge PA (Tower City), 2:28

125

1st Sheyna Cruz menendez NJ (Paulsboro) F Kaylee Dayhoff PA (New Bloomfield), 4:16

3rd Autumn Littleton DE (Harrington) F J c Allis PA (Towanda), 4:04

5th Ella Mcdonald MD (Frederick) F Alexis Foscone PA (Reading), 2:58

7th Finley Gilbert PA (Clearfield) FOR Kennedy Huddle PA (Macungie)

132

1st Geanna Lemke PA (Tremont) F Addie Becht PA (Leesport), 1:02

3rd Jeannie Burnham NY (East Meredith) MD Gemma Hatchell DE (Middletown), 10-0

5th Allison Zarnowski VA (Lignum) F Briyelle Short PA (Croydon), 1:14

7th Blayr Strawser PA (Lehighton) DEC Isabella Cox MD (Smithsburg), 9-6

140

1st Lamiah Berry NJ (Galloway) F Jennifer Djobo MD (Greenbelt), 3:25

3rd Kenna Hoffman PA (York) F Avery Edison PA (Millmont), 0:32

5th Chloe Chwang MD (Hampstead) F Noelle Rasmovicz PA (Huntingdon), 0:58

7th Michelle Yakupova PA (Abington) TF Gianna Guarnera MD (Dundalk), 15-0 4:06

148

1st Kayla Ward MD (Havre de Grace) DEC Amillyiona Green PA (Philadelphia), 12-9

3rd Anna Farr MD (North East) F Avery Baldwin PA (York), 2:27

5th Addison Grubb MD (Manchester) DEC Amelia Smith PA (York), 6-1

7th Esther Hernandez MD (Gaithersburg) F Key'ari Jones NJ (Berlin), 1:30

158

1st Abbigale Dudley NJ (Mount Holly) MD Arshley Coulange PA (Harrisburg), 10-0

3rd Talah Patton DE (Seaford) F Kiara Davidson NY (Johnson City), 1:16

5th Britney Ortez MD (Capitol Heights) FOR Alivia Spicer PA (Canton)

7th Alivia Reed PA (Lehighton) FOR Giavonna Chapman PA (West Wyoming)

175

1st Daegan Bishop MD (Randallstown) DEC Jordan Lawson MD (White Hall), 9-4

3rd Jasmine Baker PA (Harrisburg) TF Ella Maxwell PA (Lansdale), 17-0 3:54

5th Sophie Cobb MD (Lusby) FOR Skylynn Payne PA (Sayre)

7th Andee Boyce PA (Carlisle) F Kailey Evans PA (Lehighton), 4:01

190

1st Katelynn Krepps PA (Mifflin) F Arianna Bernard PA (New Kensington), 4:09

3rd Arianna Miller PA (Roaring Springs) F Morgan Reichard PA (Millville), 3:13

5th Olivia Brisebois PA (E Stroudsburg) F Lily Merino MD (Poolesville), 0:41