FINDLAY — The two most successful girls wrestlers in Ashand-area history had another monster day Sunday.
For the third straight season, Crestview’s Naomi Gearheart and Mapleton’s Skylar Hopstetter are headed to the state tournament.
The talented duo from the Firelands Conference schools will be the lone local representatives in Columbus, as four others (three from Ashland, one from Mapleton) were unable to advance out of their respective district brackets Sunday.
Gearheart, the projected state runner-up at 145 pounds, continued to storm her way through the opposition this season.
After tearing through her sectional tournament with three first-period pins, the Crestview junior stuck with that trend Sunday at her Findlay District.
Now a perfect 3-for-3 in district titles, Gearheart had four pins to nab her most recent crown – all of them coming inside of two minutes.
The last one came at the 1:52 mark over Wauseon’s Amya Hallett (43-5) for the title.
She’ll head to Columbus with a 43-3 record this season and a 108-13 career mark that includes 94 pins.
Hopstetter had historic day
Hopstetter, meanwhile, had to work her way through the consolation bracket in her Mentor District appearance Sunday.
The 135-pounder opened with a first-period pin before being pinned herself by Steubenville’s projected state champ Talea Guntrum (41-0), who won the weight class with four pins in under 65 seconds.
Hopstetter quickly bounced back with two more pins, then sealed her state trip with a 9-1 major decision. One final pin in 3:55 over Berea-Midpark’s Micah Finley landed the Mapleton senior (36-4) in third place, making her the first girls wrestler in MHS history to go to state three times.
Hopstetter now has 134 career wins – the most in area history.
Things unfortunately didn’t go quite as well for the rest of the area’s district qualifiers Sunday.
After advancing beyond sectionals for the first time, Mapleton junior Sara Drake went 1-2 at 130 with a decision win to close out her season with a 30-20 record.
Ashland, meanwhile, had a trio of wrestlers in action at the Findlay District, a solid contingent in the first official girls varsity wrestling season for the school.
Junior Gracen Brockett was the lone Arrow to notch a win Sunday, picking up a 7-5 decision win at 120 before dropping her next two matches to end her year with a 41-8 record.
Ashland’s other two grapplers in action at Findlay were senior Isla McFrederick (finished 32-15 at 140) and junior Rowan Varnes (22-21 at 110).