Three girls from the Chagrin Valley Conference punched their ticket to state wrestling championships by finishing among the top four at the Mentor regional on Sunday.
Lutheran West’s Leslie Sullivan and Paris Willis and Orange’s Natalie Martincic will join the 21 boys from the CVC who placed among the top four at three different district tournaments on Saturday in Columbus for the OHSAA state wrestling championships on Friday-Sunday.
Sullivan finished as the regional runner-up at 140 pounds.
A No. 3 seed, Sullivan opened the tournament with an upset pin over No. 2 Northwestern’s Claire Buchholtz in 3:18.
Sullivan then edged No. 1 seed Karlie Stith of Salem, 7-6, in the quarterfinals. She then needed overtime to defeat Keystone’s Sage O’Brien in the semifinals, 2-0 in sudden victory before forfeiting her championship bout against Avon Lake’s Rejan Alhashash, a state runner-up last winter.
Willis, a returning state qualifier, placed third at 170 pounds.
She recorded back-to-back pins to advance to the semifinal round, where she dropped a 3-1 decision to eventual champion Mia Gaetjens of Mogadore.
Willis bounced back with a 10-second pin in the consolation semifinals—affectionately known as the blood round–and then pinned Lakewood’s Gillian Coulson in the third-place match in 55 seconds.
Martincic placed fourth at 130 pounds to earn her state berth.
She opened the tournament with a pin and an 11-4 decision then dropped into the consolation bracket following a pin at the hands of Mogadore’s Kai Gaetjens.
Martincic pounced on Lakewood’s El Tha in the blood round to the tune of a 15-5 major decision, then closed out her regional run with a loss to Hubbard’s Emily Flynn.
Madison’s Taylor MacAdam and Lutheran West’s Elana Quigley and Olivia Grace will serve as state alternates after placing fifth in their respective weight classes.
MacAdam placed fifth at 100 pounds while Quigley and Grace competed at 120 and 130 pounds, respectively.
