Emma Rinehart made history by becoming the first Mount Vernon wrestler to advance to the girls wrestling state tournament. The freshman won the 111-pound weight division of the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association Central/Southeastern district tournament on Sunday, Feb., 14 at Olentangy Orange in Lewis Center.
Rinehart defeated Hilliard Bradley’s Sami Hosni by pinfall in the quarterfinal and Delaware Hayes’ Molly Wells by fall in the semifinal. With the state tournament already secure as the top four wrestlers in each weight class advanced, Rinehart won the district title by forfeit.
Girls wrestling is not yet sanctioned by the OHSAA. The OHSWCA will run the state tournament — which started last season — at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Hilliard Davidson.
Licking County League tournament
Wesley Wydick won the 113-pound weight class at the Licking County League wrestling tournament at Johnstown Middle School on Saturday, Feb. 13.
The junior defeated Licking Valley’s A.J. Kimball by a 14-3 major decision to take the league title.
Wydick’s performance led Utica to a third-place finish with 137 points, behind champion Licking Valley (208.5 points) and runner-up Watkins Memorial (201.5).
Lakewood (128), Licking Heights (102), Newark Catholic (91), Granville (86.5), Northridge (70), Johnstown (43) and Heath (33) rounded out the standings.
Brock Wygle (126 pounds) and Austin Smith were second; Clayton Smith (132), Ash Robinson (152) and Dylan Cooperrider (285) all finished third; Nolan Bennett (145) and Nolan Hazelett (170) each placed fifth; and Zach Cyphers (160) was sixth for Utica.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Trey Brininger poured in 24 points to lead visiting Cardington to a 64-54 win at Utica in non-league action on Saturday, Feb. 13.
It was the second game in two days for Utica, which fell at Johnstown 56-28 on Friday, Feb. 12.
Johnstown knocked down four 3-pointers in an 18-3 second quarter to create distance on its way to claiming the Licking County League-Cardinal Division. Gavin Foe poured in 21 points, Jake Lusk had 13 points and Tylar Cox added 10 points to pace the Johnnies (17-4, 14-1).
Zach Heckman and Owen Storts scored six points apiece for Utica (5-15, 2-11) against the Johnnies.
Avery Harper and Nate Hickman added 11 points apiece for the Pirates (15-5), who led Utica 27-25 at the half before creating distance with a 19-8 third period.
Elijah Larue scored 15 points, Seth Cooper had 13 points and Sean McCutcheon chipped in 10 points for Utica against the Pirates.
Northmor 54, Highland 47
For the second time this season, Northmor got off to a hot start against Highland, taking a 16-6 lead after one quarter. But unlike the first meeting, the Golden Knights made it stick with a 54-47 win in KMAC play on Friday, Feb. 12.
Grant Bentley scored 17 points including 10 at the foul line, and Graesin Cass had 12 points to lead the Knights (4-15, 3-10).
Jordan Bellamy had 14 points and Garrett Fitzpatrick added 13 points to pace the Fighting Scots (5-15, 3-11).
River View 65, Danville 46
Brody Border and Owen Emig dropped two 3s and scored eight points apiece in the third quarter to help host River View create distance in a 65-46 non-league victory over Danville on Saturday, Feb. 13, in Warsaw.
Cal Shrimplin scored 16 points, Border and Zach Balo had 13 points each, and Emig added 12 points to pace the Black Bears (4-13), who led 27-25 at the half.
Wyatt Weckesser scored 19 points to lead all scorers and was backed by Walker Weckesser’s nine points for the Blue Devils (1-18), who led 13-7 after one quarter.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Brooklyn Hess scored eight of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to help Danville hold off host Highland 56-54 in KMAC play on Saturday, Feb. 13, in Sparta.
Ella Proper and Camie Newbold scored 13 points apiece for the Devils (12-8, 7-7), who led 23-19 at the half and 39-30 after three quarters.
Emma West scored 12 of her game-best 21 points in the fourth quarter to help the Fighting Scots (8-14, 4-10) close the gap. Brilynn Tuggle added 10 points for Highland.
SWIMMING
The Mount Vernon girls swimming team edged Lancaster 393-384 at a Division I subsectional meet on Saturday, Feb. 23, at St. Charles Preparatory School in Bexley.
The Yellow Jacket boys team (180 points) finished third at the three-team meet behind the host Cardinals (634) and the Golden Gales (331).
Mount Vernon won’t be represented at the Central/East/Southeast district tournament, however. Qualifiers were determined by the top 24 individual times in each event across all of the sectional and subsectional meets between the three districts.
The district meet is scheduled for Feb. 21 at Bowling Green State University’s Student Recreation Center.
Highlighting the day for the Jackets, Anna Rhodeback beat out seven others in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2 minutes, 24.06 seconds; and she bested six others in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:11.20.
Also for Mount Vernon, Bre McClusky (25.89) won the 50-yard freestyle in a field of eight, and Rylee Jarosz (1:16.38) won the 100-yard breaststroke over five others.
