4 locals heading to USA Wrestling Women's National Duals

Offseason camps definitely make in-season champs.Four local female wrestlers are competing on a national stage this week in Westfield, Indiana as part of the Ohio National Girls Team at the USA Wrestling Women's National Duals. Imagine being in a room full of parents, coaches, wrestlers and fans that their one purpose is simple: to grow the sports of girls' and women's wrestling. A camaraderie that is strong, along with great sportsmanship. For Avery Gaskalla who is competing on the Junior team, and Caroline Purdham who is competing on the 16U team, this is the first time they will get to experience the electric environment. For Meredith "Mimi" Greenslade, and Kiera Depinet, this will be the second time they have experienced this. While Gaskalla, Purdham and Greenslade are from Clyde, Depinet is from Seneca East. During the summer though, it doesn't matter what school a wrestler is from; it's all about getting the most points for the Ohio National Girls Team and put Team Ohio at the top of the podium.What exactly is the USA Wrestling Women's National Duals?The USA Wrestling Women's National Duals offers wrestlers the opportunity to be able to compete in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. To those not familiar with the styles of wrestling, the freestyle, along with Greco-Roman, is the Olympic style of wrestling. It is the women's style of wrestling in college, and it leads to fast pace scoring as the points come from back exposures and turns. Folkstyle is the men's style of wrestling in college and is what is used in high school wrestling. It's more control focused and in high school, points are awarded based on escapes and reversals. In college, points are awarded as well for riding."Since women's college wrestling is freestyle," Clyde girls wrestling coach Adam Greenslade said, "it's essential for girls who want to compete beyond high school to gain experience in freestyle through opportunities provided by USA Wrestling."Mimi Greenslade competed in seven freestyle duals and seven Greco-Roman duals last year.This year, she is only competing in the freestyle duals due to a previous commitment that won't allow her to stay the entire tournament. Depinet wrestled in 15 matches between freestyle and Greco-Roman. Out of the 20 teams last year in freestyle, Team Ohio placed fourth. There were 10 teams in Greco-Roman and Team Ohio placed second.Gaskalla and Purdham are also only doing freestyle since this is their first time ever on the Ohio National Girls Team. Depinet will be wrestling in freestyle and Greco-Roman this year."For freestyle, there are more points to be earned," Depinet said. "It's a lot more fun to me because you can use your hands to lock and roll your opponents. You can use gut wrenches and leg laces. For Greco, it's all upper body wrestling; you can't use your legs or attack your opponents legs."How does each athlete qualify for the team?For the 16U and Junior teams, the process is both long and thorough. "There is a qualification process that begins with each athlete submitting their names to USA Team-Ohio," coach Greenslade said. "From there, each wrestler is evaluated by the USA Wrestling-Ohio Girls Coaches Council, a five person committee."Then, based on criteria set forth from the committee decides yes or no. That criteria includes placement at a 2024-2025 Fargo or USA Wrestling Women's National All-American, 2024-25 OHSAA folkstyle state placement, head-to-head results and current USA wrestling PIN Rating at the time of selection, and freestyle experience and past accomplishments.For 14U, it is a little simpler: the champion of each weight class at the Ohio Freestyle and Greco State Tournament earns an automatic bid to the Ohio National Team, which is how Mimi Greenslade earned her spot last year. This year, Gaskalla qualified for the team when she finished in sixth place in the juniors freestyle at the USA Wrestling Central Regional qualifier in Louisville, KY, which also qualified her for Fargo Nationals. Greenslade placed third in the 16U freestyle at the regional qualifier and that allowed for her to qualify for Fargo as well. Purdham received an invite to the team under the criteria. Depinet received her spot after filling out the form, which they went by state placement and PIN ratings. She placed first in the 140 weight class for both freestyle and Greco-Roman in Louisville. Depinet also took part in the Freestyle and Greco-Roman State Championship and took first in both styles in the 140-pound weight class.Whether a seasoned veteran of Team Ohio or a newcomer, there are plenty of ways to feel the camaraderie amongst the crowd. The Wrestling Duals are pool size to start and there are roughly five to six states in each pool. Once the pools are finished, then the brackets are formed depending upon pool placement. Then, they go in order to wrestle each match against the other state. Depending upon who wins, they earn points for the team. When all the weights are finished, the state with the most points wins the round."It's very cool," said Depinet about the atmosphere of the National Duals. "You're teammates with girls from all across the state (of Ohio), some you have never met, and some you wrestle from back home. Now you're rooting for each other and building awesome friendships and gain a new respect for each other."For coach Greenslade, this is his second year coaching Team Ohio and he agrees about not only the fast pace about the rounds, but the team chemistry."You're not just wrestling for yourself," coach Greenslade said. "You're competing for your entire squad. That dynamic is especially powerful for younger athletes, who thrive with support and encouragement. In a dual, every match contributes to the team's score, creating a strong sense of unity. Teammates cheer each other on, celebrate wins together, and rally through tough moments. It feels more like a team sport than the solo grind of individual tournaments."In wrestling, in order to determine who they will wrestle, it depends upon weight class. Unlike high school wrestling, when on a national team, it's a little bit different.With freestyle, there are 16 weight classes that range from 95 pounds to 207 pounds before heavyweight. For high school wrestling, there are 14 weight classes. Most wrestlers move up at least one weight class during the summer. Just like with high school, they do have to weigh-in prior to each tournament, but there is a key difference.Depinet is wrestling at 140. The incoming junior normally would wrestle in the 135-pound weight class during the high school season."Unlike the regular season, where they have to qualify at a specific weight," coach Greenslade said. "For Ohio National Team Duals, they must commit to a weight class prior to selection."The experience the girls get from being a part of the Ohio National Girls Team not only helps keep them active during the summer, but the off season work translates to the mat, when it calls again in November. "What matters the most is the effort that is being put in on the mat," Greenslade said. "That extra effort will absolutely pay off once the regular season starts."Depinet trains at The Barn, right outside of Findlay, where she credits coach Kirian and the other coaches, especially when she was first starting out, and is grateful to be able to continue training there."Competing in the offseason has helped me build a lot of confidence. Being able to go to the camps and getting the extra training, especially to go to Fargo Nationals and training for National duals helps," Depinet said.