Several locals produce solid finish at USA Wrestling National Women's Duals

WESTFIELD, IN – Every champion has their day.The USA Wrestling National Women's Duals was held Thursday-Saturday at the Grand Parks event Center in Westfield, Indiana. It brought together thousands of girl wrestlers from across the country. With it came the Ohio National Girls Team, which brought stiff competition from the local area. Avery Gaskalla competed on the Ohio Junior Scarlet Team, while Meredith "Mimi" Greenslade, Kiera Depinet, and Caroline Prudham all competed on the 16U Ohio Red team. Additionally, Depinet competed on the Greco-Roman team.Gaskalla participated in a total of nine matches, with Greenslade and Prudham in eight, while Depinet had 10 total matches, with a record of 9-1. Depinet had two pins and seven tech falls.Overall, the Ohio Junior Scarlet Team went 7-2. Their record for the preliminary round was 3-2 and then pulled a 4-0 record for the placement pool in green/yellow.On the first day, they won over Hawaii before falling to Indiana. That sent them to the consolation bracket, where they won over North Carolina, lost to Virgina before having one more win over Nebraska.The second day, the Junior Scarlet team went undefeated in matches over Maryland, Arkansas, New Jersey and Missouri Red. The first day for the Ohio Red Team, it battled some of the toughest competition, and its losses came to Illinois and Michigan. Both Illinois and Michigan brought full lineups. Ohio brought five teams for freestyle, and one team for Greco Roman."Illinois just happened to be the better team in that round," Clyde girls coach Adam Greenslade said. "When it came to Michigan, it came at the end of a very long day, and they were aggressive and ready to wrestle."The Ohio Red team wasn't quite ready for what came at it from the matches."I'm not going to sugarcoat it, we looked fatigued and they took advantage," Greenslade said.Ohio wasn't exempt from the injury list; they suffered two injuries during the duals against Michigan, and while talent-wise they measured up against the Michigan team, they didn't bring the intensity that was needed.On the second day for the Ohio Red Team it faced many forfeitures due to opponent injuries, but still came out and battled aggressively. While the score might not have reflected the effort, it finished 16th out of 29 teams. They were in the Bronze/Copper bracket."We were missing weights, which caused forfeits," Depinet said. "It's a lot of points lost if weights aren't full. We also lost a few teammates due to injuries against Michigan, and that brought our team down a little when you are worried about your teammates."In addition, Depinet competed on the 16U Greco team, and the team came in fifth place and were named All-American. They won against Texas before falling to Kansas in the second round. In the consolation rounds, they battled against Minnesota and Missouri before losing to Oklahoma, and did avenge the earlier loss against Kansas. Aniya Polk delivered the victory through a fall in the last match, which brought the team ahead 40-37. They had secured their spot in the top six when they won over Missouri 47-29."It's awesome to be an All-American, especially when we finished fifth," Depinet said. "We won that against a team we had lost to earlier. A lot of the matches were very close, so it could have gone either way. That's what makes duals exciting; you never know what will happen but you have to keep wrestling."For Gaskalla, Greenslade and Depinet, they will continue training as they have qualified to go to Fargo Nationals, alongside Kendyll Salyer of Seneca East, who will be representing the females, while the boys will be represented with Ben Jacobs of Bellevue, Braydon Studer of Mohawk, and Jackson Gayheart of Seneca East.